How US abuses its UNSC veto power to enable Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza

By Musa Iqbal

This past week turned out to be very eventful – the United States again vetoed a Gaza ceasefire resolution, the top international tribunal issued arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant and the UN nuclear agency passed a new resolution against Iran.

Most important of all, the outgoing Joe Biden administration vetoed another ceasefire resolution that would supposedly put an end to the Israeli-American genocidal aggression against Gaza, which has now claimed more than 44,000 lives in almost 414 days, most of them children and women.

This marks the fourth time since October 7 last year that the US has vetoed a resolution aimed at stopping the American-funded Israeli carnage in the besieged Palestinian territory.  

The latest round of voting resulted in 14 council members voting for the resolution to end the aggression against Gaza and the United States being the lone veto against it.

As one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the US veto power killed the resolution. Many organizations and countries have in recent days slammed the US for abusing its power yet again to advance its own nefarious political interests 

Within the context of US imperialism’s failure to deter the Axis of Resistance, the veto highlights the Biden-Harris administration’s absolute commitment to the American-Israeli genocide of Palestinians.

The outgoing administration has consistently framed its rejection of the UN resolutions as not being enough to “condemn Hamas” or return the Israeli captives held by the Palestinian resistance. 

As Vasily Nebenzya - permanent Russian representative to the UN - noted, the latest resolution did in fact have a clause that promised and laid grounds for the return of Israeli captives in Gaza, while allowing in aid for Palestinians in Gaza and ending Israeli aggression and occupation of Gaza.

The abuse of the US veto power again serves to underscore its political commitment to Zionism, and sets the ground for the incoming Donald Trump administration to continue to block any resolutions that would put an end to 14-month-long Israeli aggression not only against Gaza but Lebanon as well.

The veto also comes shortly after a fake 30-day ultimatum given to Israel by the Biden-Harris administration to improve the situation and the flow of humanitarian resources into northern Gaza.

The ultimatum was a political ploy to motivate US voters to show up for Kamala Harris, as the deadline came shortly after the US presidential election. Despite the situation deteriorating in northern Gaza, the ultimatum was scrapped, with US officials falsely claiming that Israel has met its arbitrary standards. 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei right stated that the veto was “disgraceful” and “not only marks another failure of UNSC to uphold its Charter-based mandate but also serves as a US-granted license for occupying regime to continue its carnage in Gaza and Lebanon with impunity.”

With Harris’ presidential bid ending in a decisive defeat to Trump, the actions of the Democratic party in the “lame duck” period reveal the two-party commitment to Israel - and that they were never interested in securing “peace” as they assured voters.

The Democratic Party has been posturing as committed to a ceasefire, citing the “deteriorating situation in Gaza” while promising “ironclad commitment to Israel.” 

The veto was met with backlash from many Palestinian and human rights organizations across the world, as well as politicians, leaders, celebrities, authors, academics, and more. 

“There is no right to mass killing of civilians. There is no right to starve an entire civilian population. There is no right to forcibly displace a person. And there is no right to annexation. This is what Israel is doing in Gaza,” stated Majed Bamya, the deputy ambassador of Palestine to the UN.

However, anyone pinning their hope for a ceasefire resolution being passed through the UN Security Council has been incredibly misled. Those who thought Biden would do something right in his final days also got a reality check. The ‘Genocidal Joe’ has no change of heart.

Biden regime officials such as Antony Blinken, Matthew Miller, and others have repeatedly stated their intent to “remove Hamas” from any power in Gaza, and have been enthusiastic about the ongoing ethnic cleansing operations in northern Gaza. Many critics of the Zionist regime believe the Israeli occupation is laying the groundwork for removing Gazans completely. 

The regime has been clear in its intent to ensure Palestinians do not return to northern Gaza. 

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is on the ground resisting Israeli aggression in Gaza, said the use of the US veto in the UN Security Council to block a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza “confirms America’s complicity in a war of extermination against the people of Palestine.” 

The veto from the US in the UN, paired with the US insistence to keep arming Israel via the Senate vote the same day (which was again protested by some senators, mostly for posturing, on grounds that the US was violating its own weapons shipments laws) demonstrates that the US is “all in” on supporting its colonial outpost in West Asia. It is the hand holding the gun pointed at millions of people in the region. 

Ironically, the very next day, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former War Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes in Gaza, citing specifically using starvation as a weapon and knowingly slaughtering thousands of Palestinians 

“The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the unanimous decision from a three-judge court announced in its statement.

It remains to be seen which countries follow through with honoring the Rome Statute, and what countries and organizations will impose penalties, sanctions, or other forms of punishment on the illegitimate occupation entity.

It is important to note the ICC is simply targeting two individuals within the Israeli regime, while also issuing an arrest warrant for Hamas military wing leader Muhammad Deif - showing the ICC is still very much an ally to liberal Zionism and world imperialism. 

The decision equates the victim with the perpetrator and fails to accurately condemn Zionism itself. 

The United States and Israel are not signatories to the Rome Statute and therefore do not have to follow through with any recommendations or issues from the ICC.

In a way, ICC is desperately trying to save its own integrity as an enforcer of “human rights.” It was not long ago that an ICC prosecutor stated that the court was “built for Africa and thugs like Putin.”

The face of Zionism - Netanyahu - has forced the court to finally act, though in a mainly toothless matter, in order to preserve the existing, Western-orientated legal order - or face being written off as a mockery forever. 

Thus, the only way to permanently stop the aggression against Palestine and its allies both by American-Israeli forces as well as an imperialist-influenced international system is a decisive resistance victory - nothing less.

After over 410 days of genocide, Israel has failed to meet any of its stated military objectives, while being entrenched in a new front against the Hezbollah resistance movement in the north, where it is failing to capture a single town after over a month of fighting.

Hezbollah has stated it will not agree to any ceasefire with Israel without a ceasefire in Gaza. 

Simultaneously, the occupation entity is preparing for Iranian retribution for carrying out aggression against Iran late in October. Resistance in Iraq and Syria continue to carry out their own operations, while the Yemeni military continues a massively successful blockade of the Red Sea. 

The Biden legacy will go down as a legacy that financially, materially, and politically oversaw the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The incoming Trump administration will continue to back the Zionist regime, as well as advising and pressure its European client states such as the UK, Germany, and France to continue supporting the Zionist occupation with arms sales as well as political and financial support, despite ICC (or for that matter, even International Court of Justice)  rulings. 

The ICC ruling is an extremely limited one, but does pave the way for some organizations and entities to distance themselves from the occupation regime, at the very latest adding to its growing economic woes. 

But the most important equation on the field remains the same: resistance until victory. No court or council can say otherwise. 

Musa Iqbal is a Boston-based researcher and writer with a focus on US domestic and foreign policy.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk