UN Security Council members condemn Hamas for Israel attack, but not unanimously
Numerous members of the UN Security Council denounced the Hamas terror group on Sunday over its massive assault on Israel but the United States regretted a lack of unanimity, AFP reports.
At an emergency session, the United States urged strong condemnation of the Palestinian Islamists, who rule the blockaded Gaza Strip and launched a surprise assault on Saturday that killed at least 700 people and wounded over 2,000.
“There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They’re obviously not all,” senior US diplomat Robert Wood told reporters after the closed-door session.
“You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything,” said Wood, in a clear allusion to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated sharply since its invasion of Ukraine.
Diplomats said the Security Council did not consider any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.
“My message was to stop the fighting immediately and to go to a ceasefire and to meaningful negotiations, which was told for decades” by the Security Council, said Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.
The representative of the United Arab Emirates — which normalized relations with Israel as part of a landmark 2020 deal — expected more Security Council meetings on the crisis.
