MOSCOW, December 11 US Senator Bernie Sanders said the US should not have used its veto power to block a UN ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip while residents of the enclave faced appalling conditions.
Previously, the United States used its veto power to block the adoption by the UN Security Council of a resolution calling for a stop to hostilities in the Palestinian enclave.
«At a time when Palestinians in Gaza face appalling conditions, the United States should not have vetoed a UN resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages. Children in the Gaza Strip need food, water and medicine. We must do everything we can to for this to happen now,” Sanders wrote on the social network X.
On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After this, the organization’s fighters entered the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took more than 200 hostages. In Israel, according to the latest data from the authorities, about 1.2 thousand people were killed, this number includes civilians, soldiers, foreign citizens and workers, and it was also reported that more than 5 thousand were injured.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel was stopped.
The ground phase of the Israeli operation in the enclave began at the end of October. Gaza City was surrounded by Israeli ground forces, and the enclave was effectively divided into southern and northern parts.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israeli strikes has exceeded 17 thousand people, and more than 48 thousand have been injured. Hamas claimed that there were about 200-250 hostages in the Gaza Strip. After the end of the truce, Israeli authorities announced that 126 Israelis and 11 foreigners remained hostage with Hamas, and 110 abducted were released.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible only on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, related to the territorial interests of the parties, has been a source of tension and clashes in the region for many decades. A UN decision with the active role of the USSR in 1947 determined the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine, but only the Israeli one was created.