U.N. Security Council rejects U.S. resolution calling for Gaza cease-fire

March 22 (UPI) -- Russia, China and Algeria voted against a draft resolution by the United States calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for hostages in Gaza, leading to charges by both sides against each other.

Russia called the United States resolution "political," which left loopholes for Israel to continue its attack, while the United States claimed that Russia and China, which has veto power, simply did not want to see a U.S.-brokered resolution succeed.

The failure left the United States and others to plan another resolution for the Security Council, while Israel continued with its plans to attack Rafah against the wishes of the Biden administration.

"The American resolution, should it have passed, would've marked a moment of morality for the U.N.," Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan said. "It would have been the very first time that this council or any U.N. body condemned Hamas and their brutal massacre. Yet, sadly, for purely political reasons, this resolution did not pass."

The United States' U.N. ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Russia put "politics over progress."

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour called the U.S. resolution "one-sided" and rejected the framing of Hamas's actions as a "terrorism" issue. Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya called the resolution a "hypocritical spectacle," while allowing Israel to attack civilians in Gaza with impunity.

The United States appeared to face rejection in Israel, as well, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he intends to move ahead with an attack on crowded Rafah with or without the support of the United States.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to deliver the message that the Biden administration discourages an attack on Rafah, where many Palestinian civilians have gathered as the last location of safety for them in Gaza.

"There is no way for us to defeat Hamas without going into Rafah and eliminating the rest of the battalions there," Netanyahu said Friday, according to the Jerusalem Post. "I told [Blinken] that I hope we will do it with the support of the USA -- but if we have to, we will do it alone."

The U.S. resolution at the Security Council acknowledged a "roughly" six-week cease-fire that has been part of negotiations between Israel and Hamas, but does not specifically refer to a timespan in the body of the text.

It did, however, provide "unequivocal" support for a pause in the fighting to "protect civilians on all sides, allow for the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance and alleviate humanitarian suffering."

The measure proposed that the pause in fighting be reached "in connection with the release of all remaining hostages," while condemning Hamas for its Oct. 7 attack against Israel, which other cease-fire resolutions have failed to do.

It also called for a "two-state solution," with Palestinians getting its state, and pushes back any effort to reduce Palestinian territory after the war.

The U.S. resolution came after months of negotiations in which the United States had resisted calls for a cease-fire, supporting Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas.

Blinken earlier this week said in an interview with Saudi news channel Al Hadath that the U.S. decision to present a resolution would "send a strong message, a strong signal" for other nations to support it.

Hamas had walked away from negotiations earlier this month because it lacked a cease-fire agreement. Continued negotiations with the help of Qatar and Egypt have helped the United States come up with the latest resolution.

"A deal is in the interest of Israel, it's in the interest of the Palestinian people and it's in the interest of the broader region," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Thursday. "So, we're going to continue to push for one."