to report «iusnews»; Human Rights Watch decried the United States' decision to veto the Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Friday.
“By continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the US risks complicity in war crimes," the UN director at HRW Louis Charbonneau said in a statement following the veto, CNN reported.
On Friday, the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.
“Once again the US used its veto to prevent the Security Council from making some of the calls the US itself has been demanding of Israel and Palestinian armed groups, including compliance with international humanitarian law, protection of civilians, and releasing all civilians held hostage,” the statement added.
Oxfam America's President and CEO Abby Maxman, also criticized the decision, saying Friday that the veto "puts another nail in the coffin for US credibility on matters of human rights".
"Today, the Biden administration had yet another opportunity to live up to its lofty rhetoric supporting human rights and a rules-based international order. The world is ready for the horrific carnage in Gaza to end and focus on the release of hostages and helping Palestinians rebuild their lives, " Maxman said in a statement.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard also said by vetoing the resolution "the US has displayed a callous disregard for civilian suffering in the face of a staggering death toll, extensive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza.
Callamard also criticized the US for sending weapons to Israel. She said it is contributing to the destruction in the enclave.
"The US has brazenly wielded and weaponized its veto to strongarm the UN Security Council, further undermining its credibility and ability to live up to its mandate to maintain international peace and security," Callamard said in a statement.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, also condemned the US veto.
“By vetoing this resolution, the US stands alone in casting its vote against humanity,” MSF said in its statement.
"We are devastated by the UN Security Council’s failure to adopt a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza," it added.
The “inaction” of the United Nations Security Council amidst the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has made the organization “complicit in the ongoing slaughter” in the strip, it added.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
The Israeli aggression has so far killed more than 17, 400 Palestinians, most of them women and children. More than 46,000 people have been wounded as well.
Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the US has been Israel's biggest ally, providing it with thousands of arms consignments. Washington, which has backed Tel Aviv's ferocious attacks as a means of "self-defense" has also been casting its veto against the UN Security Council resolutions that called on the occupying regime to cease its aggression.
