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HAMILTON, Canada

Palestine's envoy to the UN criticized the US veto Wednesday of a draft Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian aid in Gaza.

"This draft resolution had a simple goal: demanding a ceasefire that would allow the beginning of the monumental work needed to end the horrific humanitarian situation, to stop the genocide, to release hostages and prisoners, and to get the Israeli occupying forces out of Gaza," Riyad Mansour told the Security Council.

He said the resolution also demanded an end to "engineered starvation" that has brought 2 million Palestinians, including 1 million children, to "the edge of famine" and confined them to a limited area in the enclave "clearly to facilitate their expulsion and annexation."

"This has to stop. It has to stop," said Mansour, demanding Israel to "end this punitive, illegal siege."

"It has to open all crossings and allow aid to reach Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip," he said, stressing that UN agencies and humanitarian organizations "must be allowed to work to extend life-saving aid to all who need it. Let them work."

He blamed Israel for "breaching the fundamental rules of international law of basic humanity," citing international court orders and UN resolutions, and said "Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity."

"Can the Council say anything about that?" he said.

Expressing disappointment that the draft resolution, reflecting minimal humanitarian and legal demands, was blocked by a veto, Mansour emphasized that "this draft resolution is long overdue."

"We will be heading to the (UN) General Assembly in the coming days," he said.

Calling on UN member states to "act in their national capacity" to take immediate and real measures to stop the genocide, he said: "You have tools available to you in your national capacity to make those who are making this miserable life of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, killing them, starving them, forcing them to stop this crime against humanity."

Mansour invoked historical examples of global movements against apartheid and urged states to be "brave" and take the "first few steps" that others would follow.

The US previously vetoed four Security Council draft resolutions that called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza -- in October 2023, December 2023, February 2024 and November 2024, while abstaining in votes on other draft resolutions.

Israel, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a genocidal offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million inhabitants.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.