America vetoes ceasefire resolution for Gaza

The United States of America on Friday vetoed an extraordinary UN resolution to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In the UNSC, the United Stated blocked the proposal, while Britain abstained, remaining 13 UNSC members voted in favour of the resolution put forward by the United Arab Emirates and co-sponsored by 100 other countries.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked the rarely-used Article 99 of the UN Charter to convene an emergency Security Council meeting calling for an immediate ceasefire.Earlier, World Health Organization warned that civilisation was collapsing in Gaza.

Over 85% of Gazans are displaced

The UN says about 85 percent of the population has been displaced, facing dire shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine, and the growing threat of disease.

The U.N. says some 1.87 million Palestinians — over 80% of Gaza’s population — have fled their homes. More than 1 million people were sheltering in 94 UN facilities in the southern half of the strip, others displaced Gazans have headed south, turning Rafah near the Egyptian border into a vast camp.

It is the largest displacement of Palestinians since 1948. The scale of destruction and loss is staggering.

Iran demands opening Rafah border crossing 

Iran warned Saturday of the threat of an “uncontrollable explosion” of the situation in the Middle East, after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the top diplomat of the Islamic republic, also appealed for the immediate opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to enable humanitarian aid to be sent into the Gaza Strip.

Human Rights Watch statement

Human Rights Watch in its statement said:“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.”