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French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot gives a speech in Paris, France on February 13, 2025. [Ümit Dönmez – Anadolu Agency]
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza, stressing that they can “no longer wait”, Anadolu reports.
“I believe we can no longer wait, and it seems to me that the conditions are now in place to finally achieve an immediate ceasefire,” Barrot said during a brief press interaction.
He called for the “unhindered” release of all hostages and the “large-scale” access to humanitarian aid in Gaza, “where the Palestinian civilian population is suffering.”
As the EU accelerates its efforts to strike a transatlantic trade deal with the US, Barrot said: “We support the negotiations being led by the European Commission. We want a balanced agreement.”
“We do not want an asymmetrical agreement that would place us in a position of vassalage.”
He further voiced “hope” for reaching an agreement that “safeguards the interests of all parties,” stressing neither the US nor Europe wants a trade war.
Barrot further reassured that the French Embassy in Tehran is “fully aware” and “mobilized” over the disappearance of an 18-year-old French citizen in Iran.
Lennart Monterlos, who was cycling to Japan, has been reportedly missing since June 16, according to the broadcaster BFM TV.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
“This latest shameful U.S. veto—one in a long list—gives Israel the green light to continue its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” said the head of Amnesty International.
For the fifth time since Israel launched its genocidal assault and siege of the Gaza Strip—and for the first time during President Donald Trump’s tenure—the United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire, a move that came as Palestinians continue to suffer daily massacres, mass starvation, and ethnic cleansing in the embattled enclave.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea—a former political officer at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel—was the lone vote against the Security Council draft resolution demanding an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent cease-fire” in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups.
“Any product that undermines our close ally Israel’s security is a nonstarter,” Shea explained after sinking the resolution. In addition to diplomatic cover, the U.S. provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in armed aid, including weapons that have been used in some of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) deadliest massacres in Gaza.
#BREAKING UN Security Council FAILS TO ADOPT draft resolution that would have demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups
The resolution was put forth by the 10 non-permanent Security Council members—Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, and South Korea—who explained Wednesday in a joint statement that the measure was “prompted by our deep concern over the catastrophic situation in Gaza, which deteriorated further after the resumption of hostilities in March.”
According toThe Palestine Chronicle, Hamas—which governs Gaza and led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel—said the U.S. veto shows “Washington’s blind bias towards the occupation government” and support for Israel’s “crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
At least hundreds of Gazans, mostly children, have recently died from malnutrition and lack of medical care amid Israel’s tightened siege, according to local officials. Israeli airstrikes continue to kill and wound scores of Palestinians—and sometimes more—daily, and upward of 100 Gazans have been shot dead while desperately trying to secure humanitarian aid in recent days.
“This latest shameful U.S. veto—one in a long list—gives Israel the green light to continue its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said in a statement. “It allows Israel to continue starving Palestinian civilians and creating conditions of life meant to bring about their destruction.”
In addition to vetoing five Security Council cease-fire resolutions, the U.S. last year used its veto power to block Palestine’s bid to become a full U.N. member. The U.S. also abstained from voting on two Security Council cease-fire resolutions during the Biden administration.
“The U.S. has squandered yet another crucial opportunity to demand that Israel ends civilian bloodshed,” Callamard added. “What possible justification can there be for blocking action by the U.N. Security Council that could help to end the harrowing starvation and suffering, free hostages, and lift Israel’s suffocating aid restrictions?”
Hand of Genocide:
US vetoes UNSC resolution for immediate ceasefire in Gaza, giving green light for continued genocide. pic.twitter.com/S3veRmFQUF
All told, more than 194,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded—including over 14,000 people who are missing and believed dead and buried beneath rubble—during 606 days of an onslaught for which Israel is facing a genocide case at the World Court and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including extermination and weaponized starvation.
Upward of 2 million Palestinians have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times, most recently during Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the IDF’s ongoing campaign to indefinitely occupy and ethnically cleanse Gaza, possibly to facilitate Israeli recolonization, as pushed by far-right figures.
On Wednesday, International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric said conditions in Gaza are “worse” than last month, when she described them as “hell on Earth.”
All this, as a cease-fire proves as elusive as ever due to what pro-Palestine critics say is Netanyahu’s desire to prolong the war in order to delay his own criminal corruption trial and Hamas’ demand for a guaranteed end to Israel’s onslaught.
“The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded, or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat,” Tom Fletcher, the U.N.’s top humanitarian chief, said Wednesday. “We must be allowed to do our jobs. We have the teams, the plan, the supplies, and the experience.”
“It’s simply unconscionable to stand in the way of this resolution.”
Amnesty International USA executive director Paul O’Brien said: “Once again, the U.S. government, this time under Trump’s leadership, is on the wrong side of history. While it’s not a surprise the U.S. vetoed this resolution, it’s nonetheless devastating.”
“The language is focused on the urgency of the unconditional release of all hostages and unfettered access to humanitarian aid,” O’Brien added. “When children are dying of starvation and the fate of the hostages is uncertain, it’s simply unconscionable to stand in the way of this resolution.”
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood raises his hands to veto a draft resolution during a United Nations Security Council meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on November 20, 2024. (Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The U.S. government, said one human rights lawyer, “proves once again to the world that it is fully committed to the continuation of the genocide in Palestine.”
The Biden administration faced fierce criticism on Wednesday after using its veto power at the United Nations Security Council to block a resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional, and permanent cease-fire in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
The vetoed measure also called for all parties to implement a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution passed in June—which would lead to the release of all hostages—and to enable Gaza civilians’ immediate access to basic services and humanitarian assistance.
Jess Peake, who directs the International and Comparative Law Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, condemned the U.S. decision as “absolutely unforgivable” while Nina Turner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, declared that “this is absurd.”
Mai El-Sadany, executive director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington, D.C., called it “yet another shameful abuse of the UNSC veto by the U.S. to perpetuate a war that violates U.S. law and U.S. international legal commitments.”
“Today’s message is clear to the Israeli occupying power—you may continue your genocide… with complete impunity.”
Human rights attorney Craig Mokhiber, who last year resigned as the New York director for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights over the United Nations’ response to Gaza, said Wednesday that “the U.S. has just vetoed another cease-fire resolution in the U.N. Security Council, and, in doing so, proves once again to the world that it is fully committed to the continuation of the genocide in Palestine.”
Mokhiber also called for action at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where there is no U.S. veto power.
“Even as we seek accountability for Israeli perpetrators, we must also seek accountability for complicit U.S. actors,” he said. “Israeli/U.S. impunity threatens the entire world. And the U.N. must now move to take concrete action in the UNGA.”
The 14-1 vote at the UNSC marked the fourth time the United States has blocked a Gaza resolution since Israel began its retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. All five permanent members of the Security Council—the U.S., the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China—have veto power. The other seats are filled on a rotating basis and lack that authority.
The 10 nonpermanent members—Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Korea, and Switzerland—were behind the push to pass this draft resolution. Those who supported it represent “the collective will” of the international community, Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama said after the vote, according to U.N. News.
“It is sad day for the Security Council, for the United Nations, and the international community as a whole,” Bendjama said, stressing that it has been “five months since the adoption of Resolution 2735, five months during which the Security Council remained idle—remained hand-tied.”
“Today’s message is clear to the Israeli occupying power—you may continue your genocide… with complete impunity. In this chamber—you enjoy immunity,” he added. “To the Palestinian people, another clear message—while the overwhelming majority of the world stands in solidarity with your plight, others remain indifferent to your suffering.”
Israel faces a South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its assault on Gaza, which as of Wednesday has killed at least 43,985 Palestinians, according to local officials. Another 104,092 people have been wounded, and most of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents have been repeatedly displaced as Israeli forces have devastated civilian infrastructure.
U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood said Wednesday that “we made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional cease-fire that failed to release the hostages.”
“This resolution abandoned that necessity,” he argued. “For that reason, the United States could not support it.”
The U.S. government has been widely accused of complicity in genocide for arming Israeli forces over the past 13 months—including by progressives in Congress. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday planned to force a vote on resolutions that would block American weapons sales to Israel on the grounds that they violate federal law.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield raises her hand to abstain during a U.N. Security Council vote on a Gaza cease-fire resolution on March 25, 2024 in New York City. (Photo: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“This resolution must be implemented,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. “Failure would be unforgivable.”
The U.S. on Monday declined to veto but still abstained from a United Nations Security Council on Monday to adopt a resolution demanding an “immediate cease-fire for the month of Ramadan” in the embattled Gaza Strip, a move that came amid an ongoing Israeli genocide in which more than 114,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded and hundreds of thousands of others are starving.
The Security Council voted 14-0, with the U.S. abstaining, to approve a resolution for the cessation of hostilities during the Muslim holy month after member states overcame a sticking point over the removal of the word “permanent” from an earlier draft version. Instead, the resolution calls for an “immediate” cease-fire.
The U.S. had vetoed three of the previous four cease-fire resolutions.
“This resolution must be implemented,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said following Monday’s vote. “Failure would be unforgivable.”
NEW—The United Nations Security Council has voted 14-0 to demand: –immediate ceasefire for Ramadan leading to "lasting" sustainable ceasefire –immediate unconditional release of all hostages
US abstained, even after successfully pushing to replace word "permanent" with "lasting" pic.twitter.com/zAjvI5nqgE
The resolution is a bare-bones call for a cease-fire during the month of Ramadan, which began on March 11. It also demands the return of about 130 hostages seized in Israel and held in Gaza and emphasizes the urgent need to allow ample lifesaving aid to reach a starving population in the besieged enclave.
The demand to end hostilities has so far eluded the council following the Israeli forces’ invasion of Gaza in October after Hamas attacks left almost 1,200 dead and 240 taken hostage.
Since then, Israel’s daily bombardment alongside its near-total blockade of water, electricity, and lifesaving aid has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry there, where a recent U.N.-backed report showed an imminent famine unfolding.
Palestinians—especially children—are starving to death in Gaza. Hospitals are under attack, with Israeli forces reportedly executing large numbers of people inside al-Shifa Hospital.
Meanwhile, the approximately 1.5 milllion Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah—most of them refugees forcibly displaced from other parts of Gaza—are bracing for an anticipated ground invasion, which Israeli leaders say will proceed despite a warning from U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris that such an operation would have “consequences.”
Monday’s vote followed intense negotiations over the measure introduced by 10 non-permanent Security Council members—Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Korea, and Switzerland.
The United States—which, despite growing frustration over genocidal atrocities, still arms Israel—brushed off a threat from far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a planned visit to Washigton by a high-level Israeli delegation if the U.S. did not veto the resolution.
The Associated Press reported Netanyahu followed through with his threat and canceled the trip.
Human rights defenders welcomed Monday’s vote.
“Israel needs to immediately respond to the U.N. Security Council resolution adopted today by facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, ending its starvation of Gaza’s population, and halting unlawful attacks,” Louis Charbonneau, director of Human Rights Watch’s U.N. program, said in a statement.
“Palestinian armed groups should immediately release all civilians held hostage,” he added. “The U.S. and other countries should use their leverage to end atrocities by suspending arms transfers to Israel.”
