US Veto Design Of Ceasefire Resolution In Gaza, Head Of UN Aid: This Exceeds Disappointment

Conditions in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. (UNRWA/Ashraf Amra)

JAKARTA - The staff of the UN Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza felt "ditefed by the international community", after the United States vetoed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza last week, UNRWA chairman Philippe Lazzarini said Monday.

"This exceeds disappointment. They feel abandoned by the international community," Lazzarini told CNN in Arish, Egypt, as quoted December 12.

"They still don't understand why after 17,000 people were killed, after almost the entire population fled, we still haven't been able to agree to a ceasefire," he said.

Lazzarini further said his staff felt "deep frustration, deep disappointment, (and) anger" over the UN's failure to approve the resolution, adding the system in Gaza was "tightened on the verge of collapse."

Gaza is "very close" to "disorder civil order" that will not allow the agency to operate again, he said, while noting how some civilians in Gaza were forced to loot warehouses out of despair.

"Too many people have not eaten for two, three days in the Gaza Strip," said Lazzarini.

"The more we see the damage to civil order, the greater the risk (UNRWA) not being able to operate anymore," he said.

As previously reported, the UN DK failed to agree on a resolution on a ceasefire initiated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday last week. The draft resolution calls on all warring parties to comply with international law, particularly protection for civilians, demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report to the council on the implementation of the ceasefire.

In Friday's vote last week, the draft resolution was backed by 13 member states of the Security Council. However, the United States veto as a permanent member of the council, made the resolution run aground, while Britain, another permanent member, chose abstain.

Meanwhile, the death toll of Palestinians as the ongoing Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip has risen to 17,997, the Ministry of Health said in the enclave on Sunday, as quoted by Anadolu.

Speaking at a news conference, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra added that 49,229 others were injured in Israeli attacks on blockaded territory.