U.S. Casts Sole Vote Against Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution
The New York Times
The U.S. veto at the U.N. came as the Biden administration’s envoy in Lebanon reported “additional progress” on cease-fire talks in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The United States on Wednesday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where fighting has raged for more than 13 months and a humanitarian crisis is intensifying.
Underlining Washington’s diplomatic isolation on the issue, the United States cast the sole vote against the resolution, with the 14 other Council members voting in favor.
The United States said it vetoed the resolution, the fifth the Council has taken up, because it did not make the cease-fire contingent on the release of the hostages still being held in Gaza. The resolution does call for the release of all hostages, but the wording suggests that their release would come only after a cease-fire was implemented.
The impasse at the United Nations appeared in contrast to cease-fire talks in Lebanon, where a top U.S. envoy, Amos Hochstein, said on Wednesday that there had been “additional progress” in efforts to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group allied with Hamas. Mr. Hochstein, saying he hoped “to try to bring this to a close if we can," traveled to Israel on Wednesday evening.
The leader of Hezbollah said Wednesday that the war’s end was now in the hands of Israeli leaders.
The U.S. veto on Wednesday was the fourth time the United States has blocked an effort by the Council to demand a cease-fire in Gaza since last year, when Hamas led an attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 others hostage. More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the local health authorities, and the territory faces the risk of famine, experts say.
Iranian state media said Mojtaba Khamenei had released his first written statement as supreme leader, vowing that Iran would continue to block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route. Global oil markets have been roiled by the war.
The Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil, is all but closed as war in the Middle East expands. A British agency said three ships were hit by unidentified projectiles in or near the strait.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “the most fighters, the most bombers” would be deployed. A day earlier, President Trump sent mixed signals on when the war might end.
Top clerics said Mojtaba Khamenei will succeed his slain father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Israeli military said it was attacking Tehran and Beirut early Monday, and Iran said it had launched missiles toward Israel.
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President Trump claimed that Iran had surrendered. He made the statement after the country’s president said earlier that Iran would end strikes in Gulf states, with caveats. Qatar and Bahrain reported incoming fire.
China is learning lessons from the war in Iran. Chief among them, the United States may pose an even greater threat than Beijing thought.
The Israeli military said it was striking Iran’s capital while pounding Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, as fighting there intensified. Iran said it was targeting Tel Aviv, the country’s state news agency reported.
Iranian drones landed in Azerbaijan, a day after NATO shot down a missile headed to Turkish airspace. Italy pledged air defense weapons to help Gulf nations defend against Iran’s retaliatory attacks.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military campaign against Iran was accelerating, with more warplanes arriving in the region. Earlier, Turkey said NATO had shot down an Iranian missile heading to Turkish airspace.
Iran targeted American sites throughout the region as President Trump said the United States was ready for a protracted fight. U.S. embassies and Amazon data centers were among the sites struck.
The Iran-backed militant group launched rockets into Israel as Iran fired on Israel and Arab states. President Trump told The New York Times that the U.S. planned to keep up the assault on Iran for “four or five weeks.”