UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan Tuesday warned that failure of international efforts to halt the “brutal” Israeli war on Gaza risked escalation that could engulf the entire region, as the UN General Assembly debated the use of the veto by the United States in the Security Council last month.
“The Council has been paralyzed due to the resistance and negative vote of a permanent member,” Ambassador Usman Jadoon, acting permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the 193-member Assembly — without naming the U.S.
“A heavy responsibility rests on those who have enabled the prolongation of this war and the continuing slaughter of innocent civilians in Gaza,” the Pakistani envoy pointed out.
The veto is a special voting power held by the permanent members on the Council, whereby if any one of the five — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US — casts a negative vote, the resolution or decision automatically fails. Tuesday’s meeting was held under the Assembly’s standing mandate to convene within 10 working days of a veto being cast in the Council.
On Dec. 22, the United States vetoed an amendment proposed by Russia that would have called for “an urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access’. –Agencies
