Al Jazeera :
The United States vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC) which recommended granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations.
The veto on Thursday by Israel’s main political and military backer had been expected ahead of the vote. Twelve countries voted in favour of the resolution, which was introduced by Algeria, while the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstained.
The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the US veto was “blatant aggression … which pushes the region ever further to the edge of the abyss”.
In a statement, the presidency called the US veto “unfair, unethical and unjustified”.
“The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will, and it will not defeat our determination,” Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said after the vote.
“We will not stop in our effort. The state of Palestine is inevitable. It is real,” he said.
“Please remember that once this session adjourns, in Palestine, there are innocents paying the price with their lives … for the delay in justice, freedom and peace,” he added.
Hamas
The Palestinian armed group accused the US of standing “in the face of international will” by exercising its veto power and denying Palestinians full membership in the world body.
The group said in a statement that it condemned “in the strongest terms the American position biased towards the occupation”, as it called on the international community “to exert pressure to go beyond the American will and support the struggle of our Palestinian people and their legitimate right to self-determination”.
“We assure the world that our Palestinian people will continue their struggle and resistance until they defeat the occupation, take away their rights, and establish their independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” it added.
Qatar
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “deep regret” at the “failure” of the UNSC to adopt the resolution, and said it “considered it a sad day for justice and a setback for efforts to bring peace to the region.
This reveals the council’s “inability to carry out its responsibilities and role within the framework of maintaining international peace and security, especially in light of the brutal war on the Gaza Strip”, it said.
Egypt
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “deep regret” over the inability of the UNSC to pass the resolution and said approving Palestine’s bid to become a full UN member was a vital step and “an inherent right of the Palestinian people”.
It said preventing Palestine from gaining full UN membership is a move that is “not consistent with the legal and historical responsibility” of the international community, which needs to aid all parties in reaching a “final and just solution to the Palestinian issue”.
