Iran Press/ America: Brazil's proposal aimed at establishing humanitarian pauses in Gaza.
The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Wednesday, October 18 rejected the proposal put forward by the Brazilian government.
The Brazilian-drafted resolution won the support of 12 of the 15 members of the Security Council. The United States, which has veto power, was the only council member that voted against it.
Before voting on the Brazilian draft, the Security Council voted separately on two amendments to the Brazilian draft submitted by Russia.
The Russian amendments - on a call for an end to indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian subjects, and a call for a durable humanitarian cease-fire, instead of humanitarian pauses contained in the Brazilian text - were unable to pass as there was not enough support by council members.
The United States was the only council member that voted against the Russian amendments.
US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in an explanation of vote, said her country "is disappointed this (draft) resolution made no mention of Israel's right of self-defense".
Russian UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blasted the United States for its "hypocrisy and double standards".
Brazilian UN ambassador Sergio Franca Danese regretted the fact that his country's draft resolution was vetoed.
"Sadly, very sadly, silence and inaction prevailed - to no one's long-term interests," he said. "While we deeply regret collective action is made impossible in the Security Council, we do hope that efforts by other actors will yield positive results. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza cannot wait any longer. Actually, they have waited for far too long."
Chinese UN ambassador Zhang Jun said his country was shocked and disappointed at the result of Wednesday's voting.
"Certain countries talked about the importance for the council to take the right actions. However, the way they voted only makes us question their willingness to let the council take any actions and their sincerity to find a solution to the problem," said Zhang, according to Chinadaily.
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