US abstains from using veto

2004-05-20 07:34

New York - With tacit support from the United States, the UN Security Council criticised Israel's military foray into Gaza, calling for a halt to the demolition of Palestinian homes and condemning the killing of Palestinian civilians near a refugee camp.

The rare decision by the United States, Israel's closest ally, to abstain rather than exercise its veto power as it usually does on resolutions critical of the Jewish state reflected the Bush administration's displeasure at Israel's incursion into the Gaza strip.

The final vote was 14-0, with US deputy ambassador James Cunningham raising his hand to abstain.

He said the United States couldn't vote in favour of the resolution because it didn't address the Palestinians' efforts to smuggle weapons into Gaza through tunnels in the Rafah refugee camp and its failure to put an end to terrorist activity against Israel.

But in a tough statement after the vote, Cunningham expressed deep regret at the loss of innocent civilian lives during a demonstration near Rafah on Wednesday and concern about the demolition of the homes of innocent Palestinians.

"While we believe that Israel has the right to act to defend itself and its citizens, we do not see that its operations in Gaza in the last few days serve the purposes of peace and security," he said. "They have worsened the humanitarian situation and resulted in confrontation between Israeli forces and Palestinians and have not, we believe, enhanced Israeli security."

Cunningham said recent events "serve as a grim reminder of the wisdom of Israel disengaging from Gaza."

The last time the United States abstained in a Security Council vote against Israeli actions was on September 24, 2002, when a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw its forces from Palestinian cities passed 14-0.

Arab nations called for Security Council action following Israel's incursion into Gaza which, according to UN agencies, left 2 197 people homeless in the first 15 days of May. The firing of Israeli tank shells into a large crowd of Palestinian protesters Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, most of them children and teenagers near the Rafah refugee camp, highlighted the civilian deaths in the military operation.

The council revised the resolution to condemn "the killing of Palestinian civilians that took place in the Rafah area".

The resolution expresses grave concern at "the recent demolition of homes committed by Israel, the occupying power, in the Rafah refugee camp".

It "calls on Israel to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law and insists, in particular, on its obligation not to undertake demolition of homes contrary to that law." The original resolution's "demand" that Israel immediately stop the demolitions was dropped to avoid a US veto, UN diplomats said.

The Security Council also condemned "all acts of violence, terror and destruction" and called for "the cessation of violence".

- AP