US, Russia Heated in UN Security Council Debate over Gaza Ceasefire

NEW YORK – The deputy representatives of the United States (US) and Russia’s missions to the UN were involved in a heated debate during a UN Security Council meeting about which country was better at resolving the conflict in Gaza.

“I don’t have to sit here and explain to you why the United States did what it did with this resolution. You know it very well and I think everyone in this room knows it,” US Deputy Envoy Robert Wood said in response to Russian Deputy Envoy Dmitry Polyanskiy.

Russian diplomats have previously said the United States has blocked a ceasefire in Gaza by supporting Israel and vetoing UN Security Council resolutions on the Palestinian territory.

“One delegation, protecting their main ally in the Middle East, as we know, has for ten months blocked any real steps towards achieving that goal, essentially forcing all members of this council to engage in collective punishment of the Palestinians,” Polyanskiy said.

Polyanskiy stressed that the US was wrong in claiming that Israel had agreed to a ceasefire deal.

“However, it turned out, and no one was surprised about this, that these calls are as far from reality as the so-called US Biden plan (adopted by the Security Council on June 10 as Resolution 2735) suggests,” Polyanskiy continued.

He added, “Israel did not agree to the deal then, and it does not agree now to end its operations… (The US) changed the parameters for the ceasefire in Gaza in favor of West Jerusalem (Israel). Let us recall that the Security Council did not agree to the reformatting of the parameters of the agreement set out in Resolution 2735.”

Wood stressed that the United States is now focusing its efforts with Egypt and Qatar to implement the framework agreed to by the Israeli government and Hamas.

Wood also said Hamas had changed its position on the proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal.

“So my recommendation to you and your government is, if you want to make a positive contribution, make that contribution. If you don’t, you should just shut up,” Wood said.