March 1, 2024 (EIRNS)—According to a report from Türkiye’s official Anadolu Agency, the U.S. blocked a statement prepared in the UN Security Council in response to the massacre in Gaza early on Feb. 29, during which Israeli forces killed more than 100 Palestinians and wounded over 700 civilians trying to get food from relief trucks near Gaza City. During a closed-door Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, member states discussed issuing a statement in response to the attack on the humanitarian aid convoy in Gaza City, reported Anadolu, but following the session, no statement was released.
“According to information obtained by Anadolu news agency, a draft resolution containing critical remarks against Israel failed to gain approval from the U.S. Permanent Mission to the UN,” it said. “The draft resolution expressed deep concern over reports that 112 people lost their lives and 760 were injured as a result of Israeli forces opening fire on a crowd awaiting food aid in southwestern Gaza.
“The resolution called on all parties to refrain from depriving civilians in Gaza of essential services and humanitarian aid, under international humanitarian law, warning of a potential acute food crisis affecting the entire population of 2.2 million people in Gaza if urgent action is not taken. Council members urged Israel to keep border crossings open to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and ease the opening of additional crossings to meet humanitarian needs on a broader scale.”
According to other sources, 14 out of 15 Security Council members supported the statement. The U.S. alone opposed it. Deputy American Ambassador Robert Wood, when a journalist asked why the U.S.A. made such a decision, replied that not all the facts about the incident were known.
On the record, the Biden Administration’s response has been to say, in effect, we’re still trying to figure out what happened. “We’re checking that right now. There are two competing versions of what happened, I don’t have an answer yet,” Biden told reporters when asked about the incident, in which the Health Ministry in Gaza said Israeli troops shot dead 104 people and injured hundreds more. Asked if he was worried whether it would complicate negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Biden replied: “I know it will.”
