\n Numerous members of the UN Security Council denounced Hamas on Sunday over its massive assault on Israel but the United States regretted a lack of unanimity.\n<\/p>\n
\n At an emergency session, the United States urged strong condemnation of the Palestinian Islamists, who rule the blockaded Gaza Strip and launched a surprise assault and kidnapping operation on Saturday.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They're obviously not all,\" senior US diplomat Robert Wood told reporters after the closed-door session.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything,\" said Wood, in a clear allusion to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated sharply since its invasion of Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n
\n Diplomats said the Security Council did not consider any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"My message was to stop the fighting immediately and to go to a ceasefire and to meaningful negotiations, which was told for decades\" by the Security Council, said Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This is partly the result of unresolved issues,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n China, generally Russia's ally at the Security Council, said it would support a joint statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It's abnormal that the Security Council doesn't say anything,\" said Ambassador Zhang Jun, who earlier promised Chinese support for a condemnation of \"all attacks against civilians.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Ahead of the session, Israel's ambassador, Gilad Erdan, showed graphic pictures of Israeli civilians being taken captive by Hamas.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"These are war crimes -- blatant, documented war crimes,\" Erdan told reporters outside of the Security Council.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This unimaginable -- unimaginable -- atrocity must be condemned,\" he said of the Security Council.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Israel must be given steadfast support to defend ourselves -- to defend the free world.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The Palestinian ambassador -- who represents the West Bank-centered Palestinian Authority and not rival Hamas -- called on the Security Council to focus on ending Israeli occupation.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Regrettably, history for some media and politicians starts when Israelis are killed,\" said the envoy, Riyad Mansour.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This is not a time to let Israel double-down on its terrible choices. This is a time to tell Israel it needs to change course, that there is a path to peace where neither Palestinians nor Israelis are killed.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The Palestinian Authority and Israel were not part of the closed-door meeting, as neither are currently members on the Security Council.\n<\/p>\n
\n The representative of the United Arab Emirates -- which normalized relations with Israel as part of a landmark 2020 deal -- expected more Security Council meetings on the crisis.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I think everyone understands that today the situation is one of grave concern,\" said the UAE ambassador, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Many members of the Council believe that a political horizon leading to a two-state solution is the only way to finally solve this conflict,\" she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Numerous members of the UN Security Council denounced Hamas on Sunday over its massive assault on Israel but the United States regretted a lack of unanimity. At an emergency session, the United States urged strong condemnation of the Palestinian Islamists, who rule the blockaded Gaza Strip and launched a surprise assault and kidnapping operation on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-122865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n