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U.S. blocking call for Israel-Hamas cease-fire

The U.S. prevented the U.N. Security Council from issuing a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.

People inspect the rubble from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City
People inspect the rubble from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City (AN/B’Tselem)

UNITED NATIONS (AN) — The United States prevented U.N. Security Council diplomats from issuing a statement on Sunday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the latest eruption of violence, the worst since 2014's Gaza War, between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.

At an emergency online session of the 15-nation council, China, Norway and Tunisia gained near-unanimous backing for their proposed statement but failed to win approval from Israel's ally, the United States, one of five permanent veto-wielding members of the United Nations' most powerful body. China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom hold the other four permanent seats.

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