Syria condemned the United States veto of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, "diplomatically" shielding its ally.

Thirteen Security Council members voted in favor of a brief draft resolution, presented through the UAE, and Britain abstained. The vote came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked the UN charter’s Article 99 for it on Wednesday. The US Deputy Representative at the UN, Robert Wood, said the resolution was "divorced from reality" and "would have not moved the needle forward on the ground."

The US resort to its veto power comes after the Palestinian Health Ministry revealed that the death toll from the Israeli aggression on Gaza has risen to 17,487 martyrs, over 70% of which are children and women, with 56,400 citizens injured with various injuries since the launch of the Israeli war on October 7.

The Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry expressed in a statement that this veto indicates for the "umpteenth time, that the United States is not only an accomplice in this massacre, but is the one that is waging a war in the Gaza Strip with the sole purpose of annihilating the Palestinian people."

The Ministry also emphasized that the Western support for "Israel" under the guise of "self-defense" is the epitome of hypocrisy, adding that this support can "only be interpreted as permission" for the Israeli occupation to continue its genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.

Ezzat el-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said late on Friday that the movement strongly condemns the US veto that blocked a UAE-drafted UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, adding that the Palestinian Resistance group considers Washington's decision "unethical and inhumane."

Hiding behind the US support, the Israeli occupation's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said he thanked Washington and US President Joe Biden for vetoing the resolution.

I thank the United States and President Biden for standing firmly by our side, today and showing their leadership and values. On this Hanukkah holiday, a little of the light dispelled a lot of the darkness.

It is shocking that while Hamas is firing rockets at Israel from…

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) December 8, 2023

After the US vetoed the draft resolution, Human Rights Watch UN director, Louis Charbonneau, took to X to point out that "by continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the US risks complicity in war crimes."

.@hrw: The US used its veto again to prevent the Security Council from making some of the calls the US itself has been demanding of #Israel & Palestinian armed groups, including compliance w/ int’l humanitarian law, protection of civilians & releasing all civilians held hostage. pic.twitter.com/VGnWBEkxwL

— louis charbonneau (@loucharbon) December 8, 2023