The Week
China criticizes U.S. for preventing U.N. Security Council statement calling for Israel-Hamas cease-fire
Tensions between the United States and China seem to loom over everything. During Sunday’s United Nations Security Council meeting on the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the U.S. of preventing the council from issuing a unified statement on the situation. China going in hard against US in today’s Israel-Palestine violence debate at UN Security Council So far, after 2 hours of briefing and speeches it’s US vs everyone else, on whether UN shd call for immediate deescalation https://t.co/o1B405tiBo — Ryan Heath (@PoliticoRyan) May 16, 2021 While China’s criticism was the most direct, other nations on the council, including Ireland, Norway, and Mexico reportedly made it clear that crafting a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire is an urgent matter. And Ben Rhodes, who worked as the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting in the Obama administration, tweeted that it “feels increasingly untenable for the U.S. to see this loss of civilian life in Gaza — including so many children — and not publicly call for a cease-fire.” At the moment, the U.S. appears to be sticking to the status quo, however. In her remarks during the council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington is working to end the conflict and will support a cease-fire, but suggested the parties involved in the fighting will have to take the initiative. More stories from theweek.com7 scathingly funny cartoons about Liz Cheney’s ousterVaccinating the worldNetanyahu fiercely defends Israeli air strikes following 42 more civilian deaths in Gaza
