Full transcript of “Brave act by Pakistan; calls US veto blocking food for Gaza children ‘moral stain’|Janta Ka Reporter”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 The result of the voting is as follows. 14 votes in favor, one vote against, zero abstension. The draft resolution has not been adopted owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of the council. Any product that undermines our close ally, Israel security, is a non-starter. The veto cast today sends an extremely dangerous message. This will remain not only a moral stain on the conscience of this council but a fateful moment of political abdication that will reverberate for generations. What is unfolding is not
0:47 merely war but the systematic destruction of a people. war crimes, genocide. Blaming Israel and making spurious accusations of genocide is not only inaccurate, it is dangerous. Not least because doing so buoys Hamas. And I give the floor now to the representative of the United States. Thank you, Madame President. Colleagues, the US opposition to this resolution should come as no surprise. It is unacceptable for what it does say. It is unacceptable for what it does not say. And it is unacceptable for the manner in which it has been
1:33 advanced. The United States has been clear. We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza. In recent months, Hamas has rejected numerous ceasefire proposals, including one over the weekend that would provide a pathway to end this conflict and release the remaining 58 hostages. We cannot allow the Security Council to reward Hamas's intransigence. After all, it was Hamas who started this brutal conflict on October 7th, 2023 when Hamas perpetrated the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas has sustained it ever
2:19 since in a manner that threatens Israel's security and prolongs Palestinian anguish. It is Hamas that continues to threaten Israelis and puts Palestinian civilians in Gaza in harm's way every day, using them as human shields. They have brutally suppressed those brave enough to challenge its despotic rule. It is inexplicable that many members of this council still refuse to acknowledge that Hamas could end this conflict tomorrow by surrendering and laying down its arms. It is unconscionable that the UN still has not labeled and sanctioned Hamas as a terrorist organization. In addition to refusing
3:05 once again to condemn Hamas for the cowardly and evil acts that set this brutal conflict into motion, this resolution contains other serious defects. The United States has taken the very clear position since this conflict began that Israel has a right to defend itself, which includes defeating Hamas and ensuring they are never again in a position to threaten Israel. In this regard, any product that undermines our close ally, Israel's security, is a non-starter. This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground and emboldens Hamas. This resolution also draws false
3:51 equivalence between Israel and Hamas, which is both wrong and dangerous. This resolution seeks an, and I quote, immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire close quote that would leave Hamas in a position to carry out future October 7th attacks as it has promised. This resolution refuses to acknowledge the disastrous shortcomings of the prior method of aid delivery which allowed Hamas to enrich itself at the expense of Palestinians and failed to get food and water to those who needed it most. No one wants to see Palestinian civilians in Gaza go hungry or thirsty.
4:37 We instead urge the UN and NOS's to support the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to help it safely deliver aid without being diverted by Hamas. The GHF has emphasized it will deliver aid consistent with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. Colleagues, we've been clear that in order to move forward, Hamas and other terrorists must have no future in Gaza. As Secretary Rubio has said, if an ember survives, it will spark again into a fire. This council should use its power to pressure Hamas to accept the proposal
5:23 on the table. Only after the terror group's removal can Israel be secure within its own borders, and can Gaza advance toward a brighter and more prosperous future. The United States has worked tirelessly with Egypt and Qatar to bring an end to this horrific conflict for the sake of the region's people. They want a path forward with opportunity and the prospect of a better tomorrow. Israelis yearn for a future where they aren't threatened by daily rocket barges and other acts of terrorism. Palestinians deserve an opportunity to rebuild their lives free of Iran and the influence of its insidious terrorist proxies. Rather than push forward a
6:10 resolution that unjustly rewards terrorism, undermines negotiations, and allows Thran to continue fermenting instability. Let's instead demand that Hamas surrender, disarm, and leave Gaza forever for the sake of all the region's people. Moreover, we need to be perfectly clear. Performative actions in this council designed to draw a veto as evidenced by the process of formulating this resolution wherein there was no true negotiation are harmful at a time when there is delicate diplomacy going on in the region to reach a ceasefire. Further, engaging in this performative
6:57 process at a time when serious questions are being asked about the utility of the UN, its funding and use of resources is shameful. This council should not be used in this way. This council must hold itself to a higher standard. Meanwhile, we've had our negotiators on the ground trying to hammer out a real agreement to get hostages released, get a ceasefire, and provide humanitarian assistance. Finally, the United States will never stop working to free all the hostages, including the remains of four Americans murdered by Hamas, who have now been held in squalid conditions for 607 days. They will not be left behind.
7:44 Thank you. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. Will those in favor of the draft resolution contained in document S 2025 so 353 please raise their hand. Those against abstensions. The result of the voting is as follows. 14 votes in favor, one vote against, zero
8:29 abstension. The draft resolution has not been adopted owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of the council. and I now give the floor to the representative of Pakistan. Thank you, Madame President. It is a sad day, another low in the history of this August body that is entrusted with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Pakistan deeply regrets the failure of this council to adopt the draft resolution tabled by the 10 elected
9:14 members and which was an effort to address one of the most grave and sustained humanitarian catastrophes of our time. Once again, the elected members have shown that they are here ready and willing to fully assume the responsibilities that have been entrusted to them by being members of this council on behalf of the general membership. Madame President, we are appalled that this council once again stands immobilized in the face of mass suffering, atrocity, and unfold
10:01 tragedy. Unfolding tragedy, I'm sorry. The veto cast today sends an extremely dangerous message that the lives of over two million Palestinians besieged, starved and relentlessly bombarded are indispensable, are dispensable. This will remain not only a moral stain on the conscience of this council but a fateful moment of political abdication that will reverberate for generations. We have heard yet again the familiar refrain that this is not the right time
10:47 and that space must be given to ongoing negotiations. But how much more space do we need? Space filled with rubble, graves, and the anguished cries of children. How much more time do we need? What amount of evidence do we need before we say enough and put to stop this barbarity and savagery perpetrated under a brutal occupation? While this council deliberated and delayed, Gaza has been decimated. This is no longer a
11:34 humanitarian crisis. It is a collapse of humanity and of international law and all that this council is supposed to stand for. As the president of the ICRC noted, Gaza is worse than hell on earth. Over 54,000 civilians have been killed. Among them, 28,000 women and girls and 18,000 children. In the last 24 hours alone, nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 400 wounded. Entire neighborhoods lie in ruin. Famine stalks the land. Disease and despair now spread more quickly than any aid can arrive.
12:22 And while Gaza bleeds and this council has been muzzled, the world has spoken. The International Court of Justice has issued binding provisional measures. The General Assembly has adopted numerous resolutions. the United Nations, humanitarian organizations, global civil society, people on the streets across the world, and increasingly voices from within Israel itself have recognized that what is unfolding is not merely war, but the systematic destruction of a people, war crimes, genocide.
13:08 Madam President, in one of the most chilling developments, Palestinian civilians have been shot and killed while attempting to access food. And we think that to kill innocent civilians for seeking bread and water is not only a war crime. It is a tragic indictment of a system that crim criminalizes survival and militarizes humanitarian aid in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. Air dropped from the sky or delivered under armed escort is not a
13:53 solution. It is a spectacle. And to defend these arrangements is not pragmatism. It is a moral failure. It is totally unacceptable. The draft resolution before us today was objective, balanced, principled, and rooted firmly in the UN charter and the most basic tenets of humanitarian law. It asked for no more than what any human being deserves. Food for starving children, medicine for the wounded, shelter for the displaced, the right to life, an end to killing
14:39 therefore and it also asked for the release of the hostages and it is also supporting the efforts that are underway to bring about a ceasefire that even such modest urgent demands could not pass underscores the depth of this council's dysfunction. Let us be clear, this failure will not go down in records as a mere procedural footnote. It will be remembered as a complicity, a green light for continued annihilation, a moment where the entire world was expecting action. But yet again, this council was
15:26 blocked and prevented by one member from carrying out its responsibility. Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle for dignity, justice, and self-determination. We reiterate our calls for an immediate unconditional and permanent ceasefire, full unfettered humanitarian access, and an end to the inhumane blockade of Gaza. A just, lasting, and comprehensive solution to the question of Palestine rooted in international law and based on the establishment of a viable, contiguous, and sovereign
16:12 Palestinian state. on pre-1967 borders with al-guds al-Sharif as its capital in accordance with relevant UN resolutions. History will judge how each member of this council chose to respond at this hour of moral reckoning. Together with the majority of the council members, Pakistan stands firmly on the side of humanity of legality and justice. We urge the holdouts to do the same before Gaza becomes not only a wound on the world's conscience but a permanent scar on the credibility of this council when President But we don't end
16:59 here. We're not going to lay idle. We are going to continue and redouble our efforts for the cause of peace. In line with our responsibility as responsible member of this council, we will continue to call for accountability and an end to impunity that Israel, the occupying power, continues to enjoy. We shall continue to recall and remind that the root cause of the problem, the challenges confronting the region is the decadesl long illegal Israeli occupation of the Arab lands, including the occupied
17:45 Palestinian territories. The way forward in our view is in addressing and tackling that root cause head on. That is by ending the occupation. It is not by mercilessly and mindlessly killing the Palestinians who are the oppressed people in this case or by making them starve or by trying to evict them from their lands or by suppressing their voice or by denying them their legitimate and internationally recognized right to self-determination. because we know that that's not going to
18:31 work. For the brave, dignified, and resilient people of Palestine are not going to give up. They're not going to give up their right. And they're not alone. The entire international community is on their side. And that support is going to be evident later this month at the General Assembly. not this council but at the general assembly where the international conference the high level conference on Palestine and the two-state solution is going to be held and we are certain that it will be a resounding call for the Palestinian rights and irreversible path to
19:17 two-state solution and Palestinian statethood and full membership of the United Nations. We shall revert to the council as and when required as has been said by the distinguished representative of Algeria and we expect that the council will shoulder its responsibility towards Palestine and the in the interest of maintaining peace and security in the Middle East. I thank you president. I would like to respond to a disturbing comment made by a member and I just want to reiterate that Israel has a right to defend itself and it has taken numerous measures to limit harm to civilians and
20:05 address humanitarian needs. The loss of civilian life in Gaza is tragic. We all mourn this. But the responsibility for this rests with Hamas, which could stop the fighting today by freeing the hostages and agreeing to the ceasefire terms already accepted by Israel. Blaming Israel and making spurious accusations of genocide is not only inaccurate, it is dangerous. Not least because doing so buoys Hamas.
