The Palestinian Authority condemned on Tuesday evening the veto imposed by the US on a proposed resolution in the UN Security Council that would oblige Israel to stop the war in the Gaza Strip.
A statement published by the “Palestinian presidency”, which is headed by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, expressed bewilderment over the continued American opposition to ending "the war of extermination waged by the occupation against our people".
"The American veto, which defies the will of the international community, will give another green light to the Israeli occupation state to continue its aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip and to carry out the bloody attack against Rafah," the statement said.
It further claimed that "the American policy provides protection to the authorities of the occupation. This policy makes the US an accomplice in the crime of mass extermination, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes committed by the occupation forces against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, including Jerusalem."
The PA presidency warned that the US policy is a "threat to the world and a danger to security and international peace".
The US earlier vetoed a draft resolution put forward by Algeria at the UN Security Council that demanded an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization.
13 nations voted in favor of the ceasefire resolution, while the UK abstained.
The US has proposed a resolution of its own which calls for a temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and opposing a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza.
A senior US official said on Monday that the Biden administration is not planning “to rush” passage of its Security Council resolution.
“We do not plan to rush our text to a vote. We don’t believe a rush to a vote is necessary or constructive and intend on allowing time for negotiations,” the administration official told Reuters.