'Strong disappointment': China criticizes US veto of resolution on Gaza

China on Tuesday expressed "strong disappointment" after the United States vetoed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, Reuters reported.

"China expresses its strong disappointment at and dissatisfaction with the US veto," said China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, according to the report.

"The US veto sends a wrong message, pushing the situation in Gaza into a more dangerous one," Zhang continued, adding that objection to ceasefire in Gaza is "nothing different from giving the green light to the continued slaughter".

His comments came hours after the United States vetoed a draft resolution, put forward by Algeria, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

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.

In mid-December, the Security Council approved a resolution calling for a temporary truce in Gaza to allow increased aid into the Strip and the immediate release of hostages who were kidnapped during Hamas' October 7 in southern Israel.

Earlier that month, the Security Council attempted a vote on a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, but the US vetoed the proposal.

In mid-October, a Russian-drafted UN Security Council resolution, that would have called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the war in Gaza, failed to pass after it did not achieve the minimum nine votes needed in the 15-member body.

The text was controversial because, while it referred to Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, it did not directly name Hamas, whose terrorists murdered at least 1,200 people in Israel on October 7.

In late October, Russia and China vetoed a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on the war between Israel and Hamas.