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Israel’s UN Ambassador Accuses Security Council of ‘Whitewashing’ Terrorist Crimes After Gaza War Vote
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan addresses the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York City, US, March 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations accused the UN Security Council (UNSC) of “whitewashing” the crimes of terrorists in a speech to the body on Friday.
After the US introduced a resolution to the UNSC calling for a temporary ceasefire to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan addressed the international body.
The resolution, which called for a six-week break in fighting, was vetoed by China and Russia because the ceasefire would only be temporary. The measure included a call for the release of the hostages still being held by Hamas, and it did not condemn plans for Israel to operate in Rafah — the Palestinian terrorist group’s last stronghold in Gaza.
In response, Erdan said, “The American resolution – should it have passed – would have marked a moment of morality for the UN, a place where good is evil, and justice is injustice. It would have been the very first time that this council — or any UN body — condemned Hamas and their brutal massacre.”
“Yet sadly,” he continued, “for purely political reasons, this resolution did not pass, and terrorists can continue benefiting from this council whitewashing their crimes.”
Erdan took aim at the international community for repeating Hamas-supplied casualty numbers uncritically. “Numbers supplied by the terrorists are thrown around and quoted as if they are word of God. Yet in essence, these numbers are merely the lies of Hamas that the UN is so quick to parrot,” he said.
Analysis of Hamas’ numbers suggests they systematically overcount civilian casualties.
In response to the veto, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “For all the fiery rhetoric, we all know that Russia and China are not doing anything diplomatically to advance a lasting peace or to meaningfully contribute to the humanitarian response effort.”
This is the latest in a long line of Security Council resolutions about the Israel-Hamas war where the US does not see eye to eye with China and Russia.
Within 10 days of the war starting, the US vetoed a China-backed resolution that called for humanitarian pauses to the fighting because it did not mention Israel’s right to self-defense. Then, about a month later, the US abstained from a resolution that called for a ceasefire to allow for Israeli hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. And, in early December, the US vetoed another China-backed resolution that called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza because a ceasefire would allow Hamas to stay in power and, thus, do nothing to prevent future war.
Erdan argued too much of the international community does not understand the truth about the war. “For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy!” he said. “For Hamas, civilian deaths are a strategy. And sadly, you are playing into Hamas’ strategy exactly as they predicted. Condemn the tunnels under schools! Condemn the exploitation of hospitals for terror! Hold Hamas accountable!”
Since Hamas launched the war with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, Israeli officials have lambasted UN leadership for what they described as emboldening Hamas and maintaining a bias against the Jewish state.
The post Israel’s UN Ambassador Accuses Security Council of ‘Whitewashing’ Terrorist Crimes After Gaza War Vote first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.