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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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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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