US vetoes UN resolution demanding immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza

More than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The Security Council meets before voting on a resolution concerning a ceasefire in Gaza at the United Nations’ headquarters (Seth Wenig/AP)

The United States has vetoed an Arab-backed UN resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the embattled Gaza Strip.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the wide global support for ending the more than four-month war that started with Hamas’s surprise invasion of southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage.