The United States for a second week in a row has blocked a U.N. Security Council statement supporting the right of Palestinians to demonstrate peacefully and endorsing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for an independent investigation into deadly protests in Gaza.
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York Friday evening that 14 of the 15 council nations agreed to the statement, but the United States, Israel's closest ally, objected.
Mansour called the U.S. rejection "very irresponsible," saying it gives Israel "the green light to continue with their onslaught against the civilian population" in Gaza.
He said the United Nations will keep all its options open including seeking a Security Council presidential statement or resolution, going to the U.N. General Assembly or the Geneva-based Human Rights Council where there are no vetoes, and urging secretary-general Guterres to establish an independent investigation.
"We will not give up," Mansour said. "We will continue knocking on doors."
The Arab League's U.N. Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz said Arab ministers will discuss options to pursue the Palestinian issue at a meeting in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on April 12 ahead of a summit of Arab leaders in the country on April 15.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called on the Security Council to condemn Gaza's Hamas rulers for exploiting children as human shields and to end their provocations.
