By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US vetoed Tuesday the latest attempt at the UN Security Council to demand an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the besieged Gaza Strip where the official death toll rapidly nears 30,000.
The draft resolution put forward by Algeria received widespread support in the Council with 13 of its 15 member states voting in favor. The US was the sole nation to vote against it, and as a permanent Council member, its opposition killed the resolution. The UK, another permanent member, abstained.
The US had signaled its opposition Monday, and put forward a competing draft resolution.
Ahead of the expected US veto, Amar Bendjama, Algeria's UN envoy, decried the text's all but certain fate, saying that a vote in opposition signals support "for murder and hatred."
"Each one of us decides where we stand in this tragic chapter of history," he said before the vote.