NEW YORK: UN Security Council members criticised the United States Wednesday after it vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington said undermined ongoing diplomacy.

It was the 15-member body’s first vote on the situation since November, when the United States – a key Israeli ally – also blocked a text calling for an end to fighting.

“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground and emboldens Hamas,” Washington’s United Nations envoy Dorothy Shea said ahead of Wednesday’s 14 to 1 vote, with the US casting the lone vote against.

“This resolution also draws false equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” she said. The draft resolution had demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties”.

It also called for the “immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups”. Underlining a “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian territory, the resolution, had it passed, would have demanded the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“This will remain not only a moral stain on the conscience of this council, but a fateful moment of political application that will reverberate for generations,” said Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN Asim Ahmad.

China’s ambassador to the UN Fu Cong said “today’s vote result once again exposes that the root cause of the council’s inability to quell the conflict in Gaza is the repeated obstruction by the US”.

The veto marks Washington’s first such action since US President Donald Trump took office in January. Israel has faced growing international pressure to end its war in Gaza, which was triggered by the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israeli soil.

That scrutiny has increased over flailing aid distribution in Gaza, which Israel blocked for more than two months before allowing a small number of UN vehicles to enter in mid-May. The United Nations said that was not enough to meet the humanitarian needs.