FORMER PRESIDENT Mary Robinson has said US president Joe Biden is “losing respect all over the world” due to his “support for Israel”.
Robinson made the remarks ahead of a UN Security Council vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Security Council is also discussing the terms of a monitoring system for humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Security Council has only managed to adopt a text calling for “humanitarian pauses” in mid-November.
Five other draft resolutions were rejected, two of them due to US vetoes.
Robinson said such vetoes are “making the world less safe, the Security Council less effective, and US leadership less respected”.
US President Joe Biden has exhibited growing impatience with Israel, warning that its ally risks losing the support of the international community for its “indiscriminate” bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
However, his administration yesterday vowed that it would continue to arm Israel in its campaign against Hamas, even as it called for more humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the devastated Gaza Strip.
In a statement ahead of today’s vote, Robinson said “Biden’s support for Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza is losing him respect all over the world”.
She added that the US is “increasingly isolated” in its position and “cannot afford to be further isolated by vetoing this resolution” which will be voted on later.
However, Robinson remarked that “even if passed, such resolutions are not enough”.
She added that the UN Security Council Resolution 2712 that was agreed last month “is not being fully implemented”.
This resolution, which the United States abstained from, called for “called for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors through the Gaza Strip to facilitate the provision of essential goods and services”.
Robinson said “only a ceasefire will allow for these calls to be met”.
She also noted that “Israeli military action has caused the deaths of Israeli hostages, as well as thousands of Palestinian civilians”.
Israeli soldiers shot dead three hostages last Friday – an Israeli military official said the incident was “against our rules of engagement” and that an investigation is ongoing at the “highest level”.
Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s military has killed more than 19,400 people, mostly women and children, while reducing vast areas to rubble.
-With additional reporting from AFP
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