UNITED NATIONS: The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, drawing criticism of the Biden administration for once again blocking international action aimed at halting the 13-month conflict. The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members that called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” and separately demanded the release of Israeli prisoners. Only the US against, using its veto as a permanent member to block the resolution. Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, said Washington had made clear it would only support a resolution that explicitly calls for the immediate release of prisoners as part of a ceasefire. China says setting a precondition for ceasefire is tantamount to giving the green light to continue the war Robert Wood said the US had sought compromise, but the text of the proposed resolution would have sent a “dangerous message” to Hamas that “there’s no need to come back to the negotiating table”. Israel has killed nearly 44,000 people in Gaza. Members roundly criticised Washington for blocking the resolution put forward by the Security Council’s 10 elected members: Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Moza­mbique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland. “It is deeply regretted that due to the use of the veto, this council has once again failed to uphold its responsibility to maintain international peace and security,” Malta’s UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier said after the vote failed, adding that the text of the resolution “was by no means a maximalist one”. “It represented the bare minimum of what is needed to begin to address the desperate situation on the ground,” she said. President Joe Biden, who leaves office on Jan 20, has offered Israel strong diplomatic backing and continued to provide arms to the Jewish state, while trying unsuccessfully to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. After on Gaza, Washington abstained from a that allowed a resolution to pass demanding an immediate ceasefire. A senior US official said Britain had put forward new language that the US would have supported as a compromise, but that was rejected by the elected members. Some members were more interested in bringing about a US veto than compromising on the resolution, the official said, accusing Russia and China of encouraging those members. France’s ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said the resolution rejected by the US “very firmly” required the release of Israeli prisoners. China’s UN ambassador, Fu Cong, said each time the US had exercised its veto to protect Israel, the number of people killed in Gaza had steadily risen. “How many more people have to die before they wake up from their pretend slumber? Insistence on setting a precondition for ceasefire is tantamount to giving the green light to continue the war and condoning the continued killing.” Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said before the vote the text was not a resolution for peace, but “a resolution for appeasement” of Hamas.