Israel, US suffer setback as discord emerges in UNSC over Hamas attack

An emergency United Nations Security Council meeting Sunday failed to unanimously take a position against Hamas, a setback to the US and Israel, as Russia and China urge the members to take a broader view of the situation to resolve the decades-long crisis after Palestinian resistance group struck heavily on Tel Aviv Saturday.

A number of members of the UN Security Council maintained their stance in favour of Israel as it suffered a massive assault but the US regretted that there was no general agreement on the issue, which indicates the delicacy of the situation.

Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the UN said, "my message was to stop the fighting immediately and to go to a ceasefire and to meaningful negotiations, which was told for decades."

"This is partly the result of unresolved issues," he said.

As many as 370 Palestinians have been martyred in aerial bombing by Israeli jets on the residential areas in the besieged Gaza Strip while the death toll of the zionists surged to over 700, according to media reports.

The number of martyrs from the Palestinian side rose to 417, including 78 children, and 2,300 wounded by Israeli air strikes in Gaza since Saturday.

Over 100 Israelis were held hostage by Hamas, the Israeli media reported.

The closed-door session urged the members to unanimously condemn the Hamas attack — launched due to unabated Israeli brutality and fierce blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They're obviously not all," the US diplomat Robert Wood said as he deplored a discord in the UN body of permanent 5.

"You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything," Wood said in a clear indication to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated since it launched its special military operation against Ukraine.

There was no consideration of any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia calling for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.

"It's abnormal that the Security Council doesn't say anything," Ambassador Zhang Jun said.

Entering the session, Israel's ambassador, Gilad Erdan, showed graphic pictures of Israeli civilians being taken captive by Hamas, without mentioning the brutality carried out by his own country for years on the innocent Palestinians.

"This unimaginable — unimaginable — atrocity must be condemned," he said of the Security Council without mentioning the role his country played in marrying thousands of civilians, women and children over the years.

The Palestinian ambassador — who represents the West Bank-centered Palestinian Authority and not rival Hamas — called on the Security Council to focus on ending Israeli occupation.

"Regrettably, history for some media and politicians starts when Israelis are killed," said the envoy, Riyad Mansour.

"This is not a time to let Israel double down on its terrible choices. This is a time to tell Israel it needs to change course, that there is a path to peace where neither Palestinians nor Israelis are killed," he pointed out.