US veto a ‘moral blunder’: Palestinian foreign minister

By Aisar al-Eis

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestine’s foreign minister on Saturday blasted the U.S. veto of a UN resolution calling for the protection of Palestinians as a “moral blunder”.

The U.S. veto “is another moral blunder … and political blindness,” the official Wafa news agency quoted Riyad al-Malki as saying.

“It ignores the international consensus on the crimes and practices committed by Israel and is completely biased.”

Al-Malki stressed that Palestinian diplomacy “will do its best to ensure accountability for the Israeli war criminals and achieving justice for the Palestinian people.”

On May 18, Kuwait submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council condemning Israeli violence and calling for "protection of the Palestinian people" in Gaza and the West Bank.

The U.S. on Friday vetoed the resolution. Ten countries voted in favor, while the U.K., Poland, the Netherlands and Ethiopia abstained.

The resolution, which was revised three times and was said to have been “watered down,” previously called for international protection for the Palestinian people.

The final draft called for “the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the Gaza Strip”.

Since March, at least 118 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army gunfire during anti-occupation protests near the Gaza-Israel security fence.