The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has met behind closed doors in an emergency session amid the war between Israel and Gaza but failed to achieve the unanimity needed for a joint statement.
Israel retaliated by declaring a state of war and pounding densely populated Gaza, killing hundreds of people.
The Council met for about 90 minutes and heard a briefing from the UN Middle East Peace Envoy Tor Wennesland.
Diplomats said members led by Russia were hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.
The United States called on the council’s 15 members to strongly condemn Hamas.
“There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They’re obviously not all,” senior US diplomat Robert Wood told reporters after the session.
“You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything,” said Wood, in a reference to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated sharply since its invasion of Ukraine.
The council met for about 90 minutes and heard a briefing from the UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland.
Diplomats said members led by Russia were hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.
A statement needs to be agreed upon by consensus.
“My message was to stop the fighting immediately and to go to a ceasefire and to meaningful negotiations, which was told for decades” by the Security Council, said Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN ambassador.
“This is partly the result of unresolved issues,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Israel as part of a landmark 2020 deal, said it expected more UNSC meetings on the crisis.
“I think everyone understands that today, the situation is one of grave concern,” said the UAE Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.
“Many members of the Council believe that a political horizon leading to a two-state solution is the only way to finally solve this conflict,” she said.
