US Defends Israel’s Massacre against Palestinians, Blocks UNSC Statement Calling for Independent and Transparent Investigation

NEW YORK- Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, has defended Israel’s use of force against peaceful Palestinian protesters, claiming that the Tel Aviv regime had reacted with restraint in its military response to protesters at the Gaza border.

Haley was speaking at a United Nations Security Council emergency session dedicated for discussing the situation along the border between the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied territories, a day after Israeli troops unleashed a brutal crackdown on Palestinian protesters, killing dozens of people and wounding over 2,700 others.

Yesterday protests marked the climax of a six-week demonstration on the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), May 15, when the Israel entity was created.

 “No country in this chamber would act with more restraint than Israel has,” Haley told the Council defending the Israeli massacre.

 “In fact the records of several countries here today suggest they would be much less restrained,” she claimed, according to Press TV.

She dismissed suggestions that the violence was caused by the opening of the US embassy in al-Quds.

The United States has also blocked the adoption of a UN Security Council statement that called for an “independent and transparent investigation” into Israel’s killing of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border.

The statement, drafted by Kuwait ahead of a meeting on Tuesday, expressed “outrage and sorrow” at the deaths of at least 58 people during demonstrations over the opening of the American embassy in al-Quds.

It also demanded that all countries comply with a decades-old Security Council resolution calling on them not to station diplomatic missions in the occupied holy city.

Almost all ambassadors said Israel bears a responsibility to keep its response proportionate, and not use live ammunition on civilians.

Palestinian UN envoy  Riyad Mansour accused Israel of armed aggression against the Palestinian people, and accused the US of trampling international law in Monday’s decision to move US embassy to l-Quds.

“No country has the right to place its embassy on occupied land,” Mansour said, adding that international agreements, including those created at the UN, demand that the status of al-Quds be defined in the course of peace negotiations between [Israel] and Palestine.

“This is another decision where the US administration is totally ignoring our feelings and our legitimate rights, and the feelings of Muslims, Christians, and all monotheistic religions throughout the world,” Mansour said.

The ambassador said Trump’s decision displays disregard for world opinion, including Security Council resolutions. “This is a superpower which must first and foremost defend international law, a superpower that must protect the resolutions of the Security Council as a permanent member of this body. They must adhere to international law, not wipe their feet with it,” he said.

White House Blames Palestinians for Israel’s massacre of Gaza protesters

The White House has defended Israel’s deadly crackdown on protesters in the Gaza Strip, laying the blame on Palestinians for partaking in demonstrations “organized” by Hamas movement.

“We believe that Hamas is responsible for what’s going on,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in a press briefing. “We believe that Hamas as an organization is engaged in cynical action that is leading to these deaths.”

“Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response,” he claimed, adding, that “Israel has the right to defend itself.”

Hamda Mustafa