US blocks UN Security Council ceasefire statement for third time

The United States blocked a joint statement from the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas for the third time this week after a meeting for the international body on Sunday, The Times of Israel reported citing two diplomats.

Fourteen out of the 15 Council members supported issuing a joint statement after emergency meetings on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday. The statement cannot be put forth without unanimous approval. The statement can still be adopted on Monday.

The US dismissed the effort during the earlier two meetings and instead called for more time for its own diplomatic efforts to play out, several diplomats told the newspaper. The joint statement would have called for an immediate ceasefire, and would have also condemned both Israel and Hamas for the violence.

A US official told the Israeli newspaper that Washington "focused on the intensive diplomatic efforts underway" when asked whether the US will support the joint statement.

At Sunday's meeting, US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on Hamas to immediately stop firing rockets at Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier on Sunday called for an end to the violence, yet failed to issue an explicit a call for a ceasefire.