It was not clear if any other Security Council member state besides the U. S. rejected the draft statement.<\/b>
\nAhmad Gharabli\/AFP\/Getty Images
The U. S. on Tuesday blocked a United Nations Security Council statement seeking an investigation into the violence that broke out on the Israel-Gaza border Monday.
According to The Independent, the statement expressed \u201coutrage and sorrow\u201d over the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, who were shot by the Israeli military during protests following the opening of a new U. S. embassy in Jerusalem, and called for an \u201cindependent and transparent investigation\u201d into the deaths.
It also called on \u201call sides to exercise restraint with a view to averting further escalation and establishing calm.\u201d
It was not clear if any other Security Council member state besides the U. S. rejected the draft statement. A Security Council meeting, called by Kuwait, will be held on Tuesday to discuss the violence.
Both the meeting and the proposed resolution come after tens of thousands of Palestinians protested the opening of the embassy, which solidifies President Donald Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.
The death toll along the border reached the largest number since the 2014 Gaza war. At least 772 other Palestinian protesters were wounded, with 86 in serious or critical condition, the Gaza Health Ministry reported.
On Monday, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said that the responsibility for the deaths \u201crests squarely with Hamas,\u201d and said the Trump administration supports Israel\u2019s \u201cright to defend itself.\u201d
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t lose sight of the fact that Hamas is the one that, frankly, bears responsibility for the entire situation right now,\u201d he said .
U. S. allies in Europe, like France and Britain, have openly condemned Israel\u2019s response to the protesters.
Alistair Burt, the United Kingdom\u2019s minister for the Middle East, said Israel should \u201cshow greater restraint,\u201d but agreed with the view that it should have its right to defend its borders.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to discuss \u201cthe violence of Israeli armed forces against demonstrators.\u201d
Kelcey Caulder is a News Fellow at IJR. Previously, she worked with the web team at the Los Angeles Times and led the Student Press Law Center\u2019s campa… more<\/p>\n

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