UNSC denounces Israeli strike on Gaza school, blames US for weapons supply

U.N. Security Council members denounced the Israeli military's recent attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza that killed at least 100 Palestinians, while Russia and China held the U.S. accountable for the incident due to weapons support.

"When pushing for Security Council Resolution 2735, the U.S. claimed that Israel had accepted a cease-fire agreement, but the reality is quite the opposite," Fu Cong, Permanent Representative of China to the U.N., told the Council during an emergency session on Palestine on Tuesday that was requested by Algeria.

Saying there are no "credible signs of Israel's commitment to a cease-fire," Cong said "what we see is ever-expanding military operations and ever-rising civilian casualties."

The Chinese envoy noted that the U.S. is the "largest supplier of weapons" to Israel and has enough influence over the country.

"We hope that the U.S. will take sincere and responsible actions to push Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza as soon as possible, and to stop slaughtering civilians," he added.

Reminding that "civilian lives must not be trivialized," Cong condemned the recent Israeli attack on Al-Tabeen School in eastern Gaza and also reports of sexual violence committed by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian prisoners.

Amid the callouts, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday approved more than $20 billion in new weapons sales to Israel, brushing aside pressure from rights activists to stop arms deliveries over the death toll in Gaza.

Russian envoy Dmitry Polyanskiy told the Council that his country is "extremely shaken" by the attack on the school and expressed Russia's "sincere condolences to the families of those who died, and we wish a speedy...