Algeria has warned the UN Security Council [UNSC] that it risks repeating past failures to prevent genocide after the United States vetoed a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, despite 14 of 15 members backing the measure. Algeria’s envoy to the UN, Amar Bendjama, opened his remarks with an apology to Palestinians. “Forgive us, because the world speaks of rights but denies them to you,” he said. Referring to Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995, Bendjama said: “This council has already failed twice in preventing genocide. Today, it appears we are on the verge of witnessing a third failure. And at this moment, there can be no ambiguity: Each of us must choose either to act to stop the genocide or to be counted among those who were complicit.”
