Malta’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Ian Borg said that the island decided to abstain from a UN Security Council vote on a resolution calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza because it did not have a “strong condemnation of Hamas”.

The resolution was presented by Russia and put up for voting yesterday. It was rejected after receiving five votes in favour and four against.

However, Malta was neither in favour nor against such a ceasefire because it abstained, and Borg told Lovin Malta that this was decided since Russia was not open to comments or amendments.

“Late on Friday, Russia forwarded a resolution on the ongoing situation in Israel and Gaza and informed us that a vote was to be taken on it on Monday.”

“After careful consideration and in line with the views of most Council members, we determined that the text did not have a strong condemnation of Hamas’s terrorist acts.”

“Given that the Russians were not ready to take on board any comments or amendments, Malta decided to join the other five Council members in abstaining from the vote on the resolution.”

The other members that abstained were Brazil, Albania, Ecuador, Ghana, and Switzerland.

This reasoning echoed that of the US whose representative argued that the lack of condemnation of Hamas means that it “cannot allow” the Council to shift the blame to Israel and “excuse Hamas for its decades of cruelty”.

Since Permanent Members of the Council possess veto power and three of them voted against the resolution (the US, the UK, and France), the resolution was ultimately rejected.

This means that even if Malta voted in favour, the resolution would still have not gone through. 

The fourth state to vote against the resolution was long-time Western ally Japan, while those that voted in favour were China, Gabon, Mozambique, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Do you agree with Borg’s reasoning?