US vetoes UN resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza because there's no link to a hostage release

[AloeVera]

4. So now the U.S. won't agree to a ceasefire until the hostages are all released?

That's quite a departure.

The U.S. stands alone, once again.

So what was all that effort and show all about for the last 10-months or so? In all of Blinken's negotiations, the Biden Ceasefire Plan etc. the release of hostages was to be part of a phase of the ceasefire, not a pre- condition to it.

The UN resolution in fact demands the immediate release of the hostages. That is the extent of its power. It cannot materialize their release.

So what the U.S. is saying is that it will not agree - ever- to ANY UN Resolution on a ceasefire, because the UN has no power to release hostages. Why didn't it just say that 10 months ago and allow the rest of the world, including the UN, to try to find a solution? Why present a false front to the world on its position, if this is what it always wanted - no ceasefire until after the hostages' release?

Now there is little hope for either the hostages' release or the end to the genocide. The US. position depends entirely on Hamas and I don't see that as good strategy to end the suffering on either side.