UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Thursday vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution that would have demanded Israel immediately lift all restrictions on humanitarian access and delivery in Gaza.

The draft would have also called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the unconditional, dignified and immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups.

The draft, put forward by the 10 elected members of the Security Council, won 14 votes in favor among the 15-member council. The United States, a permanent member of the council, has veto power.

The U.S. veto drew widespread criticism in the Security Council.

Algerian UN ambassador Amar Bendjama said that the 14 council members who voted in favor of the draft resolution have acted with conscience, echoing the calls of the international public opinion.

"Again, this council failed -- another scar of the conscience of humanity," he said, adding that it is a shame in the face of a genocide unfolding before open eyes.

"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," he said.

Somali UN ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman depicted Thursday's voting result as "a profound moral failure."

He said the draft is grounded in the very language and spirit of the UN Charter, which all member states have vowed to uphold. The draft resolution demanded the bare minimum. Yet, time and again, the Security Council has been blocked from action.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said China is deeply disappointed at the result of the vote.

The Gaza conflict has dragged on for almost two years, creating an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. The Security Council has tried time and again to act. Yet every time its attempts were blocked by the United States, he said.

Israel must halt its military offensive in Gaza and stop taking any dangerous moves that would escalate tension. China hopes the United States will work with the international community, take up an impartial and responsible position, and make efforts toward a ceasefire, said Fu.

The Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The United States, as a permanent member of the council, should have a clear vision of its own responsibilities, support the council in effectively carrying out its duty and safeguard the authority of the United Nations, rather than the opposite, he added.

Russian UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that there will be no breakthrough on the Middle East question as long as Washington's perception of the Gaza crisis remains unchanged, and as long as it views multilateral diplomacy at the United Nations as an obstacle rather than a critically important tool.

"The UN Security Council will remain a helpless witness to this catastrophe, paralyzed not by some inherent structural flaw, but by the will -- or more accurately by the lack thereof -- of one single delegation," he said.

On the U.S. claim that the draft resolution, if adopted, would undermine diplomacy on the ground, Nebenzia said the Israeli attack on Qatar, a major mediator of the Gaza conflict, bears evidence of Israel's lack of interest in peace.

"That act was, essentially, an assault on the very idea of attaining an agreement. It discredited any assertions that Israel is allegedly ready to embrace diplomacy and reach a deal. Blaming Hamas for derailing the talks, as our American colleagues are persistently doing, is utterly absurd," he said.

British UN ambassador Barbara Woodward regretted that the Security Council was unable to reach a consensus on the draft resolution.

"We need a ceasefire more than ever. And yet Israel's reckless expansion of its military operation takes us further away from a deal which could bring the hostages home and end the suffering in Gaza," she said.

"We are witnessing an entirely man-made famine in Gaza and images of starving Palestinians killed, while desperately seeking scraps of food for their families," she said. "We urge Israel's government to end the bloodshed, which has already cost the lives of 65,000 Palestinians, and to immediately lift its restrictions on the entry of aid and allow the UN and humanitarian agencies to save lives." Enditem