After vetoing Gaza ceasefire, Ortagus heads to Lebanon amid outrage

Israel has escalated its bombardment of southern Lebanon and Gaza only hours after the United States blocked, for the sixth time in two years, a United Nations Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate ceasefire and the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian enclave. 

The veto, cast on Thursday night by Morgan Ortagus, counsellor at the United States mission to the United Nations and deputy envoy to Lebanon, further cemented Washington's role as Israel's chief diplomatic shield at a time when accusations of genocide in Gaza continue to mount.

The draft resolution, which had the support of 14 out of 15 council members, called on Israel to lift all restrictions on aid entering the enclave, but was struck down by the United States.

Ortagus defended the decision by arguing that the resolution had failed to condemn Hamas or recognise Israel's supposed "right to defend itself", insisting that it had been "deliberately" designed to trigger a veto.

Her raised hand inside the chamber was quickly turned into a viral image that ignited a wave of anger across social media, while outside United Nations headquarters in New York, protesters confronted her directly with chants of "Shame on you!".

Even as Ortagus became the emblem of Washington's complicity in prolonging Gaza's suffering, she is preparing to travel to Beirut this weekend, where she is expected to meet senior Lebanese officials and take part in a session of the ceasefire monitoring committee in Naqoura.

News of the visit has already provoked a storm of condemnation inside Lebanon.

أورتاغوس يعتبرها المتظاهرون من المواطنين في أمريكا أنها مجرمة حرب، بعد استخدامها حق النقض الفيتو في مجلس الأمن لوقف الحرب على غزة، وفي لبنان يعاملها بعض السياسيين كملكة.
عقدة المستعمر. pic.twitter.com/1rO8pQJ0Ce

— Eman Shamsaldeen (@eshamseddin) September 19, 2025

Israel intensifies attacks on Lebanon

Thursday's veto coincided with an escalation of Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon, where airstrikes fiercely struck five towns - Mays al-Jabal, Debbin, Burj Qalawiya, Al-Shahabiya and Kfar Tebnit.

Lebanon's health ministry reported at least one civilian wounded, while local media drew parallels between the intensity of the bombardment and the strikes that set off last year's war on Lebanon, noting that roads were jammed with families desperately trying to flee.

In a statement on Thursday, the Lebanese army said Israel had committed more than 4,500 ceasefire violations since the truce agreement came into force on 27 November 2024.

The army warned that continued strikes were obstructing its deployment plan south of the Litani River, stressing that the attacks had directly targeted civilians, demolished homes, and hindered the mission of extending state authority.

Meanwhile, President Joseph Aoun is expected to carry this message to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday, where he will appeal to the international community to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire and withdraw its forces from occupied border positions.

UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, also condemned Thursday's raids, describing them as a flagrant violation of resolution 1701 and warning that they had endangered civilians, Lebanese soldiers and UN personnel, with peacekeepers in two positions near Burj Qalawiya forced to shelter during the bombardment.

Lebanese anger with Ortagus

The news of Ortagus's imminent arrival in Beirut has inflamed public opinion, with Lebanese activists denouncing her on social media as the "face of genocide" in the wake of the veto and questioning how their government could welcome a United States envoy so closely tied to Israel’s war.

Many described her visit as an insult to Gaza's victims and called for an outright boycott. The anger stood in stark contrast to the images of Ortagus being feted by parts of Beirut's political and media elite earlier this year, which many people have derided. They likened it to the colonial-era flattery of a high commissioner whose authority was reinforced even as atrocities unfolded.

For many in Lebanon, her visit encapsulates the contradiction of a United States that claims to be a guarantor of peace even as it repeatedly shields Israel and its wars in the region at the United Nations.