The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution urging an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and condemning an Israeli attack there that killed 18 Palestinian civilians.
Nine of the council's 15 members voted for the measure, while four abstained: Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia.
But the 'no' vote cast by US Ambassador John Bolton - his second since he arrived at UN headquarters in August 2005 - was enough to kill the resolution.
Bolton's first veto, on 13 July 13, 2006, killed a resolution reacting to an earlier Israeli incursion in Gaza.
The US has cast 82 vetoes in the United Nations' 61 years, and nine of the last 10 council vetoes, seven of which dealt with the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The measure defeated on Saturday was backed by Arab, Islamic and nonaligned nations and formally proposed by Qatar.
It would have called on the Palestinian Authority to 'take immediate and sustained action to bring an end to violence, including the firing of rockets on Israeli territory'.
It would have urged the international community to take steps to stabilize the situation, revive the Middle East peace process and consider 'the possible establishment of an international mechanism' for the protection of civilians.
It also would have condemned Israeli military operations in Gaza and called on the Jewish state to withdraw all troops from Gaza and end its operations in all Palestinian lands.
