U.S. defends its veto of call for Gaza cease-fire while Palestinians and others demand fighting stop

The United States defended its veto of a call for the immediate suspension of hostilities in Gaza at a UN meeting Tuesday and again faced demands by the Palestinians and many other countries for a ceasefire now in the Israel-Hamas war - as well as by a group of rabbis in the gallery. U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood called the Russian-proposed amendment to a Dec. 22 Security Council resolution which it vetoed "disconnected from the situation on the ground." The council then adopted a watered-down resolution, with the U.S. abstaining, calling for urgent steps to immediately allow expanded humanitarian aid…