US vetoes UN resolution demanding ceasefire in Gaza over exclusion of hostage release

The United States vetoed the United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an "immediate and permanent" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip over the measure not having the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a condition for the truce. 

The resolution, which was backed by 14 of the 15 member states, also did not say that Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, has to disarm and depart the war-torn enclave, and it did not condemn the group for its Oct.