United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blasted the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday for failing to agree on a statement condemning Hamas for its rocket attacks on Israel earlier this week, calling such a condemnation a “no-brainer.” She added, “Apparently, some Council members did not think Hamas launching rockets qualified as terrorism. The United States begs to differ.”

Haley had convened an emergency meeting of the Security Council Wednesday following a barrage of more than 100 rockets and mortars fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into Israel  on Tuesday and early Wednesday.

The U.S. ambassador had called on the council to release a statement condemning the rocket and mortar attacks by Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorists. However, statements from the United Nations Security Council must be approved unanimously, and Kuwait, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, vetoed the statement, The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

Kuwait is attempting to introduce its own resolution which “calls for the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon called Kuwait’s machinations “cynical” and “shameful.” He also asserted, “We have no intention for escalation, but if someone will attack Israel, we will attack them back.”

The representatives for the United Kingdom, France, and the European Union all “unequivocally condemned” the Hamas-led attacks.

In her statement, Haley recounted:

The United States called this meeting today to talk about the dangerous and destructive activities of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip. You might think that the rest of the Security Council would join us in condemning a terrorist organization like Hamas. There shouldn’t be any debate about this. But of course, because this attack involves Israel, the standard is different.

The United States drafted a Security Council statement that would have condemned Hamas for launching rockets and endangering civilians. This should have been a no-brainer. You would think no one would want to side with Hamas when it comes to condemning rocket launches. But the statement was blocked.

We called for a meeting under the agenda item “threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.” But again, we were blocked.

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