The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told a private meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday that Washington believes a public statement by the body would not help calm tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.
"We have not been silent and neither have you," Thomas-Greenfield told the 15-member body's third closed meeting on the violence, according to a UN diplomat familiar with her remarks.
"Our focus has been and will continue to be on an intensive diplomatic engagement to bring this violence to an end," she said. "President Biden expressed support for a ceasefire."