Famine is worsening among Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip, aid agencies said, as the United Nations General Assembly prepared to vote Tuesday on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the two-month conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hundreds more civilians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the US on Friday vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes and residents say it is impossible to find shelter or food in the densely populated coastal areas. The UN’s World Food Program says half the population is hungry.
“Famine haunts everyone,” UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, said on X.
Gazans say people forced to flee repeatedly are dying of hunger and cold and bombardment, describing looting of aid trucks and high prices.
Israel said its order for people to evacuate was among measures taken to protect civilians as it tried to crack down on Hamas militants who killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages in an Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel, according to Israeli calculations. About 100 hostages were released.
Palestinian women carry food near a donation center set up by a charity group in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on November 30, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Israeli counterattacks have killed 18,205 people and wounded nearly 50,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The 193-member General Assembly is likely on Tuesday to pass a draft resolution that mirrors language blocked by the United States in the 15-member Security Council last week.
General Assembly resolutions are non-binding but carry political weight and reflect global views.
The rocket launch post used to fire at the Israeli city of Sderot which was attacked by the IAF is shown. IDF
Some diplomats and observers predicted the vote would gain greater support than the October rally’s call for an “immediate, durable and lasting humanitarian ceasefire.”
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The vote came a day after 12 Security Council envoys visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, the only place where humanitarian aid and limited fuel have entered.
The United States did not send a representative on the trip.
Palestinians wait to receive food supplies at an aid distribution center operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Deir El-Balah on Dec. 2023.. ZUMAPRESS.com
US President Joe Biden, who has faced intense criticism for his support of Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks, on Monday told the White House celebration for the Jewish holiday of Hannukah that his commitment to Israel is “unwavering.”
“My friends, if there was no Israel, there would be no safe Jews in the world,” Biden said. He also referred to his complex relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he said was in a “difficult place.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday that Israel is not exempt from US policy that any country that receives its weapons must obey the laws of war.
Workers and staff unload medical aid delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, in December 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Hamas militant group in the Palestinian territories. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images
“We’re monitoring everything that’s happening in this conflict,” Miller said. “We are engaged in conversations with the Israeli government.”
As the war escalates, how and where Israel uses weapons from the US is under increasing scrutiny, although US officials say there are no plans to put conditions on military aid to Israel or consider withholding some of it.
Washington found an image circulating on social media showing Palestinian men detained in Gaza in their underwear “deeply disturbing” and asked Israel to explain the circumstances surrounding the image, Miller added. Israel said the men were stripped to ensure they were not hiding explosives or weapons.
People grieve as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in an airstrike on Dec 11, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Getty Images
The White House also said on Monday it was concerned about reports of Israel using US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon and was seeking more information. The ammunition, which can be legally used on the battlefield to create smoke screens among other uses, can cause serious burns.
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Israel said claims by Human Rights Watch that it used white phosphorus bullets in Gaza and Lebanon were “absolutely false”.
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UN officials said 1.9 million people – 85% of Gaza’s population – were displaced and described conditions in the southern region where they were concentrated as hellish.
To increase the amount of aid reaching Gaza, Israel said on Monday it would increase checks on shipments at the Kerem Shalom border crossing although it did not open the crossing itself.
Most trucks entered the lane at this intersection before the war. Two Egyptian security sources said inspections would begin on Tuesday under a new agreement between Israel, Egypt and the United States.
After the collapse of a week-long ceasefire on December 1, Israel began a ground offensive in the south and has since pushed from the east into the heart of the city of Khan Younis.
On Monday, militants and residents said fighters prevented Israeli tanks from moving further west and clashed with Israeli forces in northern Gaza, where Israel said its mission was largely accomplished.
Israel said dozens of Hamas fighters had surrendered and urged others to join them.
Residents reported gunfire near the coastal road and Hamas media said fighters foiled an attempt by the Israeli navy to land troops off the coast.
Israeli bombardment continued into the night on Monday, residents and health officials said. Medical experts said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 people in separate attacks in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
Another commercial tanker in the Gulf was attacked by a land-based cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen, the US military said.
The Iran-allied Houthis have stepped up attacks on ships in key shipping lanes and fired drones and missiles at Israel itself since the war broke out on Oct. 7.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
