Israel faces global pressure for a ceasefire as UN Security Council prepares to vote

Israel faced another round of global pressure on Tuesday for a ceasefire in Gaza with a new UN vote and fresh Western diplomatic efforts, although the United States vowed to continue arming its ally. The UN Security Council was set to convene Tuesday to weigh a call for a ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory, after a previous bid was vetoed by the U.S.. 

UK Foreign Minister David Cameron was also due to meet French and Italian leaders to push for a "sustainable ceasefire" in the conflict, his office said. 

The war in Gaza began when Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on October 7, killing around 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and abducting 250, according to official Israeli figures. 

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says Israel's military response has killed more than 19,400 people, mostly women and children. The ministry said an Israeli strike killed at least 20 people on Tuesday in the southern city of Rafah, near the border with Egypt.

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Ceasefire push

The UN Security Council had been scheduled to vote on a ceasefire resolution on Monday. A draft of the resolution called for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" in Gaza to allow "safe and unhindered humanitarian access".

However the United Arab Emirates, which introduced the latest text, requested the vote be postponed to Tuesday to allow for complex negotiations to continue, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Qatar, which helped mediate a week-long truce and hostage-prisoner exchange last month, has also said there are "ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause", outside of the UN process.

"Hamas is ready for a prisoner exchange deal, but after a ceasefire," an official from the group said Tuesday. U.S. news platform Axios on Monday reported that Mossad chief David Barnea, CIA director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met in Warsaw.

'Starvation' 

International alarm has mounted over the plight of 2.4 million Gazans forced to endure daily bombardment, food and water shortages and mass displacement. The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell accused Israel on Monday of displaying an "appalling lack of distinction" in its campaign in Gaza, highlighting the deaths of Israeli hostages, worshippers and other Palestinian civilians.

Human Rights Watch said on Monday Israel was "using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare."

"Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel, while wilfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas," the New York-based group said.

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said the organization "has no moral basis to talk about what's going on in Gaza," accusing Human Rights Watch of ignoring "the suffering and the human rights of Israelis."

A report by Washington's Director of National Intelligence, quoted by U.S. media, said that nearly half of munitions dropped by Israeli aircraft on Gaza were "dumb" bombs -- unguided munitions with limited accuracy.

Israeli air force officers on Monday defended their actions.

"All the bombs we use are high-precision bombs," an officer told reporters during a military-organized visit of the Palmachim air base, on the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli army said Tuesday two more soldiers had died, bringing the toll to 131 in the Gaza Strip since ground operations began in late October.

Aid 'breakthrough' 

Israel has approved aid deliveries into Gaza via its Kerem Shalom crossing, aside from the Rafah crossing with Egypt, and dozens of trucks entered through Kerem Shalom on Monday, said an AFP journalist.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller hailed the opening of the crossing for humanitarian assistance and the arrival into Gaza of trucks carrying commercial goods as "important breakthroughs".

At the Rafah crossing, previously the only point where aid had been allowed through, families gathered in the hopes of finally being allowed across to safety.

"We've been here for about a month," said Safa Fathi Hamad. "We are going to die, food is very limited and we have no protection."

Israeli protests

Israelis protested Monday in central Tel Aviv, calling for swift action to release the remaining 129 hostages believed to be held in Gaza. The anger and fear of hostages' families has intensified after Israeli forces mistakenly shot dead three captives who had escaped their captors.

Reports said the trio waved white flags and used food leftovers to write a Hebrew-language message on a white sheet before they were shot. Hamas's military wing footage showed three of those still held captive. The video featured three bearded men sitting on chairs at an undisclosed location and asking to be released.

The Gaza war has also seen violence spiral in the occupied West Bank.

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