United Nations votes overwhelmingly in favour of immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza

The United Nations on Tuesday demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after more than three-quarters of the 193-member general assembly backed the move, which had been vetoed by the United States in the Security Council last week.

The US does not have a veto in the general assembly. It voted against the draft resolution, along with Israel and eight other countries. The text garnered 153 votes in favour, while 23 countries abstained from the vote. Ireland voted in favour of the resolution.

General assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war.

Earlier, US president Joe Biden, in a rare public criticism of Israel on Tuesday, said Israel was starting to lose support from the international community with its “indiscriminate” bombing of Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians. Speaking at a fundraising event in Washington, Mr Biden also said Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu needed to change his hardline government.

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His comments came on day 67 of the Israel-Hamas war as fierce fighting continued in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip and in areas close to Gaza City in the north.

Further south in Rafah, which borders Egypt, health officials said 22 people including children were killed in an Israeli air strike on houses overnight. Civil emergency workers were searching for more victims under the rubble. Residents said the shelling of Rafah, where the Israeli army this month ordered people to head to for their safety, was some of the heaviest in days.

“At night we can’t sleep because of the bombing and in the morning we tour the streets looking for food for the children. There is no food,” said Abu Khalil (40), a father of six.

Gazans were battling hunger and thirst to survive, resident Mohammed Obaid said as he inspected debris in Rafah. “There’s no electricity, no fuel, no water, no medicine.”

Mr Biden said Israel was beginning to lose support around the world, and he described the Israeli government as “the most conservative” in the country’s history. Mr Netanyahu, he said, “has to change this government – this government in Israel is making it very difficult”.

Mr Biden added: “We have an opportunity to begin to unite the region ... and they still want to do it. But we have to make sure that Bibi [Netanyahu] understands that he’s got to make some moves to strengthen ... You cannot say no Palestinian state ... That’s going to be the hard part.”

US state department spokesperson Nathaniel Tek said Washington was pressing the Israeli government to put “a premium on civilian life”. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is to visit Israel on Thursday for talks with officials on the timetable for the war and, he said, to hear Israel’s plan for the day after the war.

Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday acknowledged differences with the US regarding “the day after Hamas” and expressed hope that agreement could be reached.

[ Gaza analysis: ‘Israel’s resumption of the war is the biggest mistake since October 7th’ ]

[ ‘Buying quiet’: Inside the Israeli plan that propped up Hamas ]

UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Tuesday described the situation in Gaza as extremely precarious, saying the enclave found itself on the verge of being “well beyond breakdown”.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) official said the number of functioning hospitals in Gaza had dropped drastically since the start of the war. “In just 66 days the health system has gone from 36 functional hospitals to 11 partially functional hospitals – one in the north and 10 in the south,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the West Bank and Gaza.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 18,400 Palestinians have been killed in the war. Israel says some 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 240 kidnapped in the attack on southern Israel on October 7th, when Hamas and other gunmen entered 22 Israeli communities.

Israel retaliated with air strikes and a ground offensive in Gaza with the declared intention of wiping out Hamas, the military group that governs the strip. The Israeli military has confirmed that more than 10 per cent of the more than 100 Israeli soldiers killed in the fighting in Gaza fell in “friendly fire” incidents.

Families of the 135 hostages still held in Gaza, together with some of the hostages who were released during a one-week truce that ended on November 30th, held a rally in Jerusalem on Tuesday night demanding that the government push harder for another round of hostage releases.

Just before the rally the Israeli authorities informed two hostages’ families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located in Gaza and taken to Israel for burial.

Palestinian health officials in the occupied West Bank reported that six people were killed in an Israeli drone attack in the city of Jenin.

Four Israeli navy missile ships sailed towards Yemen on Tuesday to work together with the multinational flotilla being assembled to counter threats by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against shipping in the area. In the latest incident on Monday Houthi rebels attacked a Norwegian commercial tanker with a rocket after the crew refused to respond to all warnings.

Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sareea said the attack was part of its strategy targeting Israel-bound ships. – Additional reporting: Reuters