The United States vetoed an Arab-backed U.N. resolution Tuesday demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in the embattled Gaza Strip.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the wide global support for ending the more than four-month war that started with Hamas’ surprise invasion of southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Since then, more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and children.
It was the third U.S. veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza.
The Biden administration had said it would veto the resolution because of concerns it would interfere with efforts to arrange a deal between the warring parties aimed at bringing at least a six-week halt to hostilities and releasing all hostages.
In a surprise move ahead of the vote, the United States circulated a rival U.N. Security Council resolution that would support a temporary cease-fire in Gaza linked to the release of all hostages, and call for the lifting of all restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid. Both of these actions “would help to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities,” the draft resolution obtained by The Associated Press says.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told several reporters Monday that the Arab-backed resolution is not “an effective mechanism for trying to do the three things that we want to see happen — which is get hostages out, more aid in, and a lengthy pause to this conflict.”
Currently:
— US vetoes Arab-backed UN Security Council cease-fire resolution
— Israel orders new evacuations in northern Gaza, where UN says 1 in 6 children are malnourished.
— South Africa tells top UN court that it’s accusing Israel of apartheid against Palestinians.
— Israel says Brazil’s president unwelcome until he apologizes for comparing Gaza war to Holocaust.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
UN AID AGENCY SAYS ISRAEL HASN’T SHOWN EVIDENCE ITS WORKERS JOINED RAMPAGE
JERUSALEM — The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says the United Nations still has not received any evidence from Israel supporting its claims that 12 of the agency’s employees participated in the Oct. 7 rampage that sparked the war.
Israel released a document last month identifying the 12 workers along with the allegations against them, and accusing some of participating in kidnappings. But it has released little of the evidence collected against the workers.
The allegations prompted key donors, including the United States, to suspend funding to UNRWA. The agency, the main provider of aid in Gaza, has warned it will have to halt its operations if funding is not soon restored.
Philippe Lazzarini, the director of UNRWA, has dismissed the 10 surviving workers; the agency says the other two were killed in fighting. The U.N. has also opened two investigations into UNRWA’s operations.
In a podcast Tuesday, Lazzarini said Israel still has not presented formal evidence to the U.N.
“The UN has never, never, ever received any written dossier, despite our repeated call for cooperation from the Israeli authorities,” he said. He added that agency investigators are looking into the allegations, and called on anyone with evidence to share it with the investigation team.
Israel has long accused UNRWA of tolerating Hamas activities in and around U.N. facilities and in some cases even cooperating with the militant group. Lazzarini has denied this and says his agency has safeguards in place to discipline any employee who violates the U.N. ideals of neutrality.
UNICEF SAYS 1 IN 6 CHILDREN ARE ACUTELY MALNOURISHED IN NORTHERN GAZA
One in six children are acutely malnourished in the isolated and largely devastated northern Gaza, according to a UNICEF study, while Israel has vowed to expand its five-moth offensive against Hamas to the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah.
The report by the Global Nutrition Cluster says more than 90% of children under 5 in Gaza eat two or fewer food groups a day, known as severe food poverty. A similar percentage are affected by infectious diseases, with 70% experiencing diarrhea in the last two weeks. More than 80% of homes lack clean and safe water, with the average household having one liter (quart) per person per day.
The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire on Tuesday, but the U.S. said it would veto it because it’s trying to arrange a deal on its own that would bring a truce and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
The number of Palestinians killed during the war in Gaza has risen to 29,195, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties in its count. A quarter of Gaza’s residents are starving. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 abducted in Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the war.
WHO SAYS 32 CRITICAL PATIENTS TRANSFERRED FROM SOUTHERN GAZA
GENEVA — The World Health Organization says 32 patients in critical condition have been transferred from Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza to the European Gaza Hospital to the north and field hospitals over the last two days.
The U.N. health agency said Tuesday that four Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulances carried out the transfers after Nasser became “non-functional” following a weeklong siege and a military raid on the complex on Wednesday.
“Nasser Hospital has no electricity or running water, and medical waste and garbage are creating a breeding ground for disease,” WHO said in a statement. Some 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the hospital.
WHO reiterated its call that medical personnel, patients, health infrastructure and civilians should be protected, and that hospitals must not be militarized or attacked.
“The dismantling and degradation of the Nasser Medical Complex is a massive blow to Gaza’s health system,” WHO said. “Facilities in the south are already operating well beyond maximum capacity and are barely able to receive more patients.
LEBANESE WAREHOUSE HIT IN ISRAELI STRIKE BURNS FOR THE SECOND DAY
GHAZIEH, Lebanon — Firefighters in southern Lebanon were battling a diesel fuel fire in a warehouse that was struck by Israeli jets for a second day Tuesday.
The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the attack Monday targeted a weapons warehouse that belonged to the militant group Hezbollah.
The strike that wounded 14 people was one of the largest near a major Lebanese city since clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the Lebanese-Israeli border erupted after the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.
Mohamad Khalifa, the owner of the warehouse, denied allegations that the facility belonged to Hezbollah.
“This is a company registered for 11 years that works with electricity generators, open from morning until night, receiving customers all day,” he told The Associated Press. “There is nothing hidden here. The claim that this has weapons is a lie.”
The airstrike reduced the warehouse to scraps, with fuel fires slowly burning.
