There was fierce gunfire between Israeli troops and Hamas militants on the streets of Gaza’s second-largest city on Wednesday as the United Nations delayed a vote to boost aid delivery to the Palestinian territory facing a humanitarian disaster.
Israel’s campaign to eliminate the Hamas militants behind the October 7 massacre has left the coastal enclave in ruins, brought widespread hunger and homelessness and killed some 20,000 Gazans, according to the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry.
Under foreign pressure to avoid killing innocents, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will not stop until Iran-backed Hamas releases 129 hostages held in Gaza and the Islamist group is wiped out .
A UN Security Council vote to establish aid delivery was delayed by another day on Tuesday as talks continue to avoid a third US veto of action over the two-month-long Israel-Hamas war.
The 15-member council was initially scheduled to vote on Monday on a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates. But it has been repeatedly delayed as diplomats say the UAE and the US struggle to agree on language, citing a proposal to end hostilities and establish a UN aid monitor.
Asked if they were getting closer to an agreement, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on Tuesday, “We’re trying, we’re really trying.”
The conflict has spread beyond Gaza, including into the Red Sea, where Iran-aligned Houthi forces based in Yemen are attacking commercial ships with missiles and drones, prompting the creation of a multinational naval operation to protect trade routes. Has been promoted.