Israel carried out fresh strikes on Gaza on Saturday, with Hamas reporting 18 people dead at a refugee camp, as a UN resolution called for more aid to the besieged territory.
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Hamas and other Palestinian militants also took around 250 hostages, of whom 105 have been released and several killed, including by friendly fire.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza and deployed ground troops in an offensive that has killed 20,057 people, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas government.
On day 78 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:
– UN resolution urges more aid –
After days of wrangling over its wording, members of the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding “immediate, safe and unhindered” deliveries of life-saving aid be rushed to Gaza “at scale”.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said in response that Israel’s offensive was the “real problem” to getting aid shipments into Gaza, as he reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
At Washington’s insistence, the UN resolution avoided calling for a ceasefire.
Hamas called the resolution “insufficient”, adding that it “does not respond to the catastrophic situation created by the Zionist (Israeli) war machine”.
Israel again vowed to fight on until Hamas is “eliminated” and hostages are freed.
In a social media post, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Israel “will continue to screen all humanitarian aid to Gaza for security reasons”.
– Deadly strike on refugee camp –
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 18 people were killed in an overnight strike on a house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
It added that other targets were hit up and down the coastal Gaza Strip.
– UN says nowhere safe in Gaza –
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said the Israeli army’s evacuation order for civilians in the central Gaza Strip would force them to relocate to areas with ongoing air strikes.
“There is nowhere for people to go. Nowhere is safe,” the agency said.
– Drone strike on ‘Israel-affiliated’ ship –
A drone strike damaged a ship in waters off Veraval, India, according to two maritime agencies. One of the sources, Ambrey, said the tanker was “Israeli-affiliated”.
There was no immediate claim of responsiblity but the attack adds to fears of regional escalation from the Israel-Hamas war.
Since the conflict broke out, Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have in solidarity with Hamas launched a flurry of drone and missile attacks on a vital shipping lane in the Red Sea.
– Famine and disease –
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media that “famine is looming in Gaza”, with many people “going entire days and nights without eating”.
He added that crowding in shelters brought on by the harsh winter “will inevitably increase the spread of disease”.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF said “at least 10,000 children under five years will suffer the most life-threatening form of malnutrition” in the coming weeks. (BSS/AFP)
