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The United States on Tuesday vetoed an Arab-backed U.N. resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. The 13-1 Security Council vote further isolates the US on Israel's side in the conflict that has sparked global outrage.
The United States, which had warned against vetoing the measure, has vetoed two similar resolutions since the start of the war. Great Britain abstained from voting. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement that the U.S. had been working on a hostage-taking agreement that would provide at least a six-week period of calm and serve as a first step toward building a long-term solution to the crisis.
“Calling for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire without an agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will not bring lasting peace,” she said.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. vetoed the resolution because of “very sensitive” negotiations underway aimed at ending the violence and releasing more than 100 hostages. who are being held by militants in Gaza. The talks between Egypt, Qatar and the USA, which have been held repeatedly for months, have not yet resulted in an agreement.
According to multiple media outlets, including the Associated Press, a U.S. draft resolution would call for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza on the condition that all hostages be released. The resolution also calls on Israel to abandon plans to invade Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that is home to many refugees who have fled violence elsewhere in the enclave.
US could push for temporary ceasefire: The USA is pursuing its own resolution for the UN Security Council
Developments:
∎ The Israeli Knesset will vote on Wednesday on a symbolic resolution reiterating the government's opposition to unilateral Palestinian statehood. The establishment of a Palestinian state would endanger Israel's existence, says President Benjamin Netanyahu.
∎ Britain's Prince William called for “an early end to the fighting” during a visit to the Red Cross headquarters in London.
∎ Even if a ceasefire ends the fighting, thousands more Gazans could die in the next six months due to the health crisis fueled by the war, according to a report by independent researchers in the US and Britain.
The Yemen-based Houthi fighters who have attacked dozens of ships in the Middle East are formidable and have forced the U.S. to engage in its most intense naval fighting since World War II, a senior U.S. military official says. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told CBS News that Iran's years of support allowed the Houthis to fire the barrage of drones and missiles that have targeted at least 45 ships since November.
The Houthis say they are targeting ships linked to Israel and its Western backers. The U.S. is leading a coalition of more than a dozen nations aimed at stopping the attacks that have hampered shipping and fueled supply chain problems around the world. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said this week that revenue from the Suez Canal has been almost halved since the start of the year as many cargo ships avoid the region.
“The Iranians have been supplying the Houthis for a decade. They take care of her again. They’re resupplying them while we’re sitting here at sea right now,” Cooper said. “We know this happens.”
More than 30 critically ill or wounded patients were moved from the besieged Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza in two harrowing rescue missions, despite nearby military fighting and Israeli-imposed access restrictions, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
The “high risk” rescue operations came as the enclave continues to suffer heavy civilian casualties and medical supplies become increasingly scarce due to the Israeli siege. Gaza officials say the death toll has exceeded 29,000 and tens of thousands more Palestinians are injured.
“WHO fears for the safety and well-being of patients and health workers remaining in hospital and warns that further disruption to life-saving care for the sick and injured would lead to more deaths,” the agency said in a statement.
The WHO said the hospital had become “non-functional” after a raid last week as Israeli troops carried out a dramatic incursion searching for the remains of hostages held by Hamas and pursuing its fighters.
An estimated 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain hospitalized. The U.N. staff and the Palestinian Red Crescent who evacuated the 32 critical patients also transported limited supplies of essential medicines and food, the WHO said in a statement. Patients were transferred to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza and field hospitals in Rafah.
Hamas planned to storm Israel's Ashkelon Central Prison and release hundreds of inmates as part of its attack on Israeli border communities on October 7, a British-based media outlet reported on Tuesday. Asharq Al-Awsat, citing multiple sources in the Palestinian factions, said 23 members of an elite unit had been selected for the mission, but it failed when a leader steered the team off course. According to the sources, the group made its way to Ashkelon, crossed the border and encountered resistance at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai.
The kibbutz said its security forces, with the support of border police, prevented the militants who raided the kibbutz that day from entering the site. No casualties were reported.
Contribution: The Associated Press