Allies press Israel over Gaza ceasefire
Israel came under pressure from its allies over its war in Gaza yesterday, as US President Joe Biden told the long time ally that its "indiscriminate" bombing of civilians was hurting its international support.
The calls came as the UN yesterday again demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
After dire warnings from UN officials about a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the 193-member UN General Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire with three-quarters of member states voting in favour.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution and urged countries to pressure Israel to comply.
"The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians," the leaders of Canada, Australia and New Zealand said separately in a joint statement calling for a ceasefire.
The Hamas-run health ministry said the war has killed at least 18,608 people, with 50,594 injured. The conflict has also led to starvation, displaced 85 percent of the population from their homes and caused diseases to spread, according to the UN and Gaza health ministry.
"The spread of diseases in Gaza has reportedly intensified, especially due to overcrowded living conditions; which adds to the strain on an increasingly overwhelmed health system and an increased risk of people dying," OCHA, UN humanitarian agency, said in its latest update.
The Gaza health ministry also reported yesterday that at least another 50 people were killed in the latest wave of Israeli air strikes across the territory.
The vote at UN came as the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini described the situation in Gaza as "hell on earth".
"Back in #Gaza, endless deepening tragedy. People are everywhere, live in the street, need everything. They plead for safety & for an end to this hell on earth," Lazzarini posted on X at the end of a visit to the territory.
In Gaza City, Hamas said via Telegram that Israeli forces raided a hospital and detained its director.
The World Health Organization's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X he was "extremely worried" by reports of the raid, adding that his agency "urgently calls for the protection of all persons inside the hospital".
Earlier the OCHA had said fighting had been reported near the hospital for three consecutive days.
The Wall Street Journal and ABC reported that the Israeli military began pumping seawater into Hamas' tunnel network, where the Hamas is believed to be hiding fighters and munitions and basing hit-and-run street attacks on Israeli troops.
Biden said he had heard unconfirmed reports there were no hostages in the tunnels. Some hostages freed during a ceasefire reported they had been held in tunnels. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
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