More than half a million people in Gaza are starving due to insufficient food entering the territory since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, a UN report said Thursday. Earlier, the UN's human rights office said it has received reports that Israeli troops "summarily killed" at least 11 unarmed Palestinians in a possible war crime in Gaza. The reports came after the UN Security Council again delayed a vote on a new resolution calling for a ceasefire and desperately needed aid as envoys wrangled over key wording to avoid another US veto. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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Summary:
- The UN Security Council had a long-delayed vote scheduled for Thursday on a resolution calling for a halt in fighting between Israel and Hamas after previous efforts to win Washington's backing fell short.
- French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Thursday in Jordan for talks with King Abdullah II on aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip.
- Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was in Cairo for talks aimed at brokering a new truce amid signs that Israel was open to another humanitarian pause in order to enable more hostage releases.
- The World Health Organization said the last hospital in the northern half of the Gaza Strip had effectively ceased functioning over the past two days, leaving no place left to take the wounded.
- Israeli officials say 1,139 were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel, among them 695 Israeli civilians, including 36 children.
- At least 20,000 people have been killed in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
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Key developments from yesterday:
- At least 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded on Wednesday in a series of air strikes in Rafah near the border with Egypt, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
- The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said it had delivered food into war-torn Gaza through the Israeli Kerem Shalom border crossing in the first direct aid convoy from Jordan.
- Residents of Khan Younis in Gaza reported intensifying gun battles between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces in the centre and eastern districts of the southern city.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
