Russia, China veto US Security Council bid on Gaza ceasefire
Russia and China on Friday vetoed a US-backed draft UN Security Council resolution that linked an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to the release of hostages held by Hamas. The veto came as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel plans to launch a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah with or without US support. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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This liveblog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
- Russia and China on Friday on Friday vetoed a US-backed draft UN Security Council resolution that tied an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to the release of hostages held by Hamas.
- Following the veto, President Emmanuel Macron said France will work on a new UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access to Gaza.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday said he told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel plans to launch a Rafah ground offensive with or without US support.
- Israel said it expected to continue attacks on Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City for a few more days. The facility is the only partially working medical facility in northern Gaza.
- At least 32,070 Palestinians have been killed and 74,298 wounded since Israel started its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
- EU leaders called on Thursday for an "immediate" humanitarian pause in Gaza that would lead to a ceasefire.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan while in Cairo on Thursday as he pushes for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
- More than a third of the US Senate's Democrats called on President Joe Biden's administration to take "bold" action towards establishing a Palestinian state in the latest pushback against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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