The humanitarian organization Mercy Corps has released a statement on the UN security council’s passage of a resolution surrounding expanded aid delivery into Gaza, saying that “nothing short of a ceasefire and an end to the seige will prevent this catastrophic and preventable loss of life.”
Kate Phillips-Barrasso, the organization’s vice-president of global policy and advocacy, said:
“While we are relieved to finally see agreement in the security council on the gravity and urgency of the humanitarian situation, the failure of this resolution to address what is most needed by the 2 million people in Gaza facing starvation cannot be called an achievement.
Without an immediate and sustainable pause in hostilities, women and children will continue to die in bombardments and aid organizations will not be able to scratch the surface in meeting needs.
We cannot deliver aid to 2.3 million people under active bombardment and by trucking it in. Nothing short of a ceasefire and an end to the siege will prevent this catastrophic and preventable loss of life.”
Closing summary
We’ll shut this blog now – it’s nearly 2am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Our live coverage will continue later in the day. Here is where things stand:
UN chief Antonio Guterres has issued a statement following the UN security council’s passage of the resolution surrounding aid delivery into Gaza, saying: “I hope that today’s security council resolution may help improve the delivery of much-needed aid but a humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare. As difficult as it might appear today, the two-state solution - in line with UN resolutions, international law and previous agreements - is the only path to sustainable peace.”
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas have issued different responses towards the UN security council resolution that was passed on Friday surrounding Gaza aid delivery. The Palestinian foreign ministry, which is part of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, called the resolution “a step in the right direction,” and said it would help “end the aggression, ensure the arrival of aid and protect the Palestinian people.” But Hamas, the militants who run Gaza, called the resolution an “insufficient step” for meeting the impoverished enclave’s needs.
The International Rescue Committee, the global humanitarian organisation, lamented the lack of a resolution by the UN security council demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, even as it welcomed the resolution on aid. It also welcomed the call for the unconditional release of remaining hostages held by Hamas after they were snatched from southern Israel during the October 7 attack that triggered the current war. “From a humanitarian point of view, the failure of the UNSC to demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire is unjustifiable,” the IRC said in a statement.
The United Nations Security Council, after days of delay, passed a new resolution on Gaza aid delivery, with 13 votes in favour, no votes against and abstentions by the US and Russia. Although abstaining, it was pivotal for Gaza that the US did not veto and therefore block the resolution. A vote had originally been expected on Monday but was delayed day after day as negotiations went on to try to get the pieces in place for the resolution to pass when it did finally come to the vote.
Israeli forces signalled they were widening their ground offensive with a new push into central Gaza on Friday, as the UN security council was expected to vote on a resolution to increase humanitarian aid to stave off the threat of famine. As hopes faded for an imminent breakthrough in talks this week in Egypt aimed at getting warring Israel and Hamas to agree a new truce, air strikes, artillery bombardments and fighting were reported across the Palestinian territory.
The US is assembling a multinational naval coalition to help safeguard commercial traffic from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement. On Thursday, the Pentagon said more than 20 countries had now agreed to participate in the group, known as Operation Prosperity Guardian. Some countries have not confirmed their participation, however, while others have said their efforts to help protect Red Sea commercial traffic will be as part of existing naval agreements rather than the new US-led operation.
The European Commission on Friday said it had adopted a €118m ($130m) aid package to support the Palestinian Authority. The commission said the aid would help pay salaries and pensions of civil servants in the West Bank, social allowances for vulnerable families and the payment for medical referrals to East Jerusalem hospitals.
Gaza health officials say more than 20,000 people have been killed in the war. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that it has documented 20,057 deaths in the fighting. It does not differentiate between combatant and civilian deaths. It has previously said that roughly two-thirds of the dead were women or minors.
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