The UN Security Council on Monday demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its first demand to halt fighting in the Palestinian enclave. The US abstained from voting on the resolution, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during the October 7 Hamas attack but did not link that demand to the ceasefire during Ramadan. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
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The UN Security Council on Monday for the first time approved a resolution calling for an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks. The US abstained from the vote.
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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday said he will not send a delegation to Washington after the US abstained from the UN Security Council vote. The White House expressed disappointment over the cancellation.
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UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday called for a massive supply of aid to Gaza to fight starvation.
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Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is expected in Washington Monday, where he will meet with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and other senior US officials during a visit this week.
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French President Emmanuel Macron, in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday, repeated his opposition to any Israeli military operation against Hamas in Rafah and said the forced transfer of Rafah's population would be "a war crime".
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At least 32,333 Palestinians have been killed and 74,694 wounded since Israel began 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:
- The Palestinian Red Crescent said one of its staff was killed when Israeli tanks pushed back into areas around Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis amid shelling and gunfire.
- Separately, the Israeli military said it had captured 480 militants in a continuing week-long raid into the Gaza Strip's largest hospital, Al Shifa, in Gaza City in the north of the densely populated territory.
- The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Israel had informed the UN that it will no longer approve UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza.
- Talks aimed at a deal for a truce and release of hostages were taking place in Qatar but the heads of the Israeli and US spy agencies involved in the negotiations left the Gulf emirate for consultations, an informed source told AFP.
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)
