This week, the US urged Israel to stop its rampant ground offensive from heading towards the south of Gaza, but as the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) reportedly hit Hamas’ internal security sites, the air strikes have continued.
US President Joe Biden warned that international support for Israel will be lost because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Palestinians.
Biden also disagreed with the world leaders who remain hopeful for a two-state solution and exposed that the Israeli authorities are acting as if they are opposed to a two-state solution with the Palestinian governors.
The UN General Assembly have once again joined the demands to relax the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The policy-making branch of the UN was orthodox in its call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza after 153 member states voted in favour of the halt.
While the overall majority called for a complete ceasefire, 23 countries declined to vote – including the UK. The remaining 10 countries, which involves Israel and the US, voted against the call for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Prior to the vote, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Representative to the United Nations, said that a “ceasefire only serves to prolong Hamas’s reign of terror”.
In response to the overall majority being in support of the stoppage, Senior Hamas Official Bassem Naeem told reporters that it is clear that “the prevailing international will is in favour of stopping the aggression against the Palestinian people”.
The UN General Assembly vote marked the organisation’s second call for a pause in fighting. In October this year, the UN General Assembly urged member-states to vote for a “humanitarian truce”.
The vote for a humanitarian halt saw 121 votes in favour, 14 countries voted against the stoppage and 44 member-states declined to vote – including the UK.
Since Hamas launched its unprecedented on-the-ground massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7, Israel has killed more than 18,600 people – according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP
Considering children make up more than 40 per cent of Gaza’s original 2.3 million population and according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, children make up more than a third of all fatalities.
More than 50,000 people have reportedly been injured in Israel’s assault on the Strip.
It has also been estimated that out of Gaza’s original 2.3 million population, around 1.9 million people have been displaced by the conflict.
After Hamas violated the temporary agreement between itself and Israel – Israel returned to its ground operation and relentless bombardment of the enclave.
With the IDF moving towards the south of the Strip, where Palestinian civilians were ordered to relocate, the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza has only intensified.
The IDF has since reported that its troops have captured and destroyed the headquarters of one of Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion. The battalion was based in an eastern district of Gaza City where the IDF also claims to have destroyed a warehouse for weapons, a number of vehicles and a militant tunnel.
The buildings targeted by the Israeli troops have been called “terrorist infrastructure”.
Out of the 138 Israeli civilians who remain captured by Hamas, the IDF reported that 19 are believed to be dead.
Amongst the hostages that are still unaccounted for, is Kfir Bibas. The 10-month-old baby was named as the youngest child to be kidnapped by the proscribed terrorist group.
Video footage shows the redheaded infant being kidnapped by Hamas militants alongside his mother and four-year-old brother in the October 7 assault.
R Adm Daniel Hagari, Israel’s Chief Military Spokesperson, has since confirmed that the family were traded to the PLFP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) in Gaza but Hamas claim that the family were killed in an Israeli strike.
In a bid to find the captured persons and as part of Israel’s ground operation, almost one-fifth of the country’s IDF soldiers have been killed by airstrikes conducted by Hamas and Hezbollah.
Since October 7, 434 IDF personnel have been killed and therefore named as “fallen soldiers”. Israel’s military also reported that it has, so far, killed at least 7,000 Hamas fighters.
