UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council on Friday approved a toned-down bid to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps "to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities" after a week of vote delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.
Amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the US abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.
The remaining council members voted for the resolution except for Russia which also abstained.
Following high-level negotiations to win over Washington, the resolution no longer dilutes Israel's control over all aid deliveries to 2.3 million people in Gaza. Israel monitors the limited aid deliveries to Gaza via the Rafah crossing from Egypt and the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.
But a weakening of language on a cessation of hostilities frustrated several council members - including veto power Russia - and Arab and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation states, some of which, diplomats said, view it as approval for Israel to further act against Hamas for a deadly October 7 attack.
The adopted resolution "calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities."
The initial draft had called for "an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" to allow aid access.
"By signing off on this, the council would essentially be giving the Israeli armed forces complete freedom of movement for further clearing of the Gaza Strip," Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council before the vote.
Meanwhile, 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 to a new truce, air strikes, artillery bombardments and fighting were reported across the Palestinian enclave.
Israel's military on Friday ordered residents of Al Bureij, in central Gaza, to move south immediately, indicating a new focus of the ground assault that has already devastated the north of the Strip and made a series of incursions in the south.
Some residents packed up donkey carts and left, but there was no immediate sign of large numbers from Al Bureij joining the hundreds of thousands fleeing other areas.
"Where should we go to? There is no place safe," Ziad, a medic and father of six, said by phone. "They ask people to head to (the central Gaza city of) Deir Al Balah, where they bomb day and night."
The soaring death toll during the Israeli military campaign of retaliation has drawn increasing international criticism, even from staunch ally the United States. In its latest update on casualties, Gaza's health ministry said 20,057 Palestinians had been killed and 53,320 wounded in Israeli strikes since October 7. - Reuters/AFP
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