CAIRO/UNITED NATIONS: Hunger was worsening among Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip, aid agencies said, as the United Nations General Assembly prepared to vote on Tuesday on an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the two-month-old conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hundreds more civilians have died in Israel's assault on Gaza since the U.S. on Friday vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes and residents say it is impossible to find refuge or food in the densely populated coastal enclave. The U.N. World Food Programme has said half of the population is starving.
"Hunger stalks everyone," UNRWA, the U.N. body responsible for Palestinian refugees, said on X.
Gazans said people forced to flee repeatedly were dying of hunger and cold as well as the bombardments, describing looting of aid trucks and sky high prices.
Israel says its instructions to people to move are among measures it is taking to protect civilians as it tries to root out Hamas militants who killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostage in an Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel, according to Israeli tallies. About 100 hostages have since been freed.
Israel's retaliatory assault has killed 18,205 people and wounded nearly 50,000, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The 193-member General Assembly is likely on Tuesday to pass a draft resolution that mirrors the language of one that was blocked by the United States in the 15-member Security Council last week.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight and reflect global views.
Some diplomats and observers predict the vote will garner greater support than the assembly's October call for "an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce."
SCRUTINY ON U.S. SUPPORT
The vote was due a day after 12 Security Council envoys visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the only place where limited humanitarian aid and fuel have entered. The United States did not send a representative on the trip.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who has weathered intense criticism for his support of Israel's response to the Oct. 7 attacks, on Monday told a White House celebration for the Jewish holiday of Hannukah that his commitment to Israel is "unshakeable."
"Folks, were there no Israel, there wouldn't be a Jew in the world that was safe," Biden said. He also alluded to his complex relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he said is in a "tough spot."
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday that Israel was no exception to U.S. policy that any country receiving its weapons must comply with the laws of war after Washington sold about 14,000 tank shells to Israel without congressional review, using an emergency procedure.
"We are monitoring everything that happens in this conflict," Miller said. "We are engaged in conversations with the Israeli government."
As the war has intensified, how and where Israel uses weapons from the U.S. have come under more scrutiny, even though U.S. officials say there are no plans to put conditions on military aid to Israel or to consider withholding some of it.
Washington found images circulating on social media showing Palestinian men detained in Gaza in their underwear "deeply disturbing" and asked Israel to clarify the circumstances around the photographs, Miller added. Israel has said the men were stripped to make sure they were not hiding explosives or weapons.
The White House also said on Monday it was concerned about reports Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon and was seeking more information. The munitions, which can be legally used on battlefields to make smoke screens among other uses, can cause serious burns.
Israel said an allegation by Human Rights Watch that it uses white phosphorus munitions in Gaza and Lebanon was "unequivocally false".
NEW AID SCREENING SYSTEM
U.N. officials say 1.9 million people - 85% of Gaza's population - are displaced and describe the conditions in the southern areas where they have concentrated as hellish.
To increase the amount of aid reaching Gaza, Israel said on Monday it would add shipment screening at the Kerem Shalom border crossing even though it was not opening the crossing itself. Most trucks entered the strip at this crossing before the war. Two Egyptian security sources said inspections would begin on Tuesday under a new deal between Israel, Egypt and the United States.
After the collapse of a week-long ceasefire on Dec. 1, Israel began a ground offensive in the south and has since pushed from the east into the heart of Khan Younis city.
On Monday, militants and residents said fighters were preventing Israeli tanks moving farther west and clashing with Israeli forces in northern Gaza, where Israel had said its mission was largely complete.
Israel said dozens of Hamas fighters had surrendered and urged others to join them.
Residents reported exchanges of fire near the coastal road and Hamas media said fighters foiled an attempt by Israeli naval forces to make a landing of forces offshore.
Israeli bombing continued into the night on Monday, residents and health officials said. Medics said Israeli air strikes killed at least 15 people in separate strikes in the central and southern Gaza strip.
Reuters
Tue Dec 12 2023
Smoke and debris rises over Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, December 11, 2023. - REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
MARA diminta terus teroka potensi industri halal global - Ahmad Zahid
MARA diminta untuk terus meneroka potensi antarabangsa dalam industri halal yang mempunyai prospek besar menerusi program Gate to Global (GTG).
Kim Pan-gon letak jawatan berikutan komitmen peribadi
Pengurus pasukan kebangsaan Malaysia, Kim Pan-gon menyatakan perletakan jawatan tersebut kerana komitmen peribadi.
#AWANInews
#AWANInews
Penggunaan dron tingkat keberkesanan pemantauan pencemaran - Nik Nazmi
Penggunaan dron membolehkan pemantauan pencemaran alam sekitar dan hidupan liar serta pencerobohan hutan dilaksanakan dengan lebih berkesan.
Kim Pan-gon letak jawatan ketua jurulatih Harimau Malaya
Kim Pan-gon menjadi satu-satunya individu yang bakal meninggalkan pasukan manakala Pau Marti bersama staf sokongan yang lain kekal di Kelana Jaya.
Bekas pengawal peribadi Wan Azizah cedera kemalangan
Bekas anggota polis wanita yang kini bekerja sebagai pengawal peribadi cedera setelah motosikal ditunggangnya melanggar sebuah SUV di lebuh raya PLUS.
Rang Undang-undang Kebebasan Maklumat dijangka dibentang akhir tahun ini - Kulasegaran
RUU Kebebasan Maklumat dijangka dibentangkan di Parlimen pada akhir tahun ini selepas cadangan ketetapan bagi penggubalan Akta Kebebasan Maklumat dibawa ke Jemaah Menteri untuk kelulusan.
Azizi dilantik Ketua Polis Perak baharu
Timbalan Ketua Polis Perak Datuk Azizi Mat Aris dilantik sebagai Ketua Polis Perak yang baharu hari ini.
ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, tak 'lompat parti' - Takiyuddin
Menurut Takiyuddin, keahlian Muhamad Jailani yang juga wakil rakyat UMNO diterima pada 10 Jun tahun lalu, namun diumumkan secara rasmi hari ini.
Kita perlu belajar hidup dengan COVID-19 - Pakar
Itu kata Pakar Perubatan Kesihatan Awam, Bahagian Kawalan Penyakit, Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM), Dr Aznida Mohamad Zaki yang berkata pihaknya akan berusaha semampu mungkin dalam menggalakkan praktis kendiri dikalangan orang awam bagi mencegah penularan wabak seperti mana yang pernah dilakukan sebelum ini.
LHDN lulus 141,406 permohonan PKPS 2.0
Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) telah meluluskan sebanyak 141,406 permohonan program khas pengakuan sukarela (PKPS) 2.0 yang melibatkan 102,572 bilangan kes pembayar cukai individu, 27,707 bilangan kes syarikat dan selebihnya melibatkan lain kategori seperti pertubuhan.
PM Anwar kecam cubaan bunuh Trump, serangan berterusan Israel di Gaza
Beliau berharap keadaan terkawal dan menegaskan keganasan bukanlah jawapannya, walaupun ada yang menentang tokoh politik berkenaan.
Malaysia ulangi gesaan akhiri keganasan di Palestin
Serangan pada Sabtu mengorbankan nyawa rakyat Palestin termasuk wanita dan kanak-kanak serta mencederakan ratusan individu lain.
Penduduk Israel tunjuk perasaan desak PM Netanyahu letak jawatan
Majoriti penunjuk perasaan mengibarkan bendera sambil membawa sepanduk mengkritik kepimpinan Netanyahu berhubung isu-isu penting.
Jumlah korban di Gaza meningkat kepada 38,443, lebih 88,000 cedera
Jumlah kematian rakyat Palestin akibat serangan Israel sejak 7 Oktober telah meningkat kepada 38,443 orang, dengan 88,481 individu mengalami kecederaan.
Pendengaran permohonan jaminan pasangan dituduh bekal senjata kepada warga Israel ditetapkan 25 Julai
Permohonan itu dikemukakan peguam Mohamad Isa Mohamad Basir mewakili Sharifah Faraha yang sebelum ini tidak ditawarkan jaminan sejak dituduh.
Meta akan padam kandungan hina zionis di Facebook, Instagram
Ini kerana perkataan zionis kini digunakan oleh kumpulan-kumpulan tertentu sebagai alasan untuk memukul rata kesemua individu Yahudi serta Israel.
Jurang Israel dan Hamas kekal - White House
Pegawai kanan AS dilaporkan berada di Kaherah untuk rundingan bagi mencapai gencatan senjata antara Israel dan Hamas.
Ribuan rakyat Palestin larikan diri dalam serangan Israel di barat daya Gaza
Beribu-ribu rakyat Palestin melarikan diri dari kawasan di barat daya Bandaraya Gaza apabila tentera rejim secara mengejut menyerang mereka buat kali pertama dalam tempoh lebih tiga bulan.
Hamas terima cadangan AS runding tebusan - Laporan
Hamas telah menggugurkan tuntutan agar Israel terlebih dahulu melakukan gencatan senjata kekal sebelum menandatangani perjanjian itu.
16 rakyat Palestin maut dalam serangan Israel di sekolah
Serangan ke atas sekolah di Al-Nuseirat membunuh sekurang-kurangnya 16 orang dan mencederakan lebih 50 orang.