Israel-Hamas: UN security council passes resolution to boost Gaza aid delivery, stops shy of demanding ceasefire

livemint.com:

Israel broadened their ground offensive. The UN Security Council passed the resolution on Gaza aid delivery with 13 votes in favor, zero votes against, and two abstentions. Russia, and United States abstained from voting on the resolution.

The United Nations Security Council voted to approve a resolution that "demands" all sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict allow the "safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale." But the resolution removed the original call for an “urgent suspension of hostilities" between Israel and Hamas. The revised text was negotiated during a week and a half of high-level diplomacy by the United States, the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Arab nations and others. The United States and Russia abstained from Friday's vote, which was delayed for days as diplomats sought to avoid a veto by the US, Israel’s closest ally.

However, the resolution did not mention or demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where at least 20,000 Palestinians have died owing to Israeli aerial bombing campaign and ground offensive, in a bid to ‘eliminate’ Hamas fighters, who also govern the Gaza Strip. Russia and the United States, which both could have vetoed the much-delayed measure as permanent members of the council, abstained, meaning it passed with 13 votes in favor. The UN says more than a half-million people are starving in Gaza because not enough food has entered the besieged territory as Israel keeps up its blistering campaign of airstrikes and ground operations for over 10 weeks.