Israel rejected a UN Security Council resolution late Wednesday that called for “urgent and extended humanitarian” pauses in Gaza as its war with Hamas approached its sixth week.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it would not accept such measures as long as Hamas continues to hold over 220 hostages.
The council passed the resolution 12-0, a first since the war broke out on Oct. 7. It called for “urgent and extended” humanitarian pauses, without using the words “demand” or “cease-fire.”
The United States declined to use its veto power to block the resolution and instead abstained. The United Kingdom and Russia also abstained.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, blasted the measure, calling it “meaningless” and “disconnected from reality.” He added, “Israel will continue to act until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages are returned.”
The vote came as Israel’s military operation inside Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip, continued on Wednesday. The Israeli military released videos of weaponry inside the hospital that it said belonged to Hamas.
Rocket barrages continued to be fired from Gaza even as the Israeli military advanced deeper in the north.
A US defense official confirmed to Al-Monitor on Wednesday that a US Navy destroyer in the Red Sea had shot down a drone fired from Yemen on Tuesday as regional hostilities continue to flare.
Meanwhile, Qatar is mediating a deal for the release of 50 civilian hostages in Gaza in exchange for a three-day cessation of hostilities, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Reuters also reports that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that Iran would not intervene directly in the Israel-Hamas war. The report notes that both Tehran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah were surprised by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry reports that the death toll in Gaza has now reached 11,100, which works out to one out of every 200 people in the territory.
Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Rina Bassist, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.
Live updates (all times EDT):
Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023
2:22 am: At least 5 Israelis injured in attack south of Jerusalem
At least five Israelis were injured, including one critically, in a shooting at the West Bank “tunnel road” checkpoint, south of Jerusalem, police said Thursday morning. Haaretz reported that assailants opened fire while cars were lined up at the checkpoint and that the assailants were shot by troops at the scene.
1:55 am: Germany launches large-scale raids against Hezbollah-linked group
German police launched a nationwide raid against the properties of an Islamic center suspected of links to the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, the German Interior Ministry said in a statement. “At a time when numerous Jews feel particularly threatened” Germany will “not tolerate neither Islamist propaganda nor anti-Semitist incitement hostile to Israel,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was quoted as saying. The massive raid coincided with the ongoing Hamas-Israel war and regional tensions, including between Hezbollah and Israel on the southern Lebanese border. Beatrice Farhat reports.
1:33 am: Israeli army strikes Gaza home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Israeli army jets overnight struck the Gaza home of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, said IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, adding that the house served as a meeting place for Hamas seniors. Haniyeh himself has been residing in Qatar for several years. Hagari also said that Israeli troops found and destroyed weapons and equipment belonging to Hamas’ naval forces in al-Shati camp in Gaza City.