Live blog: US vetoes Gaza ceasefire resolution again at UNSC

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

1511 GMT –– US once again vetoes UN Security Council draft resolution calling for 'immediate, unconditional, permanent' cease-fire in Gaza, release of all hostages.

"We made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages," said US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood.

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1420 GMT –– Hezbollah chief says response to Israeli strikes on Beirut will be on 'central Tel Aviv'

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a speech broadcast that the response to recent deadly Israeli strikes on Beirut would be on "central Tel Aviv".

"The response must be expected in central Tel Aviv," Qassem said, after deadly strikes on three central Beirut districts in recent days, one of which killed Hezbollah's spokesman Mohammed Afif and four members of his media team.

1406 GMT –– Syria reports Israeli strike in Palmyra

Syrian regime media reported an Israeli air strike in the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria as regional tension continues to simmer over Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.

The regime news agency SANA said the attack targeted residential buildings and an industrial zone in the city.

No details were provided about casualties or damage.

There has been no immediate Israeli comment on the report yet.

1405 GMT –– UK says it will continue to seek a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict

The United Kingdom will continue to seek a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinians conflict amid a "catastrophic" situation in the Middle East, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said.

During the Prime Minister’s Questions at the House of Commons, Labour Party MP Andy McDonald cited last week's Human Rights Watch report showing how Israeli authorities are committing war crimes of forcible transfer in Gaza, which amounts to crimes against humanity.

Mentioning the crippling humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave, McDonald asked whether the government acknowledges that Israel has carried out mass force displacement in Gaza, and whether it will take concrete measures on arms trade and against Israeli officials to prevent genocide and protect Palestinian lives.

In response, Rayner refrained from touching on any government plan regarding concrete measures on Israeli officials but recalled that the UK in September suspended some arms export licenses to Israel.

1341 GMT –– US envoy cites ‘additional progress’ in Lebanon-Israel ceasefire talks

United States envoy Amos Hochstein cited additional progress in talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Speaking after his talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Hochstein said he will depart to Israel for ceasefire talks with officials there.

“The meeting today built on the meeting yesterday and made additional progress, so I will travel from here in a couple of hours to Israel to try to bring this to a close if we can,” he told a press conference.

“As planned, if we made progress, I would go to Israel,” he added. “We are going to work with the incoming (US) administration, we are already going to be discussing this with them. They will be fully aware of everything we are doing,” Hochstein said.

1200 GMT –– 15 more Palestinians detained in Israeli military raids in occupied West Bank

The Israeli forces have detained at least 15 more Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

A woman was among the detainees in the raids that targeted several towns in the occupied territory, including Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces in the West Bank since October last year to over 11,700, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.

The figure doesn't include those arrested from Gaza whose numbers are estimated to be in the thousands.

1150 GMT –– Malnutrition kills elderly Palestinian, 17 children hospitalised amid Israeli siege on northern Gaza

An elderly Palestinian died of malnutrition, and 17 children were hospitalised amid an Israeli siege and attacks in northern Gaza, a hospital director has said.

“An elderly man died as a result of severe dehydration in northern Gaza,” Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said in a statement.

“Seventeen children showing symptoms of malnutrition were also transferred to the hospital,” he added.

1134 GMT –– US envoy presses Israel-Hezbollah truce bid in Lebanon visit

US envoy Amos Hochstein was in Lebanon, seeking to hammer out a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The United States and France have spearheaded efforts for a truce in the conflict, which escalated in late September after nearly a year of deadly exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Israel expanded the focus of its operations from Gaza to Lebanon.

1129 GMT –– Gaza death toll rises to 43,985 amid ongoing Israeli onslaught

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 43,985 Palestinians and wounded 104,092 since Oct. 7, 2023, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave has said.

1100 GMT –– Israeli strikes kill 19 in Gaza; hospital in north call for help

Israeli forces killed at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza, including a rescue worker, health officials said, as troops deepened an incursion along the territory's northern edge, bombarding a hospital and blowing up homes.

Medics said at least 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the area of Jabalia in northern Gaza earlier, and at least 10 people remained missing as rescue operations continued. Another man was killed in tank shelling nearby, they said.

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, one of three medical facilities barely operational in the besieged northern area, said the hospital "was bombed across all its departments without warning, as we were trying to save an injured person in the intensive care unit" on Tuesday.

There were 85 injured people, including children and women, at the hospital, six in the ICU.

0830 GMT –– Israeli military onslaught on West Bank's Jenin enters 2nd day

The Israeli forces continue their onslaught on the city of Jenin and its camp for the second day in a row.

Local sources reported that Israeli forces raided a large number of homes in the Jenin camp and detained a number of people, including a woman.

As the aggression on Jenin entered its second day, Israel sent military reinforcements accompanied by bulldozers to the city.

The number of Palestinians killed in the onslaught on Monday has risen to five, according to medical sources.

0731 GMT — Lebanese army says soldier dies after Israeli attack on vehicle in south

Lebanon's army has said one soldier was killed in an Israeli attack on a military vehicle, after previously reporting two personnel wounded in the incident in south Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah.

One soldier "died of his wounds sustained due to the Israeli army targeting of an army vehicle" in south Lebanon, a statement on X said, a day after the military said three soldiers were killed when Israel struck an army position.

0721 GMT — Hezbollah targets Israeli soldiers near border with Lebanon

Hezbollah has announced that its members have targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the border with Lebanon.

According to a statement from the Lebanon-based group, its members used rockets to target a group of Israeli soldiers at the Al-Marj military site near the Lebanese town of Markaba.

The Israeli military has yet to comment on the attack.

The latest attack comes a day after the group stated that it had carried out 34 military attacks against Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

0647 GMT — Hamas slams US decision to sanction its senior leaders, calls it 'hostile position' against

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has slammed the US Treasury Department's decision to sanction its senior leaders, calling it an insistence on the outgoing Biden administration's "hostile position" toward the Palestinian people.

Hamas in its statement described the US move as "a confirmation of the criminal American behaviour biased towards the fascist occupation (Israeli government) and its crimes against our Palestinian people."

It stressed that the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury "are based on misleading and false statements and foundations aimed at distorting the image of the movement's leaders who work for the benefit of their people, their cause, and their right to resist the (Israeli) occupation."

0610 GMT — UN to vote again on Gaza ceasefire, US plans unclear

The UN Security Council is expected to vote Wednesday on another draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Palestine's Gaza in its latest attempt to exert pressure to end the war.

But the draft could be blocked by the United States, Israel's main ally.

The latest draft of the resolution demands "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in Israel's war on Gaza and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."

The wording has angered Israel and raised fears of a US veto.

0408 GMT — Gaza genocide highlights need for UN reform: Former official

Israel's genocide in Gaza, now in its second year, coupled with the United Nations' failure to take decisive action or implement effective measures has underscored once again the urgent need for comprehensive reform within the global body, according to a former UN official.

Speaking to Anadolu, Hans von Sponeck, a former UN assistant secretary-general and UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, highlighted the need to revise the veto system in the UN Security Council and to expand global representation.

“Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and the brutal above-evil situation that has evolved in Palestine could have been avoided if the permanent members had pulled at the same end of the rope,” Sponeck said. “That hasn't happened. Unilateral approaches didn't work,” he added.

0126 GMT — Level of destruction in Lebanon is 'appalling': UN official

The UN has expressed grave concern over ongoing hostilities in southern Lebanon, with the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations describing the situation as "appalling.”

Noting that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is currently operating under "very challenging and difficult conditions," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said "UNIFIL remains at all its positions and is carrying out a number of activities" to sustain its presence.

Lacroix noted that the volatile environment has limited the mission’s activities and reported three separate incidents impacting UNIFIL peacekeepers, including clashes, exchanges of fire and air strikes.

0059 GMT — UAE president, Qatari premier discuss truce, de-escalation in Middle East

United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani have discussed intensifying efforts to achieve a cease-fire and comprehensive de-escalation in the Middle East during a meeting in Abu Dhabi.

The meeting, held at Qasr Al Shati Palace, was reported by the UAE’s state news agency WAM.

The two leaders addressed “the strong fraternal ties and cooperation between the two nations aimed at serving the interests of both peoples,” the report said.

They also “explored ways to enhance mutual interests and reinforce security and stability in the region.”

2349 GMT — Jordan’s foreign minister, top UN official discuss ways to halt Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has held talks in Amman with Sigrid Kaag, the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, focusing on efforts to end the Israeli genocide in the besieged enclave.

The two discussed "efforts to stop the Israeli aggression in Gaza and mitigate the resulting humanitarian disaster,” said a statement from the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.

They also explored ways to enhance cooperation in delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via Jordan's King Hussein Bridge Border Crossing, which links Jordan with the occupied West Bank.

2300 GMT — Israel bombs Gaza home, leaving 20 Palestinians dead or missing

Israeli warplanes have bombed the home of Joudeh family in old Gaza Street in Jabalia al-Balad, north of Gaza, leaving 20 Palestinians dead or missing, according to witnesses and local reports.

Local media reported 12 deaths from the Israeli bombardment.

The Palestinian Information Center, a local news organisation, said 10 Palestinians remain missing.

Meanwhile, Gaza-based journalist Hossam Shabat, who has been named by Israeli military in a hit-list, was wounded in an Israeli strike, Shabat said in a post on X.

"Tonight, I was deliberately targeted by Israeli forces. After receiving word of a nearby bombing, I jumped into my car to report. Upon arriving at the house packed with terrified people, I could hear their desperate screams for help from the second floor," he wrote.

"The moment I stepped inside, the house was bombed again, and dismembered body parts of the wounded flew around me. Rubble crashed down on me and my colleagues. One first responder was killed and while my colleague and I were injured, many others did not survive."

2300 GMT — Hezbollah fires 'guided missiles' at Israeli troops

Hezbollah has said it fired guided missiles at invading Israeli soldiers as they attempted to evacuate wounded and dead personnel in southern Lebanon.

In a statement, the Lebanese group said it wounded Israeli soldiers in a guided missile attack in the border town of Markaba before firing a second at an infantry unit that came to remove the wounded.

Hezbollah said it then targeted with another guided missile "a third infantry unit" that came to "try to recover the dead and wounded".

2300 GMT — US announces talks with Israel over civilian casualties

Senior US and Israeli officials will meet in early December to address "American concerns" over harm to Palestinian civilians caused by Israel in Gaza, the State Department said, a bid that comes after almost 411 days of Israeli genocide in the besieged enclave.

The United States has regularly voiced concerns to key ally Israel over American-supplied weapons being used in strikes that have killed civilians in Gaza, but it has also continued to supply weapons to Netanyahu regime which has killed tens of thousands and uprooted millions in the tiny enclave.

Critics say US is fully complicit in Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

The State Department has also opened several investigations into Israeli strikes using US-supplied weapons that killed Gaza civilians. But no conclusions have been made public, and US military assistance has continued to flow.

2000 GMT — 'Targeting' of Gaza children by Israeli drones like 'warped video game'

A lawmaker from Britain’s ruling Labour Party has said evidence shown by a retired surgeon, who has been to war zones including Gaza, suggests Israeli troops were targeting Palestinian children by drones was like a "warped video game."

Speaking at the Humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories debate at the Westminster Hall on Tuesday, Labour lawmaker Patricia Ferguson referenced a parliamentary evidence given by retired vascular surgeon Prof. Nizam Mamode, who has returned back to the UK from Gaza and explained how the Palestinian children were deliberately targeted by Israel.

Ferguson told the hall the details of her encounter with the evidence: "I thought I had seen and heard it all, the death, the disease and sheer brutality reported on our TV screens night, after night. But then I went to Professor Mamode's presentation. He spoke calmly and slowly about his experiences in Palestine, using slides and a video diary.

"He demonstrated the symmetrical puncture wounds on a dead child’s body. Wounds in the region of the body's major arteries that were too precise to have been the work of a human sniper. They were the work of drones. Targeted at innocent civilians, and in this case, a child."

For our live updates from Tuesday, November 19, 2024, click here.