No letup in Gaza despite UN ceasefire resolution

Israeli troops yesterday battled Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, with no sign of a letup in the war despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire.”

The resolution was adopted on Monday after Israel’s closest ally the US abstained amid growing concern for the worsening humanitarian situation after nearly six months of war.

The text demands an “immediate ceasefire” for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, leading to a “lasting” truce.

It also demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages they took during the unprecedented attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, although it does not directly link the release to a truce.

In Gaza, there was intense fighting overnight, with Israeli operations in and around at least three major hospitals in the besieged territory.

The Israeli military said its jets had struck more than 60 targets in Gaza in the past 24 hours, including tunnels, infrastructure and military structures “in which armed terrorists were identified.”

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 70 people were killed early yesterday, 13 of them in Israeli airstrikes around the southern city of Rafah.

The UN Security Council resolution was the first since the Gaza war erupted to demand an immediate halt to the fighting.

After the vote, UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres led calls for the resolution to be implemented.

“Failure would be unforgivable,” he wrote on social media.

Israel reacted furiously to the US abstention, while Washington insisted that it did not mark a shift in policy, although it has been taking a tougher line with Israel.

The US had previously vetoed successive draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire, but it has become increasingly concerned by the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the UN has warned of famine in the north by May if urgent action is not taken.

Washington has also baulked at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to launch an assault on Rafah, the last major population center untouched by Israeli ground troops where most of Gaza’s population has sought refuge from the fighting.

In protest at the US’ abstention in the UN vote, which it said “hurts” both its war effort and attempts to release hostages, Israel canceled a planned visit to Washington by a high-ranking delegation.

Hamas welcomed the resolution and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

In a statement, the militant group blamed Israel for the failure to make progress in the latest round of talks hosted by Qatar.

Hamas said Netanyahu and his Cabinet were “entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now.”

Netanyahu’s office hit back on social media, charging that Hamas was “not interested in continuing negotiations” as it had been emboldened by the UN Security Council vote.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran yesterday for talks with Iranian officials, state media reported. It was Haniyeh’s second visit to key backer Iran since the start of the war.

In the occupied West Bank, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

She welcomed the US Security Council resolution and said it was “in the absolute interest of the people of Israel that we come to a ceasefire now so that the hostages can be released.”