Israel defies cease-fire, pounds Gaza

Israeli military jets struck more than 60 targets in Gaza, killing dozens of people in total disregard for the UNSC resolution that demanded an ‘immediate cease-fire’ for the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan

continued its brutal onslaught on Gaza yesterday despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate cease-fire.”

The resolution was adopted Monday after Israel’s closest ally, the United States, abstained amid growing concern for the worsening humanitarian situation after nearly six months of war. The text demands an “immediate cease-fire” for the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan, leading to a “lasting” truce.

It also demands that Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas, free hostages they took during the unprecedented Oct. 7 incursion of Israel, though 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 day, including alleged tunnels, infrastructure and military structures.

The Gazan Health Ministry said 70 people were killed early yesterday, 13 of them in Israeli airstrikes around the southern city of Rafah.

The Israeli military said air raid sirens sounded in areas near the Gaza border.

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

After the vote, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres led calls for the resolution to be implemented. “Failure would be unforgivable,” he said on social media platform X.

Israel reacted furiously to the U.S. abstention, while Washington insisted that it did not mark a shift in policy, although it has taken a tougher line with Israel in recent weeks. The United States had previously vetoed successive draft resolutions calling for a cease-fire, but it has become increasingly concerned by the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of famine in the north by May if urgent action isn’t taken.

The Gaza Health Ministry said seven people had drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach aid airdropped into the territory.