EXPLAINER
US vetoes a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution as hundreds of Palestinians are killed in new attacks on Gaza.
Here’s how things stand on Thursday, December 9, 2023:
Fighting
- The Palestinian media said early this morning that bombardments by Israeli forces resulted in “dozens” of casualties in the north and south of Gaza.
- Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip killed at least 310 Palestinians in a 24-hour period, according to the authorities in Gaza.
- The Palestine Olympic Committee said 64 athletes and sports-related officials have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the official Wafa news agency.
- An Israeli drone fired on a car in southwest Syria, killing four people, according to Syrian state media.
- Israel carried out raids in the southern city of Hebron and in Qalqilya as well as Jericho, Jenin, Salfit and Ramallah, according to Al Jazeera sources and the Palestinian media.
- US officials told Reuters that Washington asked Congress to approve the sale of 45,000 shells for Israel’s Merkava tanks.
- Palestinians paid tribute to Refaat Alareer, a prominent poet and scholar who sought to tell the stories behind the news headlines in Gaza, who was killed by Israel.
UN veto
- The US vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
- Hamas strongly condemned the US veto on the proposed resolution as “unethical and inhumane”.
- UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis said he would continue to work for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza.
- Israel’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, thanked US President Joe Biden for “standing steadfastly” with Israel.
Diplomacy
- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and an international peace conference to work out a lasting political solution, leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
- Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “urgent steps” must be taken to achieve a truce in Gaza and the delivery of food and medical supplies.
- A UN World Food Programme official said “chaos, desperation” are widespread as displaced Palestinian families are starving on the streets of Gaza.
- The White House said more can be done by Israel to reduce civilian casualties and the US shares international concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.