Israel-Palestine live: Biden urges Egypt, Qatar to press Hamas for hostage deal

Following the successful adoption of the UN Security Council's draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, UN chief Antonio Guterres posted on X that the resolution "must be implemented".

"Failure would be unforgivable," he warned.

Algeria's representative applauded the resolution's adoption, saying that the Security Council is “finally shouldering its responsibility as the primary organ responsible for maintaining international peace and security".

“This bloodbath has continued for far too long,” Amar Bendjama said.

The UN security council have passed a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, with 14 countries backing the proposal and the US abstaining.

The UN Security Council session has started, with Pedro Comissario Afonso, Mozambique’s ambassador to the UN, introducing the draft resolution demanding a ceasefire.

“We express our deep appreciation for all members of this council for their efforts and inputs on this draft resolution aimed at ending the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

“The situation in Gaza is a matter of grave concern to the entire international community; indeed, the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip and its catastrophic consequences are a clear threat to international peace and security.

“In this context, the E10 (elected 10 countries to the Security Council) felt compelled to table this draft resolution before you.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will cancel a planned Israeli delegation to Washington if the US does not veto the UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, according to Israeli media.

The delegation, which includes Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, was requested by US President Joe Biden to discuss alternatives to a Rafah invasion.

Mohammed Shtayyeh, the caretaker Palestinian prime minister, said his government expects a Security Council resolution on Gaza to be passed unanimously later today.

The resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire for the remainder of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, “leading to a permanent, sustainable ceasefire”.

In an urgent appeal submitted to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said that Israel is "utilising administrative detention to detain a record number of Palestinian journalists without charge during the Israel-Gaza war".

The CPJ called on the UN to investigate the cases of journalists Moath Amarneh, Mohammad Badr, and Ameer Abu Iram, "all of whom have been detained without charge by Israel after the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7, 2023".

For the 2.2 million Muslims in Gaza, Ramadan has historically been a time of joyous social gatherings, spiritual reflection, faith renewal, and cherished family reunions.

However, over the past decade, recurring Israeli wars on the Strip have cast a dark shadow over this once-vibrant tradition. The ongoing genocidal assault, which has claimed more than 32,000 Palestinian lives and has laid waste to Gaza, made this a most devastating month.

Even when I encounter passersby on the street, I am unable to politely wish them, "Ramadan Kareem".

Such greetings feel inappropriate and almost shameful, as all the jubilant celebrations of Ramadan have been replaced by quiet mourning - punctuated only by the echoes of war, grief and hardship.

Opinion by Ghada Alhaddad.

READ MORE: Ramadan in Gaza: Food is scarce, but grief and despair are plentiful

Israel's decision on Sunday to prevent Unrwa food aid from reaching the northern Gaza Strip will "accelerate the risk of famine and send already starving children to their graves," aid agency Save the Children has warned. 

“Children are already dying from starvation and disease at the highest pace the world has ever seen, since records began," Xavier Joubert, country director for Save the Children in the occupied Palestinian territory, said. 

“Further restricting already drip-fed aid into northern Gaza is tantamount to tightening the noose. This announcement shows how funding cuts to the UN agency on which Palestinians and we as humanitarian organisations depend have further emboldened the weaponisation of aid.

"This must be overturned with robust and immediate diplomacy from the international community, as is their legal obligation. International action cannot take longer to deliver than the mere days children have. Their lives depend on it."

The military wing of Hamas, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired rockets towards the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on Monday.

It was the first such attack in weeks.  

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. 

The Israeli military said it intercepted two rockets while six others fell in open areas. 

Wounded Palestinians have been stranded in ambulances for over 20 hours after being forced out of the al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis by Israeli troops, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said. 

On Sunday evening, Israeli soldiers ejected medical teams and the wounded from the hospital. They later forced them to return but the hospital gate was locked, according to the PRCS.

"The teams remained waiting on the street until now," the charity group said. 

It added that two of its team members were shot and wounded by Israeli forces during the forced evacuation. 

The blocking of Unrwa aid from reaching the northern Gaza Strip by Israel is "completely unacceptable", Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said on Monday. 

In a post on social media platform X, Martin decried using starvation as a weapon of war, calling it a "blatant violation of international humanitarian law". 

Unrwa said on Sunday that Israeli authorities informed the UN agency they will no longer approve their aid missions to northern Gaza, where the population is facing imminent famine.

Israeli forces have killed at least 107 Palestinians and wounded 176 more over the past 24 hours in 11 "massacres", according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

This brings the Palestinian death toll in over five months to more than 32,333, with over 74,694 wounded and an estimated 8,000 missing and presumed dead.

More than 70 percent of the victims are children and women, according to health officials.

Israel told four European countries on Monday that their plan to work toward recognition of a Palestinian state constituted a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict between the neighbours.

Spain said on Friday that, in the name of Middle East peace, it had agreed with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia to take the first steps toward recognising statehood declared by the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

"Recognition of a Palestinian state following the October 7 massacre sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X.

"A resolution of the conflict will only be possible through direct negotiations between the parties. Any engagement in the recognition of a Palestinian state only distances reaching a resolution and increases regional instability."

He did not specify what kind of resolution he had in mind. Israel, whose governing coalition includes far-right pro-settler parties, has long ruled out Palestinian statehood. 

Reporting by Reuters

Vita food aid to the northern Gaza Strip has been halted over the past two days due to the lack of safe access, the UN said on Monday. 

"As famine edges closer, families are forced into dire choices for survival," The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory said on X. 

"The need for safe, unhindered humanitarian support has never been more urgent."