Security Council demands humanitarian aid for Gaza but not cease-fire: Day 77 of Hamas-Israel war

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage from day 77 of the Hamas-Israel war.

We'll be back tomorrow with more news updates and analysis, right here at L'Orient Today.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations criticized the Security Council for its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack following a Friday vote to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza, Reuters reports.

"The UN's focus only on aid mechanisms to Gaza is unnecessary and disconnected from reality — Israel is already allowing aid deliveries at the required scale," said Gilad Erdan. "The UN should have focused on the humanitarian crisis of the hostages."

Erdan also thanked the United States for its strong support of Israel during the negotiations on the resolution, which he said maintained Israel's security authority to inspect every aid truck entering Gaza.

Yesterday, Times of Israel quoted Israeli President Isaac Herzog as saying: “Today it is possible to provide three times the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza if the UN — instead of complaining all day — would do its job."

Before the UN vote, Israel said 5,405 aid trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies have entered Gaza since the start of the war, Reuters reports. Before the war began around 500 trucks of aid entered Gaza per day.

Regarding aid to Gaza, the "real problem" is Israel's offensive, says UN chief António Guterres, according to an AFP report.

"The real problem is the way Israel is conducting its offensive, which is creating massive obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza," Guterres said, insisting that a "humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to address the desperate needs of the people of Gaza and put an end to the nightmare they are living through."

🔴 BREAKING: Following fierce negotiations and a five-day delay, the UN Security Council demands the "large-scale" delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, without calling for an immediate ceasefire, which the Americans did not want, AFP reports.

The resolution, adopted by 13 votes in favor, none against and two abstentions (United States and Russia), "demands that all parties allow and facilitate the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of large-scale humanitarian assistance" to Gaza, and calls for "urgent action" in this regard and to "create the conditions for a durable cessation of hostilities."

In the last 30 minutes, the Israeli army bombed an empty house located between the south Lebanon border villages of Beit Leif and Kawzah in Bint Jbeil district, a security source tells L'Orient Today.

An Iranian spy ship has been providing real-time intelligence to Yemen's Houthi rebels to aid in vessel attacks in the Read Sea over the past days, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

According to the report, Iranian intelligence helped the Houthi rebels locate ships that turned off their radio transmitters to avoid surveillance, and shoot at them with missiles and UAVs.

👉 Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour (L), enters the UN Security Council chamber prior a meeting about the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York today. The Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution calling for a pause in the conflict, diplomatic sources told AFP, after two previous votes were delayed as members wrangled over wording. (Photo credit: Charly Triballeau/AFP)

The Israeli army, quoted by Haaretz, announces the death of one of its soldiers, claiming that he was killed in northern Israel by rockets from Lebanon.

The soldier was Sergeant Amit Hod Ziv, aged 19. Another soldier was seriously injured and evacuated for medical treatment.

An investigation by The New York Times published yesterday found that Israel has used one of its most destructive and largest bombs over 200 times in areas of southern Gaza it designated as safe for civilians over the course of its war against Hamas.

The investigation used AI-based analysis of satellite imagery and drone footage of southern Gaza to identify craters "measuring 40 feet across or larger," which according to munitions experts cited by NYT, "typically only 2,000-pound bombs form." According to the article, 208 such craters have been located.

In response to questions from the American newspaper, a US Army spokesperson said that Israel's priority is to destroy Hamas, and that "questions of this kind will be considered at a later stage." He also said that the army is "taking feasible precautions to mitigate damage to civilians."

The latest death toll from the Gaza Health Ministry sits at over 20,000 people killed, the majority women and children, by Israel's offensive on the besieged enclave.

👉 Read the full New York Times article here.

Protesters rally in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Sanaa, Yemen Dec. 22, 2023. (Credit: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

Hezbollah announces that it targeted an Israeli control center facing the south Lebanon border village of Kfar Kila, Marjeyoun district, at 4:15 p.m., and said they "directly hit the target."

The Israeli army bombed the outskirts of the south Lebanon border village of Khyam, Marjeyoun district, a resident of the village tells L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south.

The Israeli army claims that its soldiers have been hearing recordings of people weeping and speaking Hebrew — attempts, commanders believe, to trick the Israeli soldiers into searching for hostages nearby, according to The Washington Post. The Israeli army has not released those recordings.

The American newspaper reports that "in intense urban combat, fought above and below ground, Hamas militants dart from building to building in civilian clothes, the Israeli army says, and attempt to ensnare Israeli soldiers with booby traps and lures." Booby traps are banned by international law.

WP also quotes some analysts suggesting that the wariness of such traps might have been a factor in the Israeli army’s mistaken killing of three Israeli hostages in Gaza last week — that the troops were spooked and too fast to fire. Reuters reported the three hostages emerged without shirts and waving a white flag on a stick before they were shot.

👉 Read The Washington Post article here.

The Israeli army bombed the outskirts of southern Lebanon border village Aita al-Chaab, Bint Jbeil district, a few minutes ago, a security source tells L'Orient Today. Around the same time, the Israeli army bombed an area around southern Lebanon border village Naqoura, Sour district, residents there tell our correspondent in the south.

In the last hour, the Israeli army bombed the outskirts of the southern Lebanese border villages of Adeiseh, Marjeyoun district; Ter Harfa, Sour district; and Jabine, also Sour district, a security source tells L'Orient Today.

A US dual citizen taken captive on Oct. 7 has died, says an Israeli group representing captives' families, according to a report from Al Jazeera. Gadi Haggai, 73, was out for a morning walk with his wife Judi around kibbutz Nir Oz when Gadi was shot and critically injured, and the two were taken hostage.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says in a statement that Judi is still in Gaza, held by Hamas along with the body of her husband.

According to an official Israeli tally, 129 people remain hostage in Gaza after the rest were repatriated in a November truce or recovered during a military offensive. Of those still in Gaza, 22 are dead, the Israeli government says.

Hezbollah announces that it targeted a military brigade near an Israeli position facing the southern Lebanese border village of Mais al-Jabal at 2:30 p.m. The party did not declare having made a direct hit.

784 Israeli soldiers have been wounded in "combat operations" in the Gaza Strip since the start of the ground invasion of the enclave, the Israeli army said, quoted by Haaretz. Of these, 179 are considered "seriously wounded."

Hezbollah, in a statement, says that it launched rockets at an Israeli infantry unit located near Metula at 2:20 p.m.

In a separate statement, Hezbollah also claimed a rocket attack on a group of Israeli soldiers near Even Manachem in northern Israel. This statement did not specify the time that the attack took place.

Our correspondent in southern Lebanon, quoting local residents, reports that the outskirts of Houla, Markaba (Marjayoun) and Wadi Slouqi (Bint Jbeil) were targeted in Israeli strikes.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that Lebanon is ready for the "implementation of international resolutions," including UN Security Council Resolution 1701, as long as Israel was willing to comply as well and withdraw from disputed territory, AFP reports.

"We are totally ready to commit to their implementation, on condition the Israeli side does the same, and withdraws – according to the international laws and resolutions – from occupied territory," Mikati states.

Israel has insisted on the implementation of UNSC 1701, specifically Hezbollah's withdrawal north of the Litani River, and has gone as far as to threaten Hezbollah and Lebanon with its forced implementation.

"There are two ways to do that: either by diplomacy or by force," Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said.

Read the full story here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to continue sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, while again calling for a "swift end to the bloodshed," according to AFP.

"Russia will continue to supply the Gaza Strip with essential goods, including medicines and medical equipment," said the Kremlin in a statement following a telephone conversation between the two leaders. Vladimir Putin also called for "the resumption of the political process" with a view to the two-state solution he advocates.

Danish shipping company Maersk will impose additional charges on container shipments from Asia, following its decision to avoid the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, due to multiple attacks in the region, according to information from Reuters.

Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping companies, said on Tuesday that its ships would instead sail around the Cape of Good Hope.

According to the Gazan Ministry of Health, quoted by AFP, 390 Palestinians have been killed in the last 48 hours in the Gaza Strip in Israeli strikes, including "dozens" on Friday before dawn and in the morning in Rafah, Khan Younis, Gaza City and Jabalia.

Since the fighting began in southern Lebanon, thousands have fled their homes further north for safety amid the Israeli bombardments of the border villages.

However, some store owners have refused to leave and continue to operate despite the bombs.

"We work under the bombs. A few days ago, a shell fell 200 meters (650 feet) from here. Shrapnel hit the shopfront and the wall," said Husein Murtada, 60, pointing to the damage.

Read the full story here.

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued a new evacuation order on Friday to residents of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip and surrounding neighborhoods. "For your safety, you must go immediately to Deir el-Balah", further south, he called on his X account.

Three shells landed in Wadi Hanin (Bint Jbeil), local residents told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

According to the Gazan Ministry of Health, "dozens" of Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes during the night from Thursday to Friday and Friday morning in Gaza, including six in Rafah and six in Khan Younis, and " dozens" in Gaza City and Jabalia. 

In two separate statements, Hezbollah announced the deaths of two of its fighters – Hussein Ali Ezzedine from Maaroub in South Lebanon and Abdulaziz Ali Muslimani from Shaaitieh in South Lebanon – without specifying the location or time of their deaths. By our count, a total of 121 deaths have been claimed by Hezbollah since Oct. 8.

Israeli artillery fired rockets into the vicinity of Tayr Harfa and Jibbain (Sour), residents reported to our correspondent.

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the southern Gaza Strip shows trucks carrying humanitarian aid queuing on the Egyptian side before entry to the Palestinian territory on Dec. 22, 2023, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Credit: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)

In a second statement, Hezbollah took credit for attacking the Shomera Barracks for a second time at 9:35 a.m. using "suitable weapons."

Commenting on the situation in southern Lebanon, outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that "the solution lies in the application of international resolutions, provided that the Israeli enemy withdraws from the occupied Lebanese regions." Mikati's remarks, reported by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), came after a meeting in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai. 

Hezbollah, in a statement, said that its fighters launched an attack on the Shomera Barracks, targeting a group of soldiers nearby, in northern Israel at 8:30 a.m. using "suitable weapons."

Update from southern Lebanon:

Following the launch of a number of rockets from Lebanon towards northern Israel, Israeli forces carried out three airstrikes in Labbouneh (Sour). Israeli artillery also struck the village of Rab al-Thalathine (Marjayoun), falling between houses in the area. No casualties have been reported.

According to our correspondent in southern Lebanon, citing security sources, Israeli artillery has also fallen on the outskirts of Aita Shaab, Beit Lif, Qouzah, Ramieh (Bint Jbeil) and Jabal Balat in Marwahin (Sour).

Starting in January, Canada will introduce an immigration program to allow Gaza Strip residents with Canadian family members to apply for temporary visas, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced on Thursday.

Justin Trudeau's government will grant a three-year temporary residence permit to extended family members of Canadian citizens (spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings, parents or grandparents) who wish to leave Gaza, the minister told reporters.

Read the full story here.

Half a million people, or almost a quarter of the population of Gaza, are facing starvation, according to a report by the UN hunger monitoring system. And within the next six weeks, the entire population of 2.4 million is likely to find itself in the same situation.

"We have been warning for weeks that with such deprivation and destruction, every day that passes will only bring more hunger, disease and despair to the people of Gaza," reacted UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths on X. "The war must stop."

The Security Council vote scheduled for Thursday on a ceasefire has been postponed and is now scheduled for Friday, according to diplomatic sources.

These postponements are due to the inability of Council members to agree on a text capable of escaping a veto from the United States, which has already blocked two previous resolutions in recent weeks.

Discussions have notably stalled over the control of humanitarian convoys. This was initially to have been entrusted to the UN alone, but Israel, which fears the entry of weapons into the enclave, wants to maintain its supervisory power over aid trucks.

Bombardments continue in the Gaza Strip. Early on Friday, an Israeli bombardment killed five people in Rafah, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health quoted by AFP.

Make sure that you read the Morning Brief to ensure that you are caught up with what has been happening.

Morning Brief

Israeli strike kills woman, World Bank reverses Lebanon projections, Ghosn's eviction order halted: Everything you need to know to start your Friday

Good morning!

Thank you for joining us for our live coverage of the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.