Live updates | Israel strikes hit Gaza as UN delays vote on a cease-fire resolution

Israeli troops launched more deadly strikes in Gaza on Tuesday and raided two of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza’s north, while the U.N. Security Council delayed voting on a resolution to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza during some kind of a halt in the fighting.

An Israeli strike on an apartment building in Rafah in southern Gaza killed at least 27 people, including women and children, and another killed at least three people, according to Associated Press journalists who saw the bodies arrive at two hospitals early Tuesday.

Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Thousands more lie buried under the rubble of Gaza, the U.N. estimates. Israel says 132 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages.

Currently:

— Diplomats at U.N. Security Council negotiate on Gaza humanitarian resolution, trying to avoid U.S. veto.

— U.S. envoys work for a new hostage release deal and a scale-down of the war.

— In Israel’s killing of three hostages, some see the same excessive force directed at Palestinians.

— Yemen’s Houthi attacks on commercial ships have upended global trade in the vital Red Sea corridor.

— Find more of ’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here’s what’s happening in the war:

UN SECURITY COUNCIL AGAIN DELAYS VOTE ON HALTING GAZA WAR

UNITED NATIONS — Trying to avoid another veto by the United States, the U.N. Security Council postponed voting for the second day in a row on an Arab-sponsored resolution that would deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza during some form of halt in the fighting.

Security Council members remained in intense negotiations Tuesday, as the United States has asked for more time. Talks were ongoing in an effort to get the Biden administration to abstain or vote in favor of the resolution.

Initially planned for Monday, the vote has been pushed back until Wednesday.

The draft resolution on the table Monday morning had called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” but this language was watered down in a new draft circulated early Tuesday.

It now “calls for the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.” The United States in the past has opposed language on a cessation of hostilities.

The draft also calls for the U.N. to establish a mechanism for monitoring the aid deliveries. This could be problematic because it bypasses the current Israeli inspection of aid entering Gaza.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday afternoon, when the vote was still set for 5 p.m. EST: “We’re still working through the modalities of the resolution.”

He said: “It’s important for us that the rest of the world understand what’s at stake here and what Hamas did on the 7th of October and how Israel has a right to defend itself against those threats.”

RED CROSS CHIEF PUSHES BACK ON ISRAEL’S CALLS TO PRESSURE HAMAS, CITING HER NEUTRAL ROLE

GENEVA — The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross says use of “public denouncements” hasn’t proven effective for the humanitarian group, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged her to put more public pressure on Hamas.

Mirjana Spoljaric spoke to reporters in Geneva on Tuesday after recent trips to both Gaza, where she visited a Red Cross hospital, and to Israel, where she met with Netanyahu and relatives of Israeli hostages held by the militant Palestinian group.

Video released by Netanyahu’s office of his meeting Thursday with the Red Cross president showed him arguing with her as they discussed the fate of more than 100 Israeli hostages believed to be in Hamas custody. He urged her to put more public pressure on Hamas.

“Pressure: It’s interesting how everybody wants me to put pressure on someone,” Spoljaric said at ICRC headquarters, alluding to the Red Cross’s historic role as an impartial and neutral aid group that often works confidentially to help ensure protection of civilians.

“I have been asked to publicly denounce so many things since I joined office,” said Spoljaric, who took up her post 14 months ago. “Public denouncements are not a tool that has proven effective. But it exposes us to a lot of criticism all the time.”

“Without neutrality, we wouldn’t be able to operate. Without confidentiality when it needs to be applied, it wouldn’t be successful,” she added. “But it’s precisely these two things that are criticized most.”

“What pressure are we talking about?” Spoljaric said. “The amount of pressure that I can impose on parties depends on the amount of support we get from all the state parties and especially states that can influence.”

The Red Cross has been involved in the release of 109 hostages held by Hamas and is working toward the unconditional release of all others being held

COMEDIAN JERRY SEINFELD VISITS ISRAELI KIBBUTZ NEAR GAZA

TEL AVIV, Israel — Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has visited an Israeli kibbutz that was overrun by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.

According to Israeli media, Seinfeld visited the burnt-out homes of Kibbutz Be’eri, which was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people and saw roughly 240 taken hostage.

Images on social media showed Seinfeld viewing the damaged homes as well talking to local residents. On the trip Tuesday, he also visited the site of the Nova music festival, where more than 300 revelers were killed.

On Monday, Israeli media said the Jewish-American entertainer met with the families of Israelis held captive in Gaza as well as with hostages recently released from captivity.

ISRAELI PRESIDENT INDICATES READINESS FOR PAUSE IN FIGHTING IF HAMAS FREES HOSTAGES

JERUSALEM — Israeli president Isaac Herzog said during a briefing Tuesday with foreign ambassadors that Israel is “ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages.”

Herzog stressed that “the responsibility lies fully with Sinwar and the leadership of Hamas,” referring to Yehya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader inside the Gaza Strip.

Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives. Hamas officials have said they would refuse anything less than a permanent end to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and the release of all Palestinians detained by Israel in exchange for any release of hostages.

This year, instead of the president’s traditional New Years reception, Herzog held a briefing with ambassadors and diplomatic representatives of more than 80 countries. The presidency is largely a ceremonial role, meant to be seen as a unifying figure in Israel.

A GAZA FATHER’S TEARFUL GOODBYE AFTER LOSING 2 YOUNG KIDS TO AN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Mahmoud Zoarab said farewell to his dead children, 17-day-old daughter Aisha and 2-year-old son Ahmed, from his hospital bed.

Wounded in the airstrike that killed his children, Zoarab grimaced with effort as he pulled himself up to cradle Ahmed, wrapped in a white burial shroud. Zoarab then wept and fell back again. Aisha, also bundled in white cloth, was placed next to him on his other side. At one point he tapped his heart, seemingly too exhausted to speak.

Aisha’s grandmother, Suzan, said the infant was born on Dec. 2.

The extended family was asleep when an Israeli airstrike hit their apartment building before dawn Tuesday, Suzan Zoarab said. She said two of her sons had apartments on higher floors, but the family stayed together on the ground floor amid fears of airstrikes.

In all, 27 people were killed in the strike, hospital officials. Suzan Zoarab said many were members of her extended family.

“They removed us from under the rubble and brought us here,” she said from the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah.

She lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said Israel will not stop its air and ground offensive in Gaza until the Islamic militant group Hamas has been dismantled.

“I want to send a message to Netanyahu,” Zoarab said. “Does he think that by killing these children, he will achieve something? Have they succeeded now? Has he achieved what he wants? No, he hasn’t achieved what he wants.”

Dozens of mourners held a funeral prayer Tuesday morning outside the hospital in Rafah, before taking those killed in the strike for burial in a nearby cemetery.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.