Israel under pressure from allies as Gaza war rages on

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories — Israel was facing mounting international pressure on Wednesday over its war in Gaza, with even key backer the United States criticising the "indiscriminate" bombing.

The Israeli war has left Gaza in ruins, killing more than 18,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the health ministry, and causing "unparalleled" damage to its roads, schools and hospitals.

The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a non-binding resolution for a ceasefire on Tuesday.

But more air strikes hit Gaza and gun battles raged through the night, especially in Gaza City, the biggest urban centre, and Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south, AFP correspondents said.

Cold autumn rains lashed the territory, where millions have been displaced and many are living in makeshift plastic tents, as vital supplies of food, drinking water, medicines and fuel have run low in more than two months of siege and war.

Camped with thousands of others in the grounds of the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza, Ameen Edwan said his family was unable to sleep.

"Rainwater seeped in. We couldn't sleep. We tried to find nylon covers but couldn't find any, so we resorted to stones and sand" to keep the rain out, he told AFP.

Air raid sirens wailed in Sderot and other southern Israeli communities near Gaza as Palestinian fighters kept firing rockets, most of which have been intercepted by air defences.

The Israeli forces said an air strike had hit a fighter cell in Gaza City's Shejaiya district "that was en route to launch rockets toward Israel".

In Khan Yunis, a centre of heavy urban com bat in recent days, a family gathered to mourn the death in a strike of Fayez Al Taramsi, a father of seven.

“How are we going to live after him?” one of his daughters said, crying and clutching his bloodied shirt. “He brought us to life.”

The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Wednesday it had exhausted its supply of children’s vaccines, warning of “catastrophic health repercussions”.

The announcement came more than two months into the Israeli war on Gaza as international aid organisations have warned about the dire conditions in the crowded Palestinian territory.

The ministry did not specify which vaccinations had run out, and its claim could not be independently verified.

Tedros Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, warned on Sunday that “Gaza’s health system is on its knees and collapsing”, with 14 of 36 hospitals only partially functioning and supplies running low.

“The risk is expected to worsen with the deteriorating situation and approaching winter conditions,” he said.

The Gaza health ministry called on international institutions to deliver urgently needed vaccines “to prevent disaster”.

‘Diminishing safe space’ 

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Tuesday demanding a ceasefire, backed by 153 of 193 nations, surpassing the 140 or so that have routinely condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

While the United States voted against the resolution, it was supported by allies Australia, Canada and New Zealand, who, in a rare joint statement, said they were “alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza”.

Biden told a campaign event that Israel had “most of the world supporting it” immediately after the October 7 surprise attack, but that “they’re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place”.

Toning down his comments at a later news conference, the US president reiterated support for Israel and said only that “the safety of innocent Palestinians is still of great concern”.

His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will travel to Israel on Thursday to meet Israeli premier Netanyahu, who has said there is “disagreement” with Washington over how a post-conflict Gaza would be governed.

Gaza City hospital raid 

The UN vote came after Philippe Lazzarini, head of its Palestinian refugee agency, described the situation in Gaza as “hell on earth”.

The UN estimates 1.9 million of the territory’s 2.4 million people have been displaced and are receiving goods from only around 100 aid trucks per day.

Its hospital system is in ruins, and Hamas authorities said on Wednesday that vaccines for children had run out, warning of “catastrophic health repercussions”.

UN satellite analysis agency UNOSAT said 18 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure had been destroyed based on an image that was already more than two weeks old.

The World Bank in a new analysis warned that “the loss of life, speed and extent of damages... are unparalleled”.

Already by mid-November, almost half of all roads and around 60 per cent of communication infrastructure, health and education facilities had been damaged or destroyed, it said.

Hamas said Israeli forces raided a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday. UN humanitarian agency OCHA had earlier reported fighting nearby and said about 3,000 displaced people were trapped inside.

The UN World Health Organisation’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “extremely worried” by reports of the raid, adding that his agency “urgently calls for the protection of all persons inside the hospital”.

Fears of a wider conflict continued to grow, with daily exchanges of fire along Israel’s border with Lebanon, where Hizbollah is based, and other Iran-backed groups targeting US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly launched missiles and drones toward Israel and cargo ships in nearby waters that they suspect are working with Israel.