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AID DISTRIBUTION SITES run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) are to remain closed again today, while Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people in the Palestinian enclave this morning.
Meanwhile, the United States has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The US was the only one of the 15 members of the council to vote against the motion.
The GHF’s aid centres were closed yesterday after the Israeli army declared the access roads “combat zones” and following multiple incidents in which Israeli forces have opened fire on crowds of hungry people.
The UN has said the entire population of the Palestinian territory is at risk of famine due to Israel’s blocking of aid.
The highly controversial and shadowy organisation has been condemned by humanitarian organisations and UN agencies, who say the operation does not comply with humanitarian principles.
The GHF said its centres would be closed today “due to maintenance and repair work being done at the sites”.
It said it was working to make the distribution of food boxes “as safe as possible, despite the difficult circumstances”.
“We strongly urge all those heading to our locations to follow the routes set by the IDF to ensure safe passage,” the GHF said in a post on Facebook last night.
This morning, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least ten people.
“Ten martyrs so far resulting from Israeli strikes since dawn,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the AFP news agency.
He said the strikes had targeted an area where displaced civilians were sheltering in the southern city of Khan Younis and houses in Gaza City and the central town of Deir el-Balah.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, at least 4,335 people have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire with Hamas resumed its campaign on 18 March, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,607, most of whom were civilians.
Last night in New York, the United States used its veto power to prevent the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that would have demanded an unconditional ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.
“Today, the United States sent a strong message by vetoing a counterproductive UN Security Council resolution on Gaza targeting Israel,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement after the 14 to 1 vote.
He said Washington would not support any text that “draws a false equivalence between Israel and Hamas, or disregards Israel’s right to defend itself.
“The United States will continue to stand with Israel at the UN.”
The draft resolution had demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties.”
It also called for the “immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups,” and demanded the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office thanked US President Donald Trump “for once again showing our enemies that there is no daylight between us”.
With reporting from AFP
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