Fighting rages in northern Gaza, Palestinian Authority and Hamas split on UN resolution

The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 20,258 since October 7, with 53,688 others being injured, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

It added that at least 201 Palestinians had been killed and 368 injured in Israeli attacks in the previous 24 hours.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

Fighting rages

Israel battled Hamas militants on Saturday in pursuit of its elusive goal of full control of northern Gaza after the UN Security Council appealed for more aid for the Palestinian enclave but stopped short of demanding a ceasefire.

Thick smoke hung over the northern town of Jabalia and residents reported persistent aerial bombardment and shelling from Israeli tanks, which they said had moved further into the town.

Hamas' armed wing Al Qassam Brigades said it had destroyed five Israeli tanks in the area, killing and injuring their crews, after reusing two undetonated missiles launched earlier by Israel.

Israel's chief military spokesperson said that its forces had achieved almost complete operational control of northern Gaza and were preparing to expand the ground offensive to other areas in the Strip, with a focus on the south.

Al-Qassam Brigades said on Saturday that it has lost contact with a group holding five Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, and suggested some of the hostages may have been killed in an Israeli air strike.

The spokesman for the Brigades Abu Ubaida said in a statement that the Brigades had lost contact with the group "during an Israeli raid."

He reported the names of three out of the five hostages, indicating that the Qassam Brigades suspect their deaths in one of the Israeli air strikes in Gaza, but did not give further details about the other two hostages.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

'I did not ask for a ceasefire'

U.S. President Joe Biden discussed the situation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, according to the White House.

Biden declined to detail his conversation with Netanyahu, telling reporters it was a "private conversation." However, he added "I did not ask for a ceasefire."

Biden and Netanyahu talked in detail about Israeli's military operations in Gaza including "its objectives and phasing," the need to protect civilian lives and securing the release of hostages being held captive, the White House said.

U.S. officials have said they want and expect Israel soon to shift its military operations in Gaza to a lower-intensity phase during which there will be more targeted operations focused on the Hamas leadership and its infrastructure.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday accused the U.S. of being the "first and biggest violator of democracy in the world" while speaking at an international conference to rally support for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank in Tehran.

He urged the U.S. not to "draw up plans for the future of Gaza, as the future of this region will be determined by its people and legal government."

In a separate event on Saturday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei criticized the U.S. veto of several UN Security Council resolutions demanding a ceasefire in Gaza as a "shameless move and complicit" with Israel in its bombardments of civilians in Gaza, according to a statement published on his website.

Split on UN Gaza resolution

The UN Security Council on Friday passed a key resolution, emphasizing the immediate acceleration of aid deliveries to the distressed civilians in Gaza, but without the original call for an "urgent suspension of hostilities" between Israel and Hamas.

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Gaza crisis: UN urges more humanitarian aid, Israel widens offensive

"I welcome the recent resolution passed by the UN Security Council addressing the Gaza crisis. It highlights the need for urgent pauses and humanitarian corridors to ensure the safe delivery of food and health supplies to those in need," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), wrote on X.

The most pressing requirement for the people of Gaza is an immediate ceasefire, he said, adding that the threat of hunger, famine, and the spread of disease looms large, exacerbated by the decimation of health facilities and attacks on health workers.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which is part of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), and Hamas issued opposing statements on Friday in response to the resolution.

Hamas expressed disappointment in a press statement, saying the resolution "failed to match" the catastrophic condition in Gaza resulting from Israeli military actions in the region, and accusing the U.S. administration of watering down the resolution, allowing Israel to continue what it described as a campaign of destruction, violence, and terrorism in Gaza.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the resolution "a step in the right direction," and said it would help "end the aggression, ensure the arrival of aid and protect the Palestinian people."

"We consider it a step that may contribute to alleviating the suffering of our people in the Gaza Strip," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

(With input from agencies)