Biden warns Israel of losing global support; UN passes resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza | Top developments today

Follow latest updates on the Israel-Gaza war here.

1. 01

   India votes in favour of UN resolution demanding immediate ceasefire in Gaza

   India, voting in favour of a General Assembly resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, has said the challenge in “this extraordinarily difficult time” is to strike the "right balance".

   The 193-member UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted the draft resolution at an emergency special session on Tuesday, with 153 nations voting in favour, 10 against and 23 abstentions. India was among the 153 nations that voted in favour of the resolution, adopted amid a round of applause in the GA hall.

   #IndiaAtUN

   Ambassador @ruchirakamboj, Permanent Representative, delivered the explanation of India's vote at the 10th #UNGA Emergency Special Session (resumed)

   Statement: https://t.co/b2Mjbrua9L pic.twitter.com/PtD8oNsz4l

   — India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) December 13, 2023

   Those voting against included Austria, Israel, and the US while Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ukraine, and the UK were among those who abstained. "India has voted in favour of the resolution just adopted by the General Assembly,” India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said after the vote. (Read more)

2. 02

   Israel losing global support due to 'indiscriminate bombing' in Gaza, warns Biden

   US President Joe Biden, in a rare act of public criticism, warned Israel that it is losing support globally due to "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza, and criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his coalition over their opposition to a two-state solution.

   Netanyahu is "a good friend, but I think he has to change, and... This government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move," Biden said during a fundraiser in Washington.  "They not only want to have retribution — which they should — for what Hamas did, but against all Palestinians... They don't want anything to do with the Palestinians," he added.

3. 03

   Zara yanks ads that some found reminiscent of Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza

   The Spanish fashion brand Zara has pulled advertising images that to some appeared to reference Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

   The images for a line of jackets included what the company called “unfinished sculptures in a sculptor's studio”. But some online critics said one image of a model holding a wrapped-up mannequin resembled someone holding a corpse. Other photos included a mannequin with missing limbs and a figure wrapped in fabric or plastic on the floor, according to news reports.

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   A post shared by ZARA Official (@zara)

   The company apologised in a statement posted on Instagram on Tuesday and said the campaign was conceived in July and photographed in September. Hamas attacked Israeli civilians on October 7, prompting Israel's subsequent invasion of Gaza. (AP)

4. 04

   Israel says colonel among 10 soldiers killed in Gaza on Tuesday

   Israel's military said 10 soldiers were killed in Gaza fighting on Tuesday, including a colonel who had commanded a forward base for the Golani infantry brigade.

   The statement, issued on Wednesday, updated an earlier statement which had put the latest one-day death toll at eight, among them a lieutenant-colonel who had commanded a Golani regiment. (Reuters)

5. 05

   Amid outcry over Gaza tactics, videos of soldiers acting maliciously create new headache for Israel

   Israeli soldiers rummaging through private homes in Gaza. Forces destroying plastic figurines in a toy store, or trying to burn food and water supplies in the back of an abandoned truck. Troops with their arms slung around each other, chanting racist slogans as they dance in a circle.

   Several viral videos and photos of Israeli soldiers behaving in a derogatory manner in Gaza have emerged in recent days, creating a headache for the Israeli military as it faces an international outcry over its tactics and the rising civilian death toll in its punishing war against Hamas.

   The Israeli army has pledged to take disciplinary action in what it says are a handful of isolated cases. (AP)

6. 06

   Death toll crosses 17,700 in Gaza

   More than 17,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.

   About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where United Nations agencies say there is no safe place to flee.

   Israel says 97 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.  (AP)

7. 07

   Watch | How has the war in Gaza affected Israel's relationship with its Arab neighbors?

   Although some of Israel’s neighbours still host hostile forces, there has been a slow thaw with other long-time foes like Saudi Arabia. Deutsche Welle takes a look at some breakthrough moments that show how things were evolving in the region, before the war broke out.

    

8. 08

   US and Britain impose additional sanctions on Hamas officials

   The United States and Britain imposed an additional round of sanctions on people in Turkey and elsewhere who are linked to the Palestinian Hamas militant group, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

   The sanctions target eight officials who advance Hamas' agenda and interests abroad and help manage its finances, the Treasury said in a statement. "Hamas continues to rely heavily on networks of well-placed officials and affiliates, exploiting seemingly permissive jurisdictions to direct fundraising campaigns for the group's benefit and funneling those illicit proceeds to support its military activities in Gaza," said Brian Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.