Hamas

The U.N. Security Council will vote Monday on a new draft resolution on an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza, after Russia and China vetoed an earlier text proposed by the United States.

The Council has been divided over the Israel-Hamas war since the Oct. 7 attacks, approving only two of eight resolutions, with both dealing mainly with humanitarian aid to the devastated Gaza Strip.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported an initial death toll of nine, and the Hamas press office later issued a statement raising it to 19.

"The Israeli occupation commits a massacre, killing 19 and injuring 23 civilians while thousands of citizens were waiting for flour and aid near Al-Kuwait roundabout," the Gaza Media Office said on Saturday in a recent statement.

Russia and China utilized their veto power to block the UN Security Council's draft resolution proposed by the United States, which aimed at achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of hostages held by Hamas. According to reports from the BBC and AFP, cited by BTA, Moscow accused Washington of engaging in a "hypocritical spectacle" by failing to exert pressure on Israel.

Finland will resume funding to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, Foreign Trade and Development Minister Ville Tavio announced on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel Friday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on a U.S. draft resolution noting the need for an "immediate" ceasefire that would allow in more aid.

The United States has circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages" in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Canada will halt all arms shipments to Israel, a government official told AFP on Tuesday, a decision that has drawn the ire of Israel as it faces growing international scrutiny over its war in the Gaza Strip.

The besieged Palestinian territory is facing a mounting humanitarian crisis, and months of war have pushed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to the brink of famine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed his commitment to launching a ground invasion of Rafah, despite reservations expressed by US President Joe Biden. Netanyahu emphasized to Israeli lawmakers that they are resolute in their mission to eradicate Hamas forces in Rafah and see no alternative to achieving this goal without a ground operation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to return Wednesday to the Middle East in a new bid to secure a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

Following a failed attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last week, a new round of negotiations hosted by key mediator Qatar has begun.

Efforts to hammer out a temporary truce in Gaza intensified Tuesday after months of war that have left parts of the devastated territory facing imminent famine.

A U.N.-backed assessment described the increasingly dire situation by noting that without a surge of aid famine would hit the 300,000 people in Gaza's war-battered north by May.