No agreement in UN Security Council on Israel-Hamas war; China, France call for ceasefire in Gaza

The U.N. Security Council has once again failed to agree on a resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, with the U.S. calling for “humanitarian pauses” and many council members demanding a “humanitarian cease-fire” to deliver desperately needed aid and prevent more civilian deaths in Gaza. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters earlier Monday that he wants an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and a halt to the “spiral of escalation” already taking place from the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Yemen. He said international humanitarian law, which demands protection of civilians and infrastructure essential for their lives, is clearly being violated and stressed that “no party to an armed conflict is above” these laws. China, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, and the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, called Monday’s closed consultations to discuss a draft resolution put forward by its 10 elected members. But after more than two hours of closed-door talks the differences remained.