Israel-Hamas war latest: UN expected to approve Biden's ceasefire deal tonight | Middle East latest (2024)

Antony Blinken stressed the importance of a post-war plan for Gaza during his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu today, the US has said.

The state department said the diplomat also highlighted to the Israeli prime minister the importance of stopping the conflict from spreading.

"He reiterated that the[ceasefire] proposal on the table would unlock the possibilityof calm along Israel's northern border and further integrationwith countries in the region," the department said.

Mr Blinken is on his eighth visit to the Middle East since the start of the war in Gaza, in hopes of building support for a peace deal recently put forward by Joe Biden.

The UN Security Council is expected to pass a resolution in support of the proposal put forward by President Biden for a full and immediate ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza that would see the release of hostages, two diplomats have told Sky's US partner NBC News.

After almost a week of negotiations over the text, Russia and China are not expected to veto the resolution, according to the diplomats.

"Israel has accepted this proposal and the Security Council has an opportunity to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same,” Nate Evans, spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN said on Sunday in a public call for the council to take up the vote.

Since the start of the war sparked by Hamas' 7 October attacks in Israel, activists have been calling for boycotts, divestment and economic sanctions against Israel.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement demanding action against Israel began in 2005 and started as a Palestinian grassroots civil resistance movement.

But other protests have broken out over Eurovision and celebrities who don't speak out on the Gaza war.

Here, we explain the movement and why these boycotts are taking place:

We reported earlier on an early-morning Israeli raid on the al Faraa refugee camp in the West Bank (see 10.15 post).

In an update, Palestinian health officials have claimed that Israeli forces killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during their operation at the camp.

The IDF said the raid targeted militants, killing one and injuring two others.

The built-up camp in the foothills of the Jordan Valley dates back to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Pictures have emerged this afternoon showing the aftermath of the raid:

Israel has hit out at the Slovenian ambassador after her country's parliament approved the recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry said the ambassador was "reprimanded" over the "warped decision".

The statement said the move "does not promote peace" but instead "encourages the Hamas terrorist organisation and makes it difficult to promote a deal for the release of the hostages".

Last week Slovenian politicians voted with 52 in favour of and no one against recognition in the 90-seat parliament. The rest were not in attendance.

The US has denied it allowed the Israeli military to use its floating pier off Gaza for an operation which saw four hostages rescued but hundreds of Palestinians reportedly killed.

The Pentagon acknowledged Israeli helicopter operations took place "near" the pier, but that it was "incidental".

"Again, the pier,the equipment, the personnel all supporting that humanitarianeffort had nothing to do with the IDF rescue operation," said Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder.

Saturday's operation by the Israeli military freed living hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrei Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv, who had been held in Gaza since 7 October.

But the Hamas-run health ministry said 274 Palestinians were killed in the process, including dozens of children.

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups have both said they are keeping to their conditions for accepting any ceasefire proposal in Gaza.

Such conditions include an end to the conflict in the region and the complete withdrawal of all Israeli military.

Earlier, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Hamas was the "only outlier" in not accepting Joe Biden's three-phrase ceasefire deal aimed at releasing the remaining hostages and moving towards an end to the fighting (see 14.06 post).

His comments were branded "biased towards Israel" by a senior Hamas official.

"I am one of the lucky ones," Orit Meir Jan said.

Speaking at a media conference this morning, hastily organised after her son Almog's return to Israel over the weekend, Orit shared her joy and relief.

"Yesterday was my birthday and my wish came true," Orit said.

Almog was one of four Israeli hostages to be freed after a massive IDF operation - which killed as many as 274 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza - on Saturday.

"I haven't stopped smiling since my Almog was returned to me, all I can do is hug him [and] last night I had my first full night's sleep in eight months," she added.

However, she was quick to point out that other families are still in the agony of limbo.

"I am one of the lucky ones," she said.

"There are 120 families who are waiting without being able to breathe or sleep without thinking about their loved ones in Gaza.

"We are so grateful to the IDF for the brave rescue that brought Almog home to us. But the remaining hostages need a deal to get home safely.

"There is a deal on the table. We ask the Israeli government to move forward with the deal."

The United Nations' Security Council (UNSC) will tonight vote on whether or not it will back a ceasefire proposal first outlined by Joe Biden at the end of last month.

The US finalised its text yesterday after six days ofnegotiations among the 15-member council.

It is not yet clear whether Russia and/or China will allow theadoption of the draft - given that a resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and novetoes by the US, France, Britain, China or Russia to pass.

Antony Blinken's recent ceasefire comments show he is "biased towards Israel", senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has said.

He was responding to Mr Blinken's statement that Hamas was the "only outlier" stopping a peace deal from being agreed (see 2.06pm post).

"Blinken's speech during his visit to Egypt is an example ofbias to Israel and it offers an American cover to the holocaustconducted by the occupation in Gaza," he told Reuters.