The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has provided an update of its operational activities, which confirms ongoing fighting across the Gaza Strip. The BBC has not verified the various battlefield claims.

• The IDF said its troops were involved in ground fighting with Hamas near a school in Shujaiya, northern Gaza - claiming to have killed all the gunmen. It said searches afterwards found a number of guns, grenades and ammunition
• It also said its ground troops located and struck a tunnel shaft that was “part of an extensive underground route” in Shujaiya. It added that weapons and an elevator were found
• The IDF also said it used its helicopters to target Hamas gunmen with anti-tank missiles, also in Shujaiya
• It said its troops were also involved in a gunfight with Hamas operatives in Beit Hanoun, near the boundary with Israel
• In a separate update, also issued earlier today, an official said the Israeli air force struck Hezbollah targets in neighbouring Lebanon. (Israeli troops have been involved in regular exchanges of fire with Hezbollah – a powerful Iran-backed group – since the start of the war)

Image source, Getty Images

Let's bring you some more insight on what's happening on the ground in Gaza from a doctor working in the territory with medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (commonly known as Doctors Without Borders).

Mohammad Abu Mughaiseb reflected on the start of Israel's ground operation in the south of the territory, and said the fighting was "more intense" a week after the seven-day ceasefire ended last Friday.

"MSF activity stopped almost all (work in) Gaza," he told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme earlier. "In the south, we stopped because of the security.

"Hospitals in the north and Gaza City stopped totally. What is still functioning is in the south - hospitals - but they are crowded (and used as) shelters as well."

Medics were operating on "patients lying on the ground", he added. "It's the catastrophe of the century."

Organised fighting from Hamas will dismay Israelispublished at 09:50 Greenwich Mean Time 9 December 2023

09:50 GMT 9 December 2023

Jeremy Bowen
International editor

Following the vote in the UN Security Council, Israel now has more time to continue its military operation in Gaza - and whether it’s a month, three months, or more, I think judging at the pace things are going, Israel may well struggle to achieve its military objectives.

It will be messy. There won’t be an easy end. There won’t be a moment when Israel says it’s time to go home and rebuild, which is the kind of thing that happened before in the wars between Hamas and Israel. This is of a totally different order of magnitude. That’s why the future is unknown territory for everyone involved in this.

Image source, EPA

Hamas is continuing to fire rockets into Israeli areas, but also fighting Israeli troops street by street in Gaza, inflicting casualties. Israel has tremendous military power. In a 24-hour period this week, it says it hit Gaza 450 times by land, sea and air - and that is an enormous amount of power and destruction. But what it has not so far done is show it can break Hamas as a military organisation with a military chain of command.

Then, perhaps, Israeli could claim victory. But right now, Hamas is still fighting in an organised way, which will dismay those Israelis who want this to be over and done with.

And an issue Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to have, is that they have set a very high bar for victory – annihilate Hamas. Not just as a military organisation, but as a group that has a political role as well. Since those ideas are pretty much embedded among some Palestinians, that might be pretty much impossible.

• Read more from Jeremy here

Image source, EPA

As our correspondent Hugo just mentioned, the UN Security Council yesterday held a vote on a resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Before the vote – the draft of which was prepared by the United Arab Emirates and co-sponsored by 97 member nations – the UN chief António Guterres said the people of Gaza were “looking into the abyss”.

In the ballot, 13 members voted for the resolution, while the United Kingdom abstained. The United States was the only member to reject the resolution, using its status as a permanent member to invoke a veto.

Speaking after the vote, the US said that “nearly all of our recommendations were ignored”. The UK, its key ally, said the resolution “not condemn the atrocities Hamas committed” against Israelis on 7 October.

The US was criticised by countries including China and Russia, while the State of Palestine - which has permanent UN observer status - called the resolution defeat “a turning point in history”, adding that “hundreds of people will be killed by this time tomorrow”.

Other countries on the council this year - which rotates among 10 non-permanent members - include Brazil, Japan and Switzerland. Israel is not currently a member.

Ceasefire calls may get too loud for US to ignorepublished at 09:02 Greenwich Mean Time 9 December 2023

09:02 GMT 9 December 2023

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Israel has been under pressure to do more to protect civilians in Gaza as it continues with its offensive against Hamas. Even its main ally, the US, says there is a “gap” in what the Israeli authorities say and what they are doing - in the words of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Still, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire last night, supporting the Israeli view that a pause now would only benefit Hamas. Thirteen other members of the council backed the resolution, while the UK abstained in the vote - proof of growing international concerns about the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Image source, Getty Images

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, said the vote meant that “millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance” - a position shared by aid groups who have repeatedly warned of an unfolding catastrophe.

The entire territory, under constant bombardment, is suffering with widespread shortages of food, water and medicine. Overwhelmed hospitals are unable to treat everyone, and shelters cannot cope with tens of thousands of displaced residents, many on the move not for the first time.

The limited amount of basic supplies being allowed into Gaza means that humanitarian assistance in the territory has virtually stopped, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Israel says it has taken measures to protect civilians, and accuses Hamas of using the population of human shields. As the fighting continues, more people will get killed, and the suffering of those who survive will only get worse. For the US, it may be a matter of time before calls for a ceasefire become too loud to be ignored.

Earlier this morning, an official for UNRWA - the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees - spoke to the BBC from Rafah in south Gaza. He described a "desperate situation" for locals.

Tom White told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that a ceasefire was crucial. "Here in Rafah we have hundreds of thousands of people who are living in the open," he explained. "There is a lack of water. Everyone in the street is asking for flour to feed their children.

"Our shelters have well over 7,000 people. There are hundreds using the one toilet for example.

"If the bombs aren't going to kill them, it is the disease, or for those living out on the streets, it'll be the exposure."

Describing his trip to a UN distribution centre in Rafah on Friday, White said: "All you could hear was air strikes going into the city." He also told the BBC a guesthouse he shared with colleagues was hit last night.

As Israel's military continues to target the south of the Gaza Strip in its efforts to defeat Hamas, here's a selection of images from there this morning.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

The Israeli military’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza continues with full force - despite growing pressure for more to be done to minimise civilian casualties, which continue to mount.

In the north, residents reported renewed Israeli tank fire, while in the south, intense fighting continues. Khan Younis - where Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, is from - remains a key target. The Israeli authorities say the group’s leaders are hiding there, possibly in the underground network of tunnels.

Fighting in the city was happening house to house and "shaft to shaft", Brig Gen Dan Goldfuss told the Reuters news agency, a reference to tunnel shafts.

Last night, the armed wing of Hamas released a video which it says shows the aftermath of a failed Israeli operation to free a hostage. It ends with images of a bloodied body that appears to be of the captive. The video has not been independently verified.

A spokesman for the Israeli military said a representative had informed the hostage’s family, and said Hamas was waging “psychological warfare”. Earlier, Israeli military confirmed that two soldiers had been seriously wounded during operations in Gaza to release hostages but that no-one had been freed.

Image source, Reuters

Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of developments in the Middle East.

As the Israel-Hamas war enters its tenth week, here are some of the key things to know:

• In the Gaza Strip, there are reports of house-to-house fighting in Khan Younis - and of tanks advancing towards the centre of the city - as intense battles continue in the south of the territory
• Last night, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, saying it was “imbalanced” and “divorced from reality”, and that it failed to clearly condemn Hamas for its deadly 7 October attacks. (As one of five permanent council members, the US has the power to veto any resolution)
• Washington’s position attracted widespread criticism, including from China, which described the US as “self-contradictory” by expressing concern for civilian lives, but refusing to support a draft for a ceasefire. Russia – which has ignored all security council demands to withdraw from Ukraine in its own war - called the US “heartless”, and accused the country of playing a “geopolitical game”

• The State of Palestine, which has permanent observer status at the UN, called the failure to pass the resolution “a turning point in history” and accused the security council of failing to uphold its responsibility in the face of mounting Palestinian civilian deaths
• Most of Khan Younis’s population – many who had to flee northern Gaza near the start of the war – have left the city for coastal areas, or further south towards Rafah, near the Egyptian border
• The BBC has been speaking people who have fled to Al-Mawasi, a narrow strip of land by the Mediterranean Sea, delineated by the Israeli army as a "humanitarian zone". One person described it as "not a place for human beings"

Image source, Reuters

Matt Murphy
Live Editor

We're pausing our live coverage for this evening, on a day when the US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Thirteen of the council's 15 members supported the motion. The UK abstained.

The US, which can veto any resolution as one of five permanent members of the security council, said the proposal tabled by the United Arab Emirates was "imbalanced" and unrealistic. It criticised the resolution for failing to condemn the 7 October Hamas attacks that killed around 1,200 Israelis.

"This resolution essentially says that Israel should just tolerate this, that it should allow this terror to go unchecked," the US representative said.

But the State of Palestine said the veto was "beyond regrettable", adding that "millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance. Every single one of them is sacred, worth saving".

Earlier, Hamas officials in Gaza said Israel had killed more than 17,177 people in its campaign, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to do more to protect civilians, saying there is a "gap" between its promises and the reality on the ground.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old Palestinian has told the BBC how he was detained with dozens of others by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in northern Gaza on Thursday.

The man says he was forced to sit in the street for hours, handcuffed and blindfolded, before being driven away. An Israeli official said the soldiers were searching for Hamas members.

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

The armed wing of Hamas has released a video which it says shows the bloody aftermath of a failed Israeli operation to free an Israeli hostage.

In the video, a man identifies himself as a hostage - he gives his name and age, which we are withholding - who has been held for 40 days, suggesting the video may have been recorded in mid-November.

The video goes on to show a lot of blood on a tiled floor and steps, followed by a collection of military equipment, including a shotgun, grenades and rucksacks, which Hamas claims to have captured. The video ends with gruesome images of a bloodied body that appears to be that of the same hostage seen earlier.

A script in Arabic says that Israeli soldiers “failed to reach” the hostage, leading to his death, and that the Israeli team “quickly fled the place.” It claims that the IDF used an ambulance to reach the place where the hostage was being held.

There is absolutely no confirmation of any of this.

In his evening briefing tonight, Daniel Hagari, the chief Israeli Defence Force (IDF) spokesman, confirmed that two Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded during operations in Gaza to free hostages. He said “terrorists who participated in the kidnapping and holding of hostages” had been killed, but he said no hostages had been released.

Oxfam America's CEO says US President Joe Biden's administration has missed an opportunity to "live up to its lofty rhetoric supporting human rights and a rules-based international order".

In a statetment, Abby Maxman says the world is "ready for the horrific carnage in Gaza to end and focus on the release of hostages and helping Palestinians rebuild their lives".

The US veto of the UN's ceasefire resolution puts "another nail in the coffin for US credibility on matters of human rights," adds Maxman.

Maxman says the US has "rightly maintained that Israel has the right to defend its people from attacks," but says the White House "has not leveraged its special relationship with Israel to end this spiraling crisis".

The Oxfam director calls for "a future without the threat of another October 7 attack or crushing blockade".

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from the UN in New York

The United States has historically shielded its ally Israel from almost all criticism in the UN Security Council. So, in many ways, today’s outcome was expected.

But given the enormity of the human suffering in Gaza, many non-governmental organisations believe today’s veto damages America’s credibility on human rights.

“A vote against humanity,” the medical charity, Doctors Without Borders, called it.

The US is finding itself increasingly isolated on the international stage. In less than 24 hours, 97 nations signed on as co-sponsors to the resolution - symbolically voting alongside the 13 council members who want a ceasefire urgently.

The Biden administration argues a ceasefire will benefit Hamas, and has stepped up pressure on Israel to protect civilians. But some at the UN accuse it of being complicit in the consequences of Israel’s military operation.

The risk is that the conflict will come to be seen as America’s, and not just Israel’s war.

Image source, Getty Images

Israel's Ambassador to the UN has thanked US President Joe Biden for "standing firmly by our side" by blocking resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

In a social media post, external, Gilad Erdan says the US showed "leadership and values and "a little of the light dispelled a lot of the darkness".

Erdan is critical of the UN, saying he it is shocking that while "Hamas is firing rockets at Israel" the UN is "busy debating a distorted resolution that will enable Hamas’ terrorists to stay in power in Gaza and does not condemn Hamas or call for the release of the hostages".

"A ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas," adds Erdan.

Image source, Getty Images

The US risks "complicity in war crimes" by using its veto to block the UN ceasefire resolution, Human Rights Watch says.

The humanitarian organisation's UN director, Louis Charbonneau, says the US veto has prevented the Security Council from "making some of the calls the US itself has been demanding of Israel and Palestinian armed groups".

Charbonneau says this includes compliance with international humanitarian law, protection of civilians, and releasing all civilians held hostage.

"By continuing to provide Israel with weapons and diplomatic cover as it commits atrocities, including collectively punishing the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, the US risks complicity in war crimes."

If you are just joining us, the US has vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The US, a permanent member of the security council, has the power to block any motion that comes before the council.

Its ally, the UK, voted to abstain, while 13 other member nations voted in favour.

The draft resolution was put forward by the United Arab Emirates and was co-sponsored by 97 member nations.

After the resolution failed, the US sought to defend its decision, while others went on the attack.

• The US called the resolution "imbalanced" and "divorced from reality," adding that it did not include language that they had requested, including a clear condemnation of Hamas' 7 October attacks on Israeli civilians. They also reiterated a call for a two-state solution as the only way to achieve lasting peace in the region.
• The UK also echoed the US, saying it could not vote in favour of a resolution that does not condemn "the atrocities Hamas committed".
• The US veto was criticised by China and Russia.
• Beijing accused the US of being "self-contradictory" by refusing to support a draft for a ceasefire while expressing concern for civilian lives, while Russia called the US "heartless".
• Brazil, which supported the draft resolution, said it fears that a two-state solution will be "irreparably" harmed without urgent action in Gaza.
• The State of Palestine, which has permanent observer status at the UN, called the failure to pass the resolution "a turning point in history" and accused the security council of failing to uphold its responsibility in the face of mounting Palestinian civilian deaths.

The final speaker was the Palestinian representative, who said it was "a terrible day for the security council".

He finished his speech by saying "humanity must prevail".

With that, the session is brought to a close by the Ecuadorian president.

Image source, UNTV

The representative for the State of Palestine, which has permanent observer status, says the failure of the resolution is "beyond regrettable".

"This is the moment of truth," he says. "This is a turning point in history."

Palestine's representative adds that the security council has failed to uphold its responsibility in the face of what he calls "a grave crisis".

"Millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance. Every single one of them is sacred, worth saving."

He says that Israel conducts its war "through atrocities," and that "hundreds of people will be killed by this time tomorrow."

"Children will be killed, orphaned, wounded, disabled for life," he says. "Not by mistake, but by design, because the killers have no regard whatsoever for Palestinian life, from the cradle to the grave and beyond."

Palestine became an observer state at the UN in 2012.

Brazil says it regrets the resolution did not get the necessary approval, despite 13 nations voting in its favour.

"The unprecedented level of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza requires urgent action," Brazil's representative says. "It continues to be our responsibility to prevent it."

He adds that the security council "risks complicity in allowing further human loss".

"Sooner or later, council members must shoulder their responsibility and do what is right," he says.

"The price of inaction is unbearably high … We might be irreparably harming the prospect of a two-state solution."

The member from Russia is speaking again, and he says "it would be no exageration to say that today will become one of the darkest days in the Middle East".

He blames the US, calling them "heartless" and says the decision to vote against the ceasefire resolution was a "death sentence" to Palestinians.

He tells the Security Council "we cannot and must not" leave innocent civilians to the mercy of a "geopolitical game".

It's important to note that Russia is in its 22nd month of an invasion of Ukraine and has ignored all demands by the UN General Assembly to withdraw.