Image source, ABACA/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

US President Joe Biden has said Israel is starting to lose global support over its "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza.

His comments, made to donors at a fundraising event on Tuesday, marked his strongest criticism yet of Israel's leadership.

Biden has offered unwavering public support to the country since Hamas launched its attacks on 7 October.

And while he reiterated that Israel could count on US backing, he issued a direct warning to its government.

"Israel's security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world," he told donors to his 2024 re-election campaign in Washington.

"But they're starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place," he said.

Biden, however, added that there was "no question about the need to take on Hamas" and Israel had "every right" to do so.

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Rushdi Abu Alouf
Reporting from Istanbul

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naeem has told the BBC that the ceasefire resolution passed "confirms that the prevailing international will is in favour of stopping the aggression against the Palestinian people".

"The party that obstructs this will is the United States of America through its use of the right of veto in the Security Council," Naeem said.

"And this not only gives cover for this ongoing [Israeli] aggression but the veto makes America a direct partner in the crimes against the Palestinian people, and this will lead to the isolation of the Zionist entity [Israel] and will also isolate the United States at the international level," the Hamas official added.

Before the vote on the resolution, which Israel opposed, its ambassador to the UN addressed other envoys gathered at Tuesday's session in New York.

"If you want a real ceasefire, here is the right address - this is the phone number of Hamas’s office in Gaza," Gilad Erdan said, holding up a poster with a telephone number and the face of the group's leader in Gaza.

“What would your countries do if you were in Israel’s shoes? Call for a ceasefire? What would Moscow do? Beijing? Istanbul? How would you respond? Everyone here knows exactly," Erdan asked.

"Tell Hamas to put down their arms, turn themselves in, and return our hostages. This will bring a complete ceasefire that will last forever! So, why are you not doing this? Why are you not holding Hamas accountable?”

And he added: "A ceasefire only serves to prolong Hamas's reign of terror so I urge all member states to vote against this resolution."

Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

So what’s the reaction from the UN’s humanitarian wing in Geneva?

UN aid agencies have been pleading for a ceasefire for weeks, so they are sure to welcome the general assembly’s call for one, but they also know this is a non-binding, symbolic move, and unlikely to change anything on the ground.

Aid workers want to do what they are supposed to do in conflict: bring support to civilians caught up in it; Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza.

But such is the ferocity of the fighting that they, and their supplies, are penned in in Rafah, just inside Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Just this morning Richard Peeperkorn, the head of the World Health Organization’s team in Gaza, described a highly risky mission to supply a hospital in northern Gaza, where aid workers found critically injured patients lying on the floor "in every room, every corridor, the courtyard…it is a disaster zone".

Going to that hospital, the WHO team came under fire. Returning, Dr Peeperkorn said long waits at military checkpoints risked the lives of very seriously injured patients the WHO was trying to evacuate.

Even if the general assembly got its wish for an immediate ceasefire, UN aid agencies say repairing the destruction from this conflict, in particular its shattered hospitals, will take months, perhaps years.

Sebastian Usher
Middle East analyst

Image source, Getty Images

The health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, says more than 50,000 people have been injured since the Israeli offensive began - in addition to more than 18,400 who’ve been killed.

The UN and aid agencies have been documenting some of the problems obstructing the treatment of the injured.

A global disability charity, Humanity and Inclusion, says that amputations, burns and traumatic brain injuries have been caused from the use of explosive weapons in Gaza.

The charity says the lack of medical care and painkillers means that many people suffer needlessly and may develop long-term impairments that could have been avoided.

Only about 400 of the most seriously wounded have so far been evacuated abroad, according to an Israeli group, Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also blamed Israeli forces for causing lengthy delays at checkpoints in allowing emergency vehicles carrying the wounded to pass.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN said the vote in favour of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was a "historic day in terms of the powerful message that was sent from the general assembly".

"it is our collective duty to continue in this path until we see an end to this aggression against our people," said Riyad Mansour.

More than three-quarters of the 193-member General Assembly backed the move to demand a ceasefire.

The resolution - which is not binding but does carry political weight and reflects the global view of the war - was favoured by 153 members.

The US, Paraguay, Austria and Israel were among 10 members to vote against it.

Speaking ahead of the vote, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the assembly: "Any ceasefire right now would be temporary at the best and dangerous at worst - dangerous to Israelis, who would be subject to relentless attacks, and also dangerous to Palestinians, who deserve the chance to build a better future for themselves, free from Hamas."

The UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Ukraine were among the 23 countries to abstain.

The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

153 member states voted in favour, 10 against and there were 23 abstentions.

This was a second attempt by the UN General Assembly which in October had called for "a humanitarian truce" in a resolution adopted with 121 votes in favour, 14 against and 44 abstentions.

Image source, UN

We first heard from Pakistan on the floor, before the UN representative for Israel, Gilad Erdan, spoke.

He called the General Assembly resolution “hypocritical”, saying that it makes no mention of Hamas.

The representative says that a ceasefire “will only prolong death and destruction in the region”.

“A ceasefire will only benefit the terrorists that steal the humanitarian aid for themselves,” he said, adding that it would be a “death sentence for countless more Israelis and Gazans”.

Before the vote, which we had been expecting to happen about now, the UN General Assembly president invited members to deliver a speech clarifying their position.

They have been given a maximum of 10 minutes each.

At this point, we don’t know how many members will speak, but we’ll bring you the result of the vote when it comes.

The UN representative for the US has also been speaking in the chamber, saying the country wants to work towards "sustainable peace".

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says the US supports aspects of the resolution, including agreeing that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, but calls for an amendment that condemns the "abhorrent" 7 October attacks.

She also calls for humanitarian aid to reach those still being held hostage in Gaza.

“We must work to build a foundation for truly sustainable peace, one where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in states of their own," she says.

Image source, EPA

Before the vote, the UN General Assembly president, Dennis Francis, delivered a speech in which he spoke of the “onslaught on civilians, the breakdown of humanitarian systems, and profound disrespect and international law and international humanitarian law”.

“Even war has rules,” he said.

If you want to watch the UN General Assembly as the debate gets under way and voting begins, the session is being shown in full on our live stream at the top of the page.

Just press the large teal play button to watch.

We're now getting closer to the UN General Assembly vote and we’ve been looking through the draft resolution. We know some amendments are possible but, as it stands, here are some of the key points:

• It demands “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”
• It reiterates that “all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians”
• It also calls for the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access”

Israel has said 19 of 135 people still being held in captivity in Gaza are known to be dead, Reuters new agency is reporting.

Earlier, Israel said its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages.

They were identified as 27-year-old Eden Zecharya – who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival – and 36-year-old Ziv Dado, who had already been declared dead by the Israeli military.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

As the Israeli military pushes ahead with its war against Hamas in Gaza, the massive civilian death toll from bombardments and a worsening humanitarian crisis are fuelling international criticism and calls for a ceasefire.

President Biden’s comments today that Israel is starting to lose support around the world are his strongest yet about the Israeli offensive, but senior American officials have increasingly demonstrated discontent.

Days ago, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there was a “gap” between pledges by Israeli authorities to spare civilians in Gaza and the reality on the ground.

That followed a stark warning from Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, that Israel risked pushing Palestinians into the arms of Hamas by killing so many people, turning a tactical victory into a strategic defeat.

Disagreements are also emerging about post-war Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he is against the Biden administration’s plans to have the Palestinian Authority, which currently administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, take over control of Gaza.

In his comments, Biden also said Netanyahu had to change his government, the most religious and hard-line in Israel’s history, saying that it opposed a two-state solution.

That is the proposal favoured by the international community to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, living alongside Israel.

Netanyahu, whose coalition includes ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, has previously vowed to legalise illegal settlements built in the West Bank and annex territories, which would make impossible the creation of any viable state in the area. Israel, Biden said, “can’t say no” to a Palestinian state.

Barbara Plett Usher
US State Department correspondent, BBC News

US President Joe Biden has said Israel is starting to lose support around the world.

His remarks are based on pool notes of a campaign event, and he was referring to the international community’s dismay and alarm at the bombing of Gaza.

However, Biden gave no indication Israel was losing US support for its military campaign, despite his administration’s growing concern about the enormous cost in Palestinian lives and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

He did express differences with Israel over plans for Gaza’s future.

He said the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was opposed to a two-state solution with the Palestinians, something that Biden’s top officials have been promoting as the post-war path.

And he urged Netanyahu to “strengthen and change…the most conservative government in Israel's history," in order to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu acknowledged the disagreement yesterday, but said Israel has US support for its goal of destroying Hamas and recovering hostages held by the group.

Nada Tawfik
BBC's New York and United Nations Correspondent

This is the second time during this crisis that the UN General Assembly is holding a vote in direct response to the US paralysing the Security Council with its veto - most recently on Friday when it blocked a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

That move by the US was criticised by several rights groups and renewed questions about the declining role of the Security Council in maintaining peace and security.

General Assembly resolutions may not be binding, but they do reflect global opinion. And right now, the majority of the world looks set to make clear that an urgent humanitarian ceasefire is essential.

In October, 121 nations supported a General Assembly resolution calling for a humanitarian truce - only 14 nations voted against it and 44 members abstained.

The vote isolated the US and Israel and exposed divisions in the stance of the EU and wider West.

This new resolution is much stronger in its language and now, like the Security Council failed text, demands a humanitarian ceasefire. The expectation is it will garner even greater support.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, says he hopes it sends a message to Washington and others “protecting and shielding” Israel.

The UN General Assembly will vote on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in an hour or so.

If favoured, the ceasefire won't be legally binding but will act as a powerful sign of global opinion.

It was drafted by 20 Arab countries and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.

The move comes just days after the US vetoed a similar resolution tabled by the Security Council, but the 193-member General Assembly cannot be vetoed by one country.

UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned of a looming "complete breakdown of public order" in Gaza.

Image source, Reuters

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged his government disagrees with the Biden administration over the fate of Gaza after the war.

Netanyahu said he greatly appreciated support from the Biden administration for the aim of destroying Hamas and recovering hostages but repeated his opposition to the Gaza strip being ruled by Hamas or Fatah, the faction currently governing the West Bank.

"Yes, there is disagreement about 'the day after Hamas' and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well," said Netanyahu.

"After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism."

On Monday, US President Joe Biden said Washington and Israel had different views on a post-war Gaza. Netanyahu said he would not allow Israel to repeat "the mistake of Oslo", referring to the Oslo accords in the 1990s, which established Palestinian authority in the West Bank and Gaza.