The UN Security Council has been meeting ahead of its vote later today on a new Gaza ceasefire resolution. Here's a quick look at some of what's been discussed:

• The UN's Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said that "2023 ends as one of the deadliest" in the history of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, "with the situation deteriorating on nearly all fronts"
• US ambassador Robert Wood told the meeting that Hamas's 7 October attack “must be condemned”, and work towards a two-state solution has to be done
• UK ambassador James Kariuki called for "a sustainable ceasefire that breaks the cycle of violence"
• UAE ambassador Mohamed Abushahab, said the suffering of civilians in Gaza had to stop and called on Israel to open up all access routes for humanitarian aid

Voting at the Security Council was pushed back to try to avoid another veto by the US, Israel's closest ally.

A woman who was held hostage by Hamas for 54 days has been describing how she couldn't "object to anything" while in captivity because "it could cost you your life".

Yarden Roman-Gat, 36, a German-Israeli citizen, was abducted from Kibbutz Be'eri and brought to Gaza during Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel.

"My kidnappers could not help themselves, showing me off as a trophy and showing my face as an object. I was not a person," she told CBS, the BBC's US partner, of the moment she arrived into Gaza.

She said guards were with her "24/7, from the second I got to Gaza, to the second I left".

Image source, Reuters

One of the world's biggest shipping companies has told the BBC's Newshour it won't resume routes through the Red Sea until it can guarantee the safety of its staff.

A spokesman for Hapag-Lloyd, Neils Haupt, welcomed the setting up of an international coalition to protect vessels from attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen. But he said cargo ships would, for now, continue to avoid the area by travelling round southern Africa.

Haput says the journey from the Mediterranean Sea to Singapore normally takes 13 days through the Suez Canal. The alternate route – around the entire African continent – will take 31 days.

He says avoiding the region will mean “a lot more transport time and a lot more fuel”, but he doesn't think it will be as tough on shipping as it was during Covid.

Many freight firms have suspended journeys after attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who say they are targeting the ships in an attempt to boycott Israel.

Adnan El-Bursh
Reporting from Rafah, Gaza

I have met seven Palestinian men from Gaza who say they were detained by the Israeli army for nearly a month. They were taken from Gaza and held in Israel, before later being released at the Kerem Shalom border crossing from Israel to Gaza on 14 December.

When I met them, they were all wearing light grey tracksuits given to them to wear by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Some had bruises and sores visible on their wrists.

One of the them, Mohammed Dawood, said he was detained for 26 days after he followed Israel's order to move further south within the enclave.

During this journey, he said: "They (IDF) captured us... They interrogated us. Are you Hamas? Are you Islamic Jihad?"

While in Israeli detention, he said: "I was tied up and my eyes were blindfolded like all the other men," he told me. "They abused us, spat on us and disrespected us. We were all beaten."

An IDF spokesperson said it detains people "suspected of terrorism", but did not give specifics for why these men were held. It said Israel respects international law.

Another of the men I met, Mahmoud Abu Husein, 62, also from northern Gaza, said Israeli soldiers shot him in the leg.

"They told me… you need to find out for us where Hamas is and where the hostages are,” he said. "When I told them I didn't know, they shot my leg. Afterwards, they amputated my leg.”

Husein said he was also made to sign a paper saying his leg "was not functioning".

The IDF said it did not have enough information to investigate this incident.

Lipika Pelham
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images for Sky

Some of the UK's top playwrights, actors and directors have signed an open letter calling for the release of members of a Palestinian theatre group who were arrested during an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.

The producer of the Freedom Theatre, Mustafa Sheta, and actor, Jamal Abu Joas, were taken from their homes in the city of Jenin last week.

Actor Maxine Peake, playwright Caryl Churchill, artistic director Vicky Featherstone and director and writer Dominic Cooke are among the signatories of the letter, which describes the Freedom Theatre as "a beacon of hope and resilience in the face of inconceivable adversity".

Ahmed Tobasi, a celebrated Palestinian actor and artistic director, was also taken into custody but was later released.

Based in the Jenin refugee camp, the Freedom Theatre was founded in 2006 by Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was killed in 2011 by a masked gunman outside the theatre. He believed in using culture as a way of opposing Israeli occupation.

Image source, Reuters

It's gone 16:00 in the UK, and 18:00 in Gaza and Israel. Here's what has been happening so far today:

• Humanitarian agencies have expressed their anger and frustration at the lack of aid allowed to enter the Gaza Strip
• The UN Security Council is expected to vote today on a ceasefire in the Strip, although it is unclear when the vote will happen
• The language of the UN Security Council resolution has been watered down to a "suspension" of hostilities to get US backing, reports say, as it has consistently vetoed previous resolutions
• Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the north and south of Gaza in the latest Israeli air strikes, according to the Hamas-run health ministry
• The head of the UN's maritime agency has condemned Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, warning they could threaten world trade
• UK MP Layla Moran, whose relatives are trapped in Gaza, says her family are "down to their last can of corn", and urged the UK government to support an immediate ceasefire
• Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry says 19,667 people have been killed by Israeli operations in the enclave, which were launched when Hamas carried out an unprecedented assault on Israel on 7 October that killed at least 1,200 and saw around 240 taken hostage

No one wants another failed UN Security Council votepublished at 15:58 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2023

15:58 GMT 19 December 2023

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has postponed the UN Security Council vote on their draft resolution numerous times to try to ensure its passage and the situation is still very fluid.

A vote is now scheduled for the afternoon, but if there are signs that the US is not on board yet, that could quickly change again.

The UAE’s ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, this morning characterised the ongoing negotiations as complex, but said she hopes the council can speak with one voice.

Indeed, other diplomats say the ongoing discussions are intense with the United States taking a tough stance on the exact wording of the text, which has already been watered down.

No one here wants another failed vote in the Security Council, which would only reinforce doubts about the body’s effectiveness and ability to respond to crisis.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

An elderly Palestinian woman called Um-Ramzi sent a recorded voice note to the BBC's Gaza Lifeline programme yesterday.

With access to the internet and power limited in the war zone, BBC Arabic began an emergency radio service for Gaza on 1 November in response to the conflict in the region.

Um-Ramzi, who is from Bani Suhaila in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, spoke of her situation trying to care for her husband, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, and her adult son, who she described as having a mental disorder and is terrified by the sounds of bombing.

"We receive leaflets urging us to go to hospitals or shelters, but when we leave the house we find nothing but the sounds of frightening explosions that cause terror to my ill son, a matter which makes him even more ill."

Scared by explosions, her son goes to the roof at the time of bombings and Um-Ramzi says she has to call him to come down so that he is not injured.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has said the country is ready for another humanitarian pause in Gaza to secure the release of more hostages being held in the territory and the delivery of much-needed aid.

The Israeli government is under growing international pressure to agree with a ceasefire amid mounting civilian casualties and a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Pressure is growing at home too for a deal for more captives to be freed after three Israeli hostages were mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers last week.

Herzog’s comments come as the UN Security Council is due to vote on a new resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Last month, a deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered by foreign mediators, led to a temporary pause in hostilities and the release of about 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Up until now, Israeli authorities have rejected a new ceasefire saying it would only benefit Hamas.

“Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages,” Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, told a gathering of ambassadors, according to a statement released by the Israeli government. “And the responsibility lies fully with [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and the leadership of Hamas.”

Hamas has said any negotiations for prisoner exchanges will only happen after the war stops.

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of the UN Security Council's vote expected later today on a new Gaza ceasefire resolution, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has urged members of the international community to back a "sustainable" ceasefire in the enclave.

He says the call for a ceasefire on both human rights and humanitarian grounds "is getting louder by the day, and must be heeded".

Acknowledging that tens of thousands of people are internally displaced in the Strip, Turk said evacuation orders from Israeli forces are confusing and contradictory.

“Now, Palestinians are being forced into smaller and smaller areas, in a mass displacement up to the Gaza-Egyptian border while military operations continue to encroach ever closer.

"There is simply nowhere left in Gaza for them to go.”

As we reported earlier, the Hamas-run health ministry says dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the north and south of the Strip following air strikes.

Image source, Getty Images

The head of the UN agency for shipping has condemned attacks on ships in the Red Sea - a major corridor for international trade - and warned of the threat they pose to world trade.

There's been a spate of attacks on vessels there launched from a part of Yemen controlled by the Houthis - an Iran-backed rebel movement.

The Houthis say the attacks are a reaction to Israeli strikes on Gaza.

Firms have had to stop some of their ships going through the Red Sea, diverting their journeys to a much longer route around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said it was "closely monitoring developments" and working with the shipping industry to allow safe passage for seafarers.

"Attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea area are not acceptable," said the IMO's secretary-general, Kitack Lim. "Ships must be allowed to trade worldwide unhindered, in accordance with international maritime law."

Earlier we reported that ten countries agreed to form a coalition to protect merchant shipping in the Red Sea, after after oil giant BP announced it would pause all shipments through Red Sea.

Image source, UK Parliament

UK MP Layla Moran has been talking in the UK Parliament about the situation of her relatives in Gaza, who are among hundreds thought to be trapped in a Catholic Church in Gaza City.

She says she has heard from her family that there are snipers outside and the convent was bombed on the weekend. There is also no water or electricity, and she has been told that her relatives are now "down to their last can of corn". She thinks food has been delivered, but says her family have not received it.

Addressing the House of Commons, the Liberal Democrat MP urged the UK government to support an "immediate bilateral ceasefire" as the violence was "making peace harder, not easier".

The IDF said on Sunday it had reviewed the incident at the church and its review supported the view that there were no confirmations of a hit on the church or of civilians being killed or injured.

Foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell said: "We of course want to see an end to the fighting, but this must be a sustainable ceasefire, meaning Hamas must stop launching rockets into Israel and release the hostages."

All eyes on US ahead of UN Security Council votepublished at 13:16 Greenwich Mean Time 19 December 2023

13:16 GMT 19 December 2023

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

The 15 members of the United Security Council are hoping to find language around which they can coalesce. All say they want the fighting in Gaza to end. But there are disagreements about the conditions under which it should do so.

The original draft resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates – currently chairing the council – called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” to allow “safe and unhindered humanitarian access”.

That is acceptable to most members. But the United States were unhappy. They do not want the fighting to end “urgently” if that were to leave Hamas in place and militarily active.

The UK believes the word “sustainable” implies Hamas would be out of the picture, on the ground no ceasefire could be sustainable if its fighters were still firing rockets at Israel. Instead, diplomats are looking to see if the word “cessation” could be replaced with “suspension”.

This might be more acceptable to the US as it would imply only a temporary pause in hostilities and not a more permanent ceasefire where Hamas were left intact.

Diplomats tell me the current draft calls for an urgent suspension in hostilities and steps towards a sustainable cessation. All eyes now are on the US: will they veto or abstain?

Image source, Reuters

With more deaths being reported in the north and south of Gaza, here's a look at where things stand in the war between Hamas and Israel.

• The Hamas-run health ministry says at least 20 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the southern city of Rafah following overnight air strikes
• Pictures of the area taken today show people in the city mourning the dead - including Palestinian journalist Adel Zaroub, who was reportedly among those killed
• Meanwhile, 13 people are said to have have been killed in Jabalia refugee camp, in the north, with dozens more "heavily wounded" there
• It comes as the UN Security Council is set to vote on a new Gaza ceasefire resolution. Reports say the language used in the document has been watered down to call for a "suspension" of hostilities in order to get one of Israel's strongest allies - the US - to back it after the last attempt failed 10 days ago
• Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says 19,667 people have now been killed in the enclave since 7 October, after Israel retaliated to Hamas's attacks on southern Israel which killed at least 1,200 and saw some 240 taken hostage

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 19,667 people have now been killed in the enclave since 7 October.

In an update on social media, the ministry says a further 52,586 people have been injured.

The new death toll comes amid intensified pressure from the international community for a pause in fighting on the strip, to spare more lives and allow more aid into the region.

Gaza has endured 10 weeks of war triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people - mostly civilians - were killed and about 240 taken hostage.

Image source, AFP

Civilians in Rafah, southern Gaza, have described living through Israel's heavy bombardment going on around them.

"We were sleeping when we heard a big explosion," says Jihad Zoorob, an internally displaced Palestinian from Gaza City seeking shelter in Rafah.

"We escaped death by a miracle, they pulled us from the rubble, through the closet," he says, speaking to AFP news agency. "As you can witness, there is a lot of damage and the night was so difficult for us."

"There is no safe place, nothing," he adds. He fled south for safety, but says "everywhere in Gaza there are bombings. There is no safe place at all."

Mohamad Zoorob, also displaced from Gaza City, says he was woken up by bricks falling on him after the strike. "I have wounds everywhere, my legs are covered with wounds," he says.

He says his uncle, cousin and his aunt's husband were among those killed in the strike. "I lost about nine people from my family here."

Image source, AFP

Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva

Ahead of today's UN Security Council vote on a ceasefire in Gaza, aid agencies in Geneva once again voiced their anger and frustration at the continued suffering of civilians, in particular of children.

James Elder of Unicef said that "not even lip service" had been paid to requirements, under international law, to safeguard medical facilities, food and water.

"Truly I am furious," he told journalists in Geneva, adding that he feared the Christmas period could bring "more savage attacks".

Margaret Harris of the World Health Organization (WHO) said "it is beyond belief that the world is allowing this to continue, it is unconscionable".

The WHO has said barely a third of hospitals in Gaza are still functioning, and those only on a minimal basis.

Harris said her colleagues in Gaza had run out of "words to describe the horror" they were witnessing.

The bluntness of the aid agencies reflects their growing despair at the failure of the international community, and the UN Security Council, to resolve this and other conflicts, in which the most vulnerable - children, the elderly, people with disabilities - pay the highest price.

The Hamas-run health ministry says 20 people have been killed and dozens more wounded after overnight strikes hit the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Palestinian news agency Wafa says journalist Adel Zourub is among the dead. It is not yet known which news outlet he worked for.

Without specifically commenting on the incident, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it carried out a "targeted operation" in the middle of Rafah, killing a "Hamas financier" called Subhi Ferwana.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, Reuters

At least 13 Palestinians have been killed, and 75 others wounded, in an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

In a post on social media, the department said dozens were "heavily" wounded.

Israel is yet to respond to the claims.

It comes a day after at least 110 people were reported to have been killed in Jabalia.

At 1.4-square kilometres, Jabalia refugee camp is the largest of eight camps in Gaza and was home to some 116,000 registered refugees.

The UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, has defined its residents as refugees since they began settling there after the 1948 war.

Israel's military ordered the evacuation of the camp, along with other areas in the north, back in October.

Fuel is desperately needed in the Gaza Strip, says James Denselow from Save the Children, to provide water to millions of displaced people.

Speaking to the BBC News channel, Denselow says “fuel that allows power that allows desalination” is critical to run the remaining desalination plants, and provide Gazans with clean water.

Many aid trucks have been seen carrying bottled water, but he says it's “very difficult, [nearly] impossible” to supply nearly 2 million people with bottled water.

At the beginning of the war, Israel blocked fuel from entering Gaza via aid trucks over fears Hamas would use it militarily. In mid-November, Israeli officials said they would begin allowing two fuel trucks a day to enter the enclave, so its water and sewage systems could stay operational.

Last week, Israel announced it would be reopening the Kerem Shalom crossing from southern Israel into Gaza - to allow more aid to get in. Denselow says he welcomes the move, but it's not enough: