Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Realistically, there was no expectation that the passing of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza would lead to any pause in the fighting.

The vote was an important symbolic moment as the US, Israel’s closest ally, did not veto the text - as it had done on three previous occasions.

However, concerns remain about Israeli plans to launch an incursion into the southern city of Rafah – where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering.

The idea is opposed by virtually everyone outside Israel but the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to go ahead with it, saying it is the only way to defeat Hamas.

There are no signs any offensive is imminent, and it remains unclear whether he would be able to launch an offensive amid strong American opposition.

The most likely route towards a ceasefire is through negotiations being mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

Any deal is expected to include the release of hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.

But talks are difficult. Hamas says a ceasefire should mean the end of the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which is rejected by Israel.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 32,414, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry.

Eighty-one people have been killed in the last 24 hours, while 93 others have been injured, the ministry says in a statement.

Fighting is raging on in Gaza as Israel continues its military campaign in the territory, despite the passing of a UN Security Council resolution on Monday calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Monday's UN resolution came as there continues to be huge concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the entire population of Gaza was experiencing "severe levels of acute food insecurity".

The UN World Food Programme has also warned that, in Gaza's two northern governorates, famine is expected to set in by May unless the flow of aid into the territory is increased.

Following yesterday's vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the resolution "must be implemented" and that "failure would be unforgivable".

Earlier yesterday, the British government announced it had carried out its first airdrop of food into Gaza.

It said the Royal Air Force drop included 10 tonnes of supplies: water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula.

It also repeated calls on Israel to allow more aid in via Gaza's ports and to open more land crossings into the territory.

Image source, UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE/ PA

More on ceasefire negotiations now.

Further to the Israeli prime minister's office, which has accused Hamas of proposing "delusional" demands in relation to ceasefire negotiations, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has also decried Hamas's calls for a more permanent ceasefire following Monday's UN Security Council vote.

Katz told Israeli radio network Army Radio on Tuesday that the UN resolution - calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages - had served to embolden Hamas by signalling to the group, which controls Gaza, that international pressure would end the war without it having to make any concessions.

The message that has been delivered is that "Hamas does not need to rush", Katz said in quotes cited by the Times of Israel.

Image source, Reuters

A meeting between Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to go ahead later today, despite Israel's fury over the US's decision to abstain in a UN Security Council vote calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Following the vote, which was passed on Monday evening, Israel cancelled a separate meeting between members of its delegation and US officials.

The other meeting between Gallant and Austin, however, is going ahead.

According to US reports, Gallant is expected to ask for more US weaponry and equipment to support Israel's war in Gaza - a request that is under intense scrutiny from US lawmakers.

As we reported earlier, the Israeli army says it has struck more than 60 "terror targets" in Gaza in the past day.

According to witnesses, warplanes bombed the southern city of Rafah.

There have also been reports of gun battles around hospitals in Khan Younis and Gaza City.

That includes Al-Shifa hospital - Gaza's biggest hospital - where Israeli troops recently returned due to "concrete intelligence" that Hamas operatives had regrouped there.

Rocket warning sirens have been heard in Israeli towns near Gaza.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Palestinian media report that at least 18 people, including nine children and several women, were killed in an overnight Israeli air strike on a residential building on the outskirts of the southern city of Rafah.

The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Centre and Safa news agency said the house in the Musabah area belonged to the Abu Naqira family and that dozens of displaced people were sheltering there.

On Tuesday morning, Palestinian journalist Hussein Eslayeh posted a video on X (formerly Twitter), external showing what he said was the crumpled remains of the building destroyed in the strike. Reuters news agency also published photographs from the same location.

Another video taken by Eslayeh outside al-Najjah hospital in Rafah, external showed mourners watching as men laid the bodies of those killed on the ground. At least 15 body bags and bodies wrapped in shrouds can be seen in the footage.

Israel has accused Hamas of proposing "delusional" demands in ongoing negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza.

The office for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, external that Hamas had rejected any compromise on its demands.

“Israel will not surrender to Hamas’ delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel," it said.

Hours after a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages was passed on Monday, Hamas said it would stick to its original demands for a more permanent ceasefire, which include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a return of displaced Palestinians.

Image source, Reuters

The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, is expected to arrive in Tehran today to meet Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian officials, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reports.

Haniyeh's visit comes a day after the UN Security Council approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Iranian broadcast media is highlighting Hamas's welcoming of the resolution and its call for a permanent ceasefire, while the Nour News website, affiliated with the Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), called the UNSC's passing, external of the resolution "Hamas's diplomatic victory".

Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva

The UN special expert on the Occupied Territories says there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel has committed "acts of genocide" in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese is an independent expert appointed by the UN to monitor human rights in the region, and has long been outspoken about what she views as Israeli violations.

Israel has already issued a statement condemning her report as ‘an outrageous distortion’ of the Genocide Convention.

Albanese will present her report to the UN Human Rights Council this afternoon, where Israel has a formal right of response, and Palestinian human rights defenders and families of Israeli hostages are also expected to speak.

Image source, Palestine Red Crescent Society

The fighting comes just hours after the Palestinian Red Crescent said staff and patients from al-Amal hospital in southern Gaza were trapped in ambulances for 20 hours - despite Israeli troops forcing them to evacuate on Monday.

According to the organisation, troops shot and wounded two people who tried to clear a road as they left overnight. Ambulances then had to turn back and wait outside the hospital, it said.

Israel's military said its intelligence indicated "terrorists are using civilian infrastructure" in the area.

• You can read more here about Monday's story here

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli army said fighter jets struck "over 60 terror targets" in the Gaza Strip in the past day.

It says forces are continuing to conduct "precise operational activity" in the Shifa Hospital area - insisting troops are "preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment".

Talks between Israel and Hamas are continuing via mediators in Qatar, after yesterday's UN Security Council vote calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Following the vote, Hamas said it had told mediators it was sticking to its original demands for a comprehensive ceasefire which include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a return of displaced Palestinians - something the Israeli prime minister’s office described as “unrealistic.”

Reports suggest that a deal being worked on at the time of the vote proposed 40 Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for 800 Palestinian prisoners.

The southern Gazan city of Rafah was hit by Israeli air strikes overnight.

Below are some images showing the destruction in the region:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

While many Palestinians welcomed the UN Security Council’s first resolution demanding an immediate halt to the Gaza war, on the ground, it’s had little impact.

Witnesses say Israeli warplanes bombed the southern city of Rafah and fierce gun battles raged around hospitals in nearby Khan Younis and Gaza City.

Rocket warning sirens also sounded in Israeli towns near Gaza. Israel reacted furiously after its closest ally, the US, abstained in the UN Security Council vote.

That allowed the resolution demanding a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages to pass with the support of all the other 14 council members.

Hours after the vote, Hamas said it had told mediators it was sticking to its original demands for a comprehensive ceasefire which include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a return of displaced Palestinians.

The Israeli prime minister’s office described this as “unrealistic.”

Biden has decided strong words are not enoughpublished at 07:50 Greenwich Mean Time 26 March

07:50 GMT 26 March

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

For weeks, President Joe Biden and his senior officials have been losing patience with the way that Israel is fighting the war in Gaza.

They have used increasingly stiff language to convey their displeasure to Israel and the wider world.

The decision to allow the latest ceasefire resolution through the Security Council shows that Biden has decided that strong words are not enough.

Removing diplomatic protection from Israel's conduct of the war is a significant step.

It shows the depth of the rift that has opened between the White House and Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu responded with a broadside directed at Israel's most important ally.

He condemned the US decision not to use its veto, saying it had harmed the war effort and attempts to free the hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October last year.

Joe Biden and his top officials might file those remarks under the heading of extreme ingratitude.

Israel has cancelled a meeting in Washington after the US – its closest ally - declined to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza.

The US’s decision allowed the resolution, which also called for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages", to pass with the support of all other 14 council members.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the US of having "abandoned" its previous policy and objected that the resolution did not make the call for a ceasefire conditional on the release of the hostages, as the US and Israel had both argued it should.

It follows several failed attempts at similar measures since the 7 October Hamas attacks.

• You can read more here

Marita Moloney
Live editor

Fighting has continued overnight between Israel and Hamas in Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution being passed on Monday evening, which demanded an “immediate" ceasefire.

The southern city of Rafah was bombed by Israeli warplanes overnight, according to witnesses, while fierce gun battles raged around hospitals in the cities of Khan Younis and Gaza City.

Rocket warning sirens also sounded in Israeli towns near the Gaza border.

Israel reacted furiously to the UN Security Council vote, which saw the US – its closest ally - abstain, allowing the resolution to be passed.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates and analysis.