UNRWA is facing financial hardship following Israel's confirmation that 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Israeli raids across Gaza killed at least 18 people on Sunday night, according to medics and witnesses, while the United States said it would veto another UN draft resolution calling for a ceasefire.
A man checks on another man as people inspect damage to their homes after Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza.credit: GT
The United States, Israel's biggest ally, said it instead hopes to broker a ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas, and envisions a broader solution to the war sparked by the group's October 7 attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Hamas’ demands as “delusional.”
Netanyahu also opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, which the United States describes as a key component of a broader vision to normalize relations between Israel and regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.
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His government adopted a declaration on Sunday saying that Israel “categorically rejects international resolutions on the permanent settlement with the Palestinians” and opposes any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu pledged to continue the attack on Gaza until Israel achieves a “complete victory” over the armed Hamas movement and plans to expand it to the city of Rafah in the far south of Gaza, where more than half of the Strip’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians have taken refuge.
In response to international concern about what could happen to people in Rafah, the Israeli leader said that residents would be evacuated before the ground offensive there began.
