JERUSALEM — The U.N. suspended food deliveries to Gaza and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers, killing two, as the threat of a wider conflict emerged with Lebanon.
With violence unabated in Gaza, the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Thursday night calling for an immediate and durable cease-fire between the territory’s Hamas rulers and Israeli forces. The vote was 14-0, with the United States abstaining, and it followed three days of intense negotiations between ministers from key Arab nations and Western powers.
Israel and Hamas are not party to the resolution and it will be up to them to stop their military activities. But the resolution — which will allow for the opening of border crossings to Gaza — was supported by the United States, Israel’s closest ally, and Arab nations with close ties to Hamas.
Early today, an Israeli airstrike flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing at least seven people, including an infant, Hamas security officials said. It was one of more than 30 targets struck before dawn by Israeli warplanes. It was not immediately clear whether the owner of the destroyed building was linked to Hamas.
Militants in Lebanon fired several Katyusha rockets into northern Israel early Thursday, including one that tore through the roof of a nursing home and injured two people. Israel responded swiftly with mortar fire, raising the possibility of a two-front conflict.
About 750 Palestinians and 13 Israelis have died in the 13 days of fighting in Gaza, an assault launched by Israel in an attempt to halt rocket fire from the territory, controlled by the militant Islamic Hamas. Hamas said it fired 25 rockets and 12 mortars at Israel on Thursday.
The conflict has left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza increasingly desperate for food, water, fuel and medical assistance, and the situation was expected to worsen as humanitarian efforts fall victim to the fighting.
Simon Horner, of the European Commission aid department, said 60 percent of Gaza’s 1.4 million people have no electricity, and fewer people every day have access to clean water. The sewage system is in danger of failing, which could lead to an outbreak of disease, and medical services were under severe stress.
“The inability of the U.N. to provide assistance in this worsening humanitarian crisis is unacceptable,” said Michele Montas, a U.N. spokeswoman.
She said according to reports, the attack on the U.N. truck, which killed two Palestinian workers, took place during a three-hour humanitarian lull announced by the Israel Defense Force. Four U.N. Relief and Works Agency local staff have been killed in the conflict.
In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it would restrict aid operations to Gaza City for at least one day after one of its convoys came under Israeli fire at the Netzarim crossing during the three-hour break in fighting Thursday. One driver was lightly injured.
The World Health Organization said 21 Palestinian medical workers have been killed and 30 more injured since Israel began its offensive.
The Israeli military said it cooperates closely with foreign aid groups to help civilians, and said Hamas uses civilians as human shields.
The international Red Cross also accused Israel of hindering rescuers from reaching areas devastated in the battles. Ambulances could not get to the Zeitoun neighborhood for four days because the Israelis had blocked access with large earthen barriers, officials said.
Three Israeli soldiers were killed in combat Thursday, raising the number of soldiers killed in the conflict to 10, including one who died in a mortar strike before the ground invasion began. Three Israeli civilians have been killed by rockets.
Gaza militants unleashed 24 missiles at southern Israel on Thursday, wounding four people.
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