Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the hospital Rafah, Gaza, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Israel pressed ahead with an offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers that it says could go on for weeks or months. But the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but the assembly’s messages are important barometers of world opinion. The vote Tuesday also shows the growing isolation of the United States and Israel.

More than 17,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where United Nations agencies say there is no safe place to flee. With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods.

Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages. Qatar, which has played a key mediating role, says efforts to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but a willingness to discuss a cease-fire is fading.

Currently:

— Packed hospitals, treacherous roads, harried parents: Newborns in Gaza face steeper odds of survival.

— U.N. General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

— Biden takes a tougher stance on Israel’s ‘ indiscriminate bombing ’ of Gaza.

— Biden will meet with families of Americans taken hostage by Hamas on Wednesday at the White House.

— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here’s what’s happening in the war:

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY VOTES TO DEMAND A HUMANITARIAN CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in a strong demonstration of global support for ending the Israel-Hamas war. The vote also shows the growing isolation of the United States and Israel.

The vote in the 193-member world body was 153 in favor, 10 against and 23 abstentions. The support was higher than for an Oct. 27 resolution that called for a “humanitarian truce” leading to a cessation of hostilities, where the vote was 120-14 with 45 abstentions.

Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding. But the assembly’s messages are important barometers of world opinion.

UNITED STATES DEFENSE SECRETARY WILL VISIT ISRAEL, BAHRAIN AND QATAR TO SEEK MARITIME PROTECTION

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar next week as the U.S. continues to press allies to commit to an international maritime task force to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea as those ships have come under increased attacks.

Austin will also meet with his defense counterparts in Tel Aviv to show continued U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself but also press the need for Israel to avoid more civilian casualties in Gaza.

Late Monday, a land-based cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen hit the Motor Transport ship STRINDA, causing a fire. The USS Mason, a destroyer, responded to assist the ship.

BIDEN TOLD NETANYAHU THAT ‘INDISCRIMINATE BOMBING’ IN GAZA COULD ENDANGER ISRAEL'S INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says he’s told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel risks losing international support because of “indiscriminate bombing” during its war with Hamas in Gaza, but that he’s not sure the country’s staunchest conservative leaders are getting the message.

Speaking at a fundraiser for his reelection campaign in Washington on Tuesday, Biden said, “Israel has a tough decision to make. Bibi has a tough decision to make.” He added of Netanyahu, “I think he has to change his government. His government in Israel is making it very difficult.”

“One of the things that Bibi understands,” Biden said “is that 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 supporting them. But they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”

Biden also called out Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of a far-right Israeli party and the minister of national security in Netanyahu’s governing coalition. Ben-Gvir opposes a two-state solution and has called for the Israel to reassert control over all of the West Bank and Gaza.

Biden suggested that he wasn’t sure Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu’s war Cabinet understand the implications of the ongoing bombing.

The president also said he urged Netanyahu not to “make the same mistakes” the U.S. made after Sept. 11, saying the U.S. military response landed it in a long war in Afghanistan and “there’s no reason we did so many of the things we did.”

THE BODIES OF 2 HOSTAGES ARE RECOVERED FROM GAZA

JERUSALEM — The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that they had retrieved the bodies of two hostages from Gaza in an operation that killed two Israeli soldiers.

Soldiers retrieved the bodies of Eden Zakaria, 27, who was kidnapped from the music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, and Ziv Dado, 36, a soldier serving near the Gaza border. Dado was killed on October 7 and his body was taken to Gaza. Zakaria was wounded on October 7, and it was unclear if she was taken alive or dead to Gaza, according to reports on Israel’s Channel 12.

During the operation to rescue the bodies, two soldiers, Gal Meir Eizenkot and Eyal Meir Berkowitz, were killed. Gal Eisenkot is the son of Gadi Eizenkot, who served as military chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and sits on the war cabinet.

THE WORLD BANK WILL RELEASE MORE EMERGENCY AID FOR GAZA

The World Bank on Tuesday announced that it would provide $20 million in new emergency relief for the people of Gaza as part of an overall $35 million package of support.

The bank says this includes $10 million in new financing for food vouchers and parcels, which is expected to reach an estimated 377,000 people. The assistance will be delivered through the World Food Program.

The World Bank also says its Health Emergency & Preparedness Trust Fund has allocated $10 million, provided by Japan and Germany, for medical care and supplies for humanitarian purposes, to be delivered through UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

BIDEN ADVISER TO MEET NETANYAHU FOR TALKS ON ENDING MAJOR COMBAT IN GAZA

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he will speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about timetables for ending major combat in Gaza when he visits Israel later this week.

During an appearance at a forum hosted by the Wall Street Journal, Sullivan said he would be carrying President Joe Biden’s thoughts on the matter and would also be looking to hear from Netanyahu and Israeli officials on the issue. He said he would also speak to Netanyahu about his recent comments that Israel Defense Forces would maintain open-ended security control of Gaza after the war ends.

Sullivan reiterated the Biden administration's position that it does not want to see Israel reoccupy Gaza or further shrink its already small territory. The administration has repeatedly called for a return of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority and the resumption of peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“I will have the opportunity to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu about what exactly he has in mind with that comment, because that can be interpreted in a number of different ways,” Sullivan said. “But the U.S. position on this is clear.”

CYPRUS PREPARES TO ACT AS LAUNCH POINT FOR GAZA AID

A spokesperson for the government of Cyprus says a team of technical experts from Israel is visiting the island nation to inspect infrastructure and facilities that will be used to ship large quantities of humanitarian aid across the Mediterranean to Gaza, once conditions on the ground allow for it.

Spokesperson Constantinos Letymbiotis said the Israeli team’s visit Tuesday follows two earlier trips that Cypriot technical experts made to Israel to brief authorities there about the Cypriot initiative.

Letymbiotis repeated that many countries have already expressed their willingness to contribute both in materiel or any other technical assistance required to deliver the aid, using shallow-draft vessels able to reach the shoreline.

An initial shipment is already in storage at Larnaca port, from where ships will set sail for Gaza some 242 miles (390 kilometers) away.

It’s understood that officials from Israel and elsewhere will be on hand to monitor as Cypriot customs agents inspect the aid to ensure that nothing is shipped to Gaza that could be weaponized by Hamas to use against Israel.

ISRAELI FORCES HAVE STORMED A HOSPITAL IN NORTHERN GAZA, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS

CAIRO — A spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli forces have stormed a hospital in northern Gaza.

Ashraf al-Qidra said the troops forced all the men in Kamal Adwan Hospital, including medics, to gather in the courtyard after entering the facility on Tuesday. He called on the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The army says it is rounding up men in northern Gaza as it searches for Hamas fighters. Photos and video circulated online show detainees stripped to their underwear, bound and blindfolded. Some who have been released say they were beaten and denied food and water.

The U.N. humanitarian office says the hospital has 65 patients, including 12 children in intensive care and six newborns in incubators. Some 3,000 displaced people are sheltering there, all awaiting evacuation because of severe shortages of food, water and electricity.

Most of the population of northern Gaza fled weeks ago when Israel ordered a full evacuation. Ground troops invaded in late October after a blistering three-week air campaign. Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

Tens of thousands of people remain in the north, where they have been almost entirely cut off from humanitarian aid for weeks. The health system in the north has largely collapsed.

A SURGEON IS SHOT FROM OUTSIDE A NORTH GAZA HOSPITAL, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS SAYS

CAIRO — A surgeon was wounded after being shot from outside a hospital in northern Gaza that is surrounded by Israeli forces, Doctors Without Borders said. The aid group said the shooting occurred Monday at Al-Awda Hospital, and that five hospital staff at Al-Awda Hospital, including two of its own doctors, have been killed while caring for patients since the start of the war.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have remained in northern Gaza, even after Israel's evacuation orders and as airstrikes have leveled entire neighborhoods. Very little humanitarian aid has been allowed into northern Gaza, and the health system has all but collapsed.

The United Nations humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said a convoy delivering medical supplies to the north for the first time in more than a week came under fire on the way to another hospital over the weekend.

The convoy evacuated 19 patients but was delayed for inspections by Israeli forces on the way south. OCHA said one patient died and a paramedic was detained for hours.

A HOUTHI MISSILE HITS A TANKER NEAR YEMEN

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A missile suspected fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, a key maritime chokepoint, authorities said Tuesday.

The assault on the oil and chemical tanker, Strinda, expands a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by striking a ship that has no clear ties to Israel. That potentially imperils cargo and energy shipments coming through the Suez Canal and further widen the international impact of the Israel-Hamas war now raging in the Gaza Strip.

Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree issued a video statement claiming the rebels only fired on the vessel when it “rejected all warning calls.”

The Strinda was coming from Malaysia and was bound for the Suez Canal onward to Italy with its cargo of palm oil, Belsnes said. Saree alleged without offering any evidence the ship was bound for Israel.

“All crew members are unhurt and safe,” said Geir Belsnes, the CEO of the Strinda’s operator J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi. “The vessel is now proceeding to a safe port.”

News from © The Associated Press, 2023