Israel's allies step up calls for halting the assault on Gaza

After France, the U.K. and Germany joined global calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Tel Aviv Monday, and is also expected to press Israel to wind down its offensive in Gaza.

The 10-week-old war has transformed much of the north of Gaza into a moonscape. Nearly 85 per cent of Gaza's population have fled their homes.

• Complete coverage of the Israel-Hamas war

More than 19,400 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says 116 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.

Here's what's happening in the war:

UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO VOTE ON A NEW CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council has scheduled a vote Monday on an Arab-sponsored resolution calling for an urgent cessation of hostilities in Gaza to allow unhindered access to deliver humanitarian aid to the massive number of civilians in need.

The vote is scheduled for 5 p.m. in New York, but diplomats said the text is still being negotiated to try to get the United States, Israel's closest ally, to abstain rather than veto the resolution. The U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution on Dec. 8 backed by almost all of the 15 council members and dozens of other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The draft resolution also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. It would reiterate the council's demand that all parties comply with international humanitarian law, especially protecting civilians and the infrastructure critical for their survival including hospitals, schools, places of worship and UN facilities.

The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, would demand that the parties to the conflict -- Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel, who are not named -- fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law and enable "the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip."

The only mention of Israel and the Palestinians is the draft's "unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution," and its stress at "the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority."

FREED PALESTINIANS DESCRIBE HARSH CONDITIONS AFTER MONTH IN ISRAELI CAPTIVITY

RAFAH, Gaza -- Some 60 Palestinian men detained a month ago by Israeli forces returned to Gaza on Monday, entering the territory through the recently opened Kerem Shalom crossing.

Two of the men, unshaven and still in their prison tracksuits, told The Associated Press they had been held in an unspecified facility in southern Israel after being arrested as they fled south from northern Gaza. Another man, who did not want to reveal his name, said he was arrested and taken away by Israeli soldiers from his home in Gaza City.

According to Mohamed al-Hassanah, one of the freed men, all the prisoners at the facility had their hands tied, were threatened with electrocution, and were only allowed to sleep between midnight and 5 a.m.

"Each person has only a blanket all night," he said. "Men were shaking."

Al-Hassanah said he did not know exactly where he was taken to but said that it was roughly an hour and a half away from Gaza.

He said Israeli soldiers detained and separated him from his family on Gaza's main highway while attempting to cross from the north into the central part of the territory.

Another of the recently released men, Ahmed Abd Rabbo, said most of those detained by Israeli forces and taken to southern Israel were government employees.

Last week, Israel's army spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, rejected accusations that Palestinian prisoners were being mistreated after images emerged of mass arrests of half-naked men in Gaza earlier this month. He said arrests took place in two Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza and that detainees were told to strip to make sure they didn't conceal explosives.

U.S. TO HOLD INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON HOUTHI SHIPPING ATTACKS

TEL AVIV, Israel -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he is convening a meeting of his counterparts in the Middle East and beyond to respond to attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on international shipping in the Red Sea.

Austin told a Tel Aviv news conference Monday that the virtual meeting would take place the following morning.

The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted Israel-linked vessels during Israel's war in Gaza but have escalated their attacks in recent days, hitting or just missing ships without clear ties to Israel.

"These attacks are reckless, dangerous and they violate international law," Austin said. "We're taking action to build an international coalition to address this threat."

He said the attacks are not just a U.S. concern, but threaten global commerce.

"That's why it deserves an international response," he said.

U.S. SAYS NO TIMELINE FOR ISRAEL TO END WAR IN GAZA

TEL AVIV, Israel -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the U.S. has not set a timeline for Israel to end the current, intensive phase of its Gaza offensive.

Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, Austin said he had discussed goals and objectives of Israel's war and ways to reduce harm to civilians during talks with his Israeli counterparts.

Austin and other U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza. But he said the U.S. had not laid down explicit demands.

"This is Israel's operation," he said. "I'm not here to dictate timelines or terms."

ISRAEL WARNS OF ACTION AGAINST HEZBOLLAH OVER CROSS-BORDER FIGHTING

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israel's defense minister says that Israel "will not hesitate to act" against Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group if quiet is not restored along the volatile border between Israel and Lebanon.

Since Israel's war erupted against Hamas militants in Gaza on Oct. 7, Iran-backed Hezbollah has carried out a series of rocket and missile strikes on northern Israel, drawing Israeli strikes in response. Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced to evacuate border communities. The ongoing fighting has raised fears of a broader regionwide conflict.

Speaking at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Yoav Gallant said Monday that Israel expects Hezbollah to respect a 2006 ceasefire that required the Lebanese militant group to stay away from the border.

"If such a process will not be implemented diplomatically, we will not hesitate to act," Gallant said.

U.S. AND ISRAELI SPY CHIEFS MEET WITH QATARI PRIME MINISTER

WASHINGTON -- CIA Director William Burns was in Warsaw Monday for talks with the director of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and Qatar's prime minister in a renewed push to win the release of more of the hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups, a U.S. official said.

It was the first known meeting among the three since talks broke off shortly after Israel ended a dayslong ceasefire with Hamas at the start of the month.

The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions.

In all, 129 hostages are known to remain captive in the Gaza Strip, after a negotiated deal won the release of some others in exchange for an Israeli ceasefire last month. Burns was meeting with Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad al-Thani.

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Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed.

HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS MORE THAN 19,400 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN GAZA

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 19,453 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in early October.

The announcement by ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra marked the first update since Thursday, when the toll stood at 18,787.

Internet and phone services dropped Thursday evening and were restored gradually on Sunday. It was the longest such blackout since the war began Oct. 7. The lack of connectivity meant the ministry could not compile its daily casualty count.

Al-Qidra said 52,286 Palestinians have been injured in the war, up from 50,897 on Thursday.

GAZA'S SHIFA HOSPITAL IS STRUCK BY ISRAELI FIRE, WITNESSES SAY

Witnesses say an Israeli airstrike has hit Gaza's largest hospital, killing and wounding several people.

Al Jazeera television aired footage appearing to show the aftermath of the strike on Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, with several people sprawled lifeless on the ground inside the medical compound, which includes several buildings. Two people sheltering at the hospital confirmed the strike to The Associated Press.

Assad Abu Radwan, who witnessed the strike, counted five dead and said he helped two wounded people take cover inside. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Shifa was the scene of a prolonged standoff earlier in the war when Israel accused Hamas of concealing a major command centre inside and beneath the medical compound, allegations denied by hospital staff and the militant group.

After raiding Shifa last month, Israel revealed what it said was a militant hideout in a tunnel underneath the hospital and other evidence that it said proved Hamas had used the facility.

Fighting outside Shifa had left hundreds of patients and tens of thousands of displaced people stranded for days with little food, water or medical supplies.

Most evacuated the hospital, which had all but stopped functioning, as Israeli forces closed in. But in the weeks since the raid the hospital has become a shelter once again.

The World Health Organization, which is working to restore services at Shifa and was able to visit on Friday, described its emergency department as a "bloodbath." It said there were hundreds of wounded patients, some being sutured on the floor with little or no pain medicine.

The WHO said tens of thousands of people are sheltering in the medical compound despite severe shortages of food and water.

A COMMERCIAL SHIP IS ATTACKED IN THE RED SEA

A Cayman Islands-flagged tanker has been attacked in a crucial shipping route off Yemen, a U.S. military official said Monday.

The attack that targeted the Swan Atlantic, a chemical and oil products carrier, is the latest in a series of assaults on vessels in the Red Sea and its strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The attacks have been claimed by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who say they are targeting vessels linked to Israel in support of Palestinian militants.

The U.S. official said the vessel was attacked by multiple projectiles at about 9 a.m. local time.

The USS Carney, a U.S. warship which provides security to ships in the area, responded to the incident, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the attack.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors Mideast shipping lanes, also reported an incident in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, off Yemen's port of Mocha, and warned vessels in the area to exercise caution.

It reported "a possible explosion in the water" about 2 nautical miles from the vessel.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the assault.

RIGHTS WATCHDOG ACCUSES ISRAEL OF DELIBERATELY STARVING CIVILIANS

JERUSALEM -- Human Rights Watch is accusing Israel of deliberately starving Gaza's population, a method of warfare that it described as a war crime.

The New York-based rights organization said Monday that Israeli forces were "deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while wilfully impeding humanitarian assistance (and) apparently razing agricultural areas"

The United Nations' food agency reported on Dec. 14 that 56 per cent of Gaza's households were experiencing "severe levels of hunger," up from 38 per cent two weeks earlier.

HRW said that following the Oct. 7 attack by Gaza-based militants on Israel that killed around 1,200 people, top Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, made public statements "expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel." Other Israeli officials have made statements conditioning the provision of humanitarian aid on the release of the approximately 240 hostages Palestinian militants took into Gaza, HRW said.

The starving of civilians is a war crime under international humanitarian law. For the first two months of the war, humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza through a single border crossing from Egypt, severely restricting the amount of food and other supplies that could reach the coastal enclave's residents. After pressure from the United States, Israel reopened a second border-crossing into Gaza last week. But the amount of aid entering the territory is still less than half of prewar imports, even as needs have soared and fighting hinders delivery in many areas.

The Israeli army's chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said on Monday that Israel is not restricting the amount of humanitarian aid.

"We know civilians in Gaza are suffering. This is because of Hamas' strategy and tactics and because Hamas steals the international aid meant for them," he said.