The United Nations Security Council on Friday approved a bid to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

But the proposal was stripped of language calling for "an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" in order to allow aid deliveries after the United States threaten to veto the motion.

Instead, it calls for steps to "create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities." This change frustrated other UN members.

Here's the United Arab Emirates envoy to the UN, Lana Nusseibah:

“We know this is not a perfect text. We know only a ceasefire will end the suffering."

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Israel's operation was the primary obstacle in delivering desperately needed assistance:

"A humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end that ongoing nightmare."

Nowhere is the dire need for aid more apparent than here in Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, where a school has been transformed into a field hospital.

Surgeon Bashir al-Hourani said this patient should be in a proper hospital, but because of overcrowding, he was transferred here:

"We have nothing. Medical supplies are not available, beds for patients are not available, sterilization tools are not available. We are suffering from the (lack) of medical staff, medical supplies and medicine."

Aid trucks lined up at the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into Gaza on Friday.

Israel says since the start of the latest conflict, more than 5,400 vehicles carrying humanitarian aid have been allowed in.

Here's Israeli Colonel Moshe Tetro:

“Our war is with Hamas and we seek to reduce the impact on the people of Gaza. Since the beginning of the war we have set up several mechanisms for continuous assessments of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.”

Israel launched a massive military retaliation against Hamas fighters after the Palestinian militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, killing 1,200, mostly civilians, and taking hundreds captive.

The death toll has been staggering. Doctor Marwan al-Hams is the director of the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital.

He said that Friday marked the 77th day of fighting, and the number of Palestinians killed had topped 20,000.

Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on Friday said the military operation was gradually completing its goals in the Northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has vowed to eradicate Hamas. Washington has regularly backed Israel's right to defend itself, but has grown increasingly concerned at the suffering of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

Israel-Gaza war: UN Security Council passes resolution on Gaza aid amid calls for ceasefire.

The United Nations Security Council has voted in favour of boosting humanitarian to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities” on Friday.

The vote was initially scheduled for Monday but was finally agreed after a week of delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.

Although the US did ultimately abstain, the 15-member council was able to adopt the resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.

It comes amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

The adopted resolution “calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”

However, the initial draft had harsher language and called for “an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” to allow aid access.

Key Points

• UN Security Council passes resolution on Gaza aid amid calls for ceasefire

• Israel UN ambassador criticises resolution

• Problems for UN aid efforts lie with Israel, UN chief says

• Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the Israel-Hamas war

UN Security Council passes resolution on Gaza aid amid calls for ceasefire

17:21 , Athena Stavrou

The United Nations Security Council has voted in favour of boosting humanitarian said to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities” on Friday.

The vote was initially scheduled for Monday but was finally agreed after a week of vote delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.

It comes amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

The US abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.

Why was the resolution drafted?

17:27 , Athena Stavrou

The “purpose” of the draft resolution introduced by the United Arab Emirates said “is very simple,” ambassador Lana Nusseibeh told the council in New York on Friday.

It “responds with action” to the dire conditions in Gaza while protecting those who are trying to deliver aid,” she said.

The resolution demands “urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities,” amid dire warnings from international aid groups and pressure from global officials for an end to the siege.

Within 10 weeks, Israel’s air-and-ground assault in Gaza has now killed more than 20,000 people, a figure that amounts to nearly 1 per cent of the population before Israel’s war against Hamas.

Israel launched its devastating retaliatory campaign following Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October that left 1,200 people dead and took roughly 240 hostages.

Israel’s response has killed roughly one in every 100 people in Gaza. More than two-thirds are women and children.

Was the resolution watered down?

17:37 , Athena Stavrou

After many delays, the UN Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution calling for immediately speeding up aid deliveries to desperate civilians in Gaza on Friday.

However, the resolution was without the original call for an “urgent suspension of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas.

The original draft was initially scheduled for Monday but was delayed every day this week to prevent the US from abstaining from the vote.

The revised text was negotiated during a week and a half of high-level diplomacy by the United States, the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Arab nations and others.

Rather than watered down, US ambassador Lina Thomas-Greenfield described the resolution as “strong” and said it “is fully supported by the Arab group that provides them what they feel is needed to get humanitarian assistance on the ground.”But it was stripped of its key provision with teeth — a call for “the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”Instead, it calls “for urgent steps to immediately allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and also for creating the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”

David Cameron welcomes UN resolution

17:53 , Athena Stavrou

David Cameron has welcomed the adoption of the UN resolution to bring more humanitarian aid into the beseiged Gaza strip.

“It is good news that the UN has come together to back a resolution to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the UK Foreign Secretary said:.

“The UK is doing everything it can to get more aid in, as I saw when I visited Al Arish in Egypt, near the border with Gaza, this week.

“People across Gaza urgently need food, medicine and shelter. We have consistently argued for more aid and called on Israel to open more border crossings.”

He added that the resolution demands the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and crucially calls for steps towards a sustainable ceasefire.

“As well as the need for expanded humanitarian access, the UN resolution today demands the immediate and unconditional release of hostages. This is vital.

Watch: UN Security Council approves aid for Gaza

18:04 , Athena Stavrou

The United Nations Security Council has approved further access to humanitarian aid for Gaza by adopting a revised resolution on Friday.

Watch here:

Israel UN ambassador criticises resolution

18:17 , Athena Stavrou

Israel‘s Ambassador to the United Nations criticised the Security Council for its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack following a Friday vote to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“The UN’s focus only on aid mechanisms to Gaza is unnecessary and disconnected from reality - Israel is already allowing aid deliveries at the required scale,” said Gilad Erdan. “The UN should have focused on the humanitarian crisis of the hostages.”

Erdan also thanked the United States for its strong support of Israel during the negotiations on the resolution, which he said maintained Israel‘s security authority to inspect aid entering Gaza.

Starmer welcomes UN vote and calls for ‘sustained’ ceasefire

18:30 , Athena Stavrou

Following the adoption of a UN resolution to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for work towards a sustained ceasefire.

“I welcome today’s vote at the United Nations Security Council,” he said.

“The horrors of recent months have been intolerable. This resolution describes how we must work for a sustained ceasefire.”

He added: “Hamas must release all the remaining hostages, end all attacks on Israel and have no role in the future governance of Gaza.

“Israel must agree to end its bombing campaign, allow a humanitarian surge into Gaza, and end settler violence and displacement in the West Bank.”

Problems for UN aid efforts lie with Israel, UN chief says

18:48 , Athena Stavrou

Following the vote that confirmed the adoption of a UN resolution urging for more humanitarian aid in Gaza, the UN chief the “real problem” for UN aid efforts has been Israel’s offensive.

“A humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare,” Antonio Guterres said.

He added that Israel’s offensive has caused “massive obstacles” in aid efforts.

Cameron calls UN resolution ‘good news'

19:16 , David Taintor

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron celebrated the passage of the UN resolution, saying in a statement: “It is good news that the UN has come together to back a resolution to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

“This resolution repeats so many of the points we have been making: the importance of complying with international humanitarian law. The need to reduce civilian casualties and it also backs a two-state solution that would be the best long-term guarantee of security and stability for both Israel and the Palestinian people,” he added.

Cornel West slams Biden administration over UN resolution

19:29 , Josh Marcus

Academic and outsider US presidential candidate Cornel West was sharply critical on Friday of the UN Security Council resolution on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

In a statement on X, he accused the Biden administration of having “watered down” original calls for a ceasefire, setting the stage for “further war crimes and genocidal acts by the State of Israel.

“I reject this resolution and its intentional use of semantics to beguile the global community,” he added. “This is not diplomacy, it’s complicity and a green light for Israel to continue their campaign of slaughter and moral bankruptcy.”

Tracking US votes at the UN so far

19:51 , Josh Marcus

As Israel’s key ally and a permanent member of the UN Security, the US has a large role in determining the future course of the Israel-Hamas war, especially at the United Nations.

So far, America has sided with Israel and witheld support from resolutions calling for a ceasefire and affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

On 8 December, the US vetoed a resolution that demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages.

The following week, the US was one of just 10 votes against a broader UN general assembly resolution calling for a ceasefire that passed with 153 nations in support.

Then, on Tuesday, the US was among four nations to oppose a another general assembly resolution affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, despite President Biden publically expressing his support for the idea earlier this year.

Finaly, that brings us to today, when the US abstained from a Security Council resolution that called for increase aid to Gaza.

Palestinian Authority says UN resolution is ‘step in right direction'

20:14 , Josh Marcus

The Palestinian Authority voiced measured approval on Friday for the recent UN Security Council resolution regarding the Israel-Hamas war.

The governing body, which does not control the Gaza Strip, called the resolution a “a step in the right direction” on Friday.

“It must be implemented and must be accompanied by massive pressure for an immediate ceasefire. I repeat, immediate ceasefire,” PA ambassador Riyad Mansour said at UN headquarters on Friday.

Why the UN’s Gaza resolution is unlikely to impact wider war

20:35 , Josh Marcus

After numerous postponed votes, the United Nations Security Council on Friday approved a resolution calling for urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza, abandoning a proposal that would have urged for a broader ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed over 20,000 people and devastated large parts of the Gaza Strip.

That’s despite worldwide protests and a UN General Assembly majority vote last week calling for such a pause in fighting.

So what does the resolution actually do? Here’s what you need to know.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the Israel-Hamas war

20:52 , Josh Marcus

The Israel-Hamas war began when the militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing numerous civilians.

In response, Israel has invaded Gaza, killing thousands of innocents, a vast majority of them women and children.

Alex Woodward reports on the horrifying civilian death toll.

UNICEF reiterates call for ceasefire after UN resolution

21:07 , Josh Marcus

UNICEF, the United Nations body that provides humanitarian aid to children, has continued to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, as the conflict continues to kill numerous children.

Following Friday’s vote, they released a video appeal via X.

What has Hamas said about the UN vote?

21:27 , Josh Marcus

Hamas criticised the UN Security Council resolution calling for expedited aid to Gaza as an “insuficient step.”

“During the past five days, the US administration has worked hard to empty this resolution of its essence, and to issue it in this weak formula... it defies the will of the international community and the United Nations General Assembly in stopping Israel’s aggression against our defenseless Palestinian people,” the group said in a statement.

The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, said the resolution was a step in the right direction but maintained calls for a ceasefire.

As UN wrestled with resolution, fighting continued

21:57 , Josh Marcus

On the front lines, the negotiations at the UN today must seem a long way away.

On Friday, a Hezbollah rocket barrage killed an Israeli soldier and wounded another, according to The Times of Israel.

A measure of relief for Gaza’s children

22:07 , Josh Marcus

Friday’s resolution emphasised the need for additional humanitarian aid to reach the civilians of Gaza.

Earlier this month, Richard Hall and Ariana Baio reported on some of the innocents who’ve already been killed.

Israel wanted US help in effort to get Egypt to accept refugees: report

22:27 , Josh Marcus

In the immediate aftermath of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, Israeli prime minister asked if the US could pressure its ally Egypt to accept scores of Palestinian refugees, The Washington Post reports.

However, the Biden administration reportedly responded that Egypt would never go along with the idea, as it didn’t want to facilitate mass displacement.

American-Israeli citizen taken hostage by Hamas dies in Gaza

22:47 , Josh Marcus

An American citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas during the 7 October attacks on Israel has died in captivity in Gaza, according to a group representing hostages’ families.

Gadi Haggai, a 73-year-old US and Israeli dual national, was out for a walk with his wife Judith Weinstein Haggai, 70, in the Kibbutz Nir Oz where they lived that morning when Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israel, the Missing Persons Families Forum said.

The couple was reportedly shot at, with Gadi Haggai left critically injured.

Neither of them has been seen or heard from since.

Rachel Sharp reports.

American-Israeli citizen taken hostage by Hamas dies in Gaza