GAZA: Israeli troops battle Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip, with no sign of a let-up in the escalation despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire”.

The resolution was adopted on Monday after Israel’s closest ally the United States abstained.

It demands an “immediate ceasefire” for the ongoing month of Ramazan, leading to a “lasting” truce.

It also demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages they took during the unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel, though it does not directly link the release to a truce.

After the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres led calls for the resolution to be implemented.

“Failure would be unforgivable,” he wrote on social media platform X.

Israel reacted furiously to the US abstention, as it allowed the resolution to go through with all the other 14 Security Council members voting yes.

The resolution is the first since the Gaza conflict erupted to demand an immediate halt in the fighting.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati has sajd countries should pressure Israel to stop attacking Lebanon following a UN Security Council decision calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have been trading fire across the southern Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war. Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the UN vote.

In a statement shared by his office, Mikati welcomed the move, saying it was “a first step on the path to stopping the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”.

“When it comes to Lebanon, we renew our call to concerned countries to pressure the Israeli enemy to stop its continued aggression on southern Lebanon,” the statement said.

Mikati told Reuters in February that a ceasefire in Gaza would trigger indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel to reach a halt to hostilities on the southern border and to delineate the disputed border between the two countries.

Hezbollah has also said it would halt its fire into Israel if a Gaza ceasefire was reached. Israeli and US officials, however, have said a ceasefire in Gaza would not automatically extend to Lebanon.