Middle East: US vetoes UN resolution on Gaza cease-fire

On World Children's Day, DW looks into how conflicts in Gaza, Syria and other crisis points around the globe harm children and violate their rights.

Israel's military hit over 100 "terror targets" in Lebanon over the previous 24 hours, Israel said on Wednesday afternoon.

The bombed sites included "launchers, weapons storage facilities, command centers and military structures" controlled by Hezbollah.

Also on Wednesday, the Lebanese army said one of its soldiers had been killed in an Israeli attack, following the death of three others a day earlier.

In response, Israel said it was not fighting the Lebanese army and that its actions were focused on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

"We emphasize that the [Israeli army] is operating precisely against the Hezbollah terrorist organization and is not operating against the Lebanon Armed Forces," the military said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.

On Wednesday, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said the death toll of Israel's offensive now stood at 43,985 with 104,092 injured. The ministry does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties, but their overall figures are considered reliable by the UN.

The majority of deaths have been women and children.

Separately, Lebanese authorities said over 3,544 people have been killed in the country's conflict with Israel, most since late September. The UN estimates around the death toll includes more than 200 children.

Following Israel's claims that it bombed Iran's Parchin facility, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has warned against attacking nuclear sites.

"There is a body of law that indicates that nuclear facilities should not be attacked," Grossi told reporters at a press conference in Vienna. "It is my hope that this will be the case and that reason will prevail."

The IAEA chief also said he plans to discuss the issue with Israel.

Israeli and US officials claim Parchin had been part of Iran's secret nuclear weapons program before 2003, and that Tehran recently reactivated the site.

However, Grossi said it was unlikely that Parchin was active, even though "it could have been involved in the past in some activities."

"We do not have any information to confirm presence of nuclear material," adding that "as far as the IAEA is concerned, we do not see this as a nuclear facility."

At least 36 people were reportedly killed in what the Syrian state media described as an Israeli airstrike on the city of Palmyra. The Syrian state news agency SANA said over 50 people were injured and residential buildings and an industrial zone were damaged.

The Israeli military has declined to comment.

Syria is home to several Iran-linked groups that are occasionally targeted by Israel. Last week, the Israeli military said they had attacked transit routes on the border between Syria and Lebanon because they were used to deliver weapons to Hezbollah.

The oasis city of Palmyra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, seized and partially destroyed in 2015 by so-called "Islamic State" militants.

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group wants "complete and comprehensive end to [Israeli] aggression" in a way that would also preserve "Lebanon's sovereignty."

With US envoy Amos Hochstein visiting Lebanon and Israel in hopes of securing a truce, Hezbollah chief Naim Kassem said the "Israeli enemy" cannot enter Lebanese territory "whenever it wants." He also said Hezbollah's comments have been communicated to Hochstein.

"We have prepared for a long battle," Kassem said in a pre-recorded speech."Israel cannot defeat us and cannot impose its conditions on us."

Also on Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said a truce deal would need to allow Israel the possibility to act against Hezbollah.

"In any agreement we will reach, we will have to maintain our freedom to act if there will be violations," Saar told foreign ambassadors ahead of Hochstein's expected arrival in Israel.

The US has blocked a legally binding resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, criticizing the initiative for not linking the cease-fire with the release of Israeli hostages.

"For us, it has to be a linkage between a cease-fire and the release of hostages," said Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations. "It has been our principle position from the beginning and it still remains."

The draft tabled by 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council called for both an immediate cease-fire and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" still held by Hamas. However, it did not link the two events.

The US was the only Security Council member to vote against the motion, with 14 others — including US allies the UK and France — voting in favor of it.

Meanwhile, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon described the proposed resolution as "nothing short of betrayal."

Israel has repeatedly accused the UN of treating it unfairly, with the ties notably deteriorating since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks which prompted Israel's Gaza offensive.

dj/kb (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)