The top U_N_ humanitarian official is accusing Israel of blocking the delivery of desperately needed aid to Gaza, and the U_S_ ambassador is demanding that its government step up efforts to tackle the Palestinian territory’s ”intolerable and catastrophic humanitarian crisis.”.

The United Nations human rights chief says weaponizing ordinary communication devices represents a new development in warfare.

The U.N. General Assembly strongly supported a nonbinding Palestinian resolution Wednesday demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has accused Israel’s military of striking schools, humanitarian workers and civilians in Gaza.

The Palestinians have circulated a draft U.N. resolution demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank within six months.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza.

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2021 file photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Twelve times since he took office, President Joe Biden has dialed up a world leader after reinstituting what was a long-held White House standard mothballed by Donald Trump: vigorous preparation. Twelve times since he took office, President Joe Biden has dialed up a world leader after reinstituting what was a long-held White House standard mothballed by Donald Trump: vigorous preparation. Biden made clear his desire to return to diplomacy after Trump withdrew from the Obama-backed international nuclear deal with Iran. White House press secretary Jen Psaki underscored that the Biden administration is recalibrating the relationship with the Saudis.

The French-drafted resolution reduced the troop ceiling for the force, known as UNIFIL, from 15,000 to 13,000 under U.S. pressure. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 15 members of the council voted by email, with a 3 p.m. EDT Friday deadline. Soon after, the Security Council president, Indonesias U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to the council on July 29 recommending a 12-month renewal of UNIFILs mandate, stressing the importance of maintaining high troop strength. UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 1978 invasion.

TANZANIA The U.N. Security Council remains at odds over the way the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon operates on the ground, with the United States backing Israels demands for major changes. At a closed council meeting Tuesday on the mission known as UNIFIL, whose mandate is up for renewal at the end of the month, U.S. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has written to the council calling for a 12-month renewal of UNIFILs mandate, stressing the importance of maintaining high troop strength. Jan Kubis, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, and U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix briefed Tuesdays virtual council meeting. Kubis urged the rapid formation of a new government following Mondays resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his Cabinet.