Arab-Israeli Conflict

(Newser) - The UN Security Council tonight passed a resolution—with the US abstaining—calling for "an immediate and durable" cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the BBC reports. The vote was 14-0. It's unclear how much of an effect it will have on the ground, and Israel appeared to be resuming its airstrikes. About 750 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have been killed in 13 days of fighting. More »

(Newser) - The destruction being visited upon Gaza could easily have been avoided, Jimmy Carter writes in the Washington Post . The former president, during visits last year, saw both the effects of Hamas rockets on Israeli communities, and the misery and malnutrition caused by the Gaza blockade. He details his own efforts, and observes that improved living conditions in Gaza would make peace infinitely more likely. More »

(AP) - The United Nations today halted all aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip, citing a series of Israeli attacks on UN staff and installations. The announcement came shortly after the driver of a UN truck was killed by tank fire as he was headed to an Israeli border crossing to pick up an aid shipment. The UN said the delivery had been coordinated with Israel. The Israeli army has not commented. More »

(Newser) - Israel intensified its airstrikes in Gaza last night, reports CNN, bombing about 60 targets across the Strip on the 13th day of the operation. One of the targets was a mosque that the Israeli military claims stored weapons and sheltered Hamas fighters. The airstrikes also targeted 10 Hamas tunnels used to funnel arms from Egypt as well as "a number of armed gunmen," according to an IDF spokesman. More »

(Newser) - The Red Cross has condemned the Israeli military in unusually harsh terms after finding 15 corpses in shattered houses the organization was prevented from visiting, the Washington Post reports. Officials said they received reports of casualties in the Gaza neighborhood Saturday but weren’t allowed to enter until yesterday. Four children were found lying next to their dead mothers, the group said, emaciated but alive. More »

(Newser) - At least three rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel today, raising fears that the Gaza conflict is widening, reports the International Herald Tribune . Israeli authorities say the rockets, which they presume were fired by Hezbollah in support of Hamas, landed near the town of Nahariya and injured two Israelis. The Israeli military responded with artillery fire against the source. More »

(Newser) - Perhaps in an effort to ditch his infamous moniker, Joe the Plumber is swapping plunger for pen. The Ohio businessman, the presidential election’s "average American," will spend 10 days near Gaza covering Israel’s perspective on the conflict for pjtv.com, Internet arm of conservative Pajamas Media. “God’s not going to stop a mortar for me, but you gotta take the chance,” he tells Toledo’s WNWO-TV. More »