Gallant cites signs Hamas ‘is beginning to break’ as army says more operatives surrendering * 2 troops seriously hurt in op to rescue hostages * IDF ground offensive toll at 93

• 17min agoUK abstained on UN’s Gaza vote because resolution did not condemn Hamas, says envoy
• 35min agoIsraeli FM accuses UN chief of siding with Hamas in call for Gaza ceasefire
• 3hr agoHezbollah says three members killed amid reported Israeli drone strike in Syria
• 4hr agoIDF hits manned Hezbollah observation post in response to border attacks

By RICKY BEN-DAVID, TOI STAFF and JACOB MAGID 8 December 2023

• US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood (2nd R) raises his hand during a United Nations Security Council vote about a ceasefire in Gaza at UN headquarters in New York on December 8, 2023. The United States vetoed a resolution that would have called for an immediate ceasefire in the intense fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Wood, said the resolution was “divorced from reality.” (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
• This handout photo from the Israel Defense Forces on December 8, 2023, shows Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)
• A car damaged by rocket shrapnel in Tel Aviv on December 8, 2023. (Courtesy)
• Palestinians try to rescue a woman stuck under the rubble of a destroyed building following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
• War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot, family and friends attend the funeral of his son Gal in Herzliya on December 8, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center-left) consoles war cabinet minister minister and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot (center in white kippa) at the funeral of Eisenkot’s son, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, in Herzliya on December 8, 2023. Gal Eisenkott was killed December 7 during an IDF ground operation in the Gaza Strip. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
• A picture taken from southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 8, 2023, shows smoke rising above buildings during an Israeli strike in northern Gaza, amid continuing battles between Israel and Hamas. (Jack Guez / AFP)
• Israeli soldiers are seen near the border with the Gaza Strip, southern Israel, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
• Weapons found by Israeli troops during a raid in Gaza City’s Al-Azhar University, in a handout photo published December 8, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
• A picture taken from the Israeli side of border with Lebanon shows shells exploding over hills around the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab on December 8, 2023. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)

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The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.

17min ago

UK abstained on UN’s Gaza vote because resolution did not condemn Hamas, says envoy

By TOI STAFF

The UK’s representative to the UN, Barbara Woodward, says Britain abstained tonight on a Security Council vote calling for an immediate ceasefire because the resolution presented to members were did not condemn Palestinian terror group Hamas and its atrocities on October 7 when thousands of terrorists attacked Israel, killed 1,200 people, a majority civilians, and took some 240 hostages.

“Calling for a ceasefire ignores the fact that Hamas has committed acts of terror and is still holding civilians hostage,” she said in remarks cited by Sky news.

“We cannot vote in favor of a resolution which does not condemn the atrocities Hamas committed against innocent Israeli civilians” on October 7, she added.

Woodward said the UK was “gravely concerned” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for “further and longer” humanitarian pauses in the fighting to deliver aid and free more hostages.

source and more https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-december-8-2023/