US vetoes Security Council ceasefire demand as Gaza war intensifies

Smoke rises over Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, on Saturday, December 9, 2023. - Reuters

GAZA/CAIRO/NEW YORK (Reuters): The United States vetoed a UN Security Council demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, even as it kept up pressure on Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians during a fierce offensive against Hamas militants across the enclave.

Fighting escalated and the Palestinian death toll rose on Saturday, with Israel pounding the enclave from north to south in an expanded phase of the two-month-old war against the Iran-backed Islamist group Hamas.