Israel declared on Wednesday its determination to continue its Gaza war "with or without international support" after it came under mounting pressure even from its key backer the United States.
Now in its third month, the war was launched in response to the unprecedented attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people.
It has left Gaza in ruins, killing more than 18,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the Hamas-run health ministry, and causing "unparallelled" damage to its roads, schools and hospitals.
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a non-binding resolution for a ceasefire on Tuesday.
But more air strikes hit Gaza and gun battles raged, especially in Gaza City, the biggest urban centre, and Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south, AFP correspondents said.
Cold autumn rains lashed the territory, where millions have been displaced and many are living in makeshift plastic tents, as vital supplies of food, drinking water, medicines and fuel have run low in more than two months of siege and war.
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Air raid sirens wailed in Sderot and other southern Israeli communities near Gaza as Palestinian militants kept firing rockets, most of which have been intercepted by air defences.
Israel's military said sirens sounded in Ashdod city north of Gaza and in the Lakhish area. Social media footage showed a large fragment of an intercepted rocket had hit a supermarket.
The army said an air strike had hit a militant cell in Gaza City's Shejaiya district "that was en route to launch rockets toward Israel".
Diminishing safe space
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday demanding a ceasefire, backed by 153 of 193 nations -- surpassing the 140 or so that have routinely condemned Russia for invading Ukraine.
While the United States voted against the resolution, it was supported by allies Australia, Canada and New Zealand, who, in a rare joint statement, said they were "alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza".
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Biden told a campaign event that Israel had "most of the world supporting it" immediately after the October 7 attack, but that "they're starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place".
The US leader, who toned down his comments later, on Wednesday met with families of American hostages from among those the militants seized on October 7.
Despite the criticism from its main ally, Israel vowed to press on with its war on Hamas.
"Israel will continue the war against Hamas with or without international support," said Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
"A ceasefire at the current stage is a gift to the terrorist organisation Hamas, and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel," Cohen told a visiting diplomat, quoted by his ministry.
Hamas, a terrorist organization whose terrorists massacred 1,200 people in one day, raped women, kidnapped Holocaust survivors, and burned families, congratulate the UN. This is a new moral degradation and a mark of disgrace on the biased and hypocritical organization.
— אלי כהן | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) December 13, 2023Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, will travel to Israel on Thursday to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said there is "disagreement" with Washington over how a post-conflict Gaza would be governed.
