ISRAELI troops and tanks launched a brief ground raid into northern Gaza today, the military said, striking several targets to “prepare the battlefield” before a widely expected ground invasion.

The attack took place hours after the United Nations security council failed to reach an agreement over resolutions on the conflict, which has raged since a surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7.

British ministers attended a Cobra meeting today following the raid and the government called for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that temporary breaks or “specific pauses” in the violence could allow British nationals and hostages to be freed and aid to be supplied to the Gaza Strip.

But the government has continued to back Israel’s “right to defend itself,” and resist calls for a ceasefire.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said today that the ground invasion would fall under the country’s right to defend itself as long as the action targeted Hamas.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, who chaired the meeting, said that a pause would be “different to a ceasefire, which is a total cessation of hostilities, which I don’t think recognises properly the situation that Israel finds itself in.”

He added that Israel could not fight back against Hamas “without there being some civilian impact” in Gaza.

The relentless Israeli bombardment of the besieged coastal enclave has been widely branded a “collective punishment” of the Palestinian people. It has caused an unprecedented death toll and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday that more than 750 people had been killed in the previous 24-hour period, up from the 704 killed the day before.

The Health Ministry also put the overall death toll at more than 6,500 Palestinians.

Unison issued a statement of support for an immediate ceasefire and condemned the rising death toll of Palestinian civilians.

The union said: “We express our concern at the collapse of vital public services, particularly healthcare, and reiterate our call for the release of all the hostages being held by Hamas.”

Unison said it encouraged members and branches to take action calling for a ceasefire, including joining peaceful protests and contacting MPs.

Food, water and fuel have all but run out in Gaza. The UN warned today that the lack of fuel was forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts and that the crisis was likely to worsen.

The Israeli government said more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel and that Hamas is holding at least 224 hostages in Gaza.

About 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have fled their homes, with nearly half of them crowded into UN shelters.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who has also resisted calls to support a ceasefire, said on Wednesday evening that the amount of aid and essential utilities going into Gaza was “completely insufficient.”

In a statement, he called for supplies to be “urgently ramped up” and added that “we support humanitarian pauses.”

However, Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal hit out at Sir Keir, telling him to “stop playing games with people’s lives.”

He wrote on social media platform X: “Aid cannot be safely delivered without a ceasefire. Nor can infrastructure be repaired which is necessary for life.

“If you care about the lives of innocent Palestinians, then call for a ceasefire now or you remain complicit.”

Meanwhile, 49 of Labour’s 199 MPs have either publicly called for a ceasefire or signed a motion calling for one.

Amnesty International appealed to the international community to demand an immediate ceasefire following the latest casualty figures, warning that urgent action was needed to “protect civilians and prevent further staggering levels of human suffering.”

Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, October 26, 2023

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva said on Wednesday that what was happening in Gaza was “a genocide that has already killed nearly 2,000 children who have nothing to do with this.”

Spain’s acting minister for social rights also branded the Israeli actions genocide and said in a post on X that European nations should cut diplomatic ties with Israel and impose economic and military sanctions on the country.

Al Jazeera’s chief correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Wael Dahdouh, received news that his wife, son and daughter had been killed in an Israeli air strike while he was broadcasting from the besieged territory on Wednesday.

Mr Dahdouh was shown over the body of his dead son at al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza.

“They take revenge on us in our children?” he asked.

Two hours later, Mr Dahdouh’s grandson was also declared dead, the network reported.

There are unconfirmed reports that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged the government of Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, to persuade the broadcaster to “turn down the volume” on its coverage of the conflict.

Mr Blinken is alleged to have told a group of Jewish community leaders that, in a meeting with the Qatari government in Doha on October 13, he raised concerns that the network’s reporting of the conflict could raise tensions in the region even further.

Israeli Communications Minister Shloma Karhi has said that the government was considering closing the Al Jazeera office over its coverage.

Diplomats at the UN security council had rejected rival US and Russian resolutions on the conflict on Wednesday.

The US text reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defence, urged respect for international law and called for “humanitarian pauses” to allow the delivery of aid to Gaza.

The resolution was vetoed by both Russia and China because it made no mention of a ceasefire or an end to the illegal siege of Gaza and ignored the ongoing occupation of Palestinian land.

The rival Russian resolution called for an immediate “humanitarian ceasefire” and unequivocally condemned the bloody October 7 Hamas incursion into Israel and “indiscriminate attacks” on civilians in Gaza.

Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and Gabon voted in favour, while the US and Britain opposed it. Nine countries abstained.

After the votes, Malta’s UN ambassador Vanessa Frazier, speaking on behalf of the 10 elected members of the council, announced that they would work on a new proposal in the coming days.

“There is no time to waste,” she said.