THE United Nations security council failed on Monday to agree a resolution calling on Israel to cease its relentless bombardment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

But activists stepped up demands for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, which began with Hamas’s surprise cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7.

After more than two hours of debate behind closed doors, security council members could not agree to back either a “humanitarian pause” or a ceasefire to give Gaza’s population some respite from the deadly Israeli bombing raids and allow desperately needed aid into the battered coastal enclave.

Israel has already made clear that it is not prepared to accept either option.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, including around 4,100 children, although that figure does not include the many thousands of people believed to lie dead or dying in the rubble of destroyed buildings.

About 1,400 people in Israel have died, most killed in the initial Hamas attack. 

Earlier on Monday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres told reporters that he wanted an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to the “spiral of escalation” from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Yemen.

Mr Guterres said international humanitarian law, which demands the protection of civilians and infrastructure essential to their lives, was clearly being violated and stressed that “no party to an armed conflict is above” these rules. 

The UN secretary-general called for the immediate and unconditional release of the more than 200 hostages being held by Hamas.

China, which holds the security council presidency this month, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Arab representative on the council, called Monday’s meeting to address what they described as the “crisis of humanity” in Gaza.

UAE ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said that all 15 council members were “fully engaged” and that efforts would continue to try to narrow the gaps and reach agreement on a resolution.

After the meeting, US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said: “We talked about humanitarian pauses and we’re interested in pursuing language on that score.

“But there are disagreements within the council about whether that’s acceptable.”

As the security council wrangling continued, the worldwide activist push for a ceasefire was ramped up.

The Union of Dock Workers in Barcelona (OEPB), representing some 1,200 workers at the Spanish port, said on Monday that it was refusing to load or unload any ships containing weapons for Israel, adding that it demanded a ceasefire in the conflict.

The boycott follows similar action by Belgian transport unions on Sunday.

OEPB secretary Josep Maria Deop appealed to peace organisations to help the union identify which containers hold military equipment. 

Hundreds of demonstrators calling for a Gaza ceasefire blocked traffic on Monday at the port of Tacoma in the US state of Washington, where a military supply ship had recently arrived.

Protest organisers said they opposed the killing in Gaza as they targeted the Cape Orlando vessel, following a tip-off that it was loaded with weapons bound for Israel.

The Cape Orlando drew similar protests in Oakland, California, last Friday when around 300 demonstrators delayed its departure. Coastguards detained three people who climbed onto the ship.

In India, left-wing parties representing millions of workers have called on Israel to “immediately stop this genocide of Palestinians.”

The statement was signed by Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India general secretary Doraisamy Raja, All India Forward Bloc leader G Devarajan, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary  Dipankar Bhattacharya and  Revolutionary Socialist Party head Manoj Bhattacharya.

The parties also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party government to “stop endorsing the US Israeli genocide of Palestinians and to join the global call for an immediate ceasefire.”