According to Reuters, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the UN Security Council the vote means that “millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance”.

Decrying a “spiralling humanitarian nightmare”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared that nowhere in Gaza was safe for civilians, hours before the US vetoed a resolution backed by the vast majority of its members calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, condemned the US veto as “inhumane”.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement: “A ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.”