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The U.N. Security Council approved a toned-down bid to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza on December 22 that stopped short of a call for a ceasefire, hours after Israel signalled it was widening its ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave. The U.S., which is Israel's main ally and had threatened to veto the Security Council motion during days of wrangling, chose instead to abstain after language was changed on hostilities and monitoring aid, a move that let the vote go through. Washington has regularly backed Israel's right to defend itself but has grown increasingly critical of the suffering of Gaza's 2.3 million people amid a soaring death toll and a humanitarian crisis in the enclave. In its latest update on casualties, Gaza's health ministry said 20,057 Palestinians had been killed and 53,320 wounded in Israeli strikes since the conflict started. The adopted Security Council resolution “calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and exp
