Conflict In Gaza: Here’s What You Need To Know Today

In a resolution overnight, the United Nations Security Council called for an “immediate and unconditional” cease-fire in Gaza.

As USA Today reports, the Security Council called on both Israel and Hamas to “to accept and fully implement the humanitarian cease-fire into the Eid period and beyond.”

Despite that call, fighting continued. The Associated Press reports that Israeli jets continued their offensive in Gaza and Hamas militants continued to launch rockets into Israel.

With that, here’s what you need to know as the conflict enters its 21st day:

— The death toll has reached more than 1,000 in Gaza; 40 Israeli soldiers have been killed along with three civilians.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has this graphic, which breaks down casualties as of July 26 (the red represents Palestinian deaths):

— President Obama called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The President made clear the strategic imperative of instituting an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities based on the November 2012 ceasefire agreement,” the White House said in a readout of the conversation.

— NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports that Israelis are shrugging off international pressure. She tells us:

“Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., criticized the US administration on Israeli Army Radio, saying that it treated Hamas as a legitimate organization.

“Oren says Israel doesn’t need international backing. ‘It has to be made unequivocally clear that it is in our interest to restore security to Israel’s citizens by all possible means. And even if we have to stand alone sometimes, we are a very strong people, there is a national consensus, we can take it.'”

On Morning Edition, Soraya reports that recent polls show about 80 percent of Jewish Israelis support the military operation.