The empty United Nations Security Council chamber is pictured at UN headquarters in New York on Dec 21, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA – The UN Security Council on Thursday once again postponed the long-delayed vote on a critical resolution for desperately needed aid to Gaza, due to disagreements from the United States.

This is the fourth time within a week that the voting has been postponed.

Diplomatic sources indicated that the United States is concerned about the references in the text to a "cessation of hostilities" in the Palestine-Israel conflict and the critical issue of inspecting aid trucks entering Gaza to ensure they carry only "humanitarian goods."

READ MORE: Israel vows to continue fighting in Gaza; UN expresses concern

The current draft proposes that the United Nations take over this responsibility, a move opposed by both the United States and its close ally, Israel.

Israeli soldiers fire mortars from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip, in a position near the Israel-Gaza border, Dec 20, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

Earlier in the day, US Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Robert Wood, informed reporters as he entered a Security Council meeting on Syria, "We're still actively addressing this matter. We're putting in significant effort."

He mentioned the necessity for specific alterations in the text, stating that these changes should be substantial enough to garner their support.

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As per a report published on Thursday by 23 UN and humanitarian agencies, the entire population of Gaza, which stands at 2.2 million, is currently experiencing a food crisis or an even more dire situation, with 576,600 people reaching the "catastrophic" level of starvation.

Israeli troops take positions in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Dec 21, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

Due to severely restricted supplies reaching Gaza apart from a limited flow, the World Food Programme has reported that 90 percent of the population regularly goes without food for an entire day.

At least 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct 7, according to Gaza's Government Media Office. The death toll from Hamas' attack on Israel stands at roughly 1,140.

At the time of writing, ambassadors of the 15-member council are still locked in consultations over the latest draft resolution.

An injured man is transferred to a hospital in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on Dec. 19, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

No functional hospital in N. Gaza

The last hospital that can perform surgery in northern Gaza stopped functioning, the World Health Organization's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday.

The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital's operating theaters are no longer functioning due to the depletion, or complete absence, of specialists, power, fuel, water, food and medical supplies, Tedros wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The hospital's operating theaters are no longer functioning due to complete absence, of specialists, power, fuel, water, food and medical supplies, said the WHO chief

"That has left north Gaza with no functional hospital. Only four hospitals operate at a minimum level, providing very limited care," he added.

In a joint mission to Al-Ahli Arab and Al-Shifa hospitals in northern Gaza on Wednesday, the WHO and other UN agencies delivered medicines, IV fluids and supplies for surgery, treating the wounded, and supporting women giving birth.

"Only nine out of 36 health facilities are partially functional for the whole of Gaza. All of these in the south," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative on the occupied Palestinian territory, told a press conference via video link on Thursday.

READ MORE: Chinese envoy stresses ceasefire as top priority in Gaza

The minimally functioning Al-Ahli and three other hospitals are still treating patients but not admitting new ones, Peeperkorn said, adding that these hospitals are still sheltering thousands of displaced people.

Director-general of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a press briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec 15, 2023. (XINHUA / LIAN YI)

About 10 health workers continue to provide basic first aid, pain management and wound care, according to Tedros.

The WHO chief again appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire to stop the bloodshed and death.