On Friday, the Foreign and Defense Ministers of Australia and the United Kingdom called for an "immediate cessation of fighting" in the Gaza Strip at the end of a meeting in Adelaide, South Australia.

In a joint statement, the ministers stressed the “necessity” of an immediate end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip “to allow the transfer of (humanitarian) assistance.”

The United Kingdom is a member of the UN Security Council, which will vote on Friday on a draft American resolution that includes an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip as part of an agreement on prisoners.

The text stresses "the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to protect civilians on both sides and allow the delivery of essential humanitarian aid."

The United States has previously used its veto power against several Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire. But in the face of heavy human losses and the threat of famine, Washington is now redoubling its efforts to reach a truce and thus avoid a ground attack on Rafah.

The United States has been pressuring Israel for weeks to refrain from launching a large-scale ground attack on Rafah, the results of which would be disastrous in the crowded city, whose population has risen to one and a half million people, most of whom are displaced.