Canada became the only member country to vote against a United Nations Human Rights Council motion calling for immediate international action to force Israel to allow fuel, food, medicine and other essential items to be sent to the Gaza Strip, to reopen the border crossings and to end its “grave violations” in the occupied Palestinian territory, as the motion passed with a majority of 29 votes with 15 nations abstaining.

The Council expressed its deep concern about “the series of incessant and repeated Israeli military attacks and incursions,” which it said had killed and injured many Palestinian civilians.

The resolution demanded “that the occupying Power, Israel, lift immediately the siege it has imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, restore continued supply of fuel, food and medicine and reopen the border crossings.”

It called for the immediate protection of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory in line with human rights law and international humanitarian law, and urged all parties to refrain from violence against civilians.

The text, which was introduced by Syria in the name of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, also called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Louise Arbour, to report to the Council at its next session on the progress made towards implementing the resolution.

Ms. Arbour told the Council’s special session yesterday that the situation for both Palestinians and Israelis will continue to deteriorate unless both parties to the conflict and the international community take broader steps to action.

“All parties concerned should put an end to the vicious spiral of violence before it becomes unstoppable,” she said. “To this end, they must ensure accountability for breaches of international humanitarian law and violations of international human rights law through credible, independent, and transparent investigations.”

Ms. Arbour added that the Israeli practice of collective punishment, disproportionate use of force and targeted killings continued, as did the Palestinian militants’ practice of indiscriminate firing of mortars and rockets into Israel.

Aid agencies are describing the situation in Gaza as a "humanitarian catastrophe", with essential items such as clean water, food and medicines running out in the territory.

UN staff say a shortage remains of benzene for hospital workers’ vehicles, with the World Food Programme (WFP) able to access some from the local commercial market but unsure of whether there is enough to last beyond the middle of next week.

The seven-month ongoing Israeli blockade is taking an ever-more severe toll on the health system in the Gaza Strip, the aid agency Oxfam International said.

According to the Word Health Organization, 105 of a list of 460 essential medications are no longer in stock in Gazan pharmacies.

"Under international humanitarian law, Israel remains the occupying power and therefore holds the responsibility to secure and provide the basic needs of the occupied population," Jeremy Hobbs, director of Oxfam International, said today. "Failing to do so constitutes a grave violation of their basic human rights."

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans desperate to stock up on basic supplies crossed into Egypt through a breach in the border fence, which according ICRC's Head of Operations for the Middle East, Béatrice Megevand-Roggo, is a "dramatic illustration of their deprivation" over the last seven months.