Many of the world's top diplomats are due to meet in the UN Security Council chamber at 2 PM New York time, to debate the deepening crisis in the Gaza Strip and the whole Middle East, against the backdrop of Israel's unrelenting military operation, mounting death toll and escalating global calls for an immediate ceasefire. We'll have full live coverage here.
Secretary-General António Guterres is due to brief the meeting, with senior foreign ministers and ambassadors from the 15 Council members - together with many other nations - due to have their say on the widening war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, France's Stéphane Séjourné, Türkiye's Hakan Fidan and the UK's Tariq Ahmad are among those who have made the trip to New York to take part in the high level open debate.
Mr. Séjourné is expected to chair the meeting, as France holds the rotating Security Council Presidency for January.
The meeting on peace and security in the Middle East takes place amid a widening of the conflict beyond Gaza. with regular exchanges of fire between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and increasing air strikes led by the US and UK on Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea, as an act of solidarity with Palestinian militants.
With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza showing no signs of abating and initiatives to see hostages released in exchange for a humanitarian pause struggling to gain traction, calls for an end to the carnage in the enclave are growing louder.
Some 70 names are inscribed on the speaking list and the meeting is likely to continue late into the evening.
We will have the coverage of the deliberations live on this page, and on X, formerly Twitter, at @UN_News_Centre
Click here or here for our coverage of the last two meetings of the Security Council on the crisis and visit the UN Meetings Coverage here (or here in French) for detailed run down of the Council's deliberations.
