Russia and China vote against UN Security Council ceasefire ...

The United Nations Security Council has failed to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal after Russia and China, who are permanent members, voted against the measure proposed by the United States.

The vote came on the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country remained determined to send troops into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering, and would do so without US backing if necessary.

Mr Netanyahu said in a statement he had told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that there was no way to defeat Hamas without going into Rafah.

"And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US, but if we have to — we will do it alone," Mr Netanyahu said.

In New York, the resolution considered by the Security Council called for an "immediate and sustained ceasefire" lasting roughly six weeks that would protect civilians and allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 11 members in favour, three against and one abstention.

The vote in New York on Friday was the latest in a number of ceasefire resolutions to not pass the Security Council.(Reuters: Mike Segar)

"The vast majority of this council voted in favour of this resolution, but unfortunately Russia and China decided to exercise its veto," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council.

Before the vote, she said it would be a "historic mistake" for the council not to adopt the resolution.

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, also speaking before the vote, called on members not to vote in favour of the resolution.

He said the resolution was "exceedingly politicised" and contained an effective green light for Israel to mount a military operation in Rafah.

"This would free the hands of Israel and it would result in all of Gaza and its entire population, having to face destruction, devastation, or expulsion," Mr Nebenzia told the meeting.

He said a number of non-permanent members of the Security Council had drafted an alternate resolution, which he called a balanced document, and said there was no reason for members not to support it.

China's ambassador to the UN said Beijing also supported the alternative resolution.

But Ms Thomas-Greenfield said that measure fell short.

"In its current form, that text fails to support sensitive diplomacy in the region," Ms Thomas-Greenfield said.

"Worse ... it could actually give Hamas an excuse to walk away from the deal on the table."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he believed talks in Qatar, which are focused on a six-week truce and the release of 40 Israeli hostages and hundreds of jailed Palestinians, could still forge an agreement.

The US resolution had backed talks brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar over a ceasefire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday and said Israel was prepared to continue its war against Hamas alone, amid tense relations between the two allies over the six-month-old Gaza conflict.

Mr Netanyahu said he told Mr Blinken he appreciated US support in its fight against Hamas and that Israel recognises it needs to protect civilians. However, he reiterated plans to push into Rafah, against the territory's southern border fence, where more than 1 million Gazans have taken refuge in makeshift shelters.

Israel says Rafah is the last bastion for Hamas militants, and that it has a plan to evacuate civilians before an attack. Washington says a ground assault would be a "mistake" and cause too much harm to those displaced there.

Israel claimed on Friday to have killed or captured hundreds of Hamas fighters in a five-day operation at the Al-Shifa hospital complex, one of the only medical facilities even partially functioning in the north.

Hamas and medical staff deny fighters were present there.

A strain in ties between the United States and Israel has increasingly become public, with US President Joe Biden calling Israel's campaign in Gaza "over the top" and saying it has had too great a toll on civilian lives.

Prior to Friday's meeting, Mr Blinken had said he would push Mr Netanyahu to take urgent steps to allow more aid into the densely populated enclave, where the United Nations warns mass death from famine is imminent.

Antony Blinken visited Tel Aviv this week as the US continues to try to broker a ceasefire deal and get more aid into Gaza.(Reuters: Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

US officials say the number of aid deliveries via land needs to increase fast and that aid needs to be sustained over a long period.

"A hundred per cent of the population of Gaza is experiencing severe levels of acute food insecurity. We cannot, we must not allow that to continue," Mr Blinken told a news conference late on Thursday (local time).

A report this week by the hunger monitor relied on by the United Nations found all Gazans were experiencing severe food shortages, for half the population at the worst of five levels or "catastrophe", and that famine accompanied by mass death was imminent without urgent changes.

Israel, which inspects all shipments to Gaza and has sealed off the fence on the north of the enclave, denies restricting food and says it believes enough is getting through.

Senior Israeli and US officials are scheduled to meet in Washington next week, when the United States will present to the Israelis alternative ways to hunt down Hamas without resorting to a full-on assault in Rafah.

Meetings are also taking place in Doha on Friday aimed at securing a ceasefire in the conflict.

However, Israel is only prepared to commit to a temporary pause to the conflict and has repeatedly said it will push on with its campaign to achieve its aim of eradicating Hamas, which controls Gaza.

Hamas wants a permanent end to the war and for Israeli troops to withdraw.

ABC/wires