GAZA: Israel intensified its attacks on Gaza on Sunday, calling for civilians to flee south where it vowed aid would increase, as the Red Cross warned of "intolerable" suffering.
The United Nations warned thousands more civilians could die in Gaza as Israel declared the war had entered a "second stage", stepping up its ground operations inside the territory.
Relentless Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 8,000 people, half of them children, the health ministry in the territory said.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, voiced shock at the "intolerable level of human suffering", urging all sides to de-escalate the conflict.
"This is a catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate."
Thousands of buildings have been flattened in the 2.4 million people city, with more than half the population displaced as Israel imposed a total siege.
Israeli fighter jets dropped leaflets over Gaza City on Saturday, warning residents that the area was now a "battlefield", that shelters in northern Gaza were not safe, and they should "evacuate immediately".
The army delivered similar warnings earlier in its campaign, but many who fled south have returned home after failing to find refuge from Israeli bombing.
Authorities reported on Sunday a "large number" of people killed overnight in strikes on two refugee camps in northern Gaza.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk has warned of "the possibly catastrophic consequences of large-scale ground operations in Gaza", saying "thousands more civilians" could die.
A UN peacekeeper was injured on Saturday by shelling in south Lebanon, the mission's spokesman said, hours after reporting a hit at its headquarters as Israel-Lebanon border skirmishes intensify.
All communications and phone networks were cut across Gaza late on Friday, sparking alarm as the Palestinian Red Crescent warned emergency calls were not getting through.
Human Rights Watch also cautioned the blackout could provide "cover for mass atrocities".
But on Sunday morning, global network monitor Netblocks said connectivity in Gaza was being restored, and Palestinian telecoms provider Jawwal said communication services were gradually resuming.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has demanded a "pause of hostilities" to allow aid into Gaza, while the UN General Assembly has called for an "immediate humanitarian truce".
Israel's military campaign has displaced more than 1.4 million people inside Gaza, according to the UN, while supplies of food, water and power to the crowded territory have all but halted and fuel deliveries have been completely cut off. — AFP
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