GAZA/JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed to Israel on Friday to take steps to protect civilians in Gaza as its forces kept up their bombardment of the Palestinian enclave and the death toll among residents soared.
Israeli forces also pounded Gaza from ground, sea and air throughout the night amid rising global alarm over scarcities, collapsing medical services and a civilian death toll that has now surpassed 9,000.
Blinken was visiting the region for the second time in less than a month to show support for close ally Israel in its response to the October 7 attack on southern Israeli communities that killed some 1,400 people and triggered the war.
Speaking before meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Blinken reiterated that Israel has a right to "do everything possible" to ensure that such an attack never happened again.
But he added: "It is very important when it comes to protection of civilians who are caught in the crossfire of Hamas's making, that everything be done to protect them and to bring assistance to those who so desperately need it, who are not in any way responsible for what happened on Oct 7."
Washington has dismissed calls from Arab and several other nations for a full ceasefire in the war - now in its 28th day - but wants more temporary and local pauses in fighting to allow aid to get into Gaza and for hostages taken by Hamas to leave.
Food, fuel, water and medicine are running out in Gaza, buildings have been flattened and thousands of people have fled their homes to escape relentless bombing.
Aid agencies have warned that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the bloodiest episode in decades in the long-running conflict. Blinken also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for almost an hour before both met with members of Israel's emergency cabinet, formed after the assault.
Gaza health authorities say at least 9,227 people - many of them women and children - have been killed since Israel started its blitz on the enclave of 2.3 million people in retaliation for the Hamas rampage in southern Israel.
The Israeli military said its troops and tanks were encountering mines and booby traps as they advanced in Gaza. Hamas fighters were making use of a vast underground tunnel network to stage hit-and-run attacks.
It said Israeli war planes, artillery and navy had struck targets overnight, killing several including Mustafa Dalul, a Hamas commander it said had directed combat in Gaza. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas.
Gaza City was surrounded, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. Another spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, said they were in a complex urban battle. "It's very, very close quarter combat between our troops and Hamas operatives."
Israel says it has lost 23 soldiers in the offensive. In one Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a local journalist working for the official Palestine TV and at least nine of his immediate family were killed in their house, relatives and health officials said.
The United Arab Emirates said on Friday it was working "relentlessly" for an immediate ceasefire, warning that the risk of regional spillover and further escalation was real. Israel has dismissed these calls, saying it targets fighters whom it accuses of hiding among Gaza's population and civilian buildings.
Blinken is due to meet Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman on Saturday. Safadi said in a statement Israel must end the war on Gaza, where he said it was committing war crimes by bombing civilians and imposing a siege. - AFP
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