CAIRO/GAZA/TEL AVIV: Israel launched fresh air strikes against central Gaza on Tuesday, where the United Nations said it was alarmed by an intensification of Israeli attacks that had killed more than 100 Palestinians in one part of the enclave since Christmas Eve.
The days around Christmas have seen an upsurge in the war, particularly in a central area just south of the seasonal waterway that bisects the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops told civilians to leave the area, though many say there is no safe place left to go.
"We are gravely concerned about the continued bombardment of Middle Gaza by Israeli forces, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives since Christmas Eve," said UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango.
"Israeli forces must take all measures available to protect civilians. Warnings and evacuation orders do not absolve them of the full range of their international humanitarian law obligations."
Israel is determined to pursue its goal of destroying Hamas despite global calls for a ceasefire in the 11-week-old war, and new concerns the conflict could spread with US and aligned forces attacking each other elsewhere in the region.
Palestinian health authorities said nearly 21,000 people have been confirmed killed in Israeli strikes, with thousands more feared buried under rubble. Nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, many several times.
Israel says it is doing what it can to protect civilians, and blames Hamas for putting them in harm's way by operating among them, which Hamas denies. But even Israel's closest ally the United States has said it should do more to reduce civilian deaths from what President Joe Biden has called "indiscriminate bombing". - Reuters
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