GAZA: Israeli forces pounded besieged Gaza on Wednesday in the war sparked by the October 7 attack and fought Palestinians around several hospitals despite a UN Security Council demand for a ceasefire.
Talks in Qatar towards a truce and captives release deal, involving US and Egyptian mediators, have brought no result so far, with Israel and the Palestinian group blaming each other.
Tensions have risen between Israel and its top ally the United States over the soaring civilian death toll and dire food shortages in Gaza, and Israeli plans to push its ground offensive into the far-southern city of Rafah, which is packed with displaced civilians.
In heavy overnight bombardment, Israeli strikes again hit Gaza City and Rafah, where a fireball lit up the sky over the city crowded with up to 1.5 million people, most of them displaced by the war.
The health ministry in Gaza said 66 people were killed in overnight bombardment and combat. Israeli forces have battled in and around three Gaza hospitals, raising fears for patients, medical staff and displaced people inside them.
Fighting has raged for nine days around Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, the territory's largest, and more recently near two hospitals in the main southern city of Khan Yunis, Al-Amal and Nasser.
The Palestinian Red Crescent warned that thousands were trapped inside and "their lives are in danger". The Israeli army has yet to comment on the situation in and around the hospital.
Gaza has endured almost six months of war and a siege that has cut off most food, water, fuel and other supplies, and the UN has warned that its 2.4 million people are on the brink of a "man-made famine".
The flow of aid trucks from Egypt has slowed amid the war and due to lengthy Israeli cargo inspections.
Donor governments have airdropped food into Gaza where desperate crowds have rushed towards aid packages drifting down on parachutes. At least 18 people have been reported killed in stampedes or drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.
Palestinian group Hamas has urged an end to the airdrops and called for stepped-up road deliveries instead. The United States said it would keep airdropping humanitarian supplies while also pushing for more overland deliveries.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,414 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.
The UN Security Council on Monday passed its first resolution demanding an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza and the release of the captives. — AFP
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