The Palestinian death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 17,700, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, reports AP.
Israel’s ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip intensified on Saturday with further airstrikes and artillery fire, a day after the United States blocked a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire.
Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in the ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages.
Amid concerns about a wider conflict, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to prevent any ship heading to Israeli ports from passing through the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until food and medicine can enter Gaza freely.
With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents have reported severe food shortages.
Despite growing international pressure, President Joe Biden’s administration remains opposed to an open-ended cease-fire, arguing it would enable Hamas to continue posing a threat to Israel.
The administration approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million, the US State Department said.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
