Israel must protect innocent Gaza residents by distinguishing between Hamas militants and civilians, the White House warned as world leaders stepped up calls for desperately needed humanitarian aid to reach the war-torn Palestinian territory.
Israel has intensified its air and ground operations against Hamas in Gaza following a bloody attack by the Palestinian militant group more than three weeks ago that Israeli authorities say killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
Since the October 7 attack, more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardments, half of them children, says the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The United Nations warned that “civil order” was starting to collapse in Gaza after thousands of people ransacked its food warehouses there, taking wheat, flour and other supplies.