Israel pounded targets in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, intensifying a renewed offensive that followed a weeklong truce with Hamas and giving rise to renewed concerns about civilian casualties.
At least 240 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting resumed Friday morning, even as the United States - which has continued to supply Israel with arms for the assault - urged its ally to protect civilians.
“This is going to be very important going forward," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday after meetings with Arab foreign ministers in Dubai, wrapping up his third Middle East tour since the war started. "It’s something we’re going to be looking at very closely.”
This coincided with further efforts for another pause in fighting in Gaza, as Israel's Mossad intelligence services was in Doha for talks with Qatari mediators on Saturday.
However, Israel had told its negotiators to pull out from the Qatari capital of Doha, as talks have hit a 'dead end', as Mossad have alleged Hamas had not "fulfilled its obligations under the agreement".
Meanwhile, Israel's attacks Saturday were focused on the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, where the military dropped leaflets the day before warning residents to leave.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled northern Gaza to Khan Younis and other parts of the south earlier in the war, part of an extraordinary mass exodus that has left three-quarters of the population displaced and facing widespread shortages of food, water and other supplies.
Since the resumption of hostilities, no aid convoys or fuel deliveries have entered Gaza, and humanitarian operations within Gaza have largely halted, according to the UN.
The International Rescue Committee, an aid group operating in Gaza, warned the return of fighting will “wipe out even the minimal relief” provided by the truce and “prove catastrophic for Palestinian civilians.”
Egypt has expressed concerns the renewed offensive could cause Palestinians to try and cross into its territory . In a statement late Friday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the forced transfer of Palestinians “is a red line."
The renewed hostilities have also heightened concerns for 136 hostages who, according to Israeli forces, are still held captive by Hamas and other members after 105 were freed during the truce .
Israeli forces said Friday it had confirmed the deaths of four more hostages, bringing the total known dead to seven.
During the truce, Israel freed 240 Palestinian women and children - many held without charge - from its prisons.
The death toll in Gaza has since surpassed 15,200 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.