Senior US diplomat Anthony Blinken said after a meeting with Israeli officials that the casualties of the war against Hamas among Gaza's civilian population were "too many" and called on his ally to ease their suffering, AFP reported.
More than three months after the deadliest war in Gaza to date, Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on his fourth diplomatic visit to the Middle East since the conflict began.
Blinken reaffirmed "US support for Israel's right to prevent" a repeat of the unprecedented October 7 attacks by Hamas that sparked the war, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
But Blinken also "underscored the importance of avoiding further harm to the civilian population and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza," Miller said of the Hamas-ruled territory, where the humanitarian crisis is deepening and local health officials have reported more than 23,000 deaths.
Blinken later told a news conference that "the daily casualties among the civilian population in Gaza, especially among children, are too many," and said more food, water and medicine were needed.
Israel agreed to a UN assessment mission in northern Gaza that would "determine what needs to be done so that displaced Palestinians can return safely," he said.
Israel "must stop taking steps that undermine the ability of the Palestinians to govern themselves effectively," Blinken said during the press conference.
An AFP correspondent reported intense strikes overnight in Khan Younis and Rafah, the largest cities in southern Gaza, which are overflowing with internally displaced people.
The Israeli army said its forces had killed 40 militants in the past 24 hours in "extended ground operations, including airstrikes" in Khan Younis, and that troops had seized AK-47 assault rifles, rocket launchers and other weapons.
"No place is safe, we don't know what to do, may God help us," Rafah resident Mohamed Hejazi told AFP on Monday.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, speaking in Qatar on January 9, said the October 7 attack "came after an attempt to marginalize the Palestinian cause".
"Despite the heavy cost, the massacres and the genocidal war, it (Israel) failed to achieve any of its goals."
In further comments later released by Hamas in Gaza, Haniya called on Muslim countries "to support the resistance with arms because this is... the battle not only of the Palestinian people".
The war has displaced most of Gaza's 2.4 million people, and according to the UN, many are at risk of starvation and disease.
The World Health Organization said its ability to provide aid and support hospitals in Gaza was "decreasing".
With only minimal aid flowing into Gaza, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem charged that "everyone in Gaza is starving" as a "direct result of Israel's declared policy".
Since the start of the war, fears have grown of an escalating conflict between Israel and its other regional foes, a loose alliance of Iran-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant told Blinken that increasing pressure on Iran is "crucial" and can prevent regional escalation, according to a statement from the Israeli government./BGNES
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