Blinken urges Israel to take steps to avoid civilian casualties as Gaza death toll soars

People searching for victims and survivors in the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Nov 2.Israeli soldiers in Kfar Aza, an Israeli kibbutz near the border with Gaza that was heavily damaged during the Oct 7 attack, on Nov 2.The area outside Al-Shifa hopsital in Gaza City on Nov 2, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

Mr Blinken was visiting the region for the second time in less than a month to show support for close ally Israel in its response to the Oct 7 Hamas militant attack on southern Israeli communities that killed some 1,400 people and triggered the war. Mr Blinken also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for almost an hour before both met with members of Israel’s emergency Cabinet, formed after the Hamas assault.

Gaza City – traditionally a Hamas bastion – was surrounded, military spokesperson Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said. In one Hamas military video, a fighter surfaces in a Gaza field and places an explosive device on a tank. According to border officials, more than 700 foreign citizens left for Egypt via Rafah on the two previous days. Dozens of critically injured Palestinians were to cross too.

“Right now I’m between ice and fire. I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to see the family I left behind or the friends I left behind. People are dying. Everybody’s dying. Nobody’s safe.” “Water is being used as a weapon of war,” said Ms Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.

Over a third of Gaza’s 35 hospitals are not functioning, with many turned into impromptu refugee camps.

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