Latest developments in the Hamas-Israel war
JERUSALEM, UNDEFINED (AFP) - Fighting raged in Gaza on Friday nearly three weeks after Hamas militants attacked Israel from the Palestinian territory and, according to Israeli officials, killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
Since the October 7 attack, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says at least 7,326 people have been killed in Israel's retaliatory strikes on the besieged territory, mainly civilians and many of them children.
Here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:
'Many more will die'
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday issued a dire warning over the humanitarian situation as a result of the ongoing Israeli siege of Gaza.
"As we speak people in Gaza are dying, they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege imposed on the Gaza Strip," said UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini.
He called for "meaningful and uninterrupted" aid to the coastal territory as he confirmed 57 of the agency's staff had been killed during the war.
Ground forces incursion
Israel's army said Friday its infantry backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a "targeted raid" in central Gaza, its second incursion in as many days.
"The IDF identified and struck numerous terror targets, including anti-tank missile launch sites, military command and control centres, as well as Hamas terrorists," it said, adding troops "exited the area at the end of the activity".
The incursions come after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated this week that Israel was "preparing for a ground offensive".
Rockets were also fired on Friday from Gaza towards central Israel and Tel Aviv, wounding a 20-year-old man, Israeli medics said.
US-Iran tensions
Washington on Thursday warned Tehran against any escalation as it struck facilities in Syria it says were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and others.
"The precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
The strikes followed a direct warning Thursday from President Joe Biden to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against the strikes on US troops, the White House said.
The United States has moved two aircraft carrier groups near Israel since the Hamas attacks in what it says is a bid to deter Iran and its proxies, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, from broadening the conflict.
'War crimes'
The United Nations on Friday expressed concern that war crimes were being committed by both sides.
"We are concerned that war crimes are being committed. We are concerned about the collective punishment of Gazans in response to the atrocious attacks by Hamas, which also amounted to war crimes," said Ravina Shamdasani, the spokeswoman for the UN's human rights office.
She said that it was for an independent court of law to qualify whether war crimes had been committed.
Gaza war dead debate
Hamas on Thursday released a list of almost 7,000 names of people it said had been killed in Israeli strikes, after US President Biden had cast doubt on its figures.
The Palestinian Islamist group also said almost 50 Israeli hostages held in Gaza had been killed in Israeli bombing raids on the Palestinian territory.
UNRWA's Lazzarini weighed in on the discussion on Friday, saying the Gaza health ministry's figures had proven credible in past conflicts.