The Israeli army has accused Hamas of using hospitals in Gaza as operational centres for directing attacks against Israel.
"Hamas wages war from hospitals" in Gaza, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said this afternoon, adding that the Islamist group was also using fuel stored in these facilities for carrying out its operations.
The Israeli military has regularly accused Hamas of basing leadership and operational centres in residential areas or around schools or hospitals. An opinion poll published today also suggested almost half of Israelis now wanted to hold off on a ground invasion out of fears for at least 224 hostages reported to be held there.
But this required a"calm environment", he said, repeating an assertion that Israeli bombing had already killed 50 of those held. Israel said its fighter jets had struck three senior Hamas operatives who played significant roles in the 7 October attack, though there was no announcement by Hamas. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says more than 600,000 Gazans have been made homeless, at least three times more than its shelters can hold.UN members urged to help 'save lives and end violence'
A UN World Food Programme representative said only one of two bakeries it had contracted to feed thousands of displaced families had fuel to make bread,"and tomorrow there might be none". Mr Biden has cast doubt on casualty figures provided by Palestinian officials in Gaza, but international aid agencies say they are broadly accurate and have been reliable in the past.
In the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, an air strike killed the pregnant wife of a Palestinian lawyer, Jehad Al-Kafarnah.
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