GAZA officials said Saturday that more than 200 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in 24 hours, as violence rages on after a UN resolution demanded more aid into the besieged territory.
Israel pressed on with its offensive focusing on the southern Gaza Strip, with clouds of grey and black smoke rising over Khan Yunis city. AFPTV images also showed black smoke drifting over the north.
The health ministry in Gaza reported 201 deaths in the past 24 hours across the territory, updating the death toll since the start of the war to 20,258, most of them women and children.
Fighting began on October 7 when Hamas militants broke through Gaza’s border and attacked Israel.
Israel in response vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a relentless bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza and killed thousands of women and children.
Saturday’s strikes came after the Security Council approved a resolution demanding “immediate, safe and unhindered” deliveries of life-saving aid to Gaza “at scale.”.
It also called for the creation of “conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities” but did not seek an immediate end to combat.
Members had wrangled for days over the wording, and it is still unclear what if any impact the vote will have on the ground.
At Washington’s insistence, they toned down some provisions and avoided calling for a ceasefire that would stop the war.
With 1.9 million Gazans displaced, according to UN figures, out of a population of 2.4 million, many have been forced into crowded shelters or tents, struggling to find food, fuel, water and medical care.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a “humanitarian ceasefire” is the only way for aid “to be effectively delivered.”.
The issue is not the number of aid trucks, he said, but “the way Israel is conducting this offensive is creating massive obstacles” to aid distribution.
