The attacks Tuesday came as mediators struggled to break a deadlock over delivering aid to millions of increasingly desperate civilians in the territory.
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel bombed areas of southern Gaza where Palestinians sought safety, killing dozens of civilians and at least one senior Hamas figure Tuesday in attacks it says are targeted at militants. U.S. officials worked to convince Israel to allow delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals after days of failed hopes for an opening in the siege.
U.S. President Joe Biden prepared to head to the region as he and other world leaders tried to prevent the war from sparking a broader regional conflict. Violence flared Tuesday along Israel’s border with Lebanon, where Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants operate. An Associated Press reporter saw around 50 bodies brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Family members came to claim the bodies, wrapped in white bedsheets, some soaked in blood.
Netanyahu sought to put the blame on Hamas for Israel’s retaliatory attacks and the rising civilian casualties in Gaza. “Not only is it targeting and murdering civilians with unprecedented savagery, it’s hiding behind civilians,” he said. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.
Israel opened a water line into the south for three hours that benefitted only 14 percent of Gaza’s population, the U.N. said. Repeated reports that an opening was imminent have proven false as negotiations continued to grind on, including the U.S., Israel and Egypt. U.S. officials said it had become clear by then that already limited Arab tolerance of Israel’s military operations would evaporate entirely if conditions in Gaza worsened. They said that outright condemnation of Israel by Arab leaders would be a boon to Hamas and could encourage Iran, according to four officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking. That prompted Blinken to press Netanyahu on an aid deal.
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