RAFAH
\nIsraeli ground troops surrounded Gaza City on Friday and an air strike killed 14 Palestinians who were fleeing the bombarded territory\u2019s north to its south.
\nTop US diplomat Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv earlier in the day and declared that a Palestinian state was the only way to ensure Israel\u2019s security.
\nBefore his departure, Blinken said he would seek to ensure that harm to Palestinian civilians is reduced, in a visible shift of tone for the United States, which has promised full support and ramped-up military aid to Israel.
\nAhead of Blinken\u2019s arrival, Israel\u2019s military said it had \u201ccompleted the encirclement\u201d of Gaza City \u2014 signalling a new phase in the nearly month-long invasion.<\/p>\n
About the air strike, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said \u201cthe occupation committed a new massacre against displaced civilians and killed 14 citizens, children and women\u201d.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the strike hit Gaza\u2019s coastal road, which the Israeli military has previously told civilians to take to travel south.<\/p>\n
According to the ministry, 9,227 people have died in Israeli bombardments, mostly women and children, since the Hamas raid on Oct 7.<\/p>\n
In another development, Tel Aviv began expelling thousands of Palestinian workers back to Gaza. The workers were trapped inside Israel after its forces moved to the border with the Palestinian territory last month.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses said they saw Israeli soldiers escorting thousands of Palestinian to a crossing in order to push them into Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
Israel had earlier said it would start sending the workers back to Gaza. \u201cIsrael is severing all contact with Gaza. There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza,\u201d the Israeli cabinet said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Human Rights Office said it was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about the expulsions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are being sent back, we don\u2019t know exactly to where,\u201d and whether they \u201ceven have a home to go to\u201d, spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell told a news conference in Geneva.<\/p>\n
Some 18,500 Gazans hold Israeli work permits, but it was not clear how many were in the country on Oct 7.<\/p>\n
Although many of the city\u2019s 500,000 residents fled south following Israel\u2019s warning to leave ahead of a ground operation, those who stayed behind have endured weeks of aerial bombardment, dwindling supplies and daily carnage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RAFAH Israeli ground troops surrounded Gaza City on Friday and an air strike killed 14 Palestinians who were fleeing the bombarded territory\u2019s north to its south. Top US diplomat Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv earlier in the day and declared that a Palestinian state was the only way to ensure Israel\u2019s security. Before his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-366154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n