Netanyahu earlier scrapped visit to Washington to discuss Rafah plan, in protest of UN ceasefire resolution
\nGAZA
\nBattles and bombardment pounded Gaza on Thursday, after Washington said Israel agreed to reschedule cancelled talks with tensions worsening between the allies.
\nThe United States\u2019 criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mounted over Gaza\u2019s civilian death toll, dire food shortages, and Israeli plans to push its ground offensive against Hamas militants into the far-southern city of Rafah, which is packed with displaced civilians.
\nWorld leaders have warned against a Rafah offensive which they fear would worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation for the Palestinian territory\u2019s 2.4 million residents.
\nThe United Nations reported late Wednesday that famine \u201cis ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza\u201d, and said the territory\u2019s health system is collapsing \u201cdue to ongoing hostilities and access constraints\u201d.
\nBombardment and fighting have continued despite a binding United Nations Security Council resolution passed three days earlier demanding an \u201cimmediate ceasefire\u201d in Gaza and the release of hostages held by militants.
\nNetanyahu scrapped an Israeli visit to Washington to discuss the Rafah plan, in protest of the UN ceasefire resolution from which the United States abstained, allowing it to pass.
\nNetanyahu\u2019s government has since backtracked and agreed \u201cto reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah\u201d, according to White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
\nShe added that they were working to find a \u201cconvenient date\u201d.
\nUS officials say they plan to present Israel with an alternative for Rafah, focused on striking Hamas targets while limiting the civilian toll.
\nSince October 7, 2023, Israel\u2019s horrifying military assault on Gaza has killed at least 32,490 people, most of them women and children. Thousands have been injured while thousands more remain missing, believed to be buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel\u2019s incessant airstrikes.
\nThe health ministry, in a preliminary toll issued early on Thursday, said 66 more people were killed overnight.
\nOn October 7 last year Hamas launched an unprecedented raid that resulted in about 1,160 deaths of Israeli settlers, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
\nThe fighters also took about 250 settlers captive. Israel says that, after an earlier truce and hostage release deal, about 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 presumed dead.
\nFighting continued around three of Gaza\u2019s hospitals, raising fears for patients, medical staff and displaced people inside them.
\nThe Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis, near Rafah, \u201chas ceased to function completely\u201d, the Palestine Red Crescent said earlier this week, following the evacuation of civilians from the medical centre.
\nIsrael\u2019s military accuses Hamas fighters of hiding in medical facilities and using civilians as shields. An allegation that the Palestinian resistance group has continuously denied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Netanyahu earlier scrapped visit to Washington to discuss Rafah plan, in protest of UN ceasefire resolution GAZA Battles and bombardment pounded Gaza on Thursday, after Washington said Israel agreed to reschedule cancelled talks with tensions worsening between the allies. The United States\u2019 criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mounted over Gaza\u2019s civilian death […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-396986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n