Ahead of planned aid rollout
\nGaza health ministry says 2,876 killed since Israel resumed airstrikes on March 18
\n Gaza
\nPalestinian rescuers reported 94 people killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on blockaded Gaza, where a US-backed organisation said it intends to begin distributing aid by the end of the month.
\nIn the occupied West Bank, raids were ongoing and roads blocked after Israel\u2019s military chief vowed to find the perpetrators of an attack that killed a pregnant Israeli woman.
\n\u201cNinety-four martyrs have been killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn today,\u201d civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP.
\nThe agency had given an earlier toll of 50 dead.
\nAmir Selha, a 43-year-old Palestinian from north Gaza, reported \u201cintense Israeli shelling all night\u201d.
\n\u201cTank shells are striking around the clock, and the area is packed with people and tents,\u201d he said.
\nMost Gazans have been displaced at least once during 19 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
\nIsrael blocked all aid from entering Gaza on March 2, before resuming operations on March 18 after talks to prolong a six-week ceasefire collapsed.
\nIsrael said the pressure aimed to force Hamas to free hostages in Gaza, most of them held since October 7, 2023 attack.
\nThe Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-supported NGO, said it would begin distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza this month after talks with Israeli officials.
\nTrump says US should \u2018take\u2019 Gaza and turn it into \u2018freedom zone\u2019
\nIt said it had asked Israel to secure distribution points in northern Gaza, and that Israel had agreed.
\nEvacuation orders
\nThe health ministry in Gaza said Thursday that 2,876 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18.
\nIt said the overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7, 2023 stands at 53,010.
\nThe Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
\nOf the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
\nSelha in Gaza said army quadcopter drones dropped leaflets in his neighbourhood early Thursday, asking residents to move south.
\nThe UN estimates that 70 percent of Gaza is now either an Israeli-declared no-go zone or under evacuation order.
\nBasal said in a statement Thursday Israel \u201cis employing a policy of shrinking areas and emptying populated regions to pressure and terrorise civilians\u201d.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday the military would enter Gaza \u201cwith full force\u201d in the coming days.
\nDespite air strikes, talks are still ongoing for a hostage release and ceasefire deal.
\nWith US President Donald Trump touring Gulf countries, his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff discussed the hostages issue with Netanyahu on Wednesday.
\nHamas in a statement Thursday accused Netanyahu of undermining hostage release and ceasefire efforts \u201cthrough deliberate military escalation, showing indifference to his captives, endangering their lives\u201d.
\nIn the north of the occupied West Bank, meanwhile, Israel\u2019s army chief said a manhunt was under way after an attack that killed a pregnant woman.
\nLieutenant General Eyal Zamir said at the site of the attack: \u201cWe will use all the tools at our disposal and reach the murderers in order to hold them accountable.\u201d
\nThe woman, an Israeli settler who was on her way to give birth, was pronounced dead early Thursday. Her baby was saved after delivery by caesarean section, according to the Tel Aviv hospital where she was taken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ahead of planned aid rollout Gaza health ministry says 2,876 killed since Israel resumed airstrikes on March 18 Gaza Palestinian rescuers reported 94 people killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on blockaded Gaza, where a US-backed organisation said it intends to begin distributing aid by the end of the month. In the occupied West Bank, raids […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-478815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n