Some 80 countries and organisations gathered in Paris on Thursday to coordinate humanitarian aid and find ways to help wounded Gaza civilians escape the blockade.
Meanwhile, residents of Gaza City report that the Israeli army is fighting fierce battles with Hamas and other militants, and the city is surrounded by tanks. Israeli troops are rapidly approaching two hospitals where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
Israel says government troops are already in the heart of Gaza City, Hamas’ main bastion and the largest city in the Palestinian coastal enclave, and the Islamist group said its fighters had suffered heavy losses.
Video footage appeared to have surfaced online on Wednesday that appeared to show intense street fighting near bombed-out buildings in Gaza City. Israeli tanks met heavy resistance from Hamas militants using underground tunnels to set up ambushes, sources in Iran-backed Hamas and the separate militant group Islamic Jihad said.
Washington says Palestinians should govern Gaza after the war ends. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday outlined US “red lines” and expectations for the beleaguered coastal territory, responding to Israeli comments that it would be in charge of security in Gaza indefinitely. Blinken told at a news conference in Tokyo:
There should be no reoccupation of Gaza after the end of the conflict. No attempt to blockade or siege Gaza. No reduction of Gaza.
The US secretary-general said there would need to be “some transitional period” at the end of the conflict, but that post-conflict governance in Gaza should take into account Palestinian views.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says the Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas since 2007, is an integral part of a future Palestinian state.
Israel launched a military offensive on the Gaza Strip in response to a cross-border Hamas raid into southern Israel on 7 October in which militants killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took some 240 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Palestinian authorities said 10,569 people had been killed as of Wednesday, 40 per cent of them children. The Israeli army says 33 of its soldiers have been killed.
