GAZA: The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday warned that any military assault in the southern Gaza city of Rafah would put hundreds of thousands of people at imminent risk of death.
The bordering city has become crucial for humanitarian assistance aid and is heavily crowded with displaced Palestinians.
Global leaders have asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be cautious about any incursion into Rafah, where seven people mostly children were killed in a recent Israeli airstrike.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on Thursday, said current conditions do not favor any kind of military operation but the US response to such an incursion would be up to President Joe Biden.
Turkiye’s trade minister on Friday said that its new ban on trade with Israel was in response to the worsening situation in Rafah.
The Israel-Hamas war has displaced 80 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, causing vast destruction in several towns and cities, putting northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
Gaza death toll swells to 34,622
According to local health officials, the death toll in Gaza has reached 34,622 people mostly women and children.
Dozens of people on Thursday staged a demonstration outside Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, demanding a deal to free the hostages.
Meanwhile, Hamas has announced to send a delegation to Cairo as early as possible on ceasefire talks.
The demonstrations against Israel have spread to many prestigious universities across the US.
More than 2,000 protesters have been arrested by the police over the past two weeks as students protest against the war’s death toll and call for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are supporting Israel’s military efforts in Gaza.
