Israel bombards Gaza as world leaders call for pause in conflict to let aid in

Israel's military intensified its bombing of southern Gaza overnight after one of the deadliest days for Palestinians since the conflict began as world leaders called for a halt to fighting to allow aid into the besieged enclave.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has soared to 6,546, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

“The fatalities included 2,704 children, 1,584 women, and 364 elders,” the ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a press conference in Gaza City.

He said 17,439 other people were injured in the assaults, while 1,600 people remained trapped under the rubble, including 900 children.

The spokesman said 73 medics were killed and 25 ambulances destroyed in the Israeli attacks.

“Gaza’s healthcare system went out of service” amid relentless attacks and critical shortages, al-Qudra said.

Amid concerns the Israel-Hamas conflict will spread across the Middle East, Israel's military said its jets struck Syrian army infrastructure and mortar launchers in response to rockets launched from Iran ally Syria.

The military did not provide further details. It did not accuse Syria's army of firing the two rockets, which set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Citing a military source, Syrian state news agency (SANA) said the Israeli attack killed 8 soldiers and wounded 7 more in an "aerial aggression" near the southwestern city of Deraa.

People mourn by the bodies of relatives killed in Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. PHOTO: AFP

The United States and Russia are leading international calls for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow aid into Gaza where Palestinians are living in harrowing conditions.

US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone on Tuesday and agreed on broader diplomacy "to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from expanding," the White House said.

Deadly clashes have intensified between the Israeli military and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and resurged between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah armed group along the Israeli-Lebanon border.

Iran, which has sought regional ascendancy for decades, backs both Hezbollah and Hamas, and has warned Israel to stop its onslaught on Gaza.

Israeli forces on an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank claimed they came under fire by a group of Palestinians whom the military then hit with a drone. Palestinian officials said three people were killed.

Since October 7, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in West Bank clashes with the Israeli military, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Israel's military also claimed it targeted a cell of Hamas divers attempting to enter Israel by sea near Kibbutz Zikim. There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the incident.

The US has advised Israel to hold off on a planned ground assault as Washington tries to free more of the 200-plus captives Hamas is still holding in Gaza.

However, when asked if he was urging Israel to delay its ground invasion, US President Joe Biden told reporters: "The Israelis are making their own decisions."

US, Russia offer rival proposals

Late on Tuesday eight trucks with water, food and medicine entered Gaza from Egypt. UN agencies said more than 20 times current deliveries were needed for the narrow coastal strip's 2.3 million people.

At the United Nations, the United States and Russia put forward rival plans for humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians. Washington has called for pauses in the fighting and Russia wants a humanitarian ceasefire. A pause is generally considered less formal and shorter than a ceasefire.

A fireball erupts during overnight Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip. PHOTO: AFP

"The whole world is expecting from the Security Council a call for a swift and unconditional ceasefire," Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council. Arab states firmly back a call for a humanitarian ceasefire amid widespread destruction in Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week also called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

"While we remain opposed to a ceasefire, we think humanitarian pauses linked to the delivery of aid that still allow Israel to conduct military operations to defend itself are worth consideration," a senior US. official said.

Hospitals running out of fuel

Doctors in Gaza say patients arriving at hospitals are showing signs of disease caused by overcrowding and poor sanitation after more than 1.4 million people fled their homes in the enclave for temporary shelters.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more than one-third of hospitals in Gaza and nearly two-thirds of primary healthcare clinics had shut due to damage or lack of fuel.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warned in a post on messaging platform X that it would halt operations in Gaza on Wednesday night because of the lack of fuel.

However, the Israeli military on Tuesday reaffirmed it would bar the entry of fuel to prevent Hamas from seizing it.

Qatari mediators are urging Hamas to quicken the pace of captive releases to include women and children and to do so without expecting Israeli concessions, said three diplomats and a source in the region familiar with the talks.

The Gulf state, in coordination with the US, is leading mediation talks with Hamas and Israel over the hostage release.

Hamas has so far released four hostages - a mother and daughter with dual US.-Israel nationality on Friday and two Israeli civilian women on Monday.