AFP :
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since Hamas’s attack on southern Israeli civilians eight days ago have killed at least 2,329 people, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Sunday.
It said 9,042 people have also been injured, giving an overall toll as of 7:47am Sunday as Israel continued its blistering retaliatory air campaign on targets in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said its shelters in Gaza “are not safe anymore”, calling it “unprecedented” as it warns water running out for besieged enclave’s residents.
“Wars have rules. Civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics and UN premises cannot be a target,” UNWRA said in a statement.
UN aid Chief Martin Griffiths, in his latest statement on the conflict, reflected on a “dreadful week” in which “humanity is failing”.
“I fear the worst is yet come,” he said, adding that in Gaza, there is “no power, no water and no fuel”, food supplies were running low, hospitals are “running our medicine”, and “morgues are overflowing”.
Gaza health officials demanded the urgent opening of corridors to evacuate the wounded abroad due to the “catastrophic” situation inside the besieged enclave.
Meanwhile, Israel pressed on Sunday with preparations for a ground offensive in Gaza, after giving Palestinians a little more time to flee northern areas it has vowed to target in response to the deadliest attack in its history.
Israel has warned around 1.1 million Gazans living in the north of the Palestinian territory to flee to the south ahead of a ground incursion which the military has indicated will focus on Gaza City, the base of the leadership of the Hamas fighter group.
Al Jazeera adds: Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in the US capital on Saturday, marching past the White House to chants of “Free Palestine” as the death toll continued to climb in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Across the country, Americans have held pro-Palestinian protests with crowds gathering in Los Angeles, New York and Dearborn, Michigan – home to one of the largest populations of Arabs and Arab diaspora in the United States.
In the United Kingdom, rallies took place in Manchester in northern England, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and London, amid police warnings that anyone showing support for the armed group Hamas could face arrest. Protesters marching through the heart of the British capital were shadowed by a heavy police presence of more than 1,000 officers.
Demonstrations in support of Palestine also took place in Switzerland’s capital Geneva, in Turin – northwestern Italy, and in the Irish capital, Dublin.
In Morocco’s Rabat, thousands marched in solidarity with the Palestinian people.