US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Israel amid reports he wants to push Benjamin Netanyahu to protect civilians in Gaza.
Blinken, on his second trip to Israel in a month, is due to discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concrete steps to minimise harm to civilians in Gaza, where food, fuel, water and medicine are running out, buildings have been flattened, and thousands of people have fled homes to escape relentless bombings.
It came as Israeli forces surrounded Gaza City from several directions, after weeks of airstrikes followed by a ground invasion.
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Herzi Halevy, said his forces were closing in on Gaza and “fighting in a built-up, dense, complex area.”
On Thursday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets warning with the message “time is up” warning residents to immediately evacuate Shati refugee camp, a densely built-up district on the Mediterranean coast bordering Gaza City’s center.
In a statement, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We’re at the height of the battle. We’ve had impressive successes and have passed the outskirts of Gaza City. We are advancing,”
This comes as the death toll of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes rises to 9,061, according to the Hamas-led health ministry.
Among those killed include 3,760 children and 2,326 women while a further 32,000 have been injured, they said.
