'Far too many' Palestinians have died, says Blinken, as death toll passes 11,000

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern Gaza as Israel's military pushed deeper into dense urban neighborhoods in its battle with Hamas militants. Officials from the Hamas-run health department in the besieged enclave said the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 11,000 people.

The search for safety in Gaza is growing more desperate as combat intensifies. Residents who escaped to the south and Palestinian health officials reported strikes in and around Gaza City’s main hospital overnight. Israel said at least one was the result of a misfired Palestinian rocket.

The World Health Organization said Friday that 20 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are no longer functioning, including a pediatric hospital that has stopped operations after a reported Israeli strike in the area. More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that “far too many” Palestinians have died and more needs to be done to save lives and get aid where it’s most needed. He said the US “appreciates” Israel’s steps to minimise civilian casualties but that’s not enough.

Gaza’s largest city is the focus of Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas following its deadly 7 October incursion in southern Israel that set off the war, now in its second month.

The Israeli army has agreed to observe breaks of a few hours each day in the north of the Gaza Strip, to allow Palestinian civilians to flee. 

“A ceasefire with Hamas means a surrender,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on Thursday evening on the Fox News channel. 

He reaffirmed his objective of “eradicating Hamas” which rules Gaza. “Nothing will stop us.”

Israel, however, agreed to make daily humanitarian pauses