Israel said on Thursday there would be no pause in its siege of the Gaza Strip for aid or evacuations until all its hostages were freed, as Washington urged it to protect civilians and the Red Cross warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip, in retribution for the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history.
Public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300. Scores of Israeli and foreign hostages were taken back to Gaza; Israel says it has identified 97 of them.
Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, under total siege and launching by far the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year-old history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, destroying whole neighborhoods. Gaza authorities said more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 have been wounded.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said fuel powering emergency generators at hospitals in Gaza could run out within hours.
"Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues," ICRC regional director Fabrizio Carboni said. "The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians."
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said there would be no exceptions to the siege without freedom for Israeli hostages.
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