US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday as part of a wider Middle East tour to display Washington's solidarity with Israel after the attack by Palestinian Hamas militants and to seek to quell the conflict.
The top US diplomat will also try to help secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas — some of whom are Americans — and safe passage of Gaza civilians out of the densely-populated enclave ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion.
Israel has put the enclave, home to 2.3 million people, under total siege and has so far killed around 1,200 people in a bombing campaign that has obliterated entire neighborhoods.
The Israeli military says it is preparing for a possible ground operation in Gaza but the political leadership has not yet decided on one. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver if decided.”
Israel has called up some 360,000 army reservists and has threated an unprecedented response to Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging incursion over the weekend. It has been launching intense airstrikes on Gaza since the attack by Hamas on Saturday, as militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees reported Thursday that nearly 218,600 people are sheltering in 92 UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip.
As airstrikes and shelling by Israeli forces continue across the Gaza Strip, more people are seeking emergency shelter.
In addition, the agency said, many other people are displaced in government schools and other buildings. In total, at least 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced across the Palestinian enclave.
