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2. UN agencies sound alarm over aid to Gaza
Negotiators trying to broker a ceasefire deal in the conflict between Israel and Hamas have paused their talks. However, UN aid officials warned on Friday in a news conference that "only a ceasefire" can avert further bloodshed and restore desperately needed deliveries of aid.
Georgios Petropoulos of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israeli bombs continue to fall "all over Rafah." He added that his group is also seeing attacks take place "increasingly closer to Muwasi," which is the area Israeli troops have designated a "humanitarian zone."
UN officials say hundreds of thousands of displaced people are taking refuge there, but Israeli military activity prevents them from delivering aid in a "viable" and "safe" way.
The officials said no trucks have been able to enter Gaza since Israeli troops seized Rafah crossing earlier this week, so they have been "scraping the bottom of the barrel" for food and fuel.
They are worried hospitals will collapse and that a lack of clean water will spread disease. They also warn that the World Food Programme will run out of supplies for southern Gaza by Saturday.
Israel's war cabinet voted Thursday night to expand what it has called a "limited" operation in Rafah. More than 110,000 Palestinians have already fled the city.
However, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said there have already been "far too many" civilian casualties, and people must be moved out of "harm's way."
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