Israel-Gaza updates: Death toll in Rafah airstrike rises to 50: Action Aid UK
The area is densely populated with tents, the sources said.
As the Israel-Hamas war crosses the seven-month mark, negotiations are apparently stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
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Over 500 metric tons of aid delivered to Gaza through pier since Friday, officials say
U.S. officials shared an update Thursday on efforts to bring aid into Gaza through the Army's Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) system, a floating pier built to transport aid to the region.
Since Friday, over 506 metric tons of aid have been transported via the pier, according to officials.
Officials from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) held an audio-only briefing with reporters on continued aid efforts.
"Since the first shipments of this aid arrived through the humanitarian maritime corridor on Friday, the UN has been distributing more than 506 metric tons of humanitarian supplies to people in need," Daniel Dieckhaus, Director for USAID’s Levant Response Management Team, said Thursday.
"To put it into perspective, more than two thirds of the supplies entering through this new corridor have already been distributed, or are in the process of being distributed by humanitarian partners directly to people in need," he added.
Humanitarian aid has also been delivered through land-crossing distribution via 70 trucks that crossed the border into Gaza, according to Dieckhaus.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of CENTCOM, noted that, "In the last several days, we've delivered over a million pounds of aid into the hands of Palestinians," adding, "We can all feel good about that."
Biden doesn't say if US has evidence Israel is using starvation as method of war
President Joe Biden refused to say whether the U.S. has any evidence that would support the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s allegation that Israeli leaders are using starvation as a method of war in Gaza.
Biden was asked if that evidence exists and if the administration would commit to releasing that information before any warrants are issued, but he only reiterated that the U.S. does not recognize their jurisdiction.
"We've made our position clear on the ICC. We don't recognize their jurisdiction -- the ICC, the way it's being exercised -- and it's that simple. We don't think there's an equivalence between what Israel did, and what Hamas did," Biden said.
-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez
Israel expands operations into central Rafah: IDF
Israeli Defense Forces are now fighting near central Rafah, representing an expansion of its operations, the IDF said Thursday.
Close to 1 million people have been evacuated from Rafah, according to IDF Commanding Officer Daniel Hagari.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Egypt threatens to withdraw from Gaza mediation
The Egyptian government said Wednesday that attempts to undermine its efforts to broker a Gaza cease-fire deal could push it to entirely pull out of mediation in the conflict.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Services, said Egypt categorically rejected a report from CNN that claimed his government changed the terms of a Gaza cease-fire deal that Israel had already signed off on before submitting it to Hamas.
Rashwan called the report "false" and "devoid of any information or facts."
"The ongoing attempts to cast doubt and insult the Egyptian mediation efforts and roles, with allegations that contradict reality, will only lead to further complicating the situation in Gaza and the entire region, and may push the Egyptian side to take a decision to withdraw completely from the mediation it is carrying out in the current conflict," he said in a statement.
Rashwan added that Egypt would only open the Rafah border crossing if the Palestinian side is operated by Palestinians, reiterating that Cairo does not acknowledge the Israeli control of the Palestinian side of the crossing.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
At least 35 killed, including civilians, in airstrike on Rafah: Gaza Ministry of Health
A deadly airstrike has killed at least 35 people inside western Rafah, near the UNRWA logistics base in Tal Al-Sultan, according to officials at the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
Numerous individuals remain stuck in a fire that resulted from the airstrike and in the tents destroyed by the bombardment.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the airstrike to ABC News in a statement on Sunday and acknowledged that civilians were harmed as a result of the strike.
"A short while ago, an IDF aircraft struck a Hamas compound in Rafah in which significant Hamas terrorists were operating. The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, using through the use of precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence that indicated Hamas' use of the area," the IDF said.
"The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed," the IDF continued, adding, "The incident is under review."
-ABC News' William Gretsky