Jerusalem: Israeli officials vowed on Sunday to press ahead with the offensive on Gaza City, as residents reported heavy air and ground attacks and local authorities said the famine death toll continues to rise.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the assault on the city, which has drawn international alarm and criticism abroad as well as in Israel, will continue, Xinhua news agency reported. 

“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is acting and will continue to act with full force to defeat Hamas, to secure the release of all the hostages, and to bring the war to an end under the conditions set by Israel,” he added.

On Friday, Katz said attack plans had been approved and warned that Gaza City would be razed unless Hamas agreed to Israel’s terms to end the war, including the release of all hostages and Israel’s permanent security control over the enclave.

The Israeli military said it had expanded its assault on the Jabaliya area in the northern Gaza Strip. 

“The troops are dismantling terrorist infrastructure above and below ground, eliminating militants, and strengthening operational control in the area,” it said in a statement.

It added that expanding combat into additional areas was aimed at preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. 

“The troops will continue to operate against the organisations in the Gaza Strip in order to maintain the security of the State of Israel,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s health authorities said on Saturday at least eight starvation-related deaths were documented over the past 24 hours, including one child, raising the famine toll since March to 281, among them 114 children.

According to the health authorities, Israeli airstrikes and shootings have killed more than 62,000 people in Gaza since October 2023.

Earlier on Friday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said that the confirmation of famine in Gaza is “a moment of collective shame” at a press briefing.

“It is a famine that we could have prevented, if we had been allowed,” he added. 

“It is a famine that must spur the world to more urgent action. That must shame the world to do better.”

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) committee, responsible for determining the presence of famine, confirmed on Friday that famine is currently occurring in Gaza and is projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis cities in the coming weeks.

At the press briefing in Geneva, Fletcher said: “Please read the IPC report, cover to cover. Read it in sorrow and in anger. Not as words and numbers but as names and lives. Be in no doubt that this is irrefutable testimony.”

“My ask, my plea, my demand to (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and anyone who can reach him: Enough. Ceasefire. Open the crossings, north and south, all of them. Let us get food and other supplies in, unimpeded and at the massive scale required,” the UN humanitarian chief said.

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