US voices concern on 'horrifying' Israeli strike in Gaza

The United States has voiced concern about a "horrifying" Israeli strike in Gaza that killed a large number of children and said it was asking its ally for answers.

A single Israeli air strike on a residential block has left nearly 100 dead, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.

Palestinian rescuers and family members were scouring through the rubble of the demolished five-storey block in Beit Lahia in the north of Gaza, near the Jabalia area where an Israeli operation is under way.

"The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Abu Nasr family home in Beit Lahia has risen to 93 martyrs, and about 40 are still missing under the rubble," Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

The Israeli military said it was "looking into the reports" of the strike in Beit Lahia, having earlier reported that its ground and air forces had killed 40 Hamas fighters and lost four of its own soldiers in combat.

"We are deeply concerned by the loss of civilian life in this incident. This was a horrifying incident with a horrifying result," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, pointing to "reports of two dozen children killed" in the bombing.

"We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask what happened here," Mr Miller said.

He stopped short of announcing any immediate actions against Israel, which relies on US military and diplomatic support, but reiterated a US call for a negotiated end to the Gaza war that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October last year.

The "tragic cost to civilians" in the latest strike "is another reminder of why we need to see an end to this war," Mr Miller said.

"We are a year into the government of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and Israel has decimated Hamas's military capabilities, it has decimated Hamas leadership, it has through its military action ensured that Hamas does not have the ability to repeat the attacks of October 7," Mr Miller said.

The State Department also reiterated its alarm over the Israeli parliament's passage of a law to ban the UN agency responsible for aiding Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, a step that defied appeals by Western nations.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a letter earlier this month warned Israel that the United States could withhold military assistance without improvements in humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Mr Blinken "made clear that we were opposed to the passage of this legislation, and he made clear that there could be legal and policy implications to the implementation of that legislation," Miller said.

Asked about a bid by Norway for the International Court of Justice to clarify Israel's aid obligations, Mr Miller said of Israel, "They certainly have a legal obligation to allow humanitarian assistance in and not to erect roadblocks to humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza."

'Women and children'

"The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble," said Rabie al-Shandagly, 30, who had taken refuge in a nearby school in Beit Lahia.

"Most of the victims are women and children, and people are trying to save the injured, but there are no hospitals or proper medical care," he told AFP.

The Israeli military has been conducted a sweeping air and ground assault in northern Gaza since 6 October - particularly Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun - in what it describes as an operation to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee the area, many of them not for the first time, after more than 12 months of fierce combat in the densely populated territory..

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 43,020 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable, triggering warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.

International concerns soared further after the Israeli parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban the main United Nations aid agency working with Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Politicians also passed a measure prohibiting Israeli officials from working with UNRWA and its employees.

Israel strictly controls all humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza, and UNRWA has provided essential aid, schooling and healthcare across the Palestinian territories and in the diaspora for more than seven decades.

'Devastating consequences'

"There is a deep connection between the terrorist organisation (Hamas) and UNRWA, and Israel cannot put up with it," politician Yuli Edelstein said in parliament as he presented the proposal.

But several of Israel's Western allies voiced disquiet at the ban, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying Britain was "gravely concerned" and the French foreign ministry saying Paris "very strongly regrets" the law which it said could have a catastrophic effect on civilians.

Germany, which has been a staunch defender of Israel's security, warned it would "effectively make UNRWA's work in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem impossible... jeopardising vital humanitarian aid for millions of people".

UN chief António Guterres said the Israeli law could have "devastating consequences" if implemented and "would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work".

The foreign ministry of Israel's neighbour Jordan, which also hosts UNRWA offices, condemned the ban as a "continuation of Israel's frantic efforts to assassinate the UN agency politically".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media that Israel was "ready" to continue providing aid to Gaza "in a way that does not threaten Israel's security".

The ban comes as fighting rages in Gaza and Lebanon, where a second full-scale front opened last month.

Earlier, Mr Netanyahu's office said Mossad intelligence chief David Barnea had met US and Qatari mediators in Doha, where they agreed they should talk to Hamas about a deal to free Israelis seized in the attack by Palestinian militants last year.

The statement came two days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi proposed a two-day truce and limited hostage-prisoner exchange that he said could lead to a permanent ceasefire.

But Mr Netanyahu later said he had not received the Egyptian proposal.

Asked about the possibility of a Gaza ceasefire, US President Joe Biden said: "We need a ceasefire. We should end this war. It should end, it should end, it should end."

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During the 7 October attack, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, including soldiers and civilians, of whom 97 are still in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of these are dead.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

According to an AFP tally based on official figures, at least 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since 23 September, when the fighting escalated as Israel launched an air and ground offensive against Hezbollah, which had been carrying out rocket attacks in support of Hamas.