Israel kept up deadly strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday despite growing international calls for a cease-fire and pleas from desperate relatives to bring home the remaining hostages.
Fighting raged on in the bloodiest ever Gaza war, now in its third month, that has devastated much of the Palestinian territory, sparking global concern and condemnation.
The Gazan Health Ministry said "24 Palestinians were killed this morning in Jabalia camp by an Israeli bombardment. Many are still missing under the rubble."
It also said at least 12 people died in strikes on the central city of Deir al-Balah, while witnesses reported bombardment of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Yunis, Gaza's second city.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again vowed that "we will fight until the end. We will achieve all of our aims – eliminating Hamas, freeing all our hostages."
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, the latest foreign envoy visiting Israel, called for an "immediate and durable" truce leading to a lasting cease-fire, stressing that "too many civilians are being killed."
Her British and German counterparts, David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock, also bemoaned the high civilian toll but voiced a different stance on the conflict, in a joint Sunday Times article.
The pair wrote that they "support a cease-fire, but only if it is sustainable ... We do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate cease-fire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward.
Israel's war on Gaza started following the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. Israeli attacks in Gaza since has killed over 18,800 people, mostly women and children.
In comparison, Israeli casualties from the incursion are at around 1,140.
The Israeli army said Sunday two more soldiers had been killed in Gaza, bringing the total to 121 since ground operations began in late October.
Israel's bombardment of Gaza has left much of the territory in ruins, with the U.N. estimating 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced by the war and warning of a "breakdown of civil order."
"I would not be surprised if people start dying of hunger, or a combination of hunger, disease, weak immunity," said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
The U.N.'s World Health Organisation also sounded the alarm over Gaza's humanitarian disaster after visiting the largest hospital, Gaza City's Al-Shifa, weeks after it was raided by Israeli forces.
The visiting WHO team "described the emergency department as a 'bloodbath,' with hundreds of injured patients inside, and new patients arriving every minute," the organization said.
"Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor," it said, while "tens of thousands of displaced people are using the hospital building and grounds for shelter" amid "a severe shortage" of water and food.
Nonetheless, according to reports, talks involving mediator Qatar have resumed toward another truce after a weeklong cease-fire last month allowed for the hostages-for-prisoners swap.
News platform Axios said Israeli spymaster David Barnea met Friday in an unspecified European location with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who helped negotiate the earlier truce.
Qatar in a statement Saturday reaffirmed its "ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause."
But Hamas said on Telegram it was "against any negotiations for the exchange of prisoners until the aggression against our people ceases completely".
Meanwhile, the war continues to raise fears of a broader Middle East conflict, with Israel exchanging regular fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah across its northern border with Lebanon.
And Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched repeated attacks at Israel and on passing vessels, causing major disruption to the key Red Sea shipping lane.
Major shipping companies have said they would redirect their vessels, among them Mediterranean Shipping Company, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said late Saturday he was traveling to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar to highlight Washington's "commitments to strengthening regional security and stability."
