United Nations officials say there are no safe places in Gaza. Heavy fighting in and around the southern city of Khan Younis has displaced tens of thousands of people in a territory where over 80 per cent of the population has already fled their homes, and cut most of Gaza off from deliveries of food, water and other vital aid.
Two months into the war, the grinding offensive has set off renewed alarms internationally, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres using a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending humanitarian catastrophe and urging members to demand a cease-fire.
The United States has called on Israel to limit civilian deaths and displacement, saying too many Palestinians were killed when it obliterated much of Gaza City and the north. But it has also pledged unwavering support for Israel and appears likely to block any such UN effort to halt the fighting.