Israeli Troops Encircle Gaza City as Global Criticism of Strikes Mounts
An Israeli military spokesman said that Israeli soldiers had surrounded Gaza’s largest city. White House officials said they would urge Israel to “pause” its bombardment on humanitarian grounds.
Many people dig through rubble and demolished buildings.
People search for casualties in the Gaza neighborhood of Jabaliya on Thursday following Israeli airstrikes over the previous few days.
As the Israeli military announced that ground troops had encircled Gaza City on Thursday, criticism mounted of the death toll inflicted by Israeli airstrikes, with one United Nations agency suggesting the bombing campaign could be a war crime.
White House officials said Thursday that the Biden administration would urge Israel to periodically “pause” its military campaign on humanitarian grounds, as images circulated around the globe of the northern Gaza neighborhood where powerful Israeli munitions this week had leveled multiple buildings.
Grief-stricken family members and neighbors frantically pulled away tangled piles of reinforced concrete in the neighborhood, called Jabaliya, as others carried lifeless bodies from the crater where the dwellings once stood.
The Gazan health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said Thursday that more than 1,000 people were injured, killed or missing after the strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday in the neighborhood. The figure could not immediately be independently verified.