Seven Palestinians were killed and several wounded in an Israeli attack on a house east of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, the Hamas-led Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
According to Palestinian health officials, planes destroyed several houses in the town of al-Qararah near Khan Yunis overnight, killing several people, including children.
Gaza’s health ministry earlier said at least 193 Palestinians had been killed since a week-long ceasefire ended on Friday, bringing the total to more than 15,000 since the war began. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the October 7 attack in southern Israel, which it says killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage.
Speaking in Dubai, Harris said Israel has the right to defend itself, but international and humanitarian law must be respected and that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed”.
“Frankly, the level of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming out of Gaza are devastating,” Harris told reporters.
Austin delivered perhaps his strongest remarks yet on Israel’s need to protect civilians in Gaza, calling it a “moral responsibility and strategic imperative.”
“If you force them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat,” Austin said at a defense forum in Simi Valley, California.
Austin, who promised the US would stand by Israel as “its closest friend in the world”, said he pressured Israeli officials to dramatically increase Gaza’s access to humanitarian aid.
Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Netanyahu, said that when the war ends, Israel will seek a “security envelope” to prevent Hamas from establishing itself on the Gaza border.