JERUSALEM, Oct 27, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The UN warned Friday that "many more

will die" in Gaza from catastrophic shortages after nearly three weeks of
bombardment by Israel in response to Hamas staging the deadliest attack in
its history.

And it raised the alarm over "war crimes" being committed as the Israel-Hamas
conflict raged into its 21st day. The army said it had mounted another brief
land incursion into Gaza as it prepares for a ground offensive.

Concern is growing about regional fallout from the conflict, with the United
States warning Iran against escalation while striking facilities in Syria it
says were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and others.

Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the
border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, kidnapping over
220 others, according to Israeli officials.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in an update on Friday, said
the strikes had now killed 7,326 people, mainly civilians and many of them
children.

Israel's military on Friday accused Hamas of using hospitals in Gaza as
operations centres for directing attacks.

"Hamas wages war from hospitals," in the territory, military spokesman Daniel
Hagari said.

He also alleged the Islamist group was also using fuel stored in these
facilities for its operations.

- War crimes on both sides -

Israel has cut supplies of food, water and power to Gaza, notably blocking
all deliveries of fuel saying it would be exploited by Hamas to manufacture
weapons and explosives.

"People in Gaza are dying, they are not only dying from bombs and strikes,
soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege," said Philippe
Lazzarini, head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

"Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are
running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage,"
Lazzarini said of the overcrowded territory where 45 percent of housing is
reported to have been damaged or destroyed.

In Geneva, the UN human rights office raised the alarm over war crimes,
saying "the atrocious attacks by Hamas... amounted to war crimes" but also
pointing to Israel's Gaza bombardment.

"Nowhere is safe in Gaza. Compelling people to evacuate in these
circumstances... and while under a complete siege raises serious concerns
over forcible transfer, which is a war crime," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani
said of Israel's order for northern Gaza residents to flee south.

And a humanitarian catastrophe was unfolding for Gazans who were "being
collectively punished" which "is a war crime", she said.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a "humanitarian truce" for the
protection of civilians in Gaza, as he said Israel's response must "better
target... terrorists".

And a first team of six medics from the International Committee of the Red
Cross entered Gaza Friday via its Rafah crossing with Egypt, along with six
aid trucks, the ICRC said.

- 'Nothing more than crumbs' -

A first tranche of critically needed aid was allowed in at the weekend, but
since then only 74 trucks have crossed. Before the conflict, the UN says an
average of 500 trucks were entering Gaza every day.

"These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a
difference," Lazzarini said, insisting Gaza needed a "meaningful and
uninterrupted aid flow" and a "humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid
reaches those in need".

His words echoed an EU leaders' call on Thursday for "continued, rapid, safe
and unhindered humanitarian access and aid" to those in need via
"humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs".

Between the bombardments and the fuel shortages, 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals
have been forced to close, and UNRWA said it has had to "significantly reduce
its operations".

The agency also said 57 of its staff had been killed since the war began.

With tens of thousands of Israeli troops massed along the Gaza border ahead
of a widely expected ground offensive, the army said it had staged another
brief ground incursion into Gaza, the second in as many days.

"We carried out a ground operation in central Gaza... as part of preparations
for the coming stages of the war," the army's Hagari added. The first
incursion had targeted northern Gaza.

Hamas also said Israeli troops had tried to stage "a large-scale amphibious
operation on Rafah's coast" in southern Gaza at dawn but it had been
thwarted, saying the soldiers had "fled by sea, leaving behind a quantity of
weapons".

Israel confirmed the operation, saying troops had struck "Hamas military
infrastructure and... a compound" used by Hamas militants.

- 'Wherever we go, we will die' -

The army also updated to 229 the number of hostages held by Hamas, many of
whom hold foreign passports, with their families frantic about their fate.

"I have never felt such a feeling of helplessness," said 23-year-old Ella Ben
Ami whose parents were kidnapped. With recurring nightmares every single
night, she says she feels "like the living dead".

"Almost every family has lost someone. Nobody can comprehend that there are
so many people that we won't see again," she told AFP as Israeli therapists
said they had been overwhelmed by the number of traumatised people.

Militants fired rockets on Friday towards Tel Aviv, where people could be
seen running for cover as sirens wailed, AFP correspondents said. One stuck
the city, wounding three people, one moderately and two lightly, medics said.

Despite Israel's call for civilians in northern Gaza to move south for their
safety, strikes have continued to hit southern areas, with many saying they
could find nowhere to shelter.

"Wherever we go, we will die," said Rahma Saqallah who fled her Gaza City
home to go south with her family but decided to turn back after strikes
killed her husband and three of her children.

"They told us to leave for the south and then they killed us (here)," she
said on leaving the southern town of Khan Yunis to head home with her one
remaining child.

Violence has also risen sharply in the occupied West Bank since the October 7
attacks, with more than 100 Palestinians killed and over 1,900 wounded.

Another four Palestinians were killed Friday during Israeli raids in the
northern cities of Jenin and Qalqilya, the health ministry said.