Middle East conflict live updates: ICJ weighing order for Israel to halt Rafah operation

The Biden administration has “deep concerns” about how recent Israeli operations have impeded humanitarian aid efforts in Rafah and Kerem Shalom, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Both are key access points for aid deliveries to southern Gaza. “What we don’t want to see is a situation where we’ve basically reversed what’s happened in recent months, where assistance was working its way through in the south but very little was getting into the north,” he stated.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 35,233, and 79,141 people have been injured in the enclave since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It said the majority of the dead are women and children.

Israel estimates that 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 273 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.