Israel-Hamas war: Latest developments
Fighting raged in Gaza Sunday for the 30th day since Hamas militants stormed across the Israeli border and, according to Israeli officials, killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and abducted over 240 others.
Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip and sent in ground troops, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory saying 9,770 people have been killed, nearly half of them -- at least 4,800 -- children.
Here are key developments from the past 24 hours:
Blinken meets Abbas
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in a surprise visit to Ramallah on Sunday, as concern grows over rising violence in the occupied West Bank.
The pair discussed "the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians" in the West Bank, a state department spokesman said, while Blinken also stressed that Palestinians in Gaza "must not be forcibly displaced".
Abbas decried Israel's "genocide" in the Gaza Strip in the meeting with the US diplomat, according to remarks carried official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Blinken is due to travel to Turkey later on Sunday, a day after Ankara recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest at the bloodshed in Gaza.
Israel says struck 2,500 targets in ground op
The Israeli army said Sunday its forces had "struck over 2,500 terror targets" since ground troops entered the Palestinian territory late last month.
"IDF (army) troops are continuing to eliminate terrorists in close-quarters combat" and to direct aircraft to hit Hamas targets, the army said, including a "military compound" hit overnight.
"During the combined activities of ground, air and naval forces in the Gaza Strip, over 2,500 terror targets have been struck."
Refugee camps hit
The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 45 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza late Saturday.
An Israeli military spokesperson said they were looking into whether its troops had been operating in the area at the time.
Earlier on Saturday, the health ministry said at least 15 people were killed when Israel struck the Al-Fakhura school in Jabalia refugee camp, operated by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering at the school in the north of the Palestinian territory when it was hit, a ministry spokesperson said.
West Bank violence
Three Palestinians were killed Sunday by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, where violence is flaring since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Two Palestinians, aged 22 and 20, were killed in Abu Dis, a suburb of east Jerusalem, while another was killed in Nuba to the south, the ministry said.
The Israeli army said in a statement the raids were part of its operations "against the Hamas terror organisation".
Humanitarian aid plea
The World Food Programme appealed for more aid for Gaza, stressing that trucks allowed in so far are no match for needs on the ground.
The agency's head, Cindy McCain, said on Sunday after a visit to Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian territory that "the suffering just metres away is unfathomable standing on this (the Egyptian) side of the border".
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called for an "immediate, durable and observed humanitarian truce" during a visit to Qatar.
Pope Francis on Sunday urged the release of hostages and humanitarian aid for Gaza, describing the situation as "very serious".
"I beg you in the name of God to stop, cease fire," he said.