Gaza aid stuck at border as Israeli shelling continues

Israeli soldiers man a checkpoint near the border with Lebanon. Pic/AP

Israel on Tuesday bombed areas of southern Gaza where it had told Palestinians to flee to ahead of an expected invasion, killing dozens of people. Meanwhile, mediators struggled to break a deadlock over delivering aid to millions of increasingly desperate civilians in the territory, which has been besieged and under assault by Israel since a brutal attack by Hamas militants.

In Gaza, people wounded in the airstrikes were rushed to the hospital after heavy attacks outside the southern Gaza cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, residents reported. Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official and former health minister, reported 27 people were killed in Rafah and 30 in Khan Younis.

An airstrike in Deir al Balah reduced a house to rubble, killing nine members of the family living there. Three members of another family that had evacuated from Gaza City were killed in a neighboring home. The dead included one man and 11 women and children. Witnesses said there was no warning before the strike.

Joe Biden set to begin Israel visit

A Palestinian man carries a blanket covering the remains of a person from the rubble of a house. Pic/AP

President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday to show support for the US ally amid concerns the Israel-Hamas war could become a larger regional conflict, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said early Tuesday in Tel Aviv. Biden will then go to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Blinken's announcement followed hours of talks with Israeli officials.

Clashes along Lebanon border

Clashes erupted again Tuesday on the border between Lebanon and Israel, where Israeli forces and armed groups in Lebanon have engaged in a series of low-level skirmishes since the outbreak of the latest war in Gaza. An anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon landed in the town of Metula in northern Israel Tuesday morning.

4 militants crossing into Israel killed

The Israeli military said it killed four militants attempting to cross into the country from Lebanon with an explosive device, its Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee said. A video from a reconnaissance drone the Israeli army shared showed militants near the separation wall.

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