Health Ministry Director-General Munir Al-Bursh told CNN that 110 bodies had been buried at a disused cemetery in Jabalya as of Monday morning, with dozens more believed still trapped beneath the rubble of bombed-out buildings.
Speaking from a Hamas-run field clinic in the camp, Al-Bursh said most of those killed and injured were women and children.
The Israeli military said it was unable to comment without more specific details but acknowledged that it was operating in the area and blamed Hamas for "deliberately and systematically" embedding itself in schools, hospitals and homes.
Significant portions of the Jabalya district, north of Gaza City, and the camp in particular, lie in ruins from repeated airstrikes and raids by ground forces on what Israel Defense Forces have called a Hamas hotbed.
Claims by the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem that two women taking refuge in a church in Gaza City had been killed by an IDF sniper over the weekend prompted Pope Francis to add his voice to French, British and German calls for an immediate truce.
French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, speaking during a visit to Israel, said an "immediate and durable" truce would help get more humanitarian supplies into Gaza, allow the release of more hostages and nudge the warring sides toward "the beginning of a political solution".
In a joint op-ed published in Britain's Sunday Times, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, made the case for a "sustainable" cease-fire, warning the civilian death toll was too high.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel to push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet on transitioning from general war tactics to a lower-intensity strategy that prioritizes targeting Hamas' fighters and leaders.
Washington wants to see that happen within weeks and Austin will quiz his hosts on "what metrics they're looking at in order to transition to the next phase of their campaign in Gaza," according to a senior Pentagon official.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli government of using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip, which is a war crime.
The group cited examples of public statements by Israeli officials expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water, and fuel -- which the country has endeavored to have its military accomplish.
HRW singled out Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Energy Minister Israel Katz for criticism, urging the government to refrain from targeting infrastructure necessary for the survival of the civilian population, to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip, and restore electricity and water.
"For over two months, Israel has been depriving Gaza's population of food and water, a policy spurred on or endorsed by high-ranking Israeli officials and reflecting an intent to starve civilians as a method of warfare," said HRW Israel and Palestine director Omar Shakir.
"World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime, which has devastating effects on Gaza's population."
Other unnamed Israeli officials were rebuked for conditioning humanitarian aid to Gaza either on the release of hostages held by Hamas or Hamas' destruction.
HRW also accused Israel of "willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival."
Israel air force denies indiscriminate bombing in Gaza offensive
Palmahim Air Base, Israel (AFP) Dec 18, 2023 -
Faced with growing criticism over its military actions in the Gaza Strip, Israeli air force officers on Monday defended their actions in war against Hamas.
"All the bombs we use are high-precision bombs," an officer told reporters during a military-organised visit of the Palmahim air base, on the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli air force has played a key role in the military response to Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks that killed around 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Shortly after the unprecedented attacks by the Palestinian militants on southern Israel, the military first responded with a massive campaign of air strikes, later sending ground forces into besieged Gaza.
The Israeli offensive, aimed at destroying Hamas, has killed at least 19,453 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry.
The death toll out of Gaza has earned Israel international rebuke including from close allies.
US President Joe Biden has warned Israel was at risk of losing international support due to its "indiscriminate" bombing of the Palestinian territory.
"I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives -- not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful," Biden said.
But to the Israeli officer, whose name is barred from publication due to Israeli censorship rules, "we don't need the Americans to understand we want to limit casualties."
"We did not need to change our principles" in light of international concern, he argued, saying Israeli forces had aimed at limiting civilian casualties "from the beginning".
A report by Washington's Director of National Intelligence, quoted by US media, said that nearly half of munitions dropped by Israeli aircraft on Gaza were "dumb" bombs -- unguided munitions with limited accuracy.
The Israeli officer said that was inaccurate.
"There (are) no dumb bombs" used in the current war, he told reporters.
"All the bombs have accurate (targets), some of them by GPS, some of them by cameras, some of them by computers" on board fighter jets.
Israel insists Hamas is to blame for mass civilian casualties, accusing the militant group of using innocent Palestinians as "human shields" and operating out of hospitals, schools and UN facilities.
"For Hamas, the deaths of civilians is a strategy," army spokesman Daniel Hagari said Monday.
"For us, it's a tragedy."
Gaza, a narrow territory of 2.4 million people, has "civilians, residents and terrorists in crowded areas", the air force officer said.
"We need to be, on the one hand, very strong, use a lot of ammunitions, (and) on the other hand use them precisely."
Latest developments in Israel-Hamas war
Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 18, 2023 -
The US defence secretary visited Israel on Monday as war with Hamas triggered by deadly attacks dragged on, drawing accusations that Israel was starving Palestinians in its offensive.
Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing around 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took about 250 hostages, of whom 105 have been released and several killed.
Aiming to eliminate Hamas, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment of Gaza, alongside a ground invasion, that has killed 19,453 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
On day 73 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:
- Pentagon chief in Israel -
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Israel on Monday that the United States will keep providing Israel with arms "to defend your country", also calling for more aid for displaced Gazans.
Austin also addressed the potential for broader regional conflict, warning Iran to "stop" supporting Yemen's Huthi rebels and urging powerful Lebanese group Hezbollah not to "provoke a wider conflict", amid near-daily skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border.
- Israel 'deliberately' starving civilians: HRW -
Human Rights Watch accused Israel of intentionally starving civilians in Gaza as part of its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
"The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime," the New York-based group charged in a report.
"Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel, while wilfully impeding humanitarian assistance," it added.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said "Human Rights Watch... has no moral basis to talk about what's going on in Gaza," charging that the group had ignored "the suffering and the human rights of Israelis".
- UN to vote on truce call -
The UN Security Council was due to vote Monday on a new resolution calling for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" in Gaza, but the meeting was rescheduled and could be further postponed, possibly until Tuesday, to allow further negotiations.
The United States previously blocked similar texts. The wider UN General Assembly has voted for an end to fighting, with 153 out of 193 members in favour.
- France bids to calm Lebanon border -
France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Monday urged restraint in meetings with senior officials in Beirut, seeking to de-escalate tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border amid near-daily exchanges of fire.
The head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Aroldo Lazaro, told reporters ahead of his meeting with Colonna that the situation on the border was "tense" and "dangerous", as hostilities trigger fears of all-out conflict.
- Huthi Red Sea strikes disrupt shipping -
The Iran-backed Huthis said Monday they had attacked two "Israeli-linked" vessels in the key Red Sea shipping route, disrupting transit through the vital waterway in what the rebels describe as acts in solidarity with Gaza.
A Norwegian-owned ship that denied any link to Israel was one of those hit.
Britain's BP on Monday became the latest major firm to announce it would suspend transit of oil through the Red Sea.
Five of the world's six top shipping companies have announced they will not send ships through the Red Sea -- MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen.
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