Israeli strike kills 51 more in Gaza; Arab world, US split on ceasefire

Palestinian news agency WAFA said the Israeli military attacked a Gaza refugee camp on Saturday, killing 51 people, mostly women and children, as calls for a ceasefire by the Arab world were rejected by the United States and Israel.

With the death toll in Gaza mounting, pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged protests in cities around the world on Saturday, calling for an end to the nearly month-old war.

WAFA said the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip had been hit by an Israeli bombardment on Saturday night.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel says it is targeting Hamas, not civilians, and that the Palestinian group is using residents as human shields.

A spokesperson for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, Ashraf Al Qidra, said a large number of people were killed in the attack, without giving a figure, and scores severely injured were taken to hospital.

Gaza health officials said on Saturday more than 9,488 Palestinians have been killed in the war.

An injured girl is carried into the Al Shifa hospital following the Israeli bombardment of Gaza City. AFP

Foreign ministers from Qatar, Saudi, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman on Saturday and pushed for Washington to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire.

"This war is just going to produce more pain for Palestinians, for Israelis, and this is going to push us all again into the abyss of hatred and dehumanisation," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a press conference with Blinken. "So that needs to stop."

However, the top US diplomat dismissed the idea of a ceasefire, saying it would only benefit Hamas, allowing the Palestinian group to regroup and attack again.

Reuters