Fighting rages on across Gaza where death toll surges

Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza on Saturday reported a surging death toll as Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced increasing domestic criticism, rejected calls for "Palestinian sovereignty" after the war.

While fighting raged across the besieged Gaza Strip, a strike in Syria blamed on Israel and missiles fired at US-led coalition forces in Iraq raised further fears of a wider conflagration.

Gaza's health ministry reported at least 165 people killed over the previous 24 hours — more than double Friday's figure.

An AFP correspondent reported gunfire, air strikes and tank shelling, especially in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis city.

In Rafah, further south near the border with Egypt, at least five people were killed in a strike that "targeted a civilian car", the health ministry said.

A Palestinian sits among destruction from the Israeli bombardment in the Nusseirat refugee camp on Friday. AP

Israel is pressing its push southwards against Hamas, after the army in early January said the militants' command structure in northern Gaza had been dismantled, leaving only isolated fighters.

But Hamas reported fierce combat in north Gaza as Israel's military said troops backed by air and naval support were striking fighters infrastructure throughout the Palestinian territory.

‘Retain control’

The United States, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, has urged it to take more care to protect civilians, and the two sides have disagreed over Gaza's future governance.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden on Friday discussed the post-war future of Gaza.

Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu attend a press conference. File photo

Biden said it was still possible Netanyahu could agree to some form of Palestinian state, after the two spoke for the first time in nearly a month.

But Netanyahu's office in a statement Saturday said "Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda, said the Palestinian right to statehood "must be recognised by all".

"The refusal to accept a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable," he said.

Palestinians walk through destruction from the Israeli bombardment in Gaza Strip, on Friday. AP

The UN's UNRWA agency for Palestinian refugees says about 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza by the war.

About one million are crowded into the Rafah area.

Spy chief

The war has sent regional tensions soaring, with a surge in violence involving Iran-backed Hamas allies.

Iranian media said an Israeli strike on Damascus killed the Revolutionary Guards' spy chief for Syria and four other Guards members, with Tehran's foreign ministry threatening retaliation "at the appropriate time and place".

Israel, which has declined to comment on the Damascus strike, has intensified attacks on targets in Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.

A woman takes part in a rally in support of the people from Gaza, in Palestine, in Madrid, Spain on Saturday. AFP

In Gaza, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported just 15 bakeries operating across the narrow territory.

It said water availability for drinking and domestic use "is shrinking every day".

UN agencies have warned better aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.

After Friday's Biden-Netanyahu call, the White House said Israel would allow flour shipments for Palestinians through Israel's port of Ashdod.

Agence France-Presse