Israel opens Gaza aid crossing as pressure mounts for restraint

Israel reopened an aid crossing into Gaza on Friday as key backer the United States urged more restraint in its all-out offensive against Hamas. 

The war began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring home an estimated 250 hostages taken by militants into Gaza, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has left much of the besieged territory in ruins.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says the war has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children.

Fierce fighting continued on Friday, with Hamas claiming they had blown up a house containing Israeli soldiers in the city of Khan Yunis.

Further south in Rafah near the Egyptian border, crowds of Palestinians used flashlights to search the rubble of buildings for survivors following Israeli strikes.

"This is a residential neighbourhood, women and children live here, as you can see," said resident Abu Omar. "Three missiles on a residential neighbourhood that has nothing to do with any militant activities."

Multiple rockets were intercepted over Jerusalem by its powerful missile-defence system.

Under pressure to do more to spare civilians, Israel announced it would allow the "temporary" entry of aid into Gaza through a second crossing, at Kerem Shalom near Rafah, the only other point of entry for humanitarian supplies. 

- 'We will destroy them' -

The Israeli army said Friday that 119 troops had died in Gaza since the start of the ground offensive.

"We are working together with security agencies, and with all intelligence and operational means in order to return all of the hostages home," the army said.

The United States, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, has strongly backed its response to Hamas's attacks, but has voiced increasing concern over civilian casualties and the long-term plan for Gaza.

"We do not believe that it makes sense for Israel, or is right for Israel, to... reoccupy Gaza over the long term," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv.

Gallant warned that Israel's fight with Hamas "will last more than several months, but we will win and we will destroy them".

In Washington, US President Joe Biden reiterated calls for greater care for Gazan civilians.

"I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives -- not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful," said Biden.

Sullivan also travelled to the West Bank to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who said Gaza must remain an "integral part" of the Palestinian state. 

Abbas's Palestinian Authority runs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but is deeply unpopular with Palestinians and has been further weakened by the war.

More than 280 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the war began. 

Multiple Western nations, including Australia, Britain, Canada, France and the European Union, demanded on Friday that Israel "take concrete steps to halt unprecedented violence by Israeli settlers". 

Meanwhile, a journalist for Turkish agency Anadolu was severely assaulted by Israeli police while trying to take photos of Palestinians praying in East Jerusalem. 

A police spokesperson said the officers were suspended. 

- 'Desperate, hungry, terrified' -

This week, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly supported a non-binding resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, with Washington voting against it.

The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced.

Its humanitarian agency OCHA says more than a third of households have reported severe hunger, while more than 90 percent are "going to bed hungry".

Adding to the desperation, mobile and internet communications were cut Thursday and yet to return the following day, with operator Paltel blaming "the cut off of main fibre routes from the Israeli side".

Hamas's media office described it as a "premeditated crime that deepens the humanitarian crisis" by making it harder for rescuers to reach injured people.

Aid distribution has largely stopped in most of Gaza, except on a limited basis in the Rafah area, according to the UN.

Fears of a wider regional conflagration persist.

Yemen's Huthi rebels struck a cargo ship in the Red Sea on Friday, causing a fire on deck, amid near-daily attacks in the commercially vital waterway.

The rebels later claimed they fired missiles at two other ships in the Red Sea.

The Iran-backed Huthis, who control much of Yemen but are not recognised internationally, say they're targeting shipping to pressure Israel during its war with Hamas.

"While the Huthis are pulling the trigger, so to speak, they're being handed the gun by Iran," said Sullivan.

Global shipping firm Maersk said it was suspending routes through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea until further notice, after one of its ships was attacked Thursday.