Death toll in Gaza exceeds 4,000; UN chief in Egypt to push for aid

• US navy ship intercepts missiles fired from Yemen toward Israel.
• Israeli Defence Minister says "troops will soon see Gaza from inside".
• Over a million Palestinians have become homeless.

The death toll in Gaza has topped 4,000 as residents endure the worsening humanitarian situation that awaits entry of aid that has been stocked at Egypt's Rafah border for days.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reached the Rafah border in Egypt on Friday in an effort to start delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza but it was not immediately apparent when the supplies would enter Gaza.

Israel has relentlessly carried out air strikes in Gaza resulting in a massive loss of innocent lives.

Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra, while speaking at a press briefing on Friday, revealed that 4,137 Palestinians have been martyred so far in Israeli attacks on Gaza including 1,661 children.

There are 13,260 people wounded and more than 4,000 people missing, al-Qudra said.

“Operations are being done on the floor, on the ground, in the corridors of the hospital.”

The United States indicated that negotiations were still ongoing over specifics of an agreement to provide supplies via the Rafah crossing that connects Gaza and Sinai.

The US claimed earlier that an agreement has been reached for the first 20 aid trucks to be sent into Gaza, but UN officials emphasise the need for the delivery to be done at scale and in a sustained way.

Prior to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, approximately 450 aid trucks arrived daily in Gaza.

The majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are dependent on humanitarian supplies, which have been blocked by Israel and Egypt.

Israel's siege of Gaza, a response to Hamas' incursion, has worsened the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Aid delivery efforts have been complicated by the need for inspection mechanisms and a push for the evacuation of foreign passport holders from Gaza.

A UN official said more than 200 trucks of aid were ready to move from Sinai to Gaza.

Israel has said it will allow no aid to enter its territory, Kerem Shalom crossing, until Hamas releases the hostages it took during its October 7 attack.

It has said aid can enter through Egypt’s Rafah crossing — the only crossing that does not border Israel — as long as it does not end up in the hands of Hamas.

Egypt is hesitant to accept mass Gazans' displacement into Sinai, fearing Palestinians could flee or be forced from their homes, similar to the war surrounding Israel's creation.

The country is also concerned about security in northeastern Sinai, where it faces an escalating insurgency, and the risk of spillover from Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Biden to seek billions in military aid for Israel

US President Joe Biden began a new mission on Thursday urging Americans that billions more should be spent on aiding Israel and Ukraine in their battles since only US intervention can avert world catastrophe.

"American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us, America, safe," said Biden.

Biden attempted to establish a connection between Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip who attacked Israel.

"Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to annihilate a neighbouring democracy," he said.

According to sources, Biden plans to request $100 billion in new spending, including $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. The request also includes $10 billion for humanitarian aid in Gaza, $14 billion for border security, and $7 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.

Additionally, half of the $60 billion for Ukraine will be used for replacing and modernising US weapons stocks.

Biden spoke about 20 hours after returning from a whirlwind trip to Israel to show US solidarity after the October 7 attack by Hamas fighters who launched incursions from Gaza and killed 1,400 people in southern Israel.

In Gaza, over 3,900 Palestinians have been martyred — a vast majority being children and women — while more than 14,000 have been injured.

Biden maintained an urgency in his message as Israel prepares to launch a ground offensive against Hamas fighters in Gaza, and tensions are high following a deadly blast at a hospital, resulting in thousands of Palestinian martyrs.

Biden said Israel was not responsible for the hospital blast, as Hamas officials had asserted, and said: "We can't ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace and have opportunity."

In response to Hamas, Biden encouraged Israelis not to succumb to "blind rage" as international outcry over the attacks on Gaza grows.

The money would "sharpen Israel's qualitative edge" and strengthen its military capabilities, Biden said.

He said US national security required it to support "critical partners" like Israel. “It’s a smart investment that’s gonna pay dividends for American security for generations,” Biden said.

On the ground in the Gaza Strip, Israel appeared to be getting closer to a full-scale invasion of the seaside enclave ruled by Hamas. The Israeli military massed troops and equipment near the Gaza border.

"You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops gathered at the Gaza border on Thursday.

Following his address, the Republican National Committee charged Biden with appeasing Iran, saying: "Biden could BEGIN holding the Iranian regime accountable by vigorously enforcing oil sanctions, and by reversing course on his appeasement policies that have enriched them with tens of billions of dollars."

Delay in humanitarian aid for Gaza

During an eight-hour visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Biden sought to broker a deal to get aid into Gaza but had only limited success. He said Israel and Egypt agreed that 20 trucks with relief supplies could cross into the enclave.

Two Egyptian security sources said the equipment was sent on Thursday through its border crossing to repair roads on the Gaza side. More than 100 trucks were waiting in Egypt.

The crossing has been out of operation amid Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side of the border.

While some officials previously expected aid to enter Gaza on Friday, the chances appeared to dwindle. The newly appointed US Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues David Satterfield was still negotiating the "exact modalities" of aid deliveries with Israeli and Egyptian officials, the State Department said.

There have been repeated delays and obstacles, and Israel has demanded assurances that relief supplies could not be commandeered by Hamas fighters.

The United Nations (UN) has called for aid to return to pre-conflict levels of 100 trucks a day. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres planned to visit the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza on Friday, a move that Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, told a rally in New York City showed that "his top priority is giving aid to the terrorists."

Flashpoints beyond Gaza

Meanwhile, a Gaza hospital explosion on Wednesday that enraged the Arab world and the anticipated Israeli ground invasion has heightened fears of the conflict spreading.

Palestinians blamed an Israeli air strike for the hospital blast, but Israel said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by a Palestinian group, called  Islamic Jihad. Biden backed the Israeli account.

The Pentagon on Thursday said a US Navy warship intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones launched by the Houthi movement from Yemen potentially toward Israel. The Houthi, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.

Lebanon-based Hezbollah, another Iran ally, said it fired rockets at an Israeli position in the village of Manara on Thursday and drew an Israeli artillery barrage in response after the worst escalation in violence on the border in 17 years.

A civilian was killed in the area, Lebanese security sources and the UN peacekeeping force said.

The Lebanese army said a journalist was killed by Israeli gunfire on Thursday in a southern Lebanon border area where Israel's forces and Hezbollah had a heavy exchange of fire.

The Lebanese army said a group of seven media personnel became stranded in the crossfire and it requested UN peacekeepers to extract them.

Israel's military, asked about the Lebanese army's account, said it was investigating the matter. Last week a Reuters journalist was killed and other journalists were injured in southern Lebanon.

Amid concerns the West Bank could become a third front in a wider war, 13 Palestinians were martyred in clashes with Israeli forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday.

The spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, Abu Obeida, on Al Jazeera called for anti-Israel rallies across Arab and Muslim countries on Friday and said the group was prepared for a long battle with Israel.

— Additional input from Reuters