Escalation is rampant of hostilities in Gaza after the collapse of the truce, with the Palestinians to speak to Al Jazeera about 700 dead from the last businesses only in the last 24 hours. The head of the ICC pledged to further investigate any war crimes in Gaza.

As Israeli forces pound the Gaza Strip – and even Rafah on the border with Egypt – after the collapse of the ceasefire, the Israeli government is facing increasing calls from the US to protect Palestinian civilians.

It is noted that Israel requested the evacuation of areas of Khan Yunis in the south, through specific safe areas, which are shown on a map that he made public. Video shows the consequences to Khan Younis after a severe beating.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MOHAMMED || ADNAN (@mo7ammed.photos)

US Vice President Kamala Harris said too many innocent Palestinians had been killed, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Israel had a “moral responsibility” to protect civilians.

The comments by senior US officials yesterday add to pressure from Washington on Israel to be “more cautious” as it turns its attention to the military operation further south in the besieged Gaza Strip.

With fresh hostilities now in their third day, residents fear that the airstrikes and artillery attacks are just a prelude to an Israeli ground attack in the southern part of the enclave.

At the same time, the warring sides show no signs of moving in the direction of reviving the truce that collapsed on Friday.

Bombing of places that Israel indicates to civilians to evacuate

This morning, the Israeli military posted an announcement on Platform X asking Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to immediately leave at least five areas in and around Khan Yunis.

Also, aircraft destroyed several houses in the town of Al Karara near Khan Younes overnight, killing several people, including children, according to Palestinian health officials.

Arabic-speaking IDF spokesman Avihai Andrai instructed civilians to move to “known shelters for internally displaced people” west of the city, as well as further south towards Rafa and posted a map with these areas.

But UN officials and people in Gaza say it is difficult to comply in real time with Israeli orders to evacuate because of poor internet connection and power outages amid an Israeli military offensive.

Seven Palestinians were killed and several wounded in an Israeli attack on a house east of the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, the Hamas-controlled interior ministry announced today.

The Palestinians of the West Bank are the target of attacks

Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank late yesterday, killing a man and setting fire to a car, Palestinian authorities said.

The Palestinian Ambulance Service said one 38 years old in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the northern West Bank, was shot in the chest and ended while residents came face to face with settlers and Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli military said soldiers arrived at the scene and used crowd dispersal agents as well as live fire to end the dispute between residents and settlers. It said the Palestinians fired fireworks and that one Israeli and four Palestinians were injured. According to the army, the incident is under investigation, which has been taken over by the police.

In another incident, Wajih Al-Qat, head of the local council in the village of Madama near the city of Nablus, said a group of about 15 settlers set fire to a car and smashed the windows of a house with stones. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on this incident.

Khan

Echelons of the ICC were unable to enter Gaza

For his part, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court pledged to step up efforts to investigate alleged war crimes, concluding a visit to Israel and the West Bank.

Karim Khan (pictured) clarified that his visit was “not exploratory in nature” but said he was able to speak with victims from both sides of the conflict. “My office will intensify further his efforts to further his researches in relation to this condition.’

“Credible allegations of crimes during the current conflict should be subject to prompt, independent consideration and investigation,” he noted.

But ICC echelons were unable to enter Gaza or to investigate Israel, which is not a member of the Court.

Khan says he witnessed “premeditated cruelty” in the sites attacked by Hamas. These attacks “represent some of the most serious international crimes that shock the conscience of humanity, crimes that the ICC was established to address.”

He also noted that “the manner in which Israel responds to these attacks is subject to clear legal parameters governing armed conflict.”

Various humanitarian organizations and groups have sent an open letter to the attorney general of the International Criminal Court, calling for the prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya for crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. This petition is accompanied by a campaign to collect signatures with the slogan: war is not the way to peace.