CAIRO/TEL AVIV: Israeli forces killed at least 55 Palestinians in air strikes in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics said, continuing to bombard the enclave despite mounting international pressure to halt military operations and allow unimpeded deliveries of aid.
Britain announced it was suspending trade talks with Israel and summoning its ambassador over "egregious policies" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, while European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas asked for a review of the EU-Israel trade deal, according to Dutch news agency ANP. Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein called Britain's move "unjustified and regrettable".
The war, now in its 20th month, has left Gaza in ruins and its population facing a worsening hunger crisis. It has strained Israel's relations with much of the world and those with its closest ally, the US, now appear to be wavering.
The UN said no humanitarian aid has been distributed yet in Gaza, despite more supplies being dropped off on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing after Israel eased its 11-week-old blockade on Monday. "Today, one of our teams waited several hours for the Israeli green light to collect supplies. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring those supplies into our warehouse," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Separately, indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas militants in Qatar appeared to falter again, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu saying he had decided to bring back the senior negotiating team from Doha for consultations. Hamas accused Netanyahu of entering the talks in bad faith, pretending to participate in a bid to mislead global public opinion. "No real negotiations have taken place since last Saturday," the Palestinian Islamist group said in a statement.
Israel conducted further air strikes on Tuesday across the densely populated enclave and medics said the sites hit included two homes where women and children were among the 18 dead, and a school housing displaced families.
In Gaza City, Reuters footage showed men, women and children sifting through the rubble of the Daraj neighbourhood school where they had been sheltering. At nearby Al-Ahli Hospital, men said prayers over bodies wrapped in white shrouds. Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past nine days, Gaza medics say.
Britain announced it was suspending trade talks with Israel and summoning its ambassador over "egregious policies" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, while European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas asked for a review of the EU-Israel trade deal, according to Dutch news agency ANP. Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein called Britain's move "unjustified and regrettable".
The war, now in its 20th month, has left Gaza in ruins and its population facing a worsening hunger crisis. It has strained Israel's relations with much of the world and those with its closest ally, the US, now appear to be wavering.
The UN said no humanitarian aid has been distributed yet in Gaza, despite more supplies being dropped off on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing after Israel eased its 11-week-old blockade on Monday. "Today, one of our teams waited several hours for the Israeli green light to collect supplies. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring those supplies into our warehouse," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Separately, indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas militants in Qatar appeared to falter again, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu saying he had decided to bring back the senior negotiating team from Doha for consultations. Hamas accused Netanyahu of entering the talks in bad faith, pretending to participate in a bid to mislead global public opinion. "No real negotiations have taken place since last Saturday," the Palestinian Islamist group said in a statement.
Israel conducted further air strikes on Tuesday across the densely populated enclave and medics said the sites hit included two homes where women and children were among the 18 dead, and a school housing displaced families.
In Gaza City, Reuters footage showed men, women and children sifting through the rubble of the Daraj neighbourhood school where they had been sheltering. At nearby Al-Ahli Hospital, men said prayers over bodies wrapped in white shrouds. Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past nine days, Gaza medics say.
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