Israel ramps up deadly attacks on Gaza despite US, UN warnings

GAZA, Feb 09 (Agencies): Israel is ramping up its attacks on Rafah as it prepares to mount a ground offensive despite warnings of catastrophic consequences for displaced Palestinians and the United States saying it won't back an assault on the southern Gaza Strip because it would be a "disaster".
Israeli snipers shoot dead 21 Palestinians
Israeli snipers have killed at least 21 Palestinians after they opened fire on displaced civilians trying to reach Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah, said on Friday that snipers had surrounded the hospital and were “shooting at every moving object” as people were trying to reach it from two densely populated residential neighbourhoods near the facility.
The Israeli military launched several rounds of air strikes and tank shelling on Rafah on Thursday and Friday. At least three children were among eight people killed on Friday morning in Israeli attacks on homes in Rafah, the Palestinian state news agency, Wafa, reported. Five of those killed were members of one family.
Nearly 28,000 Gazans have now been confirmed killed after the Israeli war machine took another 107 Palestinian lives during the past day.
A total of 27,947 Palestinians have so far been killed, while 67,460 people have been injured, including 142 people during the past 24 hours, the Gazan Health Ministry said on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials have said they are planning to expand their military offensive in Gaza to include Rafah, where more than half of the enclave's population of 2.3 million has been forcibly displaced, some multiple times, as a result of unyielding Israeli attacks.
300,000 at risk from lack of food in north, central Gaza: UN
Hundreds of thousands of people's lives are at risk in north and central Gaza because of a lack of food, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned on Thursday.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the last time the agency was allowed to deliver supplies to the area was more than two weeks ago on January 23.
Arab foreign ministers discuss Gaza in Riyadh following Blinken visit to the region
Several Arab foreign ministers discussed the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza at talks in Riyadh, Saudi state media reported on Friday, following a Middle East tour by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that stirred hopes for a long-awaited Gaza truce deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas' latest terms for a ceasefire and return of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but Blinken said there was still room for negotiation toward an agreement.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan called for Thursday's meeting in Riyadh, which included the foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates along with the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Hussein al-Sheikh, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.