Israel faced mounting international pressure, including from its main ally the United States, to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza as the death toll rose and fighting intensified between Israeli forces and Hamas militants near and around hospitals.
Global calls for Israeli restraint increased as the number of Palestinians killed rose above 11,000 in a 5-week-old Israeli bombardment launched against Hamas in retaliation for its deadly Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel.
In his strongest comments to date on the plight of civilians caught in the Gaza cross-fire, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on a visit to India on Friday: "Far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too many have suffered these past weeks."