Gaza fighting enters second day after collapse of truce

Israeli soldiers embrace next to photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas militants Oct. 7, near kibbutz Re'im, December 1, 2023. [AP photo]

The talks with Arab foreign ministers centered on the state of the Israel-Hamas war and how to deliver more humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Blinken told reporters before boarding a flight back to Washington.

He said they also talked about "what happens the day after in Gaza and how we can get on the path to a just, lasting and secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians, in fact for everyone in the region."

During Friday's fighting, Israel's military said, its ground, air and naval forces had struck more than 200 of what it called terror targets in the enclave.

Khan Younis in southern Gaza was heavily bombed Friday, sending residents fleeing for shelter farther west, according to Reuters journalists there.

The U.N. said the fighting would exacerbate an acute humanitarian emergency.

"Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office in Geneva.

"Today those in power decided that the killing of children would recommence in Gaza," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said via video link from Rafah, Gaza, calling the conflict a "war on children."

Elder stressed the dire lack of nutrition, water and sanitation in Gaza and pleaded for a lasting cease-fire. He said the alternative is unthinkable for people already living in a nightmare.

"Inaction, at its core, is an approval of the killing of children," he said.

Meanwhile, Israel has presented some of its neighboring states with plans to carve out a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of Gaza's border with Israel to avert future attacks after the war ends, Reuters reported citing Egyptian and regional sources.

Israel has communicated its post-war plans to Egypt and Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as part of its future security goals for Gaza, sources told the news agency.