The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, a rival of Hamas, denounced inaction by the UN Security Council, writes The Guardian. “The ongoing massacres being deliberately and systematically and savagely perpetrated by Israel must be stopped. It is our collective human duty to stop them”, he said.

The US and Russia put forward rival plans at the United Nations to help Palestinian civilians. Both countries seek UN Security Council resolutions to address shortages of food, water, medical supplies and electricity in Gaza. But the US, which opposes a ceasefire, has called only for pauses to allow aid to enter Gaza, while Russia wants a humanitarian ceasefire.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, said Israeli airstrikes killed hundreds of people over the past day, mostly women and children. A spokesperson for the ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra, said they had received 1,550 reports of missing people, including 870 children, and suggested that those missing could still be under the rubble of collapsed buildings. The claim could not be independently verified.

Israel further intensified airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday, launching 400 over the past day, up from 320 the day before, including on the south where it had told civilians to evacuate. It said it killed Hamas commanders, and hit militants as they prepared to fire rockets into Israel as well as striking command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft. The Israeli military also said it thwarted an assault by a group of Hamas underwater divers who tried to infiltrate Israel on a beach just north of Gaza.

Hospitals in Gaza are ceasing to function because they are running out of water and fuel for generators, while being overwhelmed by huge numbers of casualties and civilians seeking shelter from Israeli bombing. Doctors, health administrators and international aid organisations described nightmarish conditions, including doctors forced to operate with little or no anaesthesia, or by the light of mobile phones, and using vinegar in some cases in place of antiseptic

Eight aid trucks were allowed into Gaza late Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said as US President Joe Biden said efforts to deliver help via a crossing from Egypt were “not fast enough”. The UN had earlier said about 20 trucks had been unable to cross into Gaza from Egypt via the Rafah crossing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said countries should still send humanitarian aid to Palestine during remarks made at the UN Security Council: “We call on all countries to send humanitarian aid to Gaza. A civilian is a civilian is a civilian. Palestinian civilians must be protected”.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the military was “ready and determined” for the next stage in the conflict, adding that they are awaiting further political instruction.