WASHINGTON: Top US officials warned on Sunday that the war between Israel and militant group Hamas could escalate, as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on the country’s northern border with Lebanon.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip have led to an “unprecedented human catastrophe” in the Palestinian territory, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said on Sunday.

“Not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed in the Gaza Strip for the last eight days,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, told journalists.

“Raise the alarm that as of today, my UNRWA colleagues in Gaza can no longer provide humanitarian assistance as I speak,” Lazzarini said.

KHAN YOUNIS: Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas’ deadly attack.

Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. 

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel exchanged deadly cross-border fire on Sunday, with the group claiming responsibility for strikes that killed a civilian, according to Israeli sources.

The exchanges — and a rocket that hit a UN peacekeeping base — have further raised tensions on Israel’s northern border.

The Israeli army closed the border area to civilians as tit-for-tat fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon intensified.

LONDON: The archbishop of Canterbury on Sunday warned of the “grave danger” facing patients in Gaza after a hospital was hit by an Israeli rocket.

Justin Welby, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, took to X after the Ahli Hospital, which is run by Anglicans, was damaged overnight.

Over a million Palestinians are currently faced with a stark choice of remaining in place or heading south after the Israel Defense Forces warned residents in the north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate.