Netanyahu hails advance into Gaza City; UN team talks of 'grave risk of genocide' of Palestinians

Palestinian civilians have suffered shortages of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine

Palestinians look for survivors in the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Picture: AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman

Israeli forces thrust deeper into Gaza City in their assault on Hamas, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, but the militant group resisted their drive with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels.

The city in the north of the Gaza Strip has become the focus of attack for Israel, which has vowed to annihilate the Palestinian Islamist group's command structure and has told civilians to flee to the south.