Israel says it encircles Gaza City; US to urge 'localised' humanitarian pauses

Mounting casualties among Palestinian civilians, along with acute shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel, have intensified calls by global leaders for a pause in fighting or a ceasefire

An injured Palestinian child at Al Aqsa Hospital is seen in an ambulance to be transferred to Egypt for medical treatment through Rafah border crossing in Deir al-Balah, Gaza where Israel continues its attacks, on November 01, 2023. Picture: Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images

Israel said it had surrounded the Gaza Strip's biggest city and the focus of its drive to annihilate Hamas, as the United States was set to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to pauses in fighting to allow aid into the Palestinian enclave.

With the conflict nearing the end of its fourth week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to visit Israel for the second time in a month to meet Netanyahu as Israel's military battled Hamas militants, who fought back with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels.