By Humeyra Pamuk
(Reuters) -The United States is working on a plan with Israel to minimize harm to civilians in any military operation in southern Gaza, a senior U.S. official said on Friday as Israel’s military resumed its bombardment of the territory following the collapse of a week-old truce with Hamas.
Friday’s bombing was most intense in the southern areas of Khan Younis and Rafah, however, medics and witnesses said. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have been sheltering there because of fighting in the north. Houses in central and northern areas were also hit.
By the evening, Gaza health officials said Israeli air strikes had killed 184 people, wounded at least 589 others and hit more than 20 houses.
Israel’s government agreed that any operation in the south will not look like it did in the north and its military will designate areas where civilians will not be harmed, the official said following U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to the region, where Washington’s top diplomat met with Israeli officials.
The official added that the U.S. expects there will be no full-scale assault on Khan Younis and Rafah as there was on Gaza City.
Washington has urged Israel to narrow the zone of combat and clarify where Palestinian civilians can seek safety in southern Gaza, officials have said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity on Friday, said entire neighborhoods in southern Gaza will be designated as zones that are safe for civilians, though some may still have to leave their homes if they are in areas where Hamas fighters are deeply embedded.
The United States will continue to talk with Israel about how to implement the measures, said the official.
Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 rampage by the militant group, when Israel says gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. Hamas, sworn to Israel’s destruction, has ruled Gaza since 2007.
In addition to those who planned the Oct. 7 attacks, Israel needs to eliminate Hamas’ battalion-level leadership, said the official.
Israel’s assault has laid waste to much of Gaza. Palestinian health authorities deemed reliable by the United Nations say more than 15,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed and thousands more are missing and feared buried under rubble.
Blinken on Thursday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s military operations in southern Gaza must not repeat the massive loss of civilian life and displacement seen during its offensive in the north.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Don Durfee, Daniel Wallis and Grant McCool)
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