A group of UN-mandated human rights experts, including the special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said that "time is running out to prevent genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza."

"We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide," the experts said in a joint statement. "The time for action is now. Israel's allies also bear responsibility and must act now to prevent its disastrous course of action."

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Lebanese armed group Hezbollah launched simultaneous attacks on 19 different positions in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon, a senior Hezbollah source confirmed. The source said the positions included military sites, but did not elaborate.

Also it was claimed by Hezbollah that today they have used, for the first time, explosive-laden drones and hit an Israeli command center towards the east, reported Al Jazeera English.

Dreadful escalation

There were around 25 to 30 rockets launched from Lebanon towards the Israeli positions and towards Kiryat Shmona, where there was an impact. A rocket hit a residential area there, evidence that the situation is unfolding on an hourly basis.

"The rockets heard here in Naqoura being launched on the naval base were heavy and were not intercepted by the Iron Dome. They were not guided missiles; they were surface-to-surface missiles," said Al Jazeera journalist Ali Hashem. "So the whole situation here is giving us an indication that things are escalating and this time they're escalating in a kind of a dreadful way."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set off for his second trip to the Middle East since the latest crisis started. He will spend Friday in Israel before a trip to Jordan. Blinken said he would discuss concrete steps to minimize harm to men, women and children in Gaza, as he said in recent days they have seen Palestinian civilians continuing to bear the brunt of the conflict.

Speaking to reporters before departing Washington, Blinken said the U.S. is determined to prevent escalation on all fronts, including southern Lebanon, the West Bank or elsewhere in the region.

Hundreds more foreigners and dual nationals fled war-torn Gaza for Egypt as Israeli forces bombarded and fought ground battles in the besieged Palestinian territory, where thousands have died. 

Egypt said it eventually plans to help evacuate 7,000 foreigners through the Rafah crossing and a spokesman for the Palestinian side of the border post said about 100 had been able to leave.

A total of 400 foreign passport holders as well as 60 severely wounded Palestinians in ambulances were due to cross by the end of the second day of departures, Wael Abu Mohsen said, and Egyptian officials later reported the first arrivals.

'Between ice and fire'

A list of those approved to travel shows hundreds of U.S. citizens and 50 Belgians along with smaller numbers from various European, Arab, Asian and African countries. 

"I'm not even excited to leave Gaza because we have so many people that we love and care about," said Suzan Beseiso, a U.S. citizen with relatives in Gaza, where she had spent several months.

"Right now I'm between ice and fire. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to see the family I left behind or the friends I left behind. People are dying. Everybody's dying. Nobody's safe. We don't have bomb shelters," she said.

The evacuation marks a tiny proportion of the 2.4 million people trapped in Gaza under weeks of bombardment since Hamas launched their bloody cross-border attack into Israel on October 7.

The UK said it had begun sending 30 tonnes of aid to Egypt – such as forklift trucks, belt conveyors and lighting towers – to help Rafah process humanitarian aid deliveries faster.  

Israel fighting 'a brutal enemy'

Ground battles flared again overnight in northern Gaza as Israeli troops have sought to destroy Hamas, the group that controls the territory. 

The Israeli army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, said troops were inside Gaza, besieging Gaza City and "deepening infiltration" of Hamas-held areas. "Israeli soldiers are fighting face-to-face with a brutal enemy," he told reporters.

The Israeli army is also seeking to free around 240 hostages, both civilians and troops, captured by Hamas during the attacks. Some 332 soldiers have already been killed in the October 7 attacks and in the Israeli offensive the Hamas assault triggered.

Now grueling urban warfare lies ahead deeper inside Gaza, where Hamas is fighting from a tunnel network spanning hundreds of kilometers. Global concern has risen sharply over Israel's response, in which the army says it has struck more than 12,000 targets so far. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 9,000 people have died, mostly women and children.

Special concern has focused on repeated heavy strikes on Gaza's largest refugee camp – densely populated Jabalia, north of Gaza City – where explosions brought down residential buildings.

Gaza's Hamas-ruled government said 195 were killed in two days of Israeli strikes on Jabalia, with hundreds more missing and wounded. Hamas said seven of the estimated 242 hostages it is holding, died in Tuesday's bombings, a claim that is impossible to verify. Major strikes also hit Gaza's Bureij refugee camp and an area near a UN-run school in Jabalia, where the health ministry said 27 had died.

'Children are screaming'

Outside the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City, displaced residents seeking shelter from Israeli strikes said that civilians would not withstand the barrage much longer.

"This is not a life. We need a safe place for our kids," said 50-year-old Hiyam Shamlakh. "Everybody is terrified, children, women and the elderly."

Talal Shamlakh, 65, said: "There have been missiles since 7 am around the hospital and we couldn't sleep while children are screaming."

Israel has sought to justify the first Jabalia attack by saying it targeted a senior Hamas commander in a tunnel complex below the camp. 

Journalists have witnessed rescuers desperately clawing through the rubble and twisted metal in frantic attempts to bring out survivors and bodies. Emergency responders say "whole families" have died.

The wounded were rushed away by cart, motorcycle and ambulance as anguished wails and blaring sirens filled the dusty air. But Gaza's hospitals have been overwhelmed and run short of medical supplies and even electricity. 

'Indescribable' situation

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said the forced evacuation of hospitals in the Gaza Strip would put the lives of hundreds of patients at risk as he called the situation on the ground "indescribable."

"Twenty-three hospitals have been ordered to evacuate in Gaza City and north Gaza, and forced evacuation in these circumstances would put the lives of hundreds of patients in a life threatening situation," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "We're running out of words to describe the horror unfolding in Gaza."

Meanwhile, Israel is talking to medical agencies about setting up field hospitals in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. 

Violence has also flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where more than 130 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the conflict, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank, the ministry said, and an Israeli was killed in a Palestinian shooting attack, according to first responders.

In embattled Gaza, more than 20,000 people are wounded, according to aid group Doctors Without Borders. Israel has argued it is trying to avoid civilian casualties and has told residents to evacuate northern Gaza. It also says Hamas has blocked many civilians from leaving to use them as "human shields."

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