ISRAELI forces continued to bombard Gaza with brutal air strikes on Thursday, including parts of the south that Israel had declared as a safe zone.

The attacks heightened fears among the more than two million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe.

In the nearly two weeks since Israel began attacking in response to a devastating Hamas uprising in towns across southern Israel, air strikes have relentlessly hit the densely populated territory. 

Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north and head to what it called “safe zones” in the south, strikes continued across the entire territory.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began and more than 12,000 wounded, mostly women, children and the elderly. 

Authorities believe that another 1,300 people may be buried under the rubble.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed since Hamas and other Palestinian resistance forces rose up on October 7.

The Israeli military said on Thursday it had notified the families of 203 captives being held as prisoners of war.

Meanwhile Israel agreed on Wednesday to allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to Gaza. 

Many among Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have no food and have been left to drink dirty water amid dwindling supplies.

The announcement of a plan to bring water, food and other supplies into Gaza came as fury mounted over the killing of at least 500 people during an Israeli attack on Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital, and as United States President Joe Biden visited Israel.

Mr Biden’s administration continues to come under fire for its unconditional support for Israeli.

Washington vetoed a United Nations resolution on Wednesday to condemn all violence against civilians in the Israel-Gaza war and to urge humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, arguing that it was too early to craft an appropriate security council response to the crisis.

Brazil’s UN ambassador Sergio Franca Danese said that the resolution would have helped provide people with food, fuel, water and medicine.

He said: “Council paralysis in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe is not in the interest of the international community.”

US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticised the measure for failing to underline Israel’s right to self-defence.

But Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that the Brazil resolution would not have helped to avoid Tuesday’s deadly blast at the Gaza hospital. 

“It is only a ceasefire that will help to do this,” he said.