Live: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds
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The death toll from Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to 174, according to the enclave's health ministry.
47 children and 29 women were among those killed, while there were around 1,200 injuries.
The ministry said overnight 26 people were killed including 8 children and 10 women
The new figures come after Israel's army said it had bombed the home of the political leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.
The UN Security Council is set to meet to discuss the fighting as outrage continues to grow across the globe.
In a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister blamed the United States for the lack of action at the United Nations Security Council on the recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians.
"Regrettably, the council has so far failed to reach an agreement, with the United States standing on the opposite side of international justice," Wang Yi said, as quoted by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Wang said China, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, expects all parties to speak with a unified voice when the council discusses the conflict during its meeting later on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Canada said it was following the recent developments in Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Gaza with "grave concern".
Canadian foreign minister Marc Garneau tweeted that Ottawa stood "for media freedom", but failed to condemn Israel after it bombed a high-rise building in Gaza that housed a number of international media organisations, including Middle East Eye, the Associated Press, and Al Jazeera.
The health authorities in Gaza said that five Palestinians have been killed and 40 others wounded in the recent wave of attacks by Israel, according to local media outlets.
Israel engaged in the heavy bombing of Gaza on Saturday night and early Sunday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Saturday that the operation will continue "as long as necessary".
US Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan said the ongoing war on Gaza is not only caused by the recent developments in Israel and the Palestinian territories, but is due to "decades of human rights violations" by Israel.
Pocan and a several progressive Democrats have been vocal in their criticism of both Israel and the response by the Biden administration.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hinted earlier on Saturday that Israel is an apartheid state in a post on Twitter, in a statement that was backed by fellow Democrat Cori Bush.
The US State Department voiced "unwavering support" for journalists after Israel bombed a building housing the media offices of major news outlets in Gaza on Saturday, but failed to criticise - let alone condemn - the attack itself.
Israel had levelled an 11-storey building hosting the offices of the Associated Press, Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera and other media outlets.
Late on Saturday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Gary Pruitt, the CEO of the Associated Press.
"The Secretary offered his unwavering support for independent journalists and media organizations around the world and noted the indispensability of their reporting in conflict zones," the State Department said in a statement.
"He expressed relief that the Associated Press team on the ground in Gaza remains safe."
The US administration had ignored calls by press freedom advocates to condemn the attack, instead it merely expressed "concern" for the safety of journalists.
Israel had claimed without evidence that the building was used by Hamas, an allegation denied by the Associated Press.
The Israeli military gave journalists an hour to evacuate the building before bombing it.
"We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza," Pruitt said in a statement earlier on Saturday.
"They have long known the location of our bureau and knew journalists were there."
Israel bombed the home of Hamas's chief in Gaza early on Sunday, according to reports by Reuters and Haaretz, while Israeli air strikes continued to pummel the besieged strip as hostilities stretched into a seventh day with no sign of abating.
No injuries were reported from the strike on Yahya Sinwar's home.
Earlier, at least two Palestinians were killed and 25 injured in the heavy Israeli bombing of Gaza, health authorities said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply disturbed" by the Israeli air strikes that destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza housing offices of several media organisations, including the Associated Press and Middle East Eye, his spokesman said on Saturday.
"The secretary-general reminds all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, as reported by AP.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel bombed a high-rise building that housed The Associated Press, Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye after giving journalists a one-hour notice to vacate. The 12-storey building also contained 60 residential units.
The secretary-general also pointed out the Israeli air strike on Friday in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, which killed 10 members of the same family including children, Dujarric said.
After the White House tweeted out a statement regarding US President Joe Biden's phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the American leader raised support for Israel while condemning Hamas for its rocket attacks, a flood of social media users replied with tweets of condemnation and disappointment.
Israeli bombs have killed at least 145 Palestinians, including dozens of children and in some instances entire families.
"I voted for you. I called people up, begged people to vote, and donated what I could. The disappointment I feel cannot be downplayed. This is cowardice. Don’t call yourself the leader of the free world when you fund ethic cleansing," said one user.
At least two Palestinians were killed and 25 injured in heavy Israeli bombing of Gaza on Saturday night, health authorities in the besieged territory said.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza noted that the death toll is likely to increase amid the bombing of many buildings in central Gaza. The two dead had arrived at al-Shifa hospital.
The injured were mostly women and children, the health ministry said. It added that five children were recovered alive from under the rubble of a building.
"Rescue teams are still looking through the rubble," it said.
In a statement describing a call between US defence secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz on Saturday, the Pentagon chief reaffirmed support for what Washington calls "Israel's right to defend itself" while failing to mention Palestinians.
Austin "strongly condemned the continued onslaught of attacks by Hamas" and other "terrorist" groups targeting Israeli civilians, according to the Pentagon's statement.
The secretary's call echoes a similar one earlier on Saturday between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which came after Israel bombed a building housing the offices of several media outlets in Gaza, including the Associated Press and Middle East Eye.
The Biden administration's stance on the recent attacks on Palestinians by Israeli forces, including air strikes in Gaza, has been heavily criticised by rights groups, activists, and some members of US Congress.
"To read the statements from President Biden, Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken, General Austin and leaders of both parties, you'd hardly know Palestinians existed at all," said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Thursday.
Tune into Middle East Eye's live stream from New York as hundreds have come out to protest in solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Demonstrators marched through the city streets chanting "Hey hey. Ho, ho. The occupation's got to go!"
Many villages in the West Bank declared a state of mourning on Saturday, following the killing of at least 11 Palestinian by Israeli forces in the occupied territory a day earlier.
In mosques across various Palestinian cities, loudspeakers sounded sirens for 73 seconds to mark the number of years since the Nakba, or the Catastrophe - the mass displacement of Palestinians leading to the establishment of Israel in 1984.
Large crowds of Palestinians also held funerals for the Palestinians who were killed on Friday in the West Bank in an intense crackdown from Israeli forces.
Later on Saturday, the Israeli military fatally shot a Palestinian near al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Mustafa Barghouti, the General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, told MEE that Israel’s use of force and evictions in the region is part of an “ethnic cleansing” effort.
“What we’re witnessing today is an Israeli attempt to repeat the Nakba, but what surprises Israel is the will of the Palestinian resistance and its ability to confront both by armed resistance in the Gaza Strip and popular resistance in the West Bank,” Barghouti said.
Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza on Saturday night, targeting towns across the besieged Palestinian territory with heavy air raids.
Al Jazeera reported that at least three Palestinians were killed and dozens injured, including women and children, in the bombing. Casualties continued to arrive at Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital throughout the night.
Palestinian groups continued to fire rockets towards Israel, including the Tel Aviv area. Footage shared on social media showed Israel's missile defences intercepting dozens of rockets over Tel Aviv.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shared a video showing the bombing of a building in Gaza known to house international news outlets, lauding the air raid as a successful attack on “terrorist organisations”.
“I say to the leaders of terrorism: you cannot hide. Not above ground and not below ground. No one is immune. We are collapsing the terrorist towers. These are towers that serve as headquarters and offices for terrorist organisations,” he wrote in the caption that accompanied the tweet.
“This operation will continue as long as it takes until we achieve our goals and bring peace and security to all Israeli citizens,” he added.
Journalists said they were given only a one-hour notice by the Israeli army to evacuate the al-Jalaa tower in Gaza City, before it was destroyed in an air strike.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent Democrats in the US Congress, has hinted that Israel is an ‘apartheid’ state in a post on Twitter.
The congresswoman has been a vocal critic of President Joe Biden’s position in the latest Israel-Palestinian tensions. In a separate tweet, she accuses Washington of playing a role in the rising casualties in the conflict.
Earlier this week, AOC called on the US to "acknowledge its role in the injustice and human rights violations of the Palestinians."
"This is not about not sides. This is about an imbalance of power," she said.
