Over 123,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli attacks, UN says

The United Nations humanitarian agency says 123,538 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have been displaced by fighting.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza have targeted houses and apartment buildings, with some struck without warning for residents to evacuate, the UN said on Sunday.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees estimates that 73,538 people are sheltering across 64 schools in Gaza, some of which are designated emergency shelters.

Compounding the dire humanitarian situation, Israel cut electricity supplies to the impoverished territory after armed groups from Gaza launched a coordinated attack on southern Israel.

The Gaza Power Plant is now the only source of power and could run out of fuel within days, the UN said. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a second phone call in less than two days with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud.

Blinken on Sunday also held a call with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The Biden administration has been working for months to normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The suprise attack by Hamas is widely seen as a blow to those efforts. 

Blinken's calls with his regional counterparts focused on halting attacks by Hamas and securing the release of hostages, according to a US State Department readout of the calls.

Earlier on Sunday, Blinken said the US was working to verify reports that Americans had been killed or taken hostage by Hamas, saying, “We’ve got reports that several Americans are among the dead,” and was “working overtime to verify that.”

CNN reported on Sunday an internal US government memo that said at least three US citizens have been killed in the attacks in Israel.

US President Joe Biden has ordered ships and warplanes to move closer to Israel in a show of support with Washington’s ally.

The US also promised to provide munitions and equipment to Israel, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Sunday.

Israeli ground attack on besieged Gaza Strip expected within 48 hours

Israel is likely to launch a ground attack on the besieged Gaza Strip within the next 48 hours, sources in the Biden administration believe, according to the Washington Post. 

Israel has also requested the Biden administration provide it additional iron dome missile interceptors, small diameter bombs, and machine gun ammunition, the Washington Post added. 

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Egyptian officials have warned Israel against launching a ground assault on the besieged Gaza Strip because it would trigger a military response from the Lebanese group Hezbollah, risking a wider conflagration of fighting. 

Israel has asked the Biden administration to boost intelligence sharing along its northern border with Lebanon, the Washington Post also reported. 

UAE condemns Hamas’ ‘serious and grave escalation’

The United Arab Emirates condemned the Hamas movement for its “serious and grave escalation”.

“The Ministry is appalled by reports that Israeli civilians have been abducted as hostages from their homes,” the UAE said in a statement. “Civilians on both sides must always have full protection under international humanitarian law and must never be a target of conflict.”

Offering condolences to the families of the victims, the UAE called on “both parties” to de-escalate and avoid “an expansion of the heinous violence with tragic consequences affecting civilian lives and facilities”.

“The UAE underscored that the international community needs to work together to prevent the violence risking wider instability and spillover, including the involvement by other groups,” the statement continued, underlining the importance of returning to negotiations for a two-state solution.