The Latest | Egypt appeals for more aid deliveries by land to Gaza as Israel warns of Rafah push

Egypt’s top diplomat on Thursday made an emotional appeal for an urgent increase in humanitarian aid going into Gaza by land, even as an aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food was on its way to the enclave, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been driven to the brink of starvation.

The push to get food in by sea — along with a recent campaign of airdrops into isolated northern Gaza — highlighted the international community’s frustration with the growing humanitarian crisis and with Israel's restrictions that have prevented more aid getting in by land.

On Wednesday, Israel said it plans to tell 1.4 million Palestinians displaced in Gaza's southern city of Rafah to seek shelter “humanitarian islands” in central Gaza ahead of a planned military offensive into the south. Israel says Hamas maintains four battalions in Rafah that it wants to destroy.

Humanitarian groups fear a military offensive into the densely crowded area would be a catastrophe. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes, with many driven into sprawling tent camps. A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, the United Nations has warned. The border crossing at Rafah is Gaza’s main entry point for aid.

More than 31,314 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the territory's Health Ministry said. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.

Some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in southern Israel during the Hamas-led incursion on Oct. 7 that sparked the war. Around 250 people were abducted, and Hamas is believed to still be holding about 100 hostages.

Currently:

— Despair deepens for families of hostages in Gaza as the Ramadan cease-fire deadline passes.

— South Africa’s foreign minister says citizens fighting with Israeli forces in Gaza will be arrested.

— Israel says it plans to direct Palestinians out of Rafah ahead of anticipated offensive.

— Palestinian soccer federation says a former national team player has been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

GAZA'S HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS ISRAEL'S ASSAULT ON THE TERRITORY HAS KILLED 31,314 PEOPLE

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that Israel’s assault on the territory has killed 31,314 Palestinians and wounded more than 73,100.

The ministry says around two-thirds of the dead are women and children and that the real overall toll is higher because bodies are buried under the rubble or in areas that medics can’t access amid Israel’s ground offensive and bombardment. The ministry’s count does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

Israel blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential areas. The Israeli military says it has killed over 13,000 Hamas fighters, without providing evidence.

ISRAELI POLICE SAY MILITANT STABS MAN AT A HIGHWAY REST STOP IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli police say a man was stabbed and critically wounded in a militant attack at a highway rest stop in southern Israel on Thursday. The police say the attacker was subdued, without providing further information on his condition or identity.

The attack came amid heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began this week.

The Hamas militant group has called on Palestinians to attack Israelis during the holy month. On Wednesday, a Palestinian stabbed two security forces at a checkpoint south of Jerusalem before being shot and killed.

Israeli police say at least 3,000 security personnel will be deployed across Jerusalem during the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, where tens of thousands of Palestinians are expected to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.

The site is the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the Jewish temples in antiquity. It has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Violence has surged in the occupied West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza.

EGYPT'S TOP DIPLOMAT MAKES AN URGENT APPEAL TO INCREASE GAZA AID THROUGH LAND CROSSINGS

CAIRO — Egypt’s top diplomat on Thursday appealed for an urgent increase in the amount of humanitarian aid going into besieged Gaza through land crossings, adding that people in the devastated territory cannot wait until a U.S. planned temporary port to be built for sea shipments.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry spoke as U.S. military representatives were expected in Israel this week to further coordinate a planned U.S. floating pier that will be built off the coast of Gaza. The United States and other countries have also been airdropping food into northern Gaza in recent weeks to help alleviate the crisis.

But aid groups said air drops and bringing sea shipments are far less efficient and effective than bringing in food by land routes, which Israel has severely restricted.

Shoukry said the sea port is “expected to be completed in two months.”

"What shall we do during those two months? Shall more children continue to die until this port is constructed,” he asked during a joint press conference with his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares in Cairo.

President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military last week to set up a temporary port off the coast of Gaza to carve out a sea route for food and other aid. Pentagon has said the construction of a massive floating pier will take weeks and require as many as 1,000 US troops.

“We should be realistic in dealing with the situation and we cannot afford any delay,” said Shourky. “What we have at our disposal now are land crossings.”

He insisted that Israel should be held accountable for restricting the passage of aid to Gaza, urging it to allow relief assistance through all six border crossings with the strip.