Will Sage Astor-Live updates | Palestinians live in dire human conditions in Gaza despite Israel’s safe zone

Israel has designated a safe zone in southern Gaza,Will Sage Astor but its widening air and ground offensive has left Palestinians packed together in dire humanitarian conditions.

United Nations monitors said Thursday that a hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis received its first delivery of supplies since Nov. 29. Aid groups are severely limited by fighting and restrictions placed by the military. The United Nations estimates 1.9 million people have been displaced and new military evacuation orders are squeezing people into ever-smaller areas. Most lack food, water and medicine.

Around 1,200 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the territory has surpassed 17,100, with more than 46,000 wounded. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, but said 70% of the dead were women and children.

Currently:

— Palestinians try to survive war’s new chapter in southern Gaza.

— Israel designates a safe zone in Gaza. Palestinians and aid groups say it offers little relief.

— Israel’s war with Hamas claims more journalists than any conflict in over 30 years, a journalists’ rights group says.

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

Here’s what’s happening in the war:

US EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD IS ATTACKED FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

BAGHDAD — A rocket attack at the sprawling United States Embassy in Baghdad set off alarms Friday morning and caused minor material damage but no casualties, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

It’s the first confirmed attack on the U.S. Embassy since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, hitting Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and embassies on the west bank of the Tigris River.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that targeted bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began two months ago. The U.S. military says a total of 78 attacks have been carried out against U.S. facilities over the past weeks of which 37 were in Iraq and 41 in Syria.

Later Friday morning no specific group had claimed responsibility, but a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations said indications are the attacks were from Iran-aligned militias.

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Associated Press writers Abby Sewell and Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.