Palestinian rescuers reported more than 100 people killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on blockaded Gaza, where a US-backed organization said it intends to begin distributing aid by the end of the month.
In the occupied West Bank, raids were ongoing and roads blocked after Israel's military chief vowed to find the perpetrators of an resistance operation that killed a pregnant Israeli woman.
Gaza's civil defence agency said the death toll from Israeli bombardment since dawn on Thursday had risen to 103.
Israel blocked all aid from entering Gaza on March 2, before resuming operations on March 18, ending a six-week ceasefire.
"Israel's blockade has transcended military tactics to become a tool of extermination," Human Rights Watch (HRW) interim executive director Federico Borello said in a statement on Thursday.
HRW said "the Israeli government's plan to demolish what remains of Gaza's civilian infrastructure and concentrate the Palestinian population into a tiny area would amount to an abhorrent escalation of its ongoing crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide."
Amir Selha, a 43-year-old Palestinian from north Gaza, reported "intense Israeli shelling all night."
"Tank shells are striking around the clock, and the area is packed with people and tents," he said.
He added that in early morning Israeli army drones dropped leaflets in his neighbourhood, warning residents to move south.
Most Gazans have been displaced at least once during 19 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel says the pressure aims to force Hamas to free the remaining hostages seized in the October 2023 attack which triggered the war.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-supported NGO, said it would begin distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza this month after talks with Israeli officials.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, five European members of the UN Security Council said that they were "deeply concerned" at the Israeli plan, "which the United Nations has said would not meet humanitarian principles."
Evacuation orders
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday that 2,876 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,010.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the resistance, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
The United Nations estimates that 70% of Gaza is now either an Israeli-declared no-go zone or under evacuation order.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Basal said Israel was "employing a policy of shrinking areas and emptying populated regions to pressure and terrorize civilians."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday the military would enter Gaza "with full force" in the coming days.
Despite the bombardment, efforts are still under way for a new hostage release and ceasefire deal.
With US President Donald Trump touring Gulf Arab states, his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff discussed the hostages issue with Netanyahu on Wednesday.
Hamas accused Netanyahu of undermining ceasefire and hostage release efforts "through deliberate military escalation, showing indifference to his captives, endangering their lives."
In the northern West Bank, the Israeli military said a manhunt was under way after an resistance operation that killed a pregnant woman.
Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said: "We will use all the tools at our disposal and reach the murderers in order to hold them accountable."
