Israeli attacks in Gaza add to heavy Palestinian toll in war on Hamas

Israeli forces pounded central Gaza by land, sea and air and Palestinian authorities reported dozens more deaths, with the U.N. health agency saying thousands of people were trying to flee the fighting.
Israel remains resolved to wipe out the Palestinian militant group Hamas in response to the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, despite international calls for a ceasefire and easing of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli planes carried out three strikes in Al Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing seven people and wounding several others, medics said late on Wednesday.
The U.N. World Health Organization said its staff had seen tens of thousands of people fleeing heavy strikes in Khan Younis and the Middle Area on foot, on donkeys or in cars. Makeshift shelters were being built along the road, it said on Wednesday.
On the diplomatic front, where international pressure on Israel has grown, French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call of the need to work towards a durable ceasefire with the help of regional and international partners, the French Presidency said.