Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by deliberately causing the mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, a report by Human Rights Watch says.

“Israel is striking everywhere. There is nowhere that is safe anymore,” she added. Another woman in her 80s was being rushed to a car. She had moved to Aramoun a month ago, also from Beirut’s southern suburbs. After the strike, she left with everyone else in the building and spent two or three hours in their car on the street.

Israeli officials are insisting on maintaining a capacity to strike Lebanon at any moment as part of conditions to secure a ceasefire with Iran-backed Hezbollah, France's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

The deaths on Wednesday made it one of the most lethal days for the Israeli military since it invaded Lebanon last month to battle Hezbollah fighters.

Officials say Israel has taken some steps to meet a US demand for more supplies to enter Gaza, but aid agencies say conditions have actually worsened.

Israel rejected on Wednesday accusations made by eight international aid groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, that Israel had failed to meet U.S. demands to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

A US deadline for Israel to improve getting humanitarian aid into Gaza has expired, with the Biden administration assessing that Israel is not blocking aid and so is not violating US law governing foreign military assistance.