GAZA - At least 12 Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli airstrikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip, including civilians near humanitarian aid distribution sites, according to local health officials.

The Gaza Health Ministry says that the Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000.

This siege mentality may have undermined more proactive Israeli Jewish public support for a ceasefire and ‘day-after’ concessions when the conflict finally ends.

U.S. allies sanction far-right Israeli officials Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich over "extremist rhetoric" calling for "Palestinians to be driven from their homes."

Experts warned earlier this year that Gaza is at risk of famine if Israel does not lift its blockade and stop the military campaign it renewed in March, when it shattered a ceasefire with Hamas. Israel has since ramped up its offensive, in what it says is meant to pressure Hamas to agree to a ceasefire more favorable to Israel’s terms.

The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler violence.

Israel and Iran bombarded each other for a third day, with international concern growing that the conflict will spread across one of the world’s key oil-producing regions.