Israel-Palestinian Strife Exacts Grim Toll in Gaza
Voice of America
GENEVA - U.N. agencies said conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate nine days into the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. In Gaza, 200 people reportedly have been killed and more than 6,000 injured. Twenty people have been killed in the West Bank, and Palestinian rocket attacks into populated areas of Israel reportedly have killed 10 people and injured 800.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it welcomes the decision by Israeli authorities to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing, allowing essential humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza. It urges Israel also to open the Erez Crossing, so critical humanitarian staff can move in and out of Palestinian territory. OCHA said days of intense fighting and the destruction and damage to hundreds of buildings and houses has displaced nearly 47,000 people in Gaza. They reportedly have sought refuge in 58 schools run by UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said the North Gaza Seawater Desalination Plant is still not operational, depriving a quarter million people access to drinking water.
Local officials and navy personnel attend a joint Iranian, Russian and Chinese military drill in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 12, 2025. (Iranian Army Office via AFP) Chinese navy troops attending a joint naval drill with Iran and Russia stand on the deck of their warship in an official arrival ceremony at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 11, 2025.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves as he arrives for Mauritius' 57th National Day celebrations at the Champ De Mars, Port Louis, Mauritius, March 12, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and his Mauritius counterpart Navin Ramgoolam pay homage after laying a wreath at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden during his State visit, in Pamplemousses, Mauritius, March 11, 2025. FILE - Sailors walk on the deck of the INS Imphal, a stealth guided-missile destroyer, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Dec. 22, 2023.

Police officers guard the Palace of the Republic after Bosnian prosecutors ordered the detention of three top Bosnian Serb officials over a series of separatist actions, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, March 12, 2025. FILE - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, Dec. 29, 2023.