LIVE UPDATES: Israel Expands Ground Operations in Gaza Strip - IDF Spokesman

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have discussed Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip in a phone call, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Israel rejects the UN General Assembly's call for a ceasefire and plans to eliminate Palestinian group Hamas, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said.

"We reject outright the UN General Assembly despicable call for a ceasefire. Israel intends to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and ISIS*," Cohen wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Around 40% of the total number of schools in the Gaza Strip or over 200 educational institutions have been damaged during the ongoing escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Friday.

"Since 7 October, more than 200 schools have been damaged - around 40% of the total number of schools in the Gaza Strip – about forty of them very seriously," UNESCO said in a statement.

Over 625,000 pupils and more than 22,500 teachers in the area have been placed in an "extremely vulnerable situation," the organization added.

The US State Department issued an advisory on Friday urging American citizens in Lebanon to consider leaving the country immediately due to the unpredictable security situation in the region.

The military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, said on Friday that its fighters are engaged in a clash with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) near Beit Hanoun in northeast Gaza Strip.

Earlier in the day, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said that the military is expanding its ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday approved a Jordan-submitted resolution calling for a humanitarian truce in the Palestine-Israel conflict, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The resolution was adopted in a 120-14 vote, with 45 abstentions.

Some of the countries which voted against the resolution on the humanitarian truce were: the United States, Austria, Israel and Hungary. On the other hand, countries such as France, Belgium or Ireland voted in favor of the document. The breakdown suggests the European Union could not have a unified position due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted against amending a draft resolution on the Palestine-Israel conflict to include condemnation of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.

The draft resolution, proposed by the Arab Group at the United Nations, "calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities" and does not condemn violence by either side.

The proposed amendment, drafted by Canada, would have altered the text to include a clause that “unequivocally rejects and condemns the terrorist attacks by Hamas that took place in Israel starting on 7 October 2023 and the taking of hostages, demands safety, well-being and human treatment of the hostages.”

Countries voting against Jordan's resolution to the UN General Assembly would mean approving the senseless war between Palestine and Israel, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi said on Friday.

he United States is privately urging Israel not to conduct a full-scale invasion of Gaza, but it is not confident it can persuade Israeli officials to reverse their decision, The Washington Post reported on Friday, citing US officials.

Earlier in the day, Israel's armed forces announced they will expand ground operations in northern Gaza later today.

The report said that US officials highly doubt a full-scale ground assault by Israel in Gaza would achieve its goals of eliminating Hamas, but would only derail ongoing negotiations for the release of hostages and result in numerous causalities of Palestinian civilians and Israeli troops.

The military wing of Hamas said on Friday that it is repelling a ground incursion of the Israeli military in the eastern part of the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Nothing has changed about the United States' desire to get hostages out of Gaza and returned to their families safely, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday.

Fighting in densely populated areas, like the Gaza Strip, brings forth particular risks for civilian population and all conflicting sides must prevent civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Director of Operations Martin Schuepp told Sputnik.

On Friday, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Israel's ground forces were expanding their operations in the Gaza Strip.

He noted the importance of infrastructure necessary for the survival of the civilian population such as water supply and hospitals.

Series of loud explosions were heard in the Gaza Strip on Friday, and the Palestinian exclave is experiencing the heaviest Israeli attacks since the escalation of the conflict, Fox News reported, citing its correspondent.

The current humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is "nothing short than desperate" after repeated cycles of violence in the area, Director of Operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Martin Schuepp told Sputnik.

"The situation in Gaza is nothing short than desperate. And even that is maybe an understatement. It is difficult to find words what our colleagues see on the ground. After repeated cycles of violence, the situation has already been difficult and extremely dire. Yet we cannot compare what we see today with what we’ve seen in the past. So the level of destruction, despair, displacement is absolutely tremendous. Imagine that hundreds of thousands have to leave their homes to live in the open where they can barely have access to water, food. Most of the hospitals are struggling to continue functioning, so the situation is absolutely desperate," Schuepp said.