Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death toll from Israel’s aggression on the blockaded territory has risen to 27,947 since October 7, Al Jazeera reported.

At least 67,459 Palestinians have been wounded.

In the past 24 hours, the ministry said Israeli forces have killed 107 people and wounded 142 in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks are shelling areas in eastern Rafah, intensifying residents’ fears of an imminent ground assault.

Mourners wept over the bodies of those killed in an air strike that hit Tel as-Sultan neighborhood. The corpses were laid out in white shrouds. A man carried the body of a small child in a black bag.

“Suddenly in a blink of an eye, rockets fell on children, women, and elderly men. What for? Why? Because of the upcoming ceasefire? Usually before any ceasefire this happens,” said resident Mohammed Abu Habib.

Emad, 55, a father of six in Rafah who fled his home elsewhere, said they had nowhere left to run.

“We have our backs to the [border] fence and faces toward the Mediterranean. Where should we go?” he said.

A senior American official questioned statements from Israeli leaders that a ground invasion of southern Rafah city would soon be launched.

The United States has “seen no plans that would convince us that [Israelis] are about to or plan to imminently conduct any military operations in Rafah”, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

“Our view is that any major military operation in Rafah at this time – under these circumstances with probably a-million-and-a-half civilians … without consideration for their safety – would be a disaster. And we would not support it,” he said.

“That’s where they were told to go” by Israel, he noted. Israel’s army previously ordered Palestinians throughout Gaza to head for Rafah, calling it a “safe zone”.

The military “has a special obligation to protect innocent life”, Kirby added.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the war in Gaza has put more than half a million boys and girls out of school.

“Every day of war deepens the scars, risking a lost generation vulnerable to exploitation,” Philippe Lazzarini said in a post. “Children are being robbed of childhood.”

The commissioner-general said this situation “needs to be reversed starting with a humanitarian ceasefire”.