Israel says it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas.

The State Department said it was halting all visas for Palestinians from Gaza, including medical visas for children.

The plan would envisage people moving from an enclave shattered by almost two years of war with Israel to a nation in the heart of Africa riven by political and ethnically-driven violence.

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — After setting off from Cyprus, a ship loaded with 1,200 tons of food supplies for the Gaza Strip was approaching the Israeli port of Ashdod on Tuesday in a renewed effort to alleviate the worsening crisis as famine threatens the Palestinian territory.

The State Department announced on Saturday that it is temporarily halting visitor visas for people from Gaza, including children seeking medical care.

In leaked audio recordings, the former head of Israeli military intelligence can be heard saying that the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza is “necessary and required for future generations.

More and more Palestinians are calling on Hamas to step down and end the war with Israel that has devastated their home land, with the terror group allegedly executing its critics, according to