Dozens of the United Nations’ rights experts on Thursday condemned Hamas’s “horrific crimes” and said Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip “amounts to collective punishment”.

“There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces,” said the experts in a joint statement.

“This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime.”

Israeli energy minister says that electricity and fuel will not be allowed to return to Gaza until Israeli hostages are released by Hamas. “No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter,” says Energy Minister Israel Katz.

The Gaza Strip is currently without electricity, thus the sounds of Israeli missiles bombarding the blockaded territory are no longer the sole noises of death.

The International Red Cross says that with no power in Gaza, hospitals lose power, putting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays cannot be taken to prevent diagnosis.

Here are the latest developments on the issue.

• The Palestinian health ministry says the death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,200, while the number of injuries has reached about 5,600. The number of people killed in Israel has also reached 1,200.

• The UN says that 338,934 Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza, as Israel’s devastating bombing raids continue overnight.

• Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘indiscriminate and disproportionate’ use of force against Palestinians, calls for ceasefire.

• Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has called for “an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people”, his office said following a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

• The International Committee of the Red Cross said fuel powering emergency generators at hospitals could run out within hours.

• Syria’s state television said Israel launched attacks on the main airports in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who landed in Tel Aviv today, has reassured Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of Washington’s support.

• Former Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth says “indiscriminate and disproportionate attack” on Palestinian civilians could constitute “a war crime”.

• White House backtracks on US President Joe Biden’s claim that he saw pictures of beheaded children.

• Hamas’s Qassam Brigades has released a video appearing to show the release of a female hostage and two children.

• Global and regional leaders continue efforts to end the ongoing escalation of the Israel-Hamas war as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and Iran’s president spoke by phone about the conflict between Israel and Palestine during which they discussed “the current military situation in Gaza and its environs.”

• Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and Iran’s president spoke by phone about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Saudi state media said early on Thursday, their first call since a surprise rapprochement in March.

• Raisi has called on Islamic and Arab countries to cooperate in confronting Israel as it wages a deadly war triggered by Hamas’ surprise move last week.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a negotiation process with Hamas for the release of Israeli hostages kidnapped by the Palestinian militants.

• To stop the Israeli aggression, Arab League Foreign Ministers held a meeting and issued a joint statement that the siege of Gaza should be ended and the citizens should be given aid, demanding action to stop the war.

• On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to “destroy” Hamas following its surprise attack.

• Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a centrist opposition leader,
  spoke live on Israeli television alongside Israeli Prime Minister
  Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant after forming a war
  cabinet focused entirely on the conflict.