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WASHINGTON — Humanitarian aid is trickling into Gaza, but Americans stranded in the besieged territory can’t get out.
The US government organized charter flights for its citizens to evacuate Israel, but no such plans are underway for those who live in the sealed-off Gaza Strip, which the Israeli military is bombing in retaliation for Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that left more than 1,400 dead, including 33 US citizens.
The Hamas-run health ministry said the death toll climbed past 6,500 on Wednesday as Israel intensified its airstrikes across the 140-square-mile enclave, including in the Nusseirat refugee camp, where an Al-Jazeera correspondent’s wife and two children were killed. An estimated 1 million people — roughly half of Gaza’s population — have reportedly fled their homes, mostly in the northern part of the territory, amid what the United Nations says is an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
