An Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip resulted in dozens of casualties on Wednesday, including dead and wounded.
One of those killed in the bombardment, just outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, was Palestinian journalist Ahmad Bdeir.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks Wednesday with President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority that Washington hopes could govern Gaza after the war ends.
The United States' top diplomat was on his fourth crisis visit to the Middle East since October 7, when Israel's brutal war on Gaza began. He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Blinken told a news conference afterwards that the United States would continue to support its ally, but also called on Israel to do more to protect those trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory, saying the "daily toll on civilians in Gaza, particularly children, is far too high".
Gaza's health ministry put the death toll Wednesday at 23,357, most of them civilians. The Israeli army announced the death of another soldier early Wednesday, bringing the total killed since its ground invasion began to 186.