The Latest | Nearly half a million people flee fighting in Rafah and northern Gaza, UN says

Nearly half a million Palestinians have been displaced in recent days by escalating Israeli military operations in southern and northern Gaza, the United Nations says.

Around 360,000 Palestinians were driven out of Rafah in Gaza's south over the past week, the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees said. There were roughly 1.3 million people sheltering in Rafah before Israel began pushing into the city, which Israel says is the last Hamas stronghold.

Israeli forces are also battling Hamas militants in northern Gaza, where the army had launched major operations earlier in the war. The army's evacuation orders issued Saturday have displaced around 100,000 people so far, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Monday.

No food has entered the two main border crossings in southern Gaza for the past week. Some 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger, on the brink of starvation, and a “full-blown famine” is taking place in the north, according to the U.N.

Seven months of Israeli bombardment and ground operations in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 people, most of them women and children, according to local health officials.

The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Currently:

— Misery deepens in Gaza’s Rafah as Israeli troops press operation.

— With the shock of Oct. 7 still raw, sadness and anger grip Israel on its Memorial Day.

— Pro-Palestinian protests dwindle on U.S. campuses, as some college graduations are marked by defiant acts.

— Blinken delivers some of the U.S.'s strongest public criticism yet of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.

— Palestinian band escapes horrors of war, but its members’ futures remain uncertain.

Here's the latest:

WHITE HOUSE ADVISER SAYS ISRAEL RISKS AN ENDLESS COUNTERINSURGENCY IN GAZA

WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the U.S. administration has expressed concerns to Israeli officials about becoming “mired in a counterinsurgency campaign that never ends” as Israel's War Cabinet remains focused on carrying out a major operation the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The comments from a top adviser to President Joe Biden came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned that Israel could be left “holding the bag” on an enduring insurgency in post-war Gaza.

“Look, we have painful experience in counterinsurgency campaigns fighting terrorists in urban environments, in populated areas,” said Sullivan, referring to long U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “And we know that it is not as simple as executing a military operation and calling it a day.”

Sullivan added that, “One of the risks of engaging in any kind of counterinsurgency campaign is the ability of the terrorist group to attract more recruits and more followers as time goes on.”

Sullivan said he spoke to his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts on Sunday about redoubling diplomatic efforts on a hostage-for-truce negotiations, and that U.S. officials would have further conversations with the Israelis in the coming days about how Israel can refine its plan to go after Hamas militants in Rafah while lessening the risk to Palestinian civilians.

He also pushed back against growing criticism from around the globe — as well as American critics of Israel’s prosecution of the war — who say Israeli forces are committing a genocide against the Palestinians.

Egypt, a key U.S. ally, said it would join South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

“I can’t say that it’s helpful to the discussions between Egypt and Israel to try to sort through assistance and access issues,” Sullivan said of the move announced Sunday by Cairo, which along with Qatar is a mediator in the cease-fire talks.

The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.

U.N. SAYS 100,000 PEOPLE DRIVEN OUT OF NORTHERN GAZA BY NEW ISRAELI EVACUATION ORDERS

UNITED NATIONS -- Israeli evacuation orders issued on Saturday for northern Gaza amid its ongoing bombardment in the area “have resulted in the displacement of some 100,000 people so far,” the United Nations says.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Monday those fleeing the north are in

addition to the nearly 360,000 people that have fled the southern city of Rafah since the first Israeli evacuation order there a week ago.

“We remain deeply concerned about the lack of protection for civilians – and the lack of safety for humanitarian operations,” Haq said.

Under international humanitarian, he stressed, “civilians must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay” and “those who leave must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and a safe place to go.”

Haq said he believes “a small amount” of fuel got into Gaza over the weekend, and the U.N. has been rationing what it has, “so we’re not in a shutdown mode, but we’re very low on fuel.”

U.S.-BUILT FLOATING PIER FOR GAZA AID COULD START OPERATING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS, U.S. AND CYPRUS SAY

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Humanitarian aid could start entering Gaza in the next few days through a long-promised floating pier built by the U.S. military after delays caused by bad weather, according to officials in the U.S. and Cyprus.

Improved sea conditions will allow the U.S. Army to anchor a causeway onto the beach this week, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday. The work could be finished Wednesday or Thursday, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

At a news conference, Cyprus' Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said he hopes aid could start flowing into Gaza through the sea corridor this week. “All these issues will be basically resolved in the next few days,” he said.

The plan is for aid ships to travel from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus to the floating pier near Gaza, where the cargo will be loaded into smaller U.S. Army boats that go to the causeway onshore. Trucks driven by contractors who are not from the U.S. will drive off the Army boats onto the causeway and down to the beach.

The U.S. ship Sagamore is in waters off Gaza, where U.S. officials said it would transfer some 475 pallets of food to another ship until the causeway is in place.

The Gaza pier project is expected to cost around $320 million. No food has entered the two main land crossings into southern Gaza for the past week, as the Israeli military intensified its bombardment and other operations in Rafah.

Almost the entire population of Gaza relies on humanitarian aid to survive. Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting have hindered humanitarian efforts, causing widespread hunger and a “full-blown famine” in the north, according to the U.N.

Jordan, the United States and other nations began airdropping aid into Gaza earlier this year, but aid agencies describe that as a costly, last-ditch effort that cannot meet mounting needs.