The Latest | UN food aid collapses in Rafah as Israeli leaders decry war crime accusations

The United Nations said Tuesday that it was no longer able to distribute food aid in the southern Gaza city of Rafah due to lack of supplies and insecurity.

The humanitarian crisis has escalated over the past two weeks since Israel launched an incursion into Rafah that closed a vital border crossing, vowing to root out Hamas fighters. The fighting sent hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing out of Rafah, many of whom were displaced earlier in the war.

A U.S. official said Tuesday that Israel has addressed many of President Joe Biden's concerns about a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah, although the Americans stopped short of greenlighting a total Israeli assault on the city.

Israel and the United States are also seeking to contain fallout after chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court requested arrest warrants for leaders of both Israel and Hamas. Among the prosecutor's allegations against Israel was using “starvation as a method of warfare.” Israeli and U.S. leaders harshly condemned the accusations.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.

At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. Around 80% of the population of 2.3 million Palestinians has been displaced within the territory, often multiple times.

Currently:

— Israel tries to contain the fallout after some allies support ICC prosecutor’s request for warrants

— Israeli officials seize AP equipment and take down live video shot of northern Gaza, citing new media law

— Analysis: Iran’s nuclear policy of pressure and talks likely to go on even after president’s death

— Days of funerals begin for Iran’s president and others killed in crash

— Israeli forces kill at least seven Palestinians in a West Bank raid

— Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they shot down another U.S. drone

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here's the latest:

SENATOR SAYS DOCTOR WHO SAVED HER LIFE FINALLY ABLE TO LEAVE GAZA

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth says the doctor she credits with saving her life when she was a military helicopter pilot in Iraq in 2004 has left Gaza.

Duckworth tweeted Tuesday that American Dr. Adam Hamawy had safely left the embattled enclave. She said on the social platform X that she was grateful to President Joe Biden “for his coordination and attention as we worked to secure this evacuation.”

There were 35 American and other international doctors who went to Gaza in volunteer teams to help one of the territory’s few functioning hospitals. The teams were trapped beyond the scheduled end of their two-week mission after Israel moved into the southern Gaza city of Rafah and seized the Rafah crossing into Egypt. That closed the main entry and exit point for international humanitarian workers.

Some of the doctors left Friday after talks between U.S. and Israeli authorities, but Hamawy and several others had stayed behind, according to the Palestinian American Medical Association.

Duckworth was flying a military helicopter in Iraq in 2004 when she was hit by an RPG, causing injuries that cost her her legs. She has credited Hamawy with saving her life.

U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS ISRAEL ADDRESSED MANY OF BIDEN'S CONCERNS OVER RAFAH INVASION

WASHINGTON — Israel has addressed many of President Joe Biden’s concerns over its long-simmering plan to carry out a widescale military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas, a senior Biden administration official said Tuesday.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said that in talks over the weekend with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Israeli officials incorporated many changes into their planning that seem to meet concerns about deepening an operation in an area that has been flooded with Palestinian refugees during the seven-month war.

Biden had previously said he opposed a widescale operation in Rafah that did not prioritize the safety of innocent Palestinian civilians.

The official said the administration stopped short of greenlighting the Israeli plan, but he said Israeli officials’ altered planning suggested they were taking the American administration’s concerns seriously.

Some 400,000 people are believed to still be in Rafah after around 900,000 rushed to escape, according to COGAT, the Israeli military office in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs.

The U.N says some 1.1 million people in Gaza — nearly half the population — face catastrophic levels of hunger and that the territory is on the brink of famine. The humanitarian crisis deepened after Israeli forces pushed into Rafah on May 6.

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AP writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contirbuted.

MINISTER ORDERS RETURN OF SEIZED ASSOCIATED PRESS BROADCAST EQUIPMENT

JERUSALEM — The Israeli communications minister has ordered the return of seized camera and broadcasting equipment to the Associated Press after blocking the news outlet's live video of Gaza.

Israeli officials seized the equipment after accusing the news organization of violating a new media law by providing images to Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar. The network is one of thousands of AP customers, and it receives live video from AP and other news organizations.

The Biden administration, journalism organizations and an Israeli opposition leader put pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after officials seized the AP equipment.

“The Associated Press plays a vital role in bringing the news to people in Israel, the United States, and around the world,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “Israel should reverse this action immediately.”

Two U.S. officials had said they were in touch with senior levels of the Israeli government about the matter and had privately urged that the decision be rescinded. A third U.S. official said the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, had been given conflicting information from Israeli officials.

At first, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem reported back to Washington that the equipment had been returned. When told that the equipment had not, in fact, been returned, Lew and the embassy sought clarification and were told that the issue was still in the process of being resolved.

One official said Israel has “indicated to us that they acknowledge that the equipment needs to be returned.” That official, like the two others, spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private diplomatic discussions.

Israeli officials seized an AP camera and broadcasting equipment in southern Israel, accusing it of violating the law related to Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar. The network is one of thousands of AP customers, and it receives live video from AP and other news organizations.