The US defence secretary visited Israel on Monday as war with Hamas triggered by deadly attacks dragged on, drawing accusations that Israel was starving Palestinians in its offensive. Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing around 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The militants also took about 250 hostages, of whom 105 have been released and several killed. Aiming to eliminate Hamas, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment of Gaza, alongside a ground invasion, that has killed 19,453 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. On day 73 of the war, here are five key developments from the past 24 hours: – Pentagon chief in Israel – Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Israel on Monday that the United States will keep providing Israel with arms “to defend your country”, also calling for more aid for displaced Gazans. Austin also addressed the potential for broader regional conflict, warning Iran to “stop” supporting Yemen’s Huthi rebels and urging powerful Lebanese group Hezbollah not to “provoke a wider conflict”, amid near-daily skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border. – Israel ‘deliberately’ starving civilians: HRW – Human Rights Watch accused Israel of intentionally starving civilians in Gaza as part of its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory. “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime,” the New York-based group charged in a report. “Israeli forces are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel, while wilfully impeding humanitarian assistance,” it added. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said “Human Rights Watch… has no moral basis to talk about what’s going on in Gaza,” charging that the group had ignored “the suffering and the human rights of Israelis”. – UN to vote on truce call – The UN Security Council was due to vote Monday on a new resolution calling for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” in Gaza, but the meeting was rescheduled and could be further postponed, possibly until Tuesday, to allow further negotiations. The United States previously blocked similar texts. The wider UN General Assembly has voted for an end to fighting, with 153 out of 193 members in favour. – France bids to calm Lebanon border – France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Monday urged restraint in meetings with senior officials in Beirut, seeking to de-escalate tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border amid near-daily exchanges of fire. The head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Aroldo Lazaro, told reporters ahead of his meeting with Colonna that the situation on the border was “tense” and “dangerous”, as hostilities trigger fears of all-out conflict. – Huthi Red Sea strikes disrupt shipping – The Iran-backed Huthis said Monday they had attacked two “Israeli-linked” vessels in the key Red Sea shipping route, disrupting transit through the vital waterway in what the rebels describe as acts in solidarity with Gaza. A Norwegian-owned ship that denied any link to Israel was one of those hit. Britain’s BP on Monday became the latest major firm to announce it would suspend transit of oil through the Red Sea. Five of the world’s six top shipping companies have announced they will not send ships through the Red Sea — MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen.