The Israeli military prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza on Thursday as it pounded the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas.

In a deliberate show of support for Israel, a U.S. official confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit on Friday, a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Suffering in Gaza, meanwhile, rose dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory’s only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them.

Israel said Thursday that a complete siege would remain in place until Hamas freed 150 hostages taken during its incursion. Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday.

The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides, and displaced 423,000 people in Gaza.

Here's what's happening on Day 6 of the latest Israel-Hamas war:

JERUSALEM — The number of people forced from their homes by the airstrikes soared 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the United Nations said Thursday. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools.

Families were cutting down to one meal a day, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al-Azhar University, who had 32 relatives sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they have rationed what’s left in a tank on the roof.

The death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza rose to 1,537, with 6,612 people wounded, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said Thursday. Of those killed, 276 were women and 500 were under the age of 18, the ministry said.

The jump in the death toll comes as Palestinians report heavy Israeli airstrikes across the besieged Gaza Strip, with bombardment on residential buildings in densely populated city districts and refugee camps.

KATHMANDU, Nepal — More than 200 Nepali nationals evacuated from Israel returned home Friday as the government worked to bring back the bodies of 10 Nepali students killed in the unprecedented attack by Hamas.

Nepal’s foreign minister, Narayan Prasad Saud, accompanied 254 citizens on a plane chartered by the government. The returnees were welcomed home by family and friends at Kathmandu airport.

In addition to those killed, four Nepalis were wounded and one is still missing, Saud said. One of the wounded was flown back in the evacuation flight and three others were getting treated at hospitals in Israel, Saud said.

He said 54 Nepali nationals still in Israel have been moved to safer areas and will be evacuated eventually.

Many Nepalis in Israel are students studying agriculture techniques.

JERUSALEM — A prominent civilian member of Hamas defended the group’s rampage through Israeli communities in a video released by the group Thursday and decried the civilian deaths in Gaza from the six days of Israeli airstrikes that have followed.

The solemn video lacked the bravado of a recording aired by Hamas' military wing Saturday hailing “the greatest battle” as the massacres still played out.

Basem Naim, a physician and former Hamas government minister, said in the “swift collapse” of the Israeli military on Saturday, “chaos prevailed and civilians found themselves in the middle of the confrontation” between Israeli and Hamas combatants.

The claim is contradicted by countless videos and survivor accounts of Hamas militants deliberately targeting and killing hundreds of civilians.

Naim said the 150 hostages taken back into Gaza would be treated according to religious values and international laws. “At the same time we are really worried … they might be the victims of the Israeli army bombardment, like our people,” he said.

He added that Hamas would not consider freeing the captives until Israel stopped its bombardment.

BEIRUT — Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said Thursday that if Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on “other fronts,” an apparent reference to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Amirabdollahian arrived in Beirut late Thursday evening, where he was greeted by representatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with Lebanese officials.

“In light of the continued aggression, war crimes, and siege on Gaza, opening other fronts is a real possibility,” Amirabdollahian said, speaking to journalists on his arrival.

Early Thursday, Amirabdollahian had visited Iraq, where he made similar statements after a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Questions have swirled around the extent of Iran’s role in the unprecedented surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on Saturday.

Hamas officials have denied that Iran was directly involved in planning the attack or green-lighted it, and to date no government worldwide has offered direct evidence that Iran orchestrated the attack. However, many have pointed to Iran’s long sponsorship of Hamas that has included training, funding and providing it with weapons.

BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Israel on Friday to express support for the nation in the wake of last weekend’s attack by Hamas.

Von der Leyen will be accompanied by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, the commission said in a statement late Thursday. Von der Leyen has been one of the most outspoken European Union leaders in support of Israel since the attacks and the subsequent war with Hamas.

BEIRUT — The militant Hezbollah group sent a drone over Israel on Thursday, according to an official with a Lebanese group familiar with the situation along the Lebanon-Israel border.

The drone was shot down over Israel, the official said, without elaborating further. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment to the news media.

An Israeli military spokesman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, Thursday afternoon that an air-defense missile was fired in northern Israel but it turned out there was no target in the air.

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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.

BOSTON — Internet connectivity in Gaza City has been below 20% since Tuesday, according to analyst Doug Madory of the network monitoring firm Kentik Inc., whose data shows outages began Saturday morning.

Madory said an internet provider in Gaza told him that Israeli air strikes had cut fiber optic cables. The provider declined to speak with an Associated Press reporter but Madory relayed his message: “Pray for us to stay alive and stop this war.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Qatar have agreed not to act on any Iranian request to access $6 billion in funds that were transferred from South Korea after a blanket waiver by President Joe Biden's administration meant to clear the way for the release of five Americans held by Iran, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The move stops short of freezing the funds. Under the terms of the agreement, the funds must be requested by Iran and can go only for humanitarian purposes. The Americans were released last month.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the agreement and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The funding has been a concern as questions mount about Iran’s influence or role in the Hamas attack on Israel. Iran is Hamas' principal financial and military sponsor, though the White House says it has not uncovered information that Iran was directly involved in the operation.

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Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s Foreign Ministry is warning Israelis abroad to avoid demonstrations said to have been called for by Hamas in cities around the world, saying they could become violent.

In a joint statement with Israel’s National Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday that there is a concern that Israelis or Jews could be targeted during the protests. The ministry statement said protests are expected on Friday and urged Israelis to be cautious.