OCCUPYING Israeli forces pushed ahead with the punishing air and ground offensive in Gaza today.

The Israeli bombardment is set to be bolstered by a delivery of $106 million (£84 million) worth of tank ammunition from the United States.

On Friday the US vetoed a resolution at the United Nations security council calling for an immediate ceasefire in a conflict that has seen more than 17,700 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis killed since the Hamas attack within Israel on October 7.

About two thirds of the Palestinians killed are women and children and authorities in Gaza say that many thousands of civilians are likely trapped or killed beneath the rubble of bombed out buildings.

Unable to leave Gaza, a territory 25 miles long by 7 miles wide, more than two million Palestinians faced more bombardment on Sunday, even in areas that Israel had described as safe zones.

The sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition was announced a day after the US used its veto at the 15-member security council.

Every other council member supported the call for a ceasefire except Britain, which abstained.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “an emergency exists” in the national interest requiring the immediate sale, meaning it bypasses congressional review. Such a determination in the US is rare.

A day after Israel confirmed that it was rounding up Palestinian men for interrogation, some of the men released described their treatment at the hands of the Israelis to reporters.

Osama Oula said that Israeli troops had pulled men out of a building in the Shujaiyah area of Gaza City, ordering them to the street in their underwear. 

Mr Oula said that Israeli forces bound him and others with zip ties, beat them for several days and gave them little water to drink.

Ahmad Nimr Salman showed his hands, marked and swollen from the zip ties, and said that older men with diabetes or high blood pressure were ignored when they asked soldiers to remove their ties.

He said that the troops asked: “‘Are you with Hamas?’ We say ‘no,’ then they would slap us or kick us.”

The Israeli military had no immediate comment when asked about the alleged abuse.

More than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed since the December 1 collapse of a week-long truce.

The humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory is also spiralling downwards. 

According to the World Food Programme, nine out of 10 people in northern Gaza reported spending at least one full day and night without food.