Bo Horvat scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the New York Islanders won their fourth straight game, 4-2 over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Kyle Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mathew Barzal also scored for the Islanders who moved within four points of the Philadelphia Flyers for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, which would guarantee them a spot in the playoffs.

Ilya Sorokin finished with 19 saves and improved to 5-1 since the 6-5 overtime loss to the Rangers in the Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 18.

Horvat broke a 2-2 tie with an incredible individual effort as he moved around Blues defenseman Nick Leddy, corralled his own rebound and buried a wraparound to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead 55 seconds into the third period.

“I knew I could trust him, I knew he was playing heavy in that third period,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said of Horvat. “He was on a mission, he wanted to give it back to his teammates, win the game and be a difference maker and that’s exactly what he did in that third period.”

Barzal added an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Alexey Toropchenko and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, who had won their last two games. Rookie goaltender Joel Hofer made 29 saves.

“Tough game for us today,” Kyrou said. “We need to be better next game.”

Prior to Horvat’s tally, the Islanders scored twice within 5:15 in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit.

Palmieri converted a skillful forehand-backhand maneuver to get the Islanders on the board at 12:32. The forward had a natural hat trick in the first period of the Islanders 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

“We have really good communication on and off the ice,” Pageau said of the chemistry on the newly formed line consisting of Palmieri and Anders Lee. “When three guys are on the same page, play the same way, have the same mindset and the same ideas I feel like things could work really well and it’s been clicking.”

The Islanders knotted the game at 2-all when Pageau pounced on a loose puck in the slot area at 17:47.

“I thought we were doing a lot of good things out there but those first two goals were definitely my fault,” Horvat said. “My teammates stepped up big there. Pageau, Palmieri and that line were unbelievable tonight against that top line. They had our backs, definitely had mine and I’m thankful for that.”

Toropchenko fired a wrist shot past Sorokin for his 11th goal of the season at 1:21 of the second period to open the scoring.

St. Louis doubled its advantage when Brandon Saad stole a puck from Horvat and slid it over to Kyrou for an easy tap-in.

“Obviously not the result we wanted but just try to regroup,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. “Points for us are super important, we just have to look forward now. Obviously, take the things that we can from this game and look forward to Jersey.”

UP NEXT

Blues: Visit New Jersey Devils Thursday night.

Islanders: Visit San Jose Sharks Thursday night.

Nick Cousins had two goals and the Florida Panthers beat New Jersey 5-3 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight win, spoiling the debut of interim Devils coach Travis Green.

Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart also scored as the Panthers won for the 12th time in 13 games. Florida leads the NHL with 43 wins and 90 points, and it is 25-4-2 since Dec. 23.

Anthony Stolarz made 22 saves, giving 35-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky a night off after a big performance in a win over the Rangers on Monday.

Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Colin Miller scored for the Devils in their first game since general manager Tom Fitzgerald relieved Lindy Ruff of his coaching duties on Monday. The move was made less than a year after Ruff led New Jersey to its best regular-season point total.

New Jersey goaltender Akira Schmid made 26 saves. He relieved Nico Daws in losses to Anaheim and Los Angeles last weekend.

Cousins was the difference. He opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season 2:54 into the first period. He made it 4-2 when he reached back to tip a shot home 5:33 into the third.

Luostarinen had snapped a 2-all tie midway through the second with a shot from the top of the circle that Schmid seemed to miss.

The Devils got off to a slow start. They fell behind 2-0 in the opening 6:30 as Cousins tallied and Rodrigues followed with a power-play goal after Luke Hughes was called for delay of game.

Jack Hughes got the Devils going with a somewhat lucky power-play goal. His shot was tipped past Stolarz by Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling.

Meier tied the game with a great individual play at 11:01 of a second period dominated by New Jersey. The big forward outdueled two Panthers for the puck in front of the net, kicked it to his stick and one-handed it past Stolarz.

A little more than a minute later Luostarinen took a stretch pass from defenseman Dmitry Kulikov at the blue line, cut to the middle and beat Schmid with a shot from top of the right circle for his 11th goal.

Referee Pierre Lambert left the ice for a couple of minutes in the second period after being hit with a deflected shot in the chest area. He returned before the period was over.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Return home to face the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday

Devils: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday

The deadly violence Monday came as a senior U.S. envoy visited Beirut and warned that a Gaza truce wouldn’t necessarily apply to conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border. Amos Hochstein urged the parties to reach a lasting cease-fire at the border following meetings Monday with Lebanese leaders.

His comments came hours after the deputy leader of Lebanon’s terrorist group Hamas, Naim Kassem, said the only way to restore calm along the border is to end the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Since the Israel-Hamas war started, Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel almost daily, displacing thousands of people and spiking fear that the conflict may spread through the region. In northern Israel, 60,000 people have evacuated, the Israeli government says.

“People won’t come back anytime soon, they’re scared, it’s dangerous,” Haim Menus, 70, said Monday while buying hardware at one of the few stores open in the nearly abandoned northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. He is one of the few who have remained, working curtailed hours at a bakery.

“An anti-tank missile could come at any time,” Menus said.

Moments later, an anti-tank missile struck a field in the nearby community of Margaliot as sirens blared, killing one Indian worker and injuring seven other foreign workers from India and Thailand, according the Israel Rescue Services and the Israeli Army. Paramedics evacuated the injured — two of them in serious condition — to hospitals via ambulance and helicopter.

The Israeli military said they struck the source of the launches as well as additional Hezbollah military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

In Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said that one of the Israeli airstrikes killed three paramedics with Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Society in the border village of Oddaiseh.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its fighters aborted two infiltration attempts the night before by Israeli troops into a border area in southern Lebanon. It also said that its fighters carried out three attacks targeting Israeli posts along the border.

In Beirut, Hochstein, a senior adviser to President Biden, began his talks by meeting Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally. He later met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the army commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun.

“The United States remains committed to advancing lasting security solutions achieved through diplomatic process,” Hochstein told reporters after he met Berri. He said such a move would allow tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israelis who were displaced by the conflict “to safely return” to their homes.

Hochstein’s visit came as the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have been trying for weeks to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and to convince the Palestinian terrorist group to release some of the scores of hostages it is still holding since the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began, more than 215 Hezbollah fighters and nearly 40 civilians were killed on the Lebanese side while in Israel, nine soldiers and 10 civilians were left dead in the attacks.

“I’m mindful that my arrival comes on the heels of a tense few weeks on both sides of the border,” Hochstein said. “An escalation will certainly not help Lebanon rebuild and advance forward at this critical time in Lebanon’s history,” he added in an apparent reference to Lebanon’s economic crisis since 2019.

“A temporary ceasefire is not enough. A limited war is not containable,” Hochstein said.

Asked if a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip would include Lebanon, he said it wouldn’t necessarily be the case “that when you have a ceasefire in Gaza, it automatically extends. That is why we are here today to be able to have a conversation and discussions” on the situation in Lebanon.

Israeli officials have threatened a wider war in Lebanon if Hezbollah does not withdraw its elite fighters north of the Litani River as stipulated in a 2006 truce that ended a 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war.

Western diplomats have brought forward a series of proposals for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, most of which would hinge on Hezbollah moving its forces 4 to 6 miles away from the border.

Kassem, Hezbollah’s deputy leader, blasted the United States in a speech Monday during a conference held in the group’s stronghold south of Beirut attended by Muslim clerics from several regional states. He blamed Washington for using its veto power three times to prevent resolutions by the UN Security Council to end the war in Gaza.

“We have said it clearly that whoever wants to be a mediator should mediate to stop the aggression,” Kassem said in his speech. He added that those who don’t want the war to expand in the region should deal with the cause “which is the brutal and criminal aggression by America and Israel against Gaza.”

“Stop the aggression on Gaza, and the war will stop in the region,” he said.

____

Lidman reported from Kiryat Shmona, Israel.

Teixeira, of North Dighton, Mass., pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act nearly a year after he was arrested in the most consequential national security leak in years.

The 22-year-old admitted illegally collecting some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and sharing them with other users on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games.

Boston Federal Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for September and said she would decide then whether to formally accept the agreement, which calls for a prison sentence between 11 and nearly 17 years. Prosecutors said they plan to seek the high end of that range.

“Mr. Teixeira callously disregarded the national security of the United States and he betrayed his solemn oath to defend the country and the trust of the American people he swore to protect,” Matt Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security, told reporters after the hearing.

The stunning security breach raised alarm over America’s ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets and forced the Biden administration to scramble to try to contain diplomatic and military fallout. The leaks embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members found to have intentionally failed to take required action about Teixeira’s suspicious behavior.

Teixeira smiled at his father before being led out of the courtroom with his hands and legs shackled, wearing orange jail garb and black rosary beads around his neck. He stood flanked by defense attorneys through much of the hearing and occasionally leaned down to speak into the microphone to answer questions from the judge.

Michael Bachrach, an attorney for Teixeira, told reporters they will push for a sentence of 11 years. Bachrach described Teixeira as a “kid,” adding that the defense will show at sentencing that his youth played a significant role in his conduct.

“He is significantly remorseful for his conduct. He has accepted full responsibility for his conduct,” Bachrach said.

In an emailed statement, Teixeira’s family said, “It is unfathomable to think your child would ever be involved in something so serious, but he has taken responsibility for his part in this, and here we are.”

“Our focus now remains on Jack – his protection, health, and well-being, and taking care of whatever is in his best interest,” the family said.

Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cybertransport systems specialist, essentially an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. He remains in the Air National Guard in an unpaid status, an Air Force official said.

Authorities said he first typed out classified documents he accessed and then began sharing photographs of files that bore SECRET and TOP SECRET markings. Prosecutors also said he tried to cover his tracks before his arrest, and authorities found a smashed tablet, laptop and Xbox gaming console in a dumpster at his house.

The leak exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. Teixeira also admitted posting information about a U.S. adversary’s plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas.

Acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Josh Levy told reporters Monday he would not speculate on Teixeira’s motive. But members of the Discord group described Teixeira as someone looking to show off, rather than being motivated by a desire to inform the public about U.S. military operations or to influence American policy.

In exchange for Teixeira’s guilty plea, prosecutors agreed not to charge him with further Espionage Act violations. As part of the deal, Teixeira must participate in a debriefing with members of the intelligence community, the Defense Department and the Justice Department about the leaks.

Teixeira has been behind bars since his April arrest. The judge denied his request for release from jail last year after prosecutors revealed he had a history of violent rhetoric and warned that U.S. adversaries who might be interested in mining Teixeira for information could facilitate his escape.

Prosecutors have said Teixeira continued to leak government secrets even after he was warned by superiors about mishandling and improper viewing of classified information. In one instance, Teixeira was seen taking notes on intelligence information and putting them in his pocket.

The Air Force inspector general found that members “intentionally failed to report the full details” of Teixeira’s unauthorized intelligence-seeking because they thought security officials might overreact. For example, while Teixeira was confronted about the notes, there was no followup to ensure the notes had been shredded and the incident was not reported to security officers.

It was not until a January 2023 incident that the appropriate security officials were notified, but even then security officials were not briefed on the full scope of the violations.

Alex Laferriere also scored, Cam Talbot made 30 saves, and the Kings have won eight of 12 under interim coach Jim Hiller.

“Obviously, we’re playing way better now,” Fiala said. “Had a two or three month slump or whatever, and we have been playing better after the All-Star break. … We are playing for each other, we love each other, and you can really feel it right now.”

Nico Daws was replaced in the second period after giving up four goals on 13 shots for the Devils, who have lost five of seven. Timo Meier scored, and Akira Schmid made nine saves in relief.

“I don’t think it’s about effort, it’s more between the ears,” New Jersey forward Erik Haula said. “We keep kind of shooting ourselves in the foot, we keep making similar mistakes, and at this time of the year it’s gonna hurt you.”

Aside from an unexpected deflection off the stanchion to help give the Devils an early lead seconds into the game, the Kings delivered one of their most complete performances since Hiller replaced Todd McLellan on Feb. 2.

Danault tied it at 7:56 on a breakaway set up by Fiala’s alert stretch pass, which was the winger’s fourth assist during a three-game streak.

Laferriere, who was born in Chatham, New Jersey, and grew up attending Devils games, fired in his ninth goal of the season with 5:11 left in the first to put Kings up 2-1.

“We talked from the start about getting back to our identity, and I think we’re pretty close right now,” Hiller said.

A longtime nemesis of Los Angeles during his time with the San Jose Sharks, Meier got his 15th goal in 31 career games against them 15 seconds into the game.

Quinton Byfield’s pass in his own zone took an awkward redirection right to Nico Hischier, leading to his fifth assist in three games for setting up Meier.

“We just took a breath, and from that point on we dominated the game,” Fiala said of the Kings’ response.

The Kings kept up the pressure in the second period, with Danault scoring into an open net with 7:37 left and Fiala burying a power-play goal 34 seconds later to send Daws to the bench early.

“We got the start we wanted, came out and scored a goal,” Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. “You can do a lot of great things in the game, and then you can beat yourself. I thought we beat ourselves.”

Danault, who hadn’t scored at home in the first 27 games of the season, got an empty-netter with 2:13 remaining. It was Danault’s first hat trick for the Kings and second of his career.

“He has done so many good things the whole season, and he deserves it, and today was his day,” Fiala said.

It has been Fiala’s week, picking up three goals and five assists in the three games since leading scorer Adrian Kempe hurt his wrist against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. But Fiala said his increased production has come from focusing on playing a complete game instead of pushing to generate more offense.

“I don’t try to chase the game, which maybe I did a little bit in the start of the year,” he said. “I just try to be calm, patient, and it will come.”

By Dan Greenspan

John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander had goals in regulation for Toronto, which has won nine of its last 10 games. Ilya Samsonov stopped 32 shots.

Vincent Trocheck scored twice, and Alexis Lafreniere had a goal and two assists as the Rangers lost for just the second time in 13 games (11-1-1). Artemi Panarin also had two assists and Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves.

After Mika Zibanejad and Marner traded goals in the shootout, Domi put Toronto ahead in the fourth round. Trocheck then hit the post to seal the Maple Leafs’ win.

Ilya Lyubushkin, who took a big hit from hulking New York rookie Matt Rempe late in the second period and didn’t return, suited up for the Maple Leafs following Thursday’s three-team trade that brought the bruising defenseman back to Toronto from Anaheim. The 29-year-old Russian was also with the club for 31 games and a playoff round in 2022.

Toronto forward Calle Jarnkrok returned to the lineup after breaking his knuckle in practice on Jan. 26, while defenseman Timothy Liljegren was also back from a two-game absence with an undisclosed injury.

Tavares snapped a 2-2 tie at 7:17 of the third period when Jarnkrok’s shot hit Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba before ricocheting off the Toronto captain and in for his 18th goal of the season.

The 6-foot-7 Rempe — a combatant in three memorable fights through his first six NHL games — and Toronto’s Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves in a spirited tilt later in the period.

Samsonov made a huge stop on Panarin with less that five minutes remaining in regulation and made an even bigger glove save on Adam Fox moments later.

However, Trocheck it with his second of the night and 22nd overall with 1:07 left when he knocked in a rebound.

New York opened the scoring with 8:27 left in the first when Lafreniere wired a shot off the post and back bar for his 18th.

After plenty of pre-game talk about Rempe and Reaves, the pair were in close quarters later in the period. Reaves, 37, tried to get the 21-year-old forward’s attention in the neutral zone at the end of their shifts, but Rempe skated off to boos from the Scotiabank Arena crowd.

Samsonov stopped Jimmy Vesey on a breakaway later in the period and Trochek ripped a shot off the post on a power play before Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly swept the loose puck to safety.

Toronto tied it 1-1 at 3:54 of the second when Marner slid his 24th under Shesterkin, but Trochek finished off a nice passing play 1:09 later to put the Rangers back ahead.

Nylander tied it again at 8:54 when he floated a shot through traffic that hit former Toronto defenseman Erik Gustafsson’s stick and fooled Shesterkin for his 33rd. That gave the Swede his third 10-game point streak of the season to set a franchise record.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Host Florida on Monday night.

Maple Leafs: Host Boston on Monday night.

Kyle Palmieri scored three times in the first period for his third career hat trick and the New York Islanders coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night for their third straight win.

Palmieri, who completed the natural hat trick just 12:19 in, had his first three-goal game with the Islanders and added an assist. Anders Lee had a goal and an assist, Brock Nelson also scored, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Bo Horvat each added two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.

Marc McLaughlin scored the lone goal for Boston and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves as the Bruins fell for the fourth time in five games (1-1-3).

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead when Noah Dobson delivered a beautiful stretch pass to Palmieri, who spun around Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei before sliding the puck between Ullmark’s legs at 3:32.

Palmieri made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 5:27. Bo Horvat’s one-time shot from the slot created a rebound opportunity that the 33-year-old Palmieri capitalized on. Mathew Barzal also assisted.

The Long Island native capped his hat trick when he buried another rebound in the slot. Palmieri left during the second period after taking a check from Parker Wotherspoon, but returned.

Lee extended the Islanders’ lead to 4-0 on the first shift of the second period with was his 16th of the season. It was only the Islanders captain’s third goal since a scoring twice against Winnipeg on Jan. 16.

Nelson put home his own rebound and collected his 28th of the season at 10:24 to make it 5-0.

McLaughlin netted his first goal of the season and spoiled Sorokin’s shutout bid at 14:30 of the second.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.

Islanders: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James reached 40,000 points Saturday night, still going strong in his 21st NBA season as he tries to put the career scoring record out of reach.

James drove past Michael Porter Jr. and hit a layup with 10:39 left in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Denver Nuggets for the historic basket.

James received a standing ovation at the next timeout, while coach Darvin Ham gave him a congratulatory pat on the chest. There was an in-arena video presentation, which was preceded and followed by James raising the ball over his head.

James shot an airball on his first attempt of the night but responded by getting out in transition for a layup for his first points and prompting the Nuggets to use their first timeout. He then made a corner 3-pointer before subbing out with 3:19 left in the first quarter.

James checked back in to start the second quarter, attacking the basket 14 seconds into the period to set up the milestone score.

James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s mark of 38,387 points to become the league’s leading scorer on Feb. 7, 2023, against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He reached 39,000 points on Nov. 21 in an In-Season Tournament game against the Utah Jazz.

Ham was a young fan when Abdul-Jabbar was finishing out his career and assumed the record would never be challenged, let alone surpassed in the way James has.

“But here we are,” Ham said before the game. “It’s a testament to Bron, just the time and resources he spends on himself, making sure not only he is healthy but he’s healthy at a high level.”

James, 39, has also played the second-most regular season and most playoff minutes in league history. He is the only NBA player with at least 10,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone spent five seasons with James as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005-10 and remains in awe of how he is able to still play at such a high level.

“I don’t get caught up in the number per se, but you just have to marvel at the continued greatness,” Malone said.

“Just to do what he’s doing at this stage of his career, and it doesn’t appear like he’s slowing down at all, which is even scarier. Really, when you take a step back, you just have to marvel at the longevity. But he’s just not playing at this. He is playing effectively.”

International mediators have been working for weeks to broker a deal to pause the fighting before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins around March 10. A deal would likely allow aid to reach hundreds of thousands of desperate Palestinians in northern Gaza who aid officials worry are under threat of famine.

The Israelis “have more or less accepted” the proposal, which includes the six-week ceasefire as well as the release by Hamas of hostages considered vulnerable, which includes the sick, the wounded, the elderly and women, said the official.

“Right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas and we are continuing to push this as hard as we possibly can,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House to brief reporters.

Officials from Israel and from Hamas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A senior Egyptian official said mediators in Egypt and Qatar are expected to receive a response from Hamas during the Cairo talks scheduled to start Sunday.

The talks come amid increasing criticism over the hundreds of thousands struggling to survive in northern Gaza, which has borne the brunt of the conflict that began when the Hamas terrorist group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing around 250 hostages.

U.S. military planes began the first airdrops of thousands of meals into Gaza, and the militaries of Jordan and Egypt said they also conducted airdrops. Aid groups say airdrops should be only a last resort and instead urge the opening of other crossings into Gaza and the removal of obstacles at the few that are open.

The European Union’s diplomatic service said Saturday that many of the dozens of Palestinians killed or wounded in the chaos surrounding an aid convoy on Thursday were hit by Israeli army fire and urged an international investigation. It said responsibility for the crisis lay with “restrictions imposed by the Israeli army and obstructions by violent extremist(s) to the supply of humanitarian aid.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry raised the death toll from Thursday’s violence to 118 after two more bodies were recovered Saturday. It said the wounded remained at 760.

Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Israel organized Thursday’s humanitarian convoy, “and claims that we attacked the convoy intentionally and that we harmed people intentionally are baseless.”

Residents in northern Gaza say they are searching rubble and garbage for anything to feed their children, who barely eat one meal a day. Many families have begun mixing animal and bird food with grain to bake bread.

At least 10 children have starved to death, according to hospital records in Gaza, the World Health Organization said.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to 30,320. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures, but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

In Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where more than half of the territory’s people now seek refuge, an Israeli airstrike on Saturday struck tents outside the Emirati hospital, killing 11 people and wounding about 50, including health workers, the Health Ministry said. Israel’s military said it was targeting Islamic Jihad terrorists.

Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive has reduced much of densely populated northern Gaza to rubble.

Roughly one in six children under 2 in the north suffer from acute malnutrition and wasting, “the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, said this week. “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”

People have overwhelmed trucks delivering food and grabbed what they can, Skau said, forcing the WFP to suspend deliveries to the north.

In the violence Thursday, hundreds of people rushed about 30 trucks bringing a predawn delivery to the north. Palestinians said nearby Israeli troops shot into the crowds. Israel said they fired warning shots toward the crowd and insisted many of the dead were trampled. Doctors at hospitals in Gaza and a U.N. team that visited a hospital said large numbers of the wounded had been shot.

Acknowledging the extreme need for food, President Biden said the U.S. would look for other ways of delivery, “including possibly a marine corridor.” Aid workers say a ceasefire will help.

Israel and Hamas held a one-week ceasefire in late November. The truce brought about the release of about 100 hostages — mostly women, children and foreign nationals — in exchange for about 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, as well as a brief halt in the fighting.