International Desk

Smoke rose from strikes on Gaza's crowded southern city of Rafah Thursday after US President Joe Biden vowed to stop supplying artillery shells and other weapons to Israel if a full-scale offensive into the city goes ahead.

It was the starkest warning yet from the United States, Israel's main military provider, over the civilian impact of its war against Hamas Palestinian militants.

An AFP correspondent and witnesses on Thursday reported strikes on several parts of Rafah, where the United Nations said 1.4 million people were sheltering.

"The tanks and jets are striking," Tarek Bahlul said on a deserted Rafah street. "Every minute you hear a rocket and you don't know where it will land."

Israel has already defied international objections by sending in tanks and conducting what it called "targeted raids" in eastern Rafah, the city it says is home to Hamas's last remaining battalions.

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden warned he would stop some US weapons supplies to Israel if it carried out its long-threatened major Rafah ground offensive.

Israel on Thursday called Biden's comments "very disappointing".

Biden told CNN: "If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used... to deal with the cities."

"We're not gonna supply the weapons and the artillery shells that have been used."

Asked about Israel's action already in Rafah, Biden said "they haven't gone in the population centres".

The fresh warning came after his administration paused delivery last week of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kilo) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs as Israel appeared ready to attack Rafah.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday that at least 34,904 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during the war between Israel and Hamas.

The tally includes at least 60 deaths in 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 78,514 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.

Meanwhile, Slovenia's government on Thursday passed a decree on recognising a Palestine state that will be sent to parliament for approval by mid-June.

"The decree for the recognition of Palestine is part of the government's efforts to end as soon as possible the atrocities in Gaza," Prime Minister Robert Golob told a news conference adding the final decision could be adopted earlier than a 13 June target date.

In March, Slovenia joined Spain, Ireland and Malta in a joint statement announcing the EU countries were "ready to recognise Palestine" once the conditions for setting up a state were met.

"We will continue to follow the progress concerning peace talks, the release of hostages and the reform of the Palestinian authority and, if it proves to be faster, we might end the recognition process earlier," Golob said.