Over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October, according to new figures released by the Hamas-controlled health authority in the territory. The total number of deaths now stands at 10,022, including 4,104 children. The number of casualties in Gaza has not been independently verified.
The deaths of scores of aid workers in airstrikes on Gaza over the past month has made the conflict the deadliest ever for UN workers. At least 88 people who worked for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have been killed since 7 October, and 47 of its buildings have been damaged.
Israel’s military announced late Sunday it had encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two. “Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters, calling it a “significant stage” in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group ruling the territory.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it is carrying out airstrikes against sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The IDF said on Monday it had identified about 30 launches from Lebanon towards northern Israel.
In its latest situational update, Israel’s military claims that Israeli jets struck 450 Hamas targets, and claims to have killed Jamal Mussa, who it says “was responsible for the special security operations in the Hamas terrorist organisation”. The IDF claims have not been independently verified.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said the protection of civilians “must be paramount” in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, warning that the Gaza Strip was becoming “a graveyard for children”. Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, responded by saying: “Shame on you.”
The leaders of the UN’s major humanitarian agencies as well as international charities have called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, calling the situation “horrific” and “unacceptable” in a rare joint statement. The signatories included the heads of OCHA, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the WHO, Save the Children and CARE International.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said his discussions in Turkey on Monday had a focus on “efforts to significantly expand the humanitarian assistance to people in need”, and claimed that his visit to the region had helped prevent escalation of the conflict.
