Israeli troops surrounded Gaza City early Monday and cut off the northern part of the besieged territory as communications that were lost for several hours across Gaza overnight were gradually restored.
Israeli media reported that troops were expected to enter the city on Monday or Tuesday, and the militants, who have been preparing for years, are expected to fight back using a vast network of tunnels.
They say casualties are likely to rise on both sides in the month-long war, which has already killed more than 9,700 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Associated Press reports.
About 1.5 million Palestinians, or about 70 percent of the population, have fled their homes since the war began with a Hamas attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
Food, medicine, fuel and water are running low, and UN-run schools that have been turned into shelters are beyond capacity, and many are sleeping on the streets.
The situation is still very difficult in the north. About 800,000 people obeyed the Israeli army’s order to flee to southern Gaza, even as Israel continued airstrikes in the area. At least 53 people were killed in attacks in central and southern Gaza, the supposed safe zone, on Sunday.
In a rare statement, UN agencies called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
The heads of all major UN agencies issued a rare joint statement calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” saying “enough is enough”. “For almost a month, the world has been watching the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in shock and horror at the increasing number of lives lost and torn apart,” the UN chiefs said.
The heads of organizations including UNICEF, the WHO, the World Food Program – as well as charities such as Save the Children – described the “terrible” loss of life on both sides and demanded the unconditional release of hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack. The statement added:
“However, the horrific killing of even more civilians in Gaza is a disgrace, as is the disruption of food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel to 2.2 million Palestinians.” The statement said 88 people working for UNRWA, an agency focused on Palestinian refugees, had been killed since October 7, the highest number of UN personnel deaths “ever recorded in a single conflict”.
The Israeli army announced that it hit 450 locations in Gaza in the last 24 hours
The Israeli army announced that it had hit 450 locations in the blockaded Gaza Strip from the air in the last 24 hours. Israel continues to intensify the attacks it launched on Gaza on October 7, despite calls from the international community for a ceasefire. The Israeli military said in a statement that 450 locations across Gaza were hit by airstrikes in the past 24 hours.
They claim that tunnels and an observation post, said to belong to Hamas’ military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades, were among the sites hit. Ground troops were said to have captured a military compound belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza.
The Israeli army’s airstrikes on Gaza have intensified since the evening, and communication and internet services in the region are collapsing. The Palestinian government in Gaza announced that the area around all hospitals in the region had been subjected to intense Israeli bombardment, AA and AP report.
