Israeli forces cut off north Gaza; death toll passes 10,000, says report

Israeli forces on Monday said they have severed northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory, cutting it into two, and pounding it with intense airstrikes overnight into Monday, setting the stage for an expected push into the dense confines of Gaza City and an even bloodier phase of the month-old war.

Already, the Palestinian death toll passed 10,000, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday.
 

The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Some 1,400 Israelis have died, mostly civilians killed in the October 7 incursion by Hamas that started the war.
 

The figures mark a grim milestone in what has quickly become the deadliest round of Israeli-Palestinian violence since Israel’s establishment 75 years ago, with no end in sight as Israel vows to remove Hamas from power and crush its military capabilities.
 

Casualties are only likely to rise as the war turns to close urban combat. Troops are expected to enter Gaza City soon, Israeli media reported, and Palestinian militants who have had years to prepare are likely to fight street by street, launching ambushes from a vast network of tunnels.
 

“We're closing in on them,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman. “We've completed our encirclement, separating Hamas strongholds in the north from the south.” The military said it struck 450 targets overnight and ground troops took over a Hamas compound. A one-way corridor for residents to flee south remains available for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who remain in Gaza City and other parts of the north, according to the military.
 

Some 1.5 million Palestinians, or around 70 per cent of Gaza’s population, have fled their homes since the war began. Food, medicine, fuel and water are running low, and UN-run schools-turned-shelters are beyond capacity. Many people are sleeping on the streets outside.
 

Mobile phone and internet service went down overnight, the third territory-wide outage since the start of the war, but was gradually restored on Monday. 

Aid workers say the outages make it even harder for civilians to seek safety or call ambulances.
 

Protesters at Türkiye air base 
 

Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon as hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday tried to storm an air base that houses US troops, hours before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Ankara for talks on Gaza.
 

Footage from the protests showed police firing tear gas and using water cannons to disperse crowds waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting slogans. Protesters toppled barricades and clashed with police in riot gear.
 

Protesters were also seen hurling plastic chairs, rocks, and other items at police, who fired smoke bombs at crowds. Scuffles broke out between the crowds and security forces.
 

Blinken in Iraq
 

The US is rushing to support West Asia leaders facing domestic turmoil over the Israel-Hamas conflict, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken making two surprise visits to the West Bank and Iraq, as the Biden administration comes under pressure to secure a pause in fighting and ease regional tensions, WSJ reported.
 

The unannounced stops, first to the West Bank city of Ramallah, and then to Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, followed a summit of Arab leaders on Saturday in Jordan, where Blinken reassured Middle East allies that the US would work to keep the conflict from spreading and help Palestinian civilians caught in the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Blinken departed Baghdad late on Sunday for Ankara, Türkiye.

Gaza evacuation
 

The United Nations said no foreigners, dual-nationals or injured Palestinians were able to leave the Gaza Strip over the weekend as Israeli troops encircled Gaza City and effectively cut off the northern part of the Palestinian territory from the south.
 

War must stop now: UN leaders

UN agency leaders saying “enough is enough” demanded a humanitarian ceasefire nearly a month into Gaza’s war.

Israel has rebuffed mounting international pressure for a ceasefire, saying hostages taken by Hamas militants during their rampage in southern Israel on October 7 should be released first.
 

“An entire population is besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival, bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship. This is unacceptable,” the UN chiefs said in a joint statement. 
 

“We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It's been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now.” The 18 signatories include the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and UN aid chief Martin Griffiths.
 

The reported number of fatalities in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7 has now surpassed 10,000, with the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled enclave saying at least 10,022 Palestinians were killed including 

4,104 children.