Israeli Forces Cut Off North Gaza

Palestinian authorities say death toll is over 10K
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 6, 2023 2:24 PM CST
Israeli Forces Cut Off North Gaza
Fire and smoke rises from buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.   (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

The Israeli army severed northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory and pounded it with airstrikes Monday, preparing for expected ground battles with Hamas militants in Gaza's largest city and an even bloodier phase of the month-old war. Casualties are likely to rise sharply as the war turns to close urban combat, the AP reports. 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.

Already, the Palestinian death toll surpassed 10,000, the Health Ministry of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Monday. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Some 1,400 Israelis have died, mostly civilians killed in the Oct. 7 incursion by Hamas that started the war. The war has quickly become the deadliest 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. A strike early Monday hit the roof of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, killing a number of displaced people sheltering on its top floor and destroying solar panels, said Mohamed Zaqout, general manager of all hospitals in Gaza

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. Several hundred thousand people are believed to remain in the north in the assault's path. The military says a one-way corridor for residents of Gaza City and surrounding areas to flee south remains available. But many are afraid to use the route, part of which is held by Israeli troops. President Biden raised the need for humanitarian pauses directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a call Monday, but there was no agreement reached, the White House said.

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So far, Israel has rejected US suggestions for a pause, aimed at facilitating humanitarian aid deliveries and the release of some of the estimated 240 hostages seized by Hamas in its raid. After days of intense diplomacy around the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his tour of the region Monday. He said efforts to secure a pause, negotiate the hostages' release, and plan for a post-Hamas Gaza were still "a work in progress" without pointing to any concrete achievements. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)

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