Gaza: Israel cuts off north Gaza as Palestinian toll tops 10,000

Israeli forces severed northern Gazafrom the rest of the besieged territory and pounded it with intense air strikes 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 Monday.It said that 10,022 people have been killed, including over 4,100 children and 2,600 women. Some 1,400 Israelis have died, mostly civilians killed in the Oct 7 incursion byHamas 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 crush Hamas.
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. The Israeli military said that it had cut off northern Gaza from the south, calling it a “significant stage” in the war. “We’ve completed our encirclement, separating Hamas strongholds in the north and the south, and it’s proving to be effective,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a military spokesman, on Monday. “It’s close-quarters urban warfare. A lot of infantry working there.”
On Monday, it said that aircraft struck 450 targets overnight and ground troops took over a Hamas compound. A one-way corridor for residents to flee south remains available, according to the military, for the Palestinians who remain in Gaza City and other parts of the north. Some 1.5 million Palestinians, or around 70% 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, with many sleeping on the streets outside.
Mobile and net service went down overnight, the third territory-wide outage since war began, but was gradually restored on Monday. Aid workers say the outages make it even harder for civilians to seek safety or even call ambulances.
The war has also stoked wider tensions, with Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group trading fire along the border. In another sign of growing unrest, a Palestinian man stabbed and wounded two members of Israel’s paramilitary Border Police in east Jerusalem before being shot dead, according to police. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognised by most of the global community and considers the entire city its capital.