Israeli troops divided the northern and southern parts of Gaza, as communications across the besieged territory were temporarily cut Monday for a third time since the war started. The troops are expected to enter Gaza City on Monday or Tuesday, Israeli media reported.
The developments came after Israeli airstrikes hit two refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing scores of people, health officials said. Israel has so far rejected U.S. suggestions that it take a humanitarian pause from its relentless bombardment of Gaza and the rising civilian deaths.
The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 9,700, including more than 4,000 children and minors, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.
Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas.
Currently:
— Communications are being restored in Gaza, while Israel’s military announces it has surrounded Gaza City.
— Families of Israel hostages fear the world will forget their loved ones.
— These numbers show the staggering toll of the Israel-Hamas war.
— A U.N. official says the average Palestinian in Gaza is living on two pieces of bread a day.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS 4 CIVILIANS IN SOUTH LEBANON
BINT JBEIL, Lebanon — An Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed a woman and three children, raising the possibility of a dangerous new escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants and their allies have been clashing for a month along the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. While clashes remain largely contained, they have increased in intensity as Israel conducts a ground incursion in Gaza against Hezbollah ally Hamas.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that two civilian cars were carrying members of the same family — one of them a local journalist — on Sunday evening when they were hit by an Israeli airstrike. One of the cars was hit directly and burst into flames, it said. One woman and three girls aged 10, 12 and 14 were killed and others were wounded, it said.
Shortly after the Israeli strike, Hezbollah said it fired Grad rockets into Israel in response. A number of rockets hit the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, Israeli rescue services said. Videos verified by The Associated Press showed a burning car on the street of Kiryat Shmona.
At least one civilian was killed Sunday in attacks by Hezbollah, the Israeli military said, but it wasn’t immediately clear if it was in Kiyat Shmona or an earlier attack.
GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS AIRSTRIKE KILLED 8 PEOPLE, DAMAGED 3 HOSPITALS
CAIRO — Eight people were killed Monday in an airstrike close to three hospitals in Gaza City, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said.
Ministry spokesperson Medhat Abbas said the airstrike damaged the Psychiatric Hospital, the Eyes Hospital and Rantisi Pediatric Hospital. All three hospitals are still operational, he said.
Abbas showed images of what he said were damaged rooms and equipment at the Psychiatric Hospital. The images showed large holes in the wall and the roof with rubble on a hospital bed.
TURKISH PROTESTERS ACCUSE US OF COMPLICITY IN GAZA CIVILIAN DEATHS
ANKARA, Turkey — Dozens of protesters gathered in front of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry where the top Turkish and U.S. diplomats were holding talks on Monday, accusing the United States of complicity in the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The protesters, members of an Islamist group, carried Turkish and Palestinian flags and held anti-U.S. and Israel signs as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Earlier, police dispersed a group of students who marched toward the ministry chanting “Murderer Blinken, get out of Turkey!”
It was the second day of protests denouncing Blinken’s visit to Turkey.
On Sunday, police fired tear gas and a water cannon as thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters tried to enter an air base used by U.S. troops in southern Turkey. Several hundred protesters marched to the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, chanting “God is great.”
NATO-member Turkey, which recently normalized ties with…
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