Israeli Defense Forces say they struck 450 Hamas targets and captured a military compound on Sunday. Palestine's health authorities say multiple civilians were killed in the strikes. /Mohammed Al-Masri/Reuters
Israel Defense Forces say they struck 450 Hamas targets in Gaza on Sunday night and seized a military compound, while Palestine's health ministry claim that multiple civilians were killed in the aerial bombardment.
Health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza said 10,022 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, which began when Hamas killed 1,400 people and seized more than 240 hostages on October 7.
Jordan revealed its air force dropped urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza on Sunday, while the EU has announced it will increase its humanitarian aid to Gaza by $26 million. On Monday, France revealed it's in talks with Egypt to establish a military medical facility on the ground, which would include surgical capacities for people seriously wounded in the neighboring Gaza Strip.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is continuing his tour of the Middle East aiming to prevent the conflict from escalating. After an expected meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not materialise, Blinken instead held a meeting with his counterpart Hakan Fidan. Fidan called for an urgent ceasefire, contrasting with the U.S.'s appeal for more temporary humanitarian pauses, and said that Israel had to be prevented from targeting civilians.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. /Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Tunnel strikes
Senior Hamas commander Jamal Mussa, who had headed the group's special security operations, was among those killed in overnight strikes, the IDF said. Israel said 31 soldiers have been killed since it began expanded ground operations in Gaza on October 27, fighting thousands of Hamas fighters who believe they can hold off Israel's advance in a warren of tunnels under the enclave.
A spokesman for Israel's military told CNN late on Sunday that bombardments in northern Gaza were halted for several hours for two days in a row to allow civilians safe passage to move to the south of the narrow coastal strip. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus added there was access to water and humanitarian goods in the south of Gaza, but Hamas was impeding convoys by firing on them. His account could not immediately be verified.
Displaced Palestinian children sit in a makeshift shelter at Shifa hospital. /Mohammed Al-Masri.
Search for victims at refugee camp
People searched for victims or survivors at the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza, where the health ministry said Israeli forces had killed at least 47 people in strikes early on Sunday.
"All night I and the other men were trying to pick the dead from the rubble. We got children, dismembered, torn-apart flesh," said Saeed al-Nejma, 53.
Asked for comment, the IDF said it was gathering details.
In a separate attack, 21 Palestinians from one family were killed in strikes, the health ministry said. The IDF declined to comment.
Reuters could not independently verify these accounts.
"We demand that you stop them from committing these crimes immediately," Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas told Blinken, during a meeting on Sunday, urging an "immediate ceasefire" from Israel.
Palestinians were facing a war of "genocide and destruction", news agency WAFA quoted Abbas as saying.
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