United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the protection of civilians "must be paramount" in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, warning that the Gaza Strip was becoming "a graveyard for children."

"Ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and U.N. facilities – including shelters. No one is safe," Guterres told reporters.

"At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately towards Israel," he said.

UN agency leaders saying "enough is enough" demanded a humanitarian ceasefire, as health authorities in the enclave said the death toll from Israeli strikes now exceeded 10,000.

Israel has rebuffed mounting international pressure for a ceasefire, saying hostages taken by Hamas militants during their rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 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."

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The 18 signatories include the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths.

The reported number of fatalities in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 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.

At least 88 people who worked for the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have also been killed since 7 October.

Four Palestinian 'militants' killed in West Bank

Four Palestinians whom Israel labeled 'militants' were killed and another seriously wounded after Israeli forces shot at their car in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.

Israeli military and police said in a statement that it had killed four Palestinian militants who it said were part of a cell in the West Bank that was directed by Hamas and behind numerous shooting attacks.

A statement by the Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said three of the militants, whose ages ranged between 20 and 25, were from its Tulkarm arm while the fourth was from Hamas' armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades.

A 14-year-old boy was seriously wounded in the shooting but his condition was stable, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Türkiye calls for ceasefire

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken in a meeting in Ankara that a ceasefire needed to be declared urgently in Gaza, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

Blinken made an unannounced visit to the West Bank on Sunday to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who joined international calls for an immediate ceasefire. Blinken reiterated U.S. concerns that a ceasefire could aid Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled one out for now.

U.S. CIA Director William Burns was also set to visit Israel on Monday to discuss the war and intelligence with officials, the New York Times reported. Burns also will make stops in other regional states, it quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying.

Jordan considers Israel response

Jordan said on Monday it was leaving "all options" open in its response to what it called Israel's failure to discriminate between military and civilian targets in its intensifying bombardment and aggression of the Gaza Strip. 

Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh did not elaborate on what further steps Jordan would take, days after it recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest at Israel's offensive against Gaza launched after a cross-border October 7 attack by Hamas. 

Jordan also announced last week that Israel's ambassador, who left Amman shortly after Hamas' attack, would not be allowed to come back to resume his duties for now, effectively declaring him persona non grata. 

"All options are on the table for Jordan in our dealing with the Israeli aggression on Gaza and its repercussions," Khasawneh, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, told state media. 

Khasawneh said Israel's siege of the densely populated Gaza was not self-defence as it maintains. "The brutal Israeli attack does not discriminate between civilian and military targets and is extending to safe areas and ambulances," he said.

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