Israel’s military said it has encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two.

“Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters, calling it a “significant stage” in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group in the enclave.

It comes as Gaza sees its third communication outage in nearly a month-long war.

The “collapse in connectivity” across Gaza, reported by internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmed by Palestinian telecom company Paltel, made it even more complicated to convey details of the new stage of the military offensive.

Gaza has been hit by an unprecedented level of airstrikes as the Israeli military said it was conducting a “significant attack” only hours after announcing it had severed the enclave into two having reached the Mediterranean coastline.

Israeli warplanes also struck two refugee camps, killing at least 53 people and wounding dozens in central Gaza, the zone where Israel’s military had urged Palestinian civilians to seek refuge, health officials said. Israel said it would press on with its offensive to crush Hamas, despite US appeals for brief pauses to get aid to desperate civilians.

More than 9,700 Palestinians have been killed in nearly a month of war in Gaza, with about 4,000 of them minors, said Hamas-run Health Ministry

Key Points

• Blinken urged to back ceasfire on visit to occupied West Bank

• Some 3,760 children killed in Gaza since war started - UN

• IDF: 2,500 targets hit since groud invasion began

• Dozens killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp

• Blinken says ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup

• 400,000 still in northern Gaza

• Netanyahu says offensive will continue ‘full steam ahead’ until hostages released

Independent launches new WhatsApp channel - sign up for the latest breaking news and analysis

11:17 , Matt Mathers

The Independent has launched a brand new WhatsApp Channel, bringing you the latest breaking news, Premium news analysis from our award-winning journalists and an evening news briefing with the day’s top headlines.

Sign up and get the latest on the Israel-Hamas war and more by pressing this invite link.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans face water shortages - UN

11:14 , Matt Mathers

Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza face water shortages following the shutdown of wells due to a lack of fuel, the United Nations has said.

“This situation raises concerns of dehydration and waterborne diseases due to water consumption from unsafe sources,” the NGO said in a statement.

“However, a precise assessment is uncertain due to hostilities and access restrictions.”

“On 4 and 5 November, seven water facilities across the Gaza Strip were directly hit and sustained major damage, including three sewage pipelines in Gaza city, two water reservoirs (in Gaza City, Rafah and Jabalia refugee camp) and two water wells in Rafah.”

“Distribution of food assistance to IDPs in Gaza city and northern Gaza was almost completely halted for the past few days, following the intensification of ground operations.”

243 Palestinians killed in 24 hours

11:06 , Matt Mathers

234 Palestinians have been killed in 24 attacks over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry has said.

It said a number of the 47 people killed in the Al-Maghazi School attack remain trapped under the rubble.

“The death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 9,770 martyrs, including 4,008 children, 2,550 women, 596 elderly people, and 24,808 thousand injured with various injuries since the seventh of last October,” it said in a statement.

The ministry added that 70 per cent of the nearly 10,000 killed are women and children.

Gaza’s only psychiatric hospital damaged in strikes - health ministry

11:00 , Matt Mathers

Gaza’s only psychiatric hospital has been damaged during intensifying Israeli strikes, the Gaza health ministry has said.

Pictures of the hospital, provided by the health ministry, show damaged walls and treatment rooms with rubble all over the floor.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

 

IDF encircles Gaza

10:48 , Matt Mathers

Israel’s military said it has encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two.

“Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters, calling it a “significant stage” in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group in the enclave.

US sends nuclear submarine to Middle East

10:40 , Matt Mathers

The US has sent a nuclear submarine to the Middle East amid rising tensions over the Hamas-Israel war, according to a report.

On November 5, 2023, an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility,” US Central Command, which cover the Middle East, said on X.

It was an unusual announcement viewed by some analysts as a message to Iran, which backs Hamas.

Israeli soldier stabbed in east Jerusalem

09:59 , Matt Mathers

An Israeli soldier was seriously injured after being stabbed near a police station in east Jerusalem earlier this morning, police say.

The suspected attacker was shot dead and a second suspect has been arrested.

Police said a second man also suffered a minor stab wound in the attack, which took place near the Shalmen police station in the Old City.

Communications gradually being restores across Gaza

09:49 , Matt Mathers

Communication services have been gradually restored across Gaza, a main telecoms provider and an advocacy group said Monday.

Palestinian communications company Paltel announced that its services, including fixed, mobile and internet communications, have been gradually restored.

Alp Toker, director of the internet advocacy group NetBlocks.org, confirmed that internet connectivity has been restored to levels prior to Sunday’s disruption.

Overall service, however, remained significantly below prewar levels, he said.

Blinken meets Turkish foreign minister

09:44 , Matt Mathers

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has arrived in Ankara, Turkey for talks with leaders there aimed at getting a humanitarian pause in the Hamas-Israel war.

He met with the country’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan earlier. On Sunday he made an unannounced visit to the West Bank to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who joined international calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Blinken repeated US concerns that a ceasefire could aid Hamas, but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled one out for now.

“There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages,” Netanyahu said.

France in talks with Egypt on setting up field hospital for Gaza wounded

09:24 , Matt Mathers

France is in talks with Egypt to establish a military medical facility on the ground, which would include surgical capacities for people seriously wounded in the neighbouring Gaza Strip, France’s defence minister said in remarks published on Monday.

Paris will host an international humanitarian conference for the civilian population in Gaza later this week as it looks to coordinate international efforts for the Israeli-occupied Palestinian enclave.

Israeli fighter jets struck 450 Hamas targets in Gaza and troops seized a militant compound in the past 24 hours, the Israel Defence Forces said on Monday, while the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry said the air strikes killed dozens of people.

"There are also still discussions with Egypt in order to preposition a French military health offering on the ground, particularly providing surgery for war injuries," Sebastien Lecornu said in an interview with Lebanon’s L’Orient le Jour newspaper.

Boris Johnson wades into row over pro-Palestine Armistice march as pressure grows on Met chief

09:10 , Matt Mathers

Boris Johnson has waded into the row over whether a pro-Palestine march should be allowed to go ahead on Armistice day, saying that it would be “obscene”.

During a visit to Israel, the former prime minister said demonstrations, which have taken place weekly since Hamas’s October 7 terror attacks, represent support for “an anti-semitic pogrom”.

And he called on protesters to “remember that Remembrance Sunday is there very largely to commemorate the many, many people in our country, but also across the Commonwealth, who fought against Nazism and fascism”.

Archie Mitchell reports:

Leader of Burnley Council and 10 others quit Labour over Starmer’s Gaza ceasefire stance

09:09 , Matt Mathers

Burnley’s council leader has quit the Labour Party just days after urging Sir Keir Starmer to resign as leader over his stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

Councillor Afrasiab Anwar said it had been a “really difficult decision” to leave the Labour Party.

Mr Anwar and 10 other councillors have, according to a statement, jointly decided to leave the party – describing their memberships as “untenable” given the leadership’s refusal to demand a ceasefire in the Middle East.

Patrick Daly reports:

‘Enough is enough’: UN-led NGOs call for ceasefire

08:35 , Matt Mathers

A United Nations-led group of nearly 20 NGOs has said “enough is enough” as they called for the release of all Hamas hostages in Gaza and an immediate ceasefire.

“We renew our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians held hostage,” the group said in a statement. “Civilians and the infrastructure they rely on – including hospitals, shelters and schools – must be protected.

“More aid – food, water, medicine and of course fuel – must enter Gaza safely, swiftly and at the scale needed, and must reach people in need, especially women and children, wherever they are.

“We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now.”

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