Israel steps up war: Gaza deaths near 10,000

AFP :
Israeli forces pushed on with intense strikes targeting Palestinian militants in Gaza on Monday as the war neared one month and the Hamas-run health ministry’s death toll approached 10,000 inside the besieged territory.

Determined to destroy Hamas whose October 7 attack left 1,400 dead in Israel and saw over 240 hostages taken, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has vowed no letup despite mounting international calls for a ceasefire.

Ground forces with tanks have flooded the northern half of the Gaza Strip and tightened an encirclement of Gaza City, effectively splitting the territory in two, even as hundreds of thousands of civilians remained in the north despite Israeli evacuation orders.

Gaza’s health ministry said more than 200 people had died in overnight strikes — a day after reporting a total death toll of more than 9,770, mostly women and children.