Israeli troops surround Gaza City, isolate northern areas

Demonstrators rally in support of Palestinians in Denver, Colorado. Pic/AP

Israeli troops early Monday had surrounded Gaza City and cut off the northern part of the besieged territory as communications lost for several hours across Gaza overnight were gradually being restored.

Troops are expected to enter the city Monday or Tuesday, Israeli media reported, and militants who have prepared for years are expected to fight street by street using a vast network of tunnels. Casualties will likely rise on both sides in the month-old war, which has already killed more than 10,022 Palestinians including over 4,100 children, as per Gaza's Health Ministry.

Some 1.5 million Palestinians - 70 per cent of the population - have fled their homes since the war began with a bloody Hamas incursion into Israel that killed over 1,400 people, mostly civilians. Food, medicine, fuel and water are running low, and UN-run schools-turned-shelters are beyond capacity, with many sleeping on the streets outside.

Israel has so far rejected US suggestions for a pause in fighting to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries and the release of some of the estimated 240 captives seized by Hamas in its October 7 raid. Israel has also dismissed calls for a broader cease-fire from increasingly alarmed Arab countries - including Jordan and Egypt, which made peace with it decades ago.

Jordan air-drops aid to hospital in Gaza

Palestinians mourn the deaths of relatives killed in Israeli bombardment. Pic/AP

Medical aid was airdropped into Gaza by a Jordanian military cargo aircraft, the kingdom's leader announced on social media on Monday. A trickle of humanitarian aid has entered Gaza via its land border with Egypt, but this appeared to be the first time aid was delivered by Jordan, a key U.S. ally that has a peace deal with Israel.

King Abdullah II said the aid reached the Jordanian field hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. "This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. King Abdullah II has recalled its ambassador to Israel and told Israel's envoy not to return to Jordan until the Gaza crisis was over.

10,022
No of Palestinians killed in Gaza

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