🔴 Live: South Africa calls for UN force to protect civilians in Gaza as death toll rises

Issued on: 30/10/2023 – 06:05Modified: 30/10/2023 – 14:22

2 min

• Israel’s military said Monday it had struck over 600 targets in Gaza in the past 24 hours – one of the heaviest bombardments yet in its war on Hamas – and that its forces killed dozens of ‘terrorists’ through the night in the Palestinian territory.   
• Dozens of Israeli tanks rolled into the fringes of Gaza City on Monday, eyewitnesses said. The city is usually the most densely populated urban area in the territory but many residents have left following repeated Israeli evacuation orders. Hamas said Sunday it was engaged in “heavy fighting” with Israeli troops on the ground in northern Gaza.
• The UN said 33 trucks carrying water, food, and medical supplies had entered Gaza from Egypt on Sunday. It is one of the largest humanitarian aid deliveries to date, but still far short of the 100 trucks per day that aid groups say are needed.                      
• Phone and internet services were gradually returning to Gaza after an almost complete communications blackout that began late Friday evening following intense Israeli air strikes. 
• The death toll from the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has surpassed 8,300, including more than 3,450 children, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said Monday. At least 1,400 people were killed in Israel during Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, and 239 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.

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Key developments on Sunday, October 29:

A mob looking for Israelis and Jews stormed an airport in Russia’s Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday after rumours spread that a flight was arriving from Israel. Russia’s aviation agency Rosaviatsiya announced shortly afterwards that it had closed the airport to incoming and outgoing flights and that security forces had arrived. A statement from the republic’s health ministry said there had been injuries, but did not elaborate on how many or who had been hurt.

US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi committed to the significant acceleration of assistance flowing into Gaza beginning Sunday, the White House said. The White House said Biden briefed Sisi on US efforts to ensure the conflict does not expand in the region.

The death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war rose to 8,005 people, and the injury toll stood at 20,242 people, according to the official health ministry spokesperson in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory on Sunday. The dead include 3,324 children, 2,062 women and 460 people among the elderly, the spokesperson said.

Read our blog to see how yesterday’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)