Over 10,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, Hamas-run health ministry says; UN calls Gaza a

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 invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh did not elaborate on what steps Jordan would take, days after it recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest at Israel’s offensive in Gaza after a cross-border Oct. 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, 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.

— Reuters

Activists from the Jewish Voice for Peace staged a sit-in demonstration at the Statue of Liberty. The group has been occupying high-profile New York City locations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

-Stephanie Keith | Getty Images

NBC News’ Raf Sanchez was given rare access to the expansive tunnel network underneath northern Gaza with the Israel Defense Force.

“We’re in big operation to seize as many tunnels as we can, to investigate them and obviously to terminate them,” IDF Lt. Col. Ariel Gonen told NBC News. “The tunnels are underneath hospitals, everything. We see that they’re under schools, under mosques,” he added.

Read the full story on NBC News.

— Amanda Macias

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza blocked traffic Monday at the Port of Tacoma, where a military supply ship had recently arrived.

Organizers said they opposed the Israel-Hamas war and targeted the vessel — the Cape Orlando — based on confidential information that it was to be loaded with weapons bound for Israel.

Those claims could not immediately be corroborated. In an emailed statement, Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense, confirmed that the vessel is under the control of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and is supporting the movement of U.S. military cargo.

The Cape Orlando drew similar protests in Oakland, California, where it docked on Friday before it sailed to Tacoma. About 300 protesters delayed its departure, and the U.S. Coast Guard detained three people who climbed onto the ship.

The three were released on a pier in San Francisco, Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel said Monday. He said investigations are ongoing against the three and others who had breached the federal maritime area.

By midmorning Monday, about 200 protesters remained at the Port of Tacoma, some carrying signs reading “No Aid For Israel” and “Free All Palestinian Prisoners,” emblazoned with watermelons, a symbol of Palestinian freedom. No arrests had been made, said officer Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department.

The protesters’ goal was to block the Cape Orlando from being loaded, said Wassim Hage, with the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center.

“It speaks to the historic moment where people are coming out to say, ‘No. No funding for genocide, no U.S. bombs for bombing hospitals and killing children in Gaza,'” he said Monday.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, which represents workers at the Port of Tacoma, did not immediately returned phone messages from the Associated Press on Monday.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly a month of war in Gaza, and more than 4,000 of those killed are children and minors. That toll likely will rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighborhoods.

The United Nations warned that approximately 1.5 million people have been displaced since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7.

Of those displaced, the U.N. said that more than 700,000 people are currently taking shelter in facilities operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA.

United Nations Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that about 150 UNRWA facilities are at complete capacity.

“The sites are overwhelmed, with many people also sleeping outside on the street. UNRWA says that the shelters are hosting newborns, people who are injured and others that are in need of special healthcare assistance,” Dujarric told reporters at the United Nations.

“Several cases of acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and chicken pox have also been reported among those sheltering at UNRWA shelters,” he added.

— Amanda Macias

The United Nations estimates that approximately $1.2 billion will be needed to finance the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance to nearly 3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank.

United Nations Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that so far more than 450 trucks carrying food, water and hygiene supplies have reached Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

“The entry of fuel, which we’ve been telling you is desperately needed, is still not allowed,” Dujarric told reporters at the United Nations.

— Amanda Macias

Israeli troops near the Gaza border are continuing their bombardment against Gaza.

The strikes come as Israel Defense Force are encircling Gaza City, and as Gaza was pounded by Israeli airstrikes overnight.

United Nations Secretary-General António 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.

The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled enclave said at least 10,022 people in Gaza have since been killed, including 4,104 children.

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

Guterres said 89 people working with the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency had been killed in Gaza, which he described as the highest toll for U.N. aid workers, higher “than in any comparable period in the history of our organization.”

Aid trucks have been trickling into Gaza from Egypt via Rafah, the main crossing that does not border Israel. But U.N. officials have repeatedly said this was insufficient for Gaza’s civilian population of about 2.3 million, more than 1 million of whom have been made homeless by Israel’s bombardment.

“The trickle of assistance does not meet the ocean of need,” Guterres said. “The Rafah crossing alone does not have the capacity to process aid trucks at the scale required.”

He said just over 400 trucks had crossed into Gaza over the past two weeks, compared with 500 a day before the conflict, adding the numbers did not include fuel supplies.

The United Nations last week said more than one border crossing was needed to deliver aid to the besieged Gaza Strip and Kerem Shalom — controlled by Israel — is the only one equipped to take enough trucks.

— Reuters

The White House said approximately 30 more trucks carrying humanitarian aid have arrived in Gaza, bringing the total number of trucks to 476.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated that the Biden administration wants to see more aid arrive quicker inside of Gaza.

“We’re going to continue to work that,” Kirby said on a call with reporters.

— Amanda Macias

President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the latest developments in Israel and the West Bank, according to a readout of the call provided by the White House.

The two leaders also discussed efforts to secure the release of hostages that are currently being held by Hamas.

“The two leaders welcomed the increase in humanitarian assistance over the past week and discussed the necessity to significantly ramp up deliveries over the coming week, including by increasing the capacity to screen and stage trucks going into Gaza,” the readout added.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden also discussed a “tactical pause” with Netanyahu, which would create an opportunity for civilians to depart Gaza.

“This remains something we are actively discussing with our Israeli counterparts and we consider ourselves at the beginning of this conversation, not at the end of it, so you can expect that we’re going to continue to advocate for temporary localized pauses in the fighting,” Kirby said on a call with reporters.

— Amanda Macias

Israel Defence Force encircled Gaza City, Monday as it continues its pursuit to eliminate Hamas. Gaza was pounded by airstrikes overnight by Israel as its military moves further into the densely populated city.

Editor’s note: The following post contains photographs with graphic content.

Photos show scenes of destruction caused by Israeli attacks on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on Nov. 6.

The Israel Defense Forces had said in a Telegram update that it took control of a Hamas compound and struck over 450 aerial targets in an overnight operation.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Monday that the ongoing conflict in Gaza has been the deadliest ever for U.N. workers.

At least 88 staff members have been killed amid the fighting, the aid agency said in a post on social media, while 47 of its installations — in which tens of thousands of displaced civilians have been sheltering — have been destroyed.

Since the conflict began on Oct. 7, at least 150 health workers have been killed, as well as 18 emergency services workers and 46 journalists, a UNWRA factsheet released Sunday showed.

— Karen Gilchrist

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened to foreign nationals and badly injured Palestinians, the Gazan border authority said Monday, according to Reuters.

The authority said only foreigners already on pre-approved lists would be able to cross the border, which has been closed for two days.

Since the start of the war, several hundreds of people have evacuated Gaza through the sole available crossing, but thousands more remain.

— Karen Gilchrist

Tourism to Israel fell sharply in October, Reuters reported official figures as showing Monday.

Almost 99,000 visitors, primarily designated as tourists, arrived in Israel in October, less than a third of the 369,000 who visited in Oct. 2022, and a fifth of those who arrived in pre-pandemic Oct. 2019, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.

Around three quarters (72.2%) of those who visited last month came for the Jewish festival of Sukkot in the first week of the month, which ended on Oct. 7, the day Hamas carried out its rampage through Israeli territory, killing some 1,400 people and taking around 240 hostage.

— Karen Gilchrist

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said Monday that the government is recalling diplomats from Israel while it reassesses ties with the country amid its ongoing military campaign in Gaza, according to Reuters.

Naledi Pandor said the recall was “normal…