UN chief says Gaza is becoming a "graveyard for children" The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that “no one is safe” in Gaza as he reiterated his urgent call for a humanitarian ceasefire. The situation in Gaza is “more than a humanitarian crisis, it is a crisis of humanity”, Guterres said during a briefing at the UN’s headquarters on Monday. Israeli ground operations and bombardments are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN facilities including shelters, he said. The protection of civilians “must be paramount”, he said. I’m deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing. Let me be clear, no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law. He said Gaza was “becoming a graveyard for children” with hundreds of boys and girls reportedly killed or injured every day, he said. More journalists have reportedly been killed over a four-week period than in any conflict in at least three decades. More United Nations aid workers have been killed than in any comparable period in the history of our organisation. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has once again rejected the idea of a ceasefire in Gaza unless hostages are released, but suggested a series of “tactical little pauses” may be possible. In an interview with ABC News, Netanyahu was asked about the Biden administration’s calls for temporary “humanitarian” pauses in the fighting to allow more aid into Gaza and for civilians to evacuate. Netanyahu said: Well, there’ll be no ceasefire, general ceasefire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages. As far as tactical little pauses, an hour here, an hour there. We’ve had them before, I suppose, will check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages to leave. But I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire. He said he believed a ceasefire “will hamper the war effort” and hamper the effort to get the hostages out “because the only thing that works on these criminals in Hamas is the military pressure that we’re exerting”. Asked if he would agree to a ceasefire if Hamas agrees to the release of hostages, Netanyahu replied: There will be a ceasefire for that purpose. Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim new drone attack on Israeli targets in "occupied territories" Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched a fresh drone attack against Israel which they claimed temporarily halted activity at Israeli military bases and airports. A Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said on social media that Yemeni armed forces “launched a batch of drones during the past hours at various sensitive targets of the Israeli enemy in the occupied territories”, AFP reported. He added: As a result of the operation, the activity at the targeted bases and airports stopped for several hours. Israeli authorities did not immediately confirm the attack. The Houthis are part of the Iran-aligned regional alliance hostile to Israel and the US, which includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias in Iraq, Reuters reported. Last week, the Houthis declared they had fired drones and missiles at Israel. In a televised statement on Tuesday, Saree said the group had launched a “large number” of ballistic missiles and drones towards Israel, and there would be more such attacks to come “to help the Palestinians to victory”. He added it was the Houthis’ third attack on Israel since the start of the conflict The Metropolitan police have asked demonstrators planning to hold a pro-Palestine march through London on Remembrance Day to “urgently reconsider” their protest. Organisers had raised fresh concerns that the protest, scheduled this Saturday, could be banned. After a meeting between organisers of the protests and the Met, a statement was issued on Monday in the name of the deputy assistant commissioner, Ade Adelekan, claiming that “the risk of violence and disorder linked to breakaway groups is growing”. “This is of concern ahead of a significant and busy weekend in the capital,” Adelekan said. Our message to organisers is clear: please, we ask you to urgently reconsider. It is not appropriate to hold any protests in London this weekend. On Monday night Suella Braverman welcomed the Met’s statement. “The hate marchers need to understand that decent British people have had enough of these displays of thuggish intimidation and extremism,” she posted on X, formerly Twitter. Saturday’s protest is scheduled to start at 12.45pm on Saturday 11 November – Remembrance Day – at Hyde Park Corner and end at the US embassy in south-west London, about two miles from the Cenotaph, where formal remembrance events will be held the next day. Jordan’s prime minister, Bisher al-Khasawneh, has said “all options are on the table” for the country’s response to Israeli actions in Gaza. Khasawneh, speaking to state media, accused the Israeli military of failing to discriminate between civilian and military targets in its intensifying bombardment of the Palestinian territory, Reuters reported. He said: All options are on the table for Jordan in our dealing with the Israeli aggression on Gaza and its repercussions. In response, Israel’s foreign ministry said its “relations with Jordan are of strategic importance to both countries and we regret the inflammatory statements from Jordan’s leadership”. Last week, Jordan announced that Israel’s ambassador would not be allowed to return after leaving Amman shortly after the Hamas attack last month, effectively declaring him persona non grata. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has ended his tour of the Middle East admitting that his efforts to secure a sustained humanitarian pause and greater constraint in Israel’s assault on Gaza was still “a work in progress”. UN-run shelters in Gaza are so crowded that it is impossible to count the people needing food, water, medicine and other basics, administrators say, as the fighting and bombardments continue. One UN official at a compound in the southern city of Khan Younis told the Guardian on Monday night: It is a terrible, terrible situation. There is no room even to sleep on the floor. There is one toilet for 700 or 800 people. No bread, no stoves for cooking. We are drinking irrigation water. The official, who was not authorised to speak to the media, added: No one can get an accurate number of IDPs [internally displaced persons] here. We know nothing about what happens outside. Everyone is just concentrating on survival. Nur Hatib, 33, a kindergarten teacher, said everyone in the compound, a vocational training centre that now houses about 25,000 people, was terrified by the continuing bombardment in Gaza. The constant noise of airstrikes and reports of attacks close to shelters have sown panic. “Of course we are frightened. We have our babies and children with us. Every parent in the world wants to protect their children and we cannot,” Hatib said. My six-year-old daughter wants to know when she will go home so she can go back to reading and writing, which she loves. I try to give her hope and I say, ‘Of course you will go back to school,’ but I don’t know how this will be possible. A 37-year-old dentist who helps to run a basic primary healthcare station in the compound said she and others felt “totally lost”. We have no homes. All the city is destroyed. Where will we go even if there is a ceasefire? We have lost everything and feel we have been abandoned here. The Biden administration has informed the US Congress that it is planning a $320m (£259m) transfer of precision bombs for Israel, Reuters reported, citing a source. As we reported earlier, the administration last week sent formal notification to congressional leaders of the planned transfer of spice family gliding bomb assemblies, a type of precision guided weapon fired by warplanes, according to the Wall Street Journal. Citing correspondence it viewed, the WSJ said weapons manufacturer Rafael USA would transfer the bombs to its Israeli parent company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for use by the Israeli defense ministry. Fuel reserves for generators powering the al-Quds hospital in Gaza City are at a critical level and will run out within 48 hours, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a tweet. The organization is appealing to “international health and humanitarian organizations to swiftly provide vital assistance and essential supplies” for Gaza, especially the territory’s northern region, now reported to be cut-off from the south by Israeli forces. The society also says two Israeli rockets landed close to the hospital’s gates Monday evening. There are no immediate reports of casualties. Hundreds of protestors staged a sit-in demonstration at the Statue of Liberty on Monday demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. About 500 members and supporters of Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City waved flags and banners and sang pro-peace songs, according to a spokesperson for the group. Those present included photographer, artist and activist Nan Goldin, who told the gathering: “As long as the people of Gaza are screaming, we need to yell louder, no matter who attempts to silence us.” The protest came the same day as the Palestinian health ministry announced the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza surpassed 10,000. More than 1,400 Israelis have also been killed. It is the second mass demonstration in the last 10 days in New York City for the group. On 27 October, hundreds of protestors in black shirts showing pro-ceasefire messages gathered at Grand Central Station. Sarah Koshar, a spokesperson for the group, said the Statue of Liberty was a symbolic venue for Monday’s demonstration: My ancestors were greeted by the Statue of Liberty while escaping pogroms. While it is a symbol of refuge for my family, I am hauntingly aware that the US denied entry to Jewish refugees throughout the entirety of the Holocaust. From Ellis Island to Gaza, never again means never again – for anyone. Biden and Netanyahu discuss possible "tactical pauses" for Gaza Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu discussed “the possibility of tactical pauses” in Israel’s military operations in Gaza to facilitate humanitarian aid, according to a readout of a call between the leaders earlier today. According to the White House, the president told Israel’s prime minister that the US was “steadfast” in its support of the country in the conflict that has so far seen more than 10,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health ministry figures. Here’s what Biden and Netanyahu talked about: [They] discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, including many children and a number of American citizens. 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 President reiterated his steadfast support for Israel and the protection of Israeli citizens from Hamas and all other threats while also emphasizing the imperative to protect Palestinian civilians and reduce civilian harm in the course of military operations. The two leaders discussed the possibility of tactical pauses to provide civilians with opportunities to safely depart from areas of ongoing fighting, to ensure assistance is reaching civilians in need and to enable potential hostage releases. The President also discussed the situation in the West Bank and the need to hold extremist settlers accountable for violent acts. The pair agreed to speak again in the coming days. The readout did not indicate if Netanyahu was receptive to any so-called tactical pause, but he has ruled out the possibility of a ceasefire and US secretary of state Antony Blinken left the Middle East today with no progress towards a humanitarian pause in the fighting. US planning $320m transfer of precision bombs for Israel – report The US is planning a $320m (£259m) transfer of precision bombs for Israel, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The Biden administration sent formal notification on 31 October to congressional leaders of the planned transfer of spice family gliding bomb assemblies, a type of precision guided weapons fired by warplanes, the paper reported, citing sources. Summary of the day so far It’s nearly 10pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s where we stand so far: More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October, according to figures released by the health authority in the territory. The total number of deaths now stands at 10,022, including 4,104 children. The number of casualties in Gaza has not been independently verified. The deaths of scores of aid workers in airstrikes on Gaza over the past month has made the conflict the deadliest ever for UN workers. At least 88 people who worked for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have been killed since 7 October, and 47 of its buildings have been damaged. Separately, at least 150 health workers have been killed in Gaza – 16 while on duty – and 18 emergency-service workers for Gaza’s civil defence, according to the UN. More than 100 health facilities have been damaged. The Israeli military says it has completely encircled Gaza City after over a week of heavy fighting, in effect severing the territory into two, as Israeli ground troops appeared poised to enter the dense urban sprawl from the south. “Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,” Rear Adm Daniel Hagari told reporters, calling it a “significant stage” in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group ruling the territory. Residents in Gaza have said Sunday night was one of the heaviest bombardments since Israel began its bombing campaign. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it is carrying out airstrikes against sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The IDF said it had identified about 30 launches from Lebanon towards northern Israel earlier on Monday, and that it was “responding with artillery fire toward the origin of the launches”. The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces on Monday in the West Bank city of Tulkarm has risen to four, the Palestinian health ministry said. Previous reports said three people were killed and a fourth injured during an exchange with Israeli forces in the occupied territory. A Hamas commander believed to be among those who ordered the 7 October attacks in Israel was killed overnight in an airstrike, according to reports. The reports named him as Wael Asefa, commander of Hamas’s Deir al-Balah battalion of the group’s central camps brigade. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has ended his tour of the Middle East admitting that his efforts to secure a sustained humanitarian pause and greater constraint in Israel’s assault on Gaza was still “a work in progress”. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said the protection of civilians “must be paramount” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, warning that the Gaza Strip was becoming “a graveyard for children”. Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, responded by saying: “Shame on you.” More than half a million people in northern Gaza face death by starvation as food supplies run “perilously” low, an international charity has warned. About 80 dual nationals and 17 medical evacuees had left Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing by early Monday evening, Reuters reported, citing Egyptian security sources, after evacuations were suspended for two days after an ambulance was hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza on Friday. The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the EU was increasing its humanitarian aid to Gaza by another €25m, bringing total aid to €100m ($107m / £86.5m). South Africa is recalling diplomats from Israel to assess its relationship with the country, its foreign minister has said, saying that Israel was involved in the “collective punishment” of Palestinians. The UK’s Labour party has issued its most direct criticism of the Israeli government since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, criticising the remarks of rightwing Israeli ministers over the West Bank and saying they have been responsible for “unacceptable and offensive rhetoric about Palestinians”. Organisers of pro-Palestine marches that have brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of London have raised fresh concerns that a major protest planned for Saturday could be banned.