Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip in Rafah on Nov 6, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

GAZA/UNITED NATIONS/RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM/BEIRUT/SANAA - Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, emphasizing the urgent need for a humanitarian ceasefire, while Palestinian authorities said the deaths in the enclave have reached 10,022 and the injuries rose to 25,408.

In the past hours, the Israeli army committed 19 major killings that claimed the lives of 252 people, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day.

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General 

Meanwhile, there were 2,350 reports of people missing under the rubble, including around 1,300 children, Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said during a press conference.

“Ground operations by the Israeli military and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN facilities, including shelters. No one is safe. At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately toward Israel,” Guterres told reporters.

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“Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day,” he added.

Since the latest round of Hamas-Israel conflict started on Oct 7, the total number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza has reached 10,022, which includes 4,104 children and 2,641 women. On the Israeli side, more than 1,400 people lost their lives.

Al-Qudra said Israel has so far targeted 113 healthcare facilities and 32 ambulances in Gaza, killing a total of 192 healthcare workers. Some 16 hospitals and 32 primary care centers have been taken out of service, he added.

Guterres said the nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. 

People flee following Israeli air strikes on a neighborhood in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Nov 6, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

“It is a crisis of humanity. The intensifying conflict is shaking the world, rattling the region and, most tragically, destroying so many innocent lives,” he said.

"The unfolding catastrophe makes the need for a humanitarian ceasefire more urgent with every passing hour. The parties to the conflict - and, indeed, the international community - face an immediate and fundamental responsibility: to stop the inhuman collective suffering and dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza," he added.

Humanitarian appeal

Over the past two weeks, just over 400 trucks have crossed into Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, compared with 500 a day before the conflict. Guterres said the crossing alone does not have the capacity to process aid trucks at the scale required.

We are already witnessing a spiral of escalation from Lebanon and Syria, to Iraq and Yemen. That escalation must stop. Cool heads and diplomatic efforts must prevail. Hateful rhetoric and provocative actions must cease.

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General 

He said the UN and partners are launching a humanitarian appeal worth $1.2 billion to help 2.7 million people - the entire population of Gaza and half a million Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

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The UN chief also voiced grave concern about rising violence and an expansion of the conflict, calling on UN member states to act now to find a way out of “this brutal, awful, agonizing dead end of destruction”, and help pave the way to a two-state solution. 

“The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is at a boiling point. And there is a need to address the risks of the conflict spilling over to the wider region,” Guterres said.

"We are already witnessing a spiral of escalation from Lebanon and Syria, to Iraq and Yemen. That escalation must stop. Cool heads and diplomatic efforts must prevail. Hateful rhetoric and provocative actions must cease," he said.

On Monday, at least three Palestinians were killed and one was seriously injured by Israeli forces in Tulkarm, northern West Bank, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.

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The ministry reported that the three deceased and the injured were taken to Tulkarm Government Hospital.

Furthermore, Israeli forces attacked a civilian car in Tulkarm and opened fire inside it, according to local sources.

Israeli Army Radio said on Monday that Israeli security forces operated on the outskirts of Tulkarm as part of the "counter-terrorism effort." 

No sign of deescalation

Tensions mounting along the Israeli-Lebanese border have shown no sign of deescalation.

Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli drone attack hit a vehicle in the southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun, killing three children and their grandmother while injuring their mother.

The potential for escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border is clear and must be stopped, said the spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Andrea Tenenti on Monday, slamming the killing of four civilians in southern Lebanon.

People stand next to the damaged car that hit by an Israeli airstrike in the town of Ainata, a Lebanese border village with Israel in south Lebanon, Nov 6, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

"We heard tragic reports about the killing of four civilians, including three girls and a woman, in the vicinity of Aitaroun in southern Lebanon," Tenenti said in a statement carried by the Lebanese media National News Agency (NNA).

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Tenenti reiterated that attacks against civilians constitute a violation of international law and are considered "war crimes," calling for a ceasefire in southern Lebanon to "stop harming more people."

Meanwhile, the Israeli forces attacked the outskirts of Naqoura and targeted Jabal Blat and the outskirts of the southern town of Marwahin with artillery shells on Monday night, killing two Hezbollah fighters, NNA reported.

It raised the number of casualties among members of the Shiite military group to 66, the report added. Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israeli sites in al-Malikiyah and Jal al-Deir with missiles and attacked the technical equipment at Israel's al-Rahib military site.

In Yemen, the Houthi militia said on Monday that they had launched bomb-laden drones toward various targets in Israel

On the Israeli said, its military said some 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Monday evening, triggering Israeli artillery fire in response.

"Approximately 30 launches were identified from Lebanon toward northern Israel," the Israeli military said in a statement. "The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is responding with artillery fire toward the origin of the launches," the military added.

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Hamas claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, saying 16 rockets were launched.

The rockets triggered air raid sirens in the Upper Galilee region and the Karyot region, north of the Israeli city of Haifa, marking the longest range of the rockets fired from Lebanon since Israel began its offensive against Hamas. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage on the Israeli side, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement. 

In Yemen, the Houthi militia said on Monday that they had launched bomb-laden drones toward various targets in Israel.

"We launched a batch of drones over the past few hours at various targets of Israel," the militia's military spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement aired by the group's al-Masirah TV.

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"As a result of the operation we carried out, movement at the targeted bases and airports in Israel stopped for several hours," Sarea said, adding the attacks would continue until Israel stops its "offensive against brothers in Gaza."

The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, have claimed that their drones and missiles have the capability to cross the distance between Yemen and Israel, which is more than 2,000 km, and hit the targets.

This is the fifth operation claimed by the Iran-backed militia since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on Oct 7. There has been no official confirmation of the incidents from Israel.