United Nations leaders call for ceasefire in Hamas-Israel conflict: 'No one is safe'

Israeli fighter jets struck 450 Hamas targets in Gaza, and troops seized a militant compound in the past 24 hours, theIsraelDefence Forces said on Monday, while the Palestinian enclave's Health Ministry said the airstrikes killed dozens of people.

Israel, which says its forces have encircled Gaza City, faces mounting pressure to avoid civilian casualties.Both Israel and Hamas have rebuffed increasing internationalpressure for a ceasefire. Israel says Hamas should release the hostages first; Hamas says it will not free them or stopfighting while Gaza is under assault.

Israeli strikes haveclaimed more than 10,000 lives, according toPalestinian health authorities. The war, about to enter its second month, hasinflamed tensions elsewhere in the region.

Calls for humanitarian ceasefire

At least 10,022 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,104 children, in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Monday. Some Western intelligence agencies have disputed the figures being given by the Health Ministry, though its reporting in previous conflicts hasbeen viewed as generally accurate.

A Reuters journalist in the Gaza Strip described the overnight bombardment from the air, ground and sea as one of the most intense sinceIsraellaunched its offensive in response to a surprise attack by Hamas on southernIsrael on Oct. 7. The attack killed about 1,400 people, including several Canadians.

The heads of several major United Nations bodies on Monday made a united call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The 18 signatories include Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights;Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization;and Martin Griffiths, UN aid chief.

"It's been 30 days," they said in a joint statement."Enough is enough. This must stop now."

WATCH l Negotiated ceasefire seems far off, analysts say:

Gaza ceasefire vs. humanitarian pause: what's the difference?

10 months ago

Duration 6:09

Calls for Israel to halt its attacks on Gaza have been growing louder since the start of the war, but there are different demands for what to call it. CBCs Thomas Daigle breaks down the difference between a ceasefire and a humanitarian pause and why what its called matters.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, at a briefing with reporters, called for a ceasefire as well, adding that clear violations of international humanitarian law were being committed.

"Ground operations by the Israel Defence Forces and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN facilities including shelters. No one is safe," Guterres told reporters.

"Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds ofgirls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured everyday."

Israel considers 'tactical little pauses' in Gaza fighting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a ceasefire until the return of over 200 hostages captured by Hamas, which wasfounded in 1987 and designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, Canada and the European Union.

In an interview with a U.S. television network on Monday, he said Israel would consider "tactical little pauses" in fighting.

"As far as tactical little pauses an hour here,an hour there we've had them before," Netanyahu said. "I suppose we'll check thecircumstances, in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods, tocome in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave."

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Netanyahu made the comments in an interview with ABC News, duringwhich he was asked who should govern Gaza after the fightingis over.

"I think Israel will for an indefinite period will have theoverall security responsibility because we've seen what happens when we don't have that security responsibility," Netanyahusaid.

Military 'closing in'

A spokesperson for Gaza's Health Ministry said on Monday that an Israeli airstrikehit a building in the Al-ShifaHospital complex, killing onePalestinian, but Israel denied it attacked the hospital.

Hundreds of displaced Palestinians and 170 patients were in the hospital building at the time, the spokesperson said, adding several Palestinians were wounded.

WATCH | Netanyahu refuses appeals for ceasefire:

Gaza deaths surpass 10,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say

10 months ago

Duration 3:24

One month since the Hamas attacks, the number of Palestinians killed surpasses 10,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, as Israel says its army will enter Gaza City within days.

Israel hadcalled on civilians in northern Gaza the heart of Hamas's forces to evacuate to the south for their own safety before Sunday. However, UN monitoring showed that relatively few have left, citing fear, heavy damage to roads and lack of information due to limited communications, a UN humanitarian briefing said.

The Israeli military said its forces had taken a militant compound and were poised to attack Hamas fighters hiding in underground tunnels and bunkers in the northern Gaza Strip, having isolated the area with troops and tanks. It released video of tanks moving through bombed-out streets and groups of troops moving on foot.

"Now we are going to start closing in on them," Lt.-Col. Richard Hecht told reporters.

Israel said 31 soldiers have been killed since it began expanded ground operations in Gaza on Oct. 27.

Jordan sends aid

UN Palestinian refugee agency shelters in the south are overcrowded and unable to take new arrivals, and many displaced people are sleeping in the streets, near the shelters, the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said.

Jordan's air force air-dropped urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza early on Monday, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from Jordan's king and reports in state media.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after meeting with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Monday, said he expects humanitarian assistance to expand "in significant ways" in the coming days.

WATCH |Canada's ambassador to Egypt on the current situation:

Ambassador hopes Canadians will be allowed to leave Gaza in the coming days

10 months ago

Duration 14:09

'Canada is still in the mix to receive its nationals within the next few days,' Canada's Ambassador to Egypt Louis Dumas tells Power & Politics. Dumas says the closure of the Rafah border crossing over the weekend has created a backlog in the departure of foreign nationals from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Gaza border officials said the Rafah crossing into Egypt has resumed operation. Foreign nationals, including from Canada, continue to amass at Gaza's border with Egypt in hopes of leaving the territory.

"We're very happy to see the border reopen today," Louis Dumas, Canada's ambassador to Egypt, toldPower &Politicshost David Cochrane on Monday. "As you know, it was closed for a few days, but in the next few days, at the very least, we hope to see a full load of foreign nationals coming from Gaza into Egypt.

"Canada is still in the mix to receive its nationals within the next few days."