Day 31: Latest developments in the war on Gaza

Fighting raged in the Gaza Strip on Monday for the 31st day since Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack over the border from the territory into Israel on October 7. More than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel since the attack, during which Hamas took more than 240 people hostage. […]

Fighting raged in the Gaza Strip on Monday for the 31st day since Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack over the border from the territory into Israel on October 7.

More than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel since the attack, during which Hamas took more than 240 people hostage.

In response, Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza and sent in ground troops, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory saying more than 9,700 people have been killed, also mainly civilians.

Here are key developments from the past 24 hours:

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Overnight strikes
Intense Israeli strikes killed more than 200 people overnight in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said Monday.

The toll only covered Gaza City and the northern part of the Palestinian territory, the ministry said.

The Israeli army said late Sunday that its troops were pounding Gaza with “significant” strikes, after announcing they had encircled Gaza City.

Blinken in Turkey
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held tough talks with officials in Turkey aimed at soothing the anger of one of Washington’s most strategic but difficult allies about the bloodshed in Gaza.

Blinken’s first visit to Turkey since Israel went to war with Hamas follows a whirlwind tour of the Middle East that included an unannounced visit to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was travelling elsewhere during Blinken’s visit, said on Sunday it was “Turkey’s duty” as a supporter of an independent Palestinian state to immediately stop the violence.

Turkey was working to secure an uninterrupted stream of humanitarian aid into Gaza, Erdogan said, while he has called back Ankara’s ambassador to Israel in protest.

East Jerusalem stabbing
A Palestinian stabbed and seriously wounded a female Israeli soldier before being shot dead in annexed east Jerusalem on Monday, police said.

The Israeli emergency services said they had provided medical treatment to the 20-year-old soldier and another soldier of the same age who suffered light injuries.

The attack marks the latest violence to flare up in the area as Israel deepens its military offensive in Gaza.

Activist arrest
The Israeli army said Monday it had arrested the prominent 22-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi during a raid in the occupied West Bank.

“Ahed Tamimi was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence and terrorist activities in the town of Nabi Salih” near the city of Ramallah, an army spokesman told AFP.

Asked about the reasons for her detention, a security source forwarded to AFP a social media post attributed to Tamimi that calls for the massacre of Israelis in explicitly violent terms, referring to Hitler.

The activist’s mother, Nariman al-Tamimi, denied her daughter wrote the post.

Aid drop
Jordan said Monday its air force air-dropped vital medical supplies to a field hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza,” Jordan’s King Abdullah II said.

The Israeli army said it had “coordinated” delivery of the consignment with Jordan.

“The equipment will be used by the medical staff for patients,” the Israeli army said.