Israeli troops divided the northern and southern parts of Gaza, as communications across the besieged territory were temporarily cut Monday for a third time since the war started. The troops are expected to enter Gaza City on Monday or Tuesday, Israeli media reported.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 10,000, including more than 4,100 children and 2,640 women, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

The developments came after Israeli airstrikes hit two refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing scores of people, health officials said. Israel has so far rejected U.S. suggestions that it take a humanitarian pause from its relentless bombardment of Gaza and the rising civilian deaths.

In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.

Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas.

Here’s what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

AT LEAST 2 KILLED AS AIRSTRIKE FLATTENS HOUSE IN SOUTHERN GAZA

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza — Dozens of civilians and emergency workers helped dig for survivors after an airstrike flattened at least one building in the densely populated al-Amal district of Khan Younis city in southern Gaza.

“There were no grown-ups, the house was full of children,” said local resident Soliman al-Faqawi, pausing momentarily from the communal dig.

Suddenly a teenage boy was pulled from the rubble alive, wincing in pain, his body completely covered in soot and dust. He was quickly placed on a stretcher and carried away for treatment,

At least two people were killed in the strike, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene.

SOUTH AFRICA RECALLS ITS DIPLOMATS FROM ISRAEL OVER GAZA BOMBARDMENT

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s government recalled its ambassador and diplomatic mission to Israel on Monday in condemnation of the bombardment of the Gaza Strip, calling it “a genocide.”

The government also threatened action against the Israeli ambassador to South Africa over his recent remarks about the African country’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war. No further details were given about the remarks.

The war broke out after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 left over 1,400 people dead. Over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

“The South African government has decided to withdraw all its diplomats in Tel Aviv for consultation,” said minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. She said the Cabinet noted the “disparaging remarks of the Israeli ambassador to South Africa about those who are opposing the atrocities and genocide of the Israeli government.”

The South African government has called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and for aid to be allowed into the bombarded enclave.

South Africa is among other countries that have recalled their ambassadors to Israel to protest the military operations in Gaza, including Chile, Colombia and Honduras. Bolivia severed diplomatic ties with the country.

GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS PALESTINIAN DEATH TOLL HAS SURPASSED 10,000

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza says the Palestinian death toll from the ongoing war with Israel has jumped over 10,000.

The figures, released Monday, mark a grim milestone in what has quickly become the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence since 1948.

The war erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel from Gaza and killed over 1,400 people and took some 240 others hostage in a rampage that Israel described as the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Israel responded with a campaign of blistering airstrikes, followed by a ground invasion.

The Health Ministry said 292 people were killed in Gaza on Sunday, raising the death toll to 10,022, without distinguishing between fighters and civilians. The vast majority of the dead are believed to have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, though Israel says over 500 errant rockets launched by Palestinian militants have landed inside Gaza.

BLINKEN RECEIVES TEPID RESPONSE TO PROPOSAL FOR ‘HUMANITARIAN PAUSES’

ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a grueling Middle East diplomatic tour in Turkey after only limited success in forging a regional consensus on how to ease civilian suffering in Gaza as Israel intensifies its war against Hamas.

Blinken met Monday in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan after a weekend of travel that took him from Israel to Jordan, the West Bank, Cyprus and Iraq to build support for the Biden administration’s proposal for “humanitarian pauses” in Israel’s relentless military campaign in Gaza.

“All of this is a work in progress,” Blinken said before leaving Turkey. “We don’t obviously agree on everything, but there are common views on some of the imperatives of the moment that we’re working on together.”

The Biden administration hopes that pauses in the war would allow for a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of hostages captured by Hamas during its Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, while also preventing the conflict from spreading regionally.

Israel has rejected the pauses proposal outright while Arab and Muslim nations are instead demanding an immediate cease-fire as the Palestinian casualty toll soars from Israeli bombardments of Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack.

PHOTOS OF THAI HOSTAGES SHOW THEY ARE ALIVE, PRIME MINISTER SAYS

BANGKOK — Thailand’s government has photographs of Thai workers who are being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas following its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, showing they are alive, the prime minister said Monday.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin did not say how many hostages the photos showed. The Thai government’s official number of “abductions” is 24. Thirty-four Thais are known to have been killed and 19 injured.

“There is an update that there are photos of the hostages. So, we understand that at least they are still alive. The negotiation efforts are still ongoing,” Srettha told reporters.

Thailand is pursuing several channels to obtain the release of the hostages, including a trip last week by Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara to Egypt and Qatar.

Almost 8,000 Thai workers have returned home from Israel out of a pre-attack total of around 30,000. Most are employed as semi-skilled farm laborers who come from poorer regions of Thailand and are able to earn a much better income by working abroad.

POPE DECRIES ANTISEMITISM, WAR AND TERRORISM

ROME — Pope Francis met with European rabbis on Monday and decried antisemitism, war and terrorism in a written speech he declined to read, saying he wasn’t feeling well.

Francis said in his prepared speech that his first thought and prayers goes “above all else, to everything that has happened in the last few weeks,” a clear reference to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, including the taking away of hostages to the Gaza Strip, and the ensuring Israeli-Hamas war.

“Yet again violence and war have erupted in that Land blessed by the Most High, which seems continually assailed by the vileness of hatred and the deadly clash of weapons,” Francis wrote in the speech.

With France, Austria and Italy among the countries in Europe recently seeing a spate of antisemitic vandalism and slogans, Francis added, “The spread of antisemitic demonstrations, which I strongly condemn, is also of great concern.”

The pontiff said believers in God are called to build “fraternity and open paths of reconciliation for all.”

ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS 4 CIVILIANS IN SOUTH LEBANON

BINT JBEIL, Lebanon — An Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed a woman and three children, raising the possibility of a dangerous new escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border.

Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants and their allies have been clashing for a month along the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. While clashes remain largely contained, they have increased in intensity as Israel conducts a ground incursion in Gaza against Hezbollah ally Hamas.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that two civilian cars were carrying members of the same family — one of them a local journalist — on Sunday evening when they were hit by an Israeli airstrike. One of the cars was hit directly and burst into flames, it said. One woman and three girls aged 10, 12 and 14 were killed and others were wounded, it said.

The Israeli military said Monday that it is reviewing the attack.

Israeli troops “identified and engaged a suspicious vehicle in Lebanon,” the military said in a statement. “The vehicle was identified as transporting terrorists. Allegations that there were civilians in the vehicle are being looked into. The incident is under review.”

Shortly after the Israeli strike, Hezbollah said it fired Grad rockets into Israel in response. A number of rockets hit the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, Israeli rescue services said. Videos verified by The Associated Press showed a burning car on the street of Kiryat Shmona.

At least one civilian was killed Sunday in attacks by Hezbollah, the Israeli military said. It wasn’t immediately clear if it was in Kiyat Shmona.

GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS AIRSTRIKE KILLED 8 PEOPLE, DAMAGED 3 HOSPITALS

CAIRO — Eight people were killed Monday in an airstrike close to three hospitals in Gaza City, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said.

Ministry spokesperson Medhat Abbas said the airstrike damaged the Psychiatric Hospital, the Eyes Hospital and Rantisi Pediatric Hospital. All three hospitals are still operational, he said.

Abbas showed images of what he said were damaged rooms and equipment at the Psychiatric Hospital. The images showed large holes in the wall and the roof with rubble on a hospital bed.

JORDAN AIR-DROPS AID TO HOSPITAL IN GAZA

AMMAN, Jordan -– A Jordanian military cargo plane dropped medical aid into Gaza, the kingdom’s leader announced Monday.

A trickle of humanitarian aid has entered Gaza via its land border with Egypt, but this appeared to be the first time aid was delivered by Jordan, a key U.S. ally that has a peace deal with Israel.

King Abdullah II said the aid reached the Jordanian field hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. “This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

King Abdullah II has recalled Jordan’s ambassador to Israel and told Israel’s envoy not to return to Jordan until the Gaza crisis was over.

Jordan’s prime minister, Bisher al-Khasawneh, told Parliament on Monday that “Any attempts or creating conditions to displace Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank are a red line and Jordan will consider it as a “declaration of war.”

COMMUNICATIONS IN GAZA ARE GRADUALLY RESTORED

CAIRO — Communication services have been gradually restored across Gaza, a main telecoms provider and an advocacy group said Monday, 15 hours after the territory experienced its third communication blackout since the war began on Oct. 7.

Palestinian communications company Paltel announced that its services, including fixed, mobile and internet communications, have been gradually restored.

Alp Toker, director of the internet advocacy group NetBlocks.org, confirmed that internet connectivity has been restored to levels prior to Sunday’s disruption. Overall service, however, remained significantly below prewar levels, he said.

The blackouts disrupted the activities of aid groups working in Gaza as humanitarian needs grow.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL PLANS CLOSED MEETING ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council scheduled closed-door consultations on the Israel-Hamas war on Monday afternoon at the request of China, which holds the council presidency this month, and the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council.