Gaza, West Bank aggression: death toll touches 10,491

The death toll from the ongoing occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since October 7 has risen to 10,491 martyrs and more than 28,000 wounded.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement Tuesday that 10,328 have been martyred in the Gaza Strip and 163 in the West Bank. About 26,000 have been injured in Gaza and about 2,300 wounded in the West Bank.
The statement added that the martyrs included 4,237 children, 2,719 women, and 631 elderly people, while the number of missing persons reached about 2,350, including more than 1,300 children.
The Ministry of Health indicated that 18 out of 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip that include inpatient facilities have stopped working, and 71% of all primary care facilities throughout the Strip have been closed due to damage or lack of fuel, noting that 117,000 are displaced.
Medical and health facilities, and thousands of patients reside in health facilities, in addition to the internal displacement of 1.5mn citizens in Gaza.
Israel said yesterday its forces were operating deep in Gaza City in the Palestinian enclave.
Gaza residents said earlier that Israeli tanks were positioned on the outskirts of Gaza City, Hamas' stronghold in the north of the territory and home to about a third of its 2.3mn people before the hostilities.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli soldiers were operating in the heart of Gaza City. Hamas's most senior leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was isolated in his bunker, Gallant said in a televised news conference.
"Gaza City is encircled, we are operating inside it," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
The military wing of Hamas, which has ruled the small, densely populated enclave for 16 years, said its fighters were inflicting heavy losses and damage on advancing Israeli forces. It had no immediate comment on the possible fate of Sinwar.
"It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair," UN Human Rights Commissioner Volcker Turk said in a statement at the start of a trip to the region.
Israel, which is trying to clear out Gaza City, gave residents a window from 10 am to 2 pm to leave for the southern part of the 45-km long Gaza Strip.
Residents say Israeli tanks have been moving mostly at night with Israeli forces largely relying on air and artillery strikes to clear a path for their ground advance.
Gaza's interior ministry says 900,000 Palestinians are still sheltering in northern Gaza including Gaza City.
Gallant repeated the calls for civilians to move south for their own safety. He also said that after the war was finished, neither Israel nor Hamas would rule Gaza.
While Israel's military operation is focused on the northern half of Gaza, the south has also come under attack. Palestinian health officials said at least 23 people were killed in two separate Israeli air strikes early yesterday in the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
Both Israel and Hamas have rebuffed calls for a halt in fighting. Israel says hostages should be freed first. Hamas says it will not free them or stop fighting while Gaza is under attack. Washington has backed Israel's position.