Israel-Palestine live: Thousands in state of panic as Israel continues to strike hospitals

Palestinians are starting to count the dead in Gaza after a night of intense and non-stop Israeli shelling on Sunday, which came under the cover of total darkness amid a communication and internet blackout. 

The Palestinian health ministry said in an initial estimate at least 200 people have been killed in the bombardment, which came in waves throughout the night. At one point, persistent explosions from air strikes were heard for 30 minutes without a pause. 

Ghassan Abu Sitta, a Palestinian-British doctor volunteering in Gaza, said on Monday morning that 500 bodies have been brought to Al-Shifa Hospital from last night's bombing of the Beach refugee camp. 

Palestinian officials said they have received dozens of reports about the presence of hundreds of bodies in different streets in Gaza City. The health ministry has yet to release an official tally. 

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister, has praised the arrest of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi. 

"All respect to the IDF forces for tonight's arrest of the terrorist and 'human rights activist' Ahed Tamimi from Nabi Saleh, previously convicted for assaulting IDF soldiers," he wrote on X. 

"Since the war started, she has openly shown support for Nazi human animals on social networks," Ben Gvir said. "There must be zero tolerance for terrorists and those who support terror! That's the way it should be!"

Last week, Tamimi reportedly posted on her Instagram: "We are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin - we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke."

However, others have stated that she did not write the post, and it came from an account not owned by Tamimi.

She garnered widespread media attention in 2017, aged 16, when she was arrested following an altercation with Israeli soldiers who refused to leave her home in Nabi Saleh, a village in the occupied West Bank. 

Tamimi was sentenced to eight months in an Israeli prison as a minor, making headlines around the world.

France has recorded more than 1,040 antisemitic acts since fighting erupted on 7 October between Palestinians and Israelis, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday according to AFP news agency. 

"The number of antisemitic acts has exploded," he told France 2 television, adding that 486 people have been arrested for such offences, including 102 foreigners.

France's Jewish population, estimated at over 500,000, is the largest in Europe and the third-biggest in the world, after Israel and the United States.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said Sunday that there had been 257 antisemitic acts in the Paris region alone, and 90 arrests.

There was no typical profile for those arrested, he added. They ranged from "young kids who say very serious things" to people involved in the pro-Palestinian cause who had gone too far.

An Israeli cabinet minister has called for creating "sterile security zones" in the occupied West Bank that are free from Palestinians. 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also the de facto "governor" of the West Bank, said Palestinians should be prevented from entering these zones - which presumably include lands they own - even to harvest olives.

He made the demand in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Galant, Israeli media reported on Monday. 

The far-right minister, himself a settler, called for a discussion in the cabinet regarding "the continued neglect of the security of the settlers in Judea and Samaria," referring to the West Bank. 

"The concept of security must be shaken, emphasising the need to create sterile security zones around the settlements and roads and to prevent Arabs from entering them, including for harvesting," Smotrich said in the letter.

"The writing is on the wall and I am not ready to be a part of it. I will not agree to additional blood under my watch due to insistence on maintaining distorted perceptions."

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Monday morning.

The Palestinian health ministry said one Palestinian was shot dead in Hebron and three others were wounded.

Israeli police said they killed a 16-year-old in East Jerusalem after he allegedly stabbed two officers, wounding one of them seriously and the other lightly. 

Good morning MEE readers. Overnight, there was a communication blackout in Gaza, making it difficult to know what was going on. But what we do know is that it was another night of an intense Israeli aerial bombardment of the enclave.

After a quiet few hours, more news appears to be trickling in this morning, including reports of various Palestinian death tolls from different Israeli air strikes across Gaza.

Here is what you may have missed over the past few hours:

• The New York Times reported that the US is prepared to militarily intervene against Iran, Hezbollah, if they attack Israel.

• At least 50 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces on Monday morning, including activist Ahed Tamimi.

• After a request from the UAE and China, the UN Security Council will meet on Monday afternoon to discuss the ongoing situation in Gaza.

• The UN reported that 88 Unrwa staffed have been killed in Gaza, the highest number in any single conflict.

• More than 300 Americans have left Gaza, according to the US deputy national security adviser. It's not clear how many are left, but the Washington Post said that as of Thursday, there 400 Americans in the enclave that wanted to leave.

• While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a public tour of the Middle East, CIA director William Burns also travelled to the region on Sunday, according to The New York Times.

• A US nuclear-powered submarine has arrived in the Middle East region, raising US efforts to show force amid Israel's aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza.

We at MEE aren't going anywhere. We will continue providing you with live updates throughout the day. For up-to-date information around the clock, follow MEE's live blog and our social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

Israeli police have shot a Palestinian man in Jerusalem, after the person had reportedly stabbed two Border Police officers outside the Old City.

Police said that their forces neutralised the man, and his condition is not immediately clear. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the man was killed.

In an interview with Sky News, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that the Israeli government has shown “no interest” in peace, noting an Israeli cabinet member's remarks saying dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza is a possible option.

Safadi added that there are "statements from the current Israeli government saying very openly that Palestinians should not aspire to have a state".

Israel arrested at least 50 Palestinians during a number of raids by its forces in the occupied West Bank on Monday morning, according to several media outlets.

Israeli forces stormed a number of West Bank cities, including Nablus and the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.

Of those arrested were Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian activist who became a prominent figure after being arrested and put in jail as a minor in 2017.

The New York Times reported that the Biden administration has sent messages to both Iran and Hezbollah, telling them that if they were to launch attacks on Israel, the US is prepared to militarily intervene against them.

The report, which cited American officials, said that the messages were sent through Washington's regional partners including Turkey.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday, where he issued a warning: “It was very important to send a very clear message to anyone who might seek to take advantage of the conflict in Gaza to threaten our personnel here or anywhere else in the region: Don’t do it.”

At least 27 Palestinians were killed overnight between Sunday night and Monday morning as a result of Israeli air strikes across Gaza, amid another communications blackout in the Strip, according to the news agency Wafa and other Palestinian media outlets.

In the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in southern Gaza, at least 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike.

And in al-Zawaida in central Gaza, at least 10 were killed. Two other Palestinians were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia.

Given the blackout on communication in the besieged enclave, the actual death toll from Monday morning could be higher.

The UN Security Council will hold another emergency closed-door meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss the latest developments in Gaza.

The news of the meeting was announced by the United Arab Emirates's spokesperson to the UN, who said that the meeting comes “in light of the worsening situation in Gaza and the attack on the Al-Shifa Hospital and repeated attacks on Jabalia refugee camp".

The meeting was called by the UAE and China.

The Security Council has yet to come together to pass a single resolution on the latest war, with four resolutions calling for either a ceasefire or humanitarian pause having been vetoed by permanent members of the council.

The Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers, Shahar Cohen Mivtach, was killed during fighting in Gaza on Sunday. Mivtach, 22, was killed in battle in northern Gaza.

His death brings the total number of soldiers killed since Israel began a ground invasion of Gaza to 30, according to the military's official tally.

The UN has said that 88 Unrwa staff members have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, the highest number of such deaths in a single conflict.

The UN made the announcement in a rare joint statement issued together with several non-UN humanitarian organisations.

The statement further said: "We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now."

Israeli forces on Monday morning arrested Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian activist who was previously arrested by Israel in 2017, according to several reports.

Tamimi has often been referred to as an icon of the Palestinian resistance. She garnered widespread media attention in 2017 when she was arrested following an altercation with Israeli soldiers who refused to leave her home in Nabi Saleh, a village in the occupied West Bank. 

Tamimi, who was 16 years old at the time, was sentenced to eight months in an Israeli prison as a minor, making headlines around the world.

According to journalist Dena Takruri, who co-wrote a book with Tamimi, the activist's father Bassem was arrested last week as well.