Israeli forces have widened their raid into northern Gaza and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts and forcing many families to leave their homes, residents said, as Israeli strikes killed at least 38 people, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking access between the two areas except upon permission for families willing to heed evacuation orders and leave the three towns.
Nine days into a major Israeli operation in northern Gaza, the Gaza government media office said Israeli strikes had killed around 300 Palestinians there.
It said Israel's bombardment of civilian houses and displacement shelters was intended to force residents to leave Gaza once and for all.
Israeli tank shelling killed at least 22 Palestinians at a school sheltering displaced families in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.
Hours earlier an Israeli airstrike killed five children in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said the children were playing near a cafe when they were killed by a missile fired from an Israeli drone.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said Israel's offensive in northern Gaza "is a war crime" and "represents a mass expulsion of people from their homeland".
Mr Martin said the "horrific scenes unfolding in Jabalia, and northern Gaza must stop".
"An entire population is being encircled and forced out, with nowhere for them to go. This represents a mass expulsion of people from their homeland.
"It is a war crime, and the international community must use every lever at its disposal to pressure Israel to stop this war," he said in a statement.
Gaza's health ministry says dozens of people have been confirmed killed in the assaults on northern areas, with many dozens of others feared dead on roads and under the rubble of houses beyond the reach of medical teams.
US to send advanced anti-missile system and personnel to Israel
The United States has said it will send to Israel an advanced anti-missile system - and US troops to operate it - in a bid to bolster the country's air defenses following missile attacks by Iran.
US President Joe Biden said he was sending the system "to defend Israel."
Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery would augment Israel's integrated air defense system.
"It is part of the broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months, to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias," Mr Ryder said in a statement.
It comes as the Israeli military said four soldiers were killed and seven injured by a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base south of Haifa.
Hezbollah said it attacked a camp of the Israeli military's Golani Brigade camp in Binyamina in northern Israel with a "swarm of drones".
Israel's N12 News television had reported at least 67 people were wounded.
Hezbollah said it launched "a squadron of attack drones at a training camp... in Binyamina, south of Haifa," in response to Israeli attacks, including air strikes in the central Beirut neighbourhoods of Basta and Nweiri that killed 22 people on Thursday.
Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes across Lebanon yesterday killed 51 people.
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UNIFIL says Israeli tanks 'forcibly entered' UN position
Earlier, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Israeli tanks broke through a gate to enter a Blue Helmet position in Lebanon today, after blocking their movement yesterday.
"At around 4.30am (01.30 GMT), while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF (Israeli military) Merkava tanks destroyed the position's main gate and forcibly entered the position" in the Ramia area of southern Lebanon, the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission said.
"They requested multiple times that the base turn out its lights. The tanks left about 45 minutes later after UNIFIL protested through our liaison mechanism."
A little over two hours later, peacekeepers reported "the firing of several rounds 100 metres (yards) north, which emitted smoke".
"Despite putting on protective masks, 15 peacekeepers suffered effects, including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions, after the smoke entered the camp," it said, adding they were receiving treatment.
Yesterday, Israeli soldiers "stopped a critical UNIFIL logistical movement near Mais al-Jabal, denying it passage", the force said, referring to an area in south Lebanon.
In its version of events, the Israeli military said militants of Hezbollah had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops, wounding 25 of them.
The attack was very close to a UNIFIL post and a tank helping evacuate the casualties under fire then backed into the UNIFIL post, it said.
Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN chief to move peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon out of "harm's way", saying Hezbollah was using them as "human shields".
"Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm's way. It should be done right now, immediately," Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement issued by his office.
Elsewhere in Lebanon, Israel has hit areas both in and outside traditional Hezbollah bastions.
In areas where Hezbollah holds sway, Israeli warplanes hit a marketplace in the southern city of Nabatiyeh and then a 100-year-old mosque in a village near the border, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA).
There have also been deadly strikes in other areas of Lebanon - one on a Shi'ite Muslim village in a mostly Christian mountain area, and another in north Lebanon, the health ministry said.
Lebanon's health ministry said strikes on three villages yesterday killed 15 people.
According to the NNA, Israeli forces have "escalated their attacks" on southern Lebanon, with "successive air strikes from midnight until morning" pounding several border villages.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it clashed with Israeli troops who tried to "infiltrate" twice into a border village, sparking an hour-long battle.
It later said it shelled Israeli soldiers gathered in Maroun al-Ras village.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched around 320 projectiles into Israel over the weekend of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
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