Gaza Strip: The United Nations warned thousands more civilians could die as Israel escalated ground operations in Gaza, while the European Union called for hostilities to stop to enable aid deliveries.
The health ministry in Gaza said Israeli strikes had killed 7,703 people, mainly civilians, with more than 3,500 of them children.
The conflict is the fifth and deadliest in Gaza since Israel unilaterally withdrew troops and settlers from the Palestinian territory in 2005.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk warned of "the possibly catastrophic consequences of large-scale ground operations in Gaza", saying "thousands more civilians" could die.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP "hundreds of buildings and houses were completely destroyed and thousands of other homes were damaged" in the overnight strikes.
Amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Al-Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, Alaa Mahdi likened Israel's bombardment to an "earthquake".
"If it were a natural earthquake, it would have been much easier than what happened last night," he said.
"What happened last night was more like a horror movie," Gaza City resident Jihad Mahdi said.
"People in the streets have become lifeless bodies walking."
Hamas said all internet connections and communications across Gaza had been cut.
AFP journalists in Gaza confirmed they were only able to communicate in limited areas where they could connect to Israeli networks across the border.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the outage had disrupted ambulance services.
The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Lynne Hastings, said on X, formerly Twitter, that "hospitals & humanitarian operations can't continue without communications".
Between the bombardments and the fuel shortages, 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals have been forced to close.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it has had to "significantly reduce its operations".
UN chief Antonio Guterres said he regretted the "unprecedented escalation" of Israel's bombardment of Gaza and demanded an "immediate" ceasefire.
Israel's bombardment has displaced more than 1.4 million people inside Gaza, according to the UN, while supplies of food, water and power to the crowded territory have been almost completely cut off.
A first tranche of aid was allowed on October 21, but only 84 have crossed in total, according to the UN, which says a daily average of 500 trucks had entered Gaza before the conflict. SEE ALSO P6 and P7
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