Update(1630ET): There's been more confirmation of the Israeli airstrikes on a densely populated refugee camp in  Jabaliya neighborhood, which lies north of Gaza City. Israel's military has owned up to it, saying an important senior Hamas commander who helped plan the Oct.7 terror attack was eliminated. Al Jazeera is citing health sources at the nearby "Indonesian Hospital" to say that at least 50 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and that number is expected to rise. "Hundreds" are said to have been injured and killed in the attack, per Sky News.

But when an IDF spokesman was pressed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer over why Israel chose to attack even while knowing hundreds of civilians were there, he essentially explained that eliminating the Hamas commander was more important than safeguarding civilian lives (see exchange below). The New York Times has detailed of the massive strikes on the neighborhood area and refugee camp:

CNN's Wolf Blitzer: You knew that there were innocent civilians in that refugee camp, right? IDF spox: This is the tragedy of war. We told them to move south. Blitzer: So you decided to drop the bomb anyway. IDF spox: We're doing everything we can to minimize civilian deaths. pic.twitter.com/oAtW7jV0pc

-- Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 31, 2023

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the loss of life in Gaza is reaching "staggering" numbers. He stated, "The number of civilian casualties in Gaza is staggering. The limited aid flow is a mere trickle of the growing needs. Without urgent, unrestricted access at scale, tragedy will continue unfolding before our eyes," he emphasized.

The White House has continued to reject calls for a ceasefire, in support of its Middle East partner Israel. However, the bad optics of the IDF's spokesman essentially shrugging off mass civilian death when pressed by Wolf Blitzer will only serve to increase the international pressure. ... the message to the globe seems to be from Washington and the Western allies.

This is not self-defense. Unquestionably a war crime. pic.twitter.com/eyuHaoB8oE

-- Levent Kemal (@leventkemaI) October 31, 2023

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Update(1323ET): Israel has admitted that this war will be long and costly, including in human lives on both sides. It has announced what the IDF says are its first troop casualties of the Gaza campaign which are being publicly disclosed by the military (there could be more that aren't publicly disclosed). Per Israeli media citing the Tuesday words of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant:

There are battles against the forces that are operating [in Gaza] and the results and achievements on the battlefield are very high," he says.

"Unfortunately, in war, there are also prices, and the prices in the last day were heavy prices," Gallant continues.

"Despite that, we are also determined to continue and win," he adds.

The IDF has said that two soldiers were killed and two seriously injured in fierce fighting in Gaza today and that "numerous" terrorists were killed.

More tanks have been observed pouring into northern Gaza, as the scale of the operation continues to grow by the day.

WATCH: Commander's Battle Orders for Gaza Operation: "We will fight in the alleys, and we will fight in the tunnels, we will fight where necessary and defeat the abominable enemy we are facing - the residents of Bari, Sderot, Nir Oz, and Kfar Gaza. The whole nation of Israel… https://t.co/KW1rLzzpEL pic.twitter.com/p4GGnYQ1z7

-- Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 31, 2023

Missile fire and artillery exchanges have also continued on Israel's northern border, where Hezbollah has been claiming successful anti-tank operations.

Latest Hezbollah has announced an Attack today on Israeli Forces along the Border with Southern Lebanon, which is claimed to have resulted in the Targeting and Destruction of a Merkava Mark lll or lV Main Battle Tank.#Gaza #Israel #FreePalestine #غزة_تنتصر #حزب_اللہ pic.twitter.com/hIZhhpzsYn

-- 𝖂𝖆𝖖𝖆𝖘 𝕾𝖎𝖆𝖑 (@waqas_sial007) October 31, 2023

A mass casualty event is also being widely reported after Israeli airstrikes flattened Jabalia refugee camp, as WSJ details based on eyewitness accounts:

A local hospital has said at least 50 people were killed in the blasts but expects the death toll to rise as more casualties come in.

A rare exchange for American MSM:

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said Tuesday its troops are busy engaged in "fierce battles against Hamas terrorists deep in the Gaza Strip" and that multiple Hamas positions and anti-tank guided missile units have been destroyed. 

A military statement also said troops had killed dozens of terrorists as tanks push deeper into northern and central Gaza, after yesterday tank units cut off a key north-south highway which links both halves of the Strip. 

A statement from Hamas was cited in regional media as saying, "Israeli military vehicles are being seen on the Salahuddin Highway trying to move west," and affirmed that "Israeli forces also entered the strip from northwestern Gaza. Armored vehicles can now be seen in the al-Karam district north of Gaza City."

Amid ongoing airstrikes accompanying the ground invasion, the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 8,500 as of Tuesday. For the first time this has pushed the total number of people killed in the conflict from both sides near 10,000 - as more than 1,400 Israelis have been confirmed dead. 

A fresh   report has examined satellite imagery taken Monday morning which "shows the substantial scale of one of Israel's main advances into northern Gaza, where hundreds of armored vehicles have pushed miles past the border into urban areas on the outskirts of Gaza City." According to more from the detailed report:

Extensive piece by @Josh_H et al. @nytimes analysing satellite imagery taken today of Gaza. "A Detailed Satellite View of Israel's Invasion" https://t.co/lsYwwMXRJa https://t.co/RXOSCMgUSX pic.twitter.com/E3hlJPQdcW

-- Will Marshall (@Will4Planet) October 31, 2023

Israel has also said it has begun to attack Hamas militants inside the sprawling network of tunnels which forms the base of the group's operations in the Gaza Strip.

Regional tensions and the potential for the war to spread have grown after PM Netanyahu said in a Monday night address amid international calls for a ceasefire or at least humanitarian pause that, "Calls for a ceasefire or calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorists, to surrender to barbarism, that will not happen."

He was also pressed by reporters over whether he would resign amid the growing scandal over Oct.7 intelligence and military preparedness failures. Netanyahu merely said he plans to "resign" Hamas: "We're going to resign them to the dustbin of history. That's my goal. That's my responsibility."

Hamas' Qassam Brigades releases scenes of yesterday's clashes with Israeli forces invading west of Erez in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/AqXlPrbBDz

-- The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) October 31, 2023

The UN is now warning that the war is spilling over into Syria, after Israel struck more targets in Syria and Lebanon overnight, and after Hezbollah fired more projectiles. Israel in the last two weeks has already struck Damascus and Aleppo international airports several times.

And related to regional tensions with Iran, Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen appear to have stepped up their threats and attacks aimed at Israel. The group's military spokesman on Tuesday announced a "third operation targeting Israel with more to come." A Houthi military spokesman has vowed there are more attacks to come in what amounts to a 'declaration of war'. According to , a drone sent from Yemen made it to southern Israeli skies: 

It was successfully intercepted, Israeli officials have said. "The incident triggered air raid sirens in the popular Red Sea tourist resort of Eilat and sent residents running for shelter," the report continues, indicating further: 

#Eilat and Ramon Airport in north of this town were attacked again by missiles or drones of #Yemen's Ansar Allah. It should be noted that the Israeli media claimed that Saudi Arabia and Egypt helped Israel repel these attacks. Video: activity of air defense systems over Eilat. pic.twitter.com/wfT0JUNOsv

-- IWN (@A7_Mirza) October 31, 2023

Yesterday at the UN, Israel's ambassador Gilad Erdan in a dramatic speech, which also saw his delegation wearing yellow star of David emblems and vowing "never again", ripped the "Nazi regime" of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"Just like the Nazi regime, the Ayatollah's regime (in Iran) sows death and destruction everywhere it touches," the Israeli ambassador to the UN said. "The Islamic Nazi regime of Iran is responsible for aiding terrorists around the globe, and working toward destroying every value the civilized world holds dear. Today the world is watching the rise of a Shiite Islamic Reich. Yet just like the rise of Nazism, the world is deafeningly silent."

The stunt was met with criticism and pushback internationally, and especially from Yad Vashem (The World Holocaust Remembrance Center), whose chairman Dani Dayan had this to say... 

"We were deeply saddened to witness members of the Israeli delegation to the UN donning yellow badges." He emphasized that such a move trivializes and dishonors the Holocaust and its victims, and harms the reputation of Israel itself. 

Israel and the US have continued to ultimately blame Tehran for what its proxies are doing, particularly related to Hezbollah, paramilitaries in Syria, and now Houthis after it has sent a few rockets toward Israel in the last couple weeks (the first which was intercepted by a US warship off Yemen's coast).