Live Updates: US senator says Gaza civilian toll 'too high' as Israel's invasion grinds on

0007 GMT — US senator says Gaza civilian toll 'too high'

A US senator has said that it is "vital" for Israel to carry out more targeted strikes in Gaza to limit civilian casualties.

"I think that the civilian death toll has been too high and a more surgical approach would be important and vital," Chris Murphy, a Democratic member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the AFP news agency.

"I am concerned that if Israel's strategy and end goal is to defeat Hamas, then this pace of civilian casualties, which certainly comes with a moral cost, also comes with a strategic cost."

The Israeli military's relentless bombing and ground invasion of Gaza has killed more than 10,600 people, also mostly civilians, the Palestinian territory's Health Ministry has said.

2300 GMT — More than 100 Democrats seek protected status for Palestinians in US

A group of Democratic lawmakers have urged US President Joe Biden to allow Palestinian tourists, students and workers in the United States to remain in light of Israel's war on Gaza and violence in the occupied West Bank, mainly by illegal Jewish settlers.

In a letter to Biden on Wednesday, more than 100 Democrats led by US Senator Dick Durbin called on Biden to grant residents of Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories deportation relief and access to work permits through US programmes for people whose homelands are affected by conflicts, natural disasters or other extraordinary circumstances.

"In light of ongoing armed conflict, Palestinians already in the United States should not be forced to return to the Palestinian territories, consistent with President Biden's stated commitment to protecting Palestinian civilians," the lawmakers wrote.

2255 GMT — US strikes Syria as Israel's Gaza invasion grinds on

US warplanes have carried out a strike on what US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said was an Iran-linked site in eastern Syria in response to attacks against American personnel.

"US military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups. This strike was conducted by two US F-15s against a weapons storage facility," Austin said in a statement.

This is the second time in less than two weeks that the US has bombed facilities used by the militant groups, which US officials say have carried out at least 40 such attacks since October 17.

2100 GMT — Houthis shoot down US drone off Yemen

A US military MQ-9 drone has been shot down by Yemen's Houthis, two US officials and the Houthi movement said.

While US drones have been shot down by Houthis in the past, this incident comes at a particularly tense time in the region.

Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions soar during Israel's war on Gaza.

2000 GMT — Palestinians flee combat zone Gaza's north

A long line of thousands of Palestinians have fled on foot from northern Gaza — families, children and older adults, crying babies — carrying only what they could take in their arms or on their backs.

They were seen in Associated Press video walking down Gaza’s main north-south highway, heeding the Israeli military's ultimatum to evacuate during a five-hour window as its troops battled Hamas fighters deep inside Gaza City. Some evacuees were pushing relatives in wheelchairs, with one older adult wheeled down the road in a hand truck.

Abeer Akeila left her home in Gaza city after relentless Israeli strikes forced all her neighbours to flee southward. She said life in the city has become increasingly difficult amid dwindling water and food supplies.

For our live updates from Wednesday (November 8), click here.