Israel-Hamas war LIVE: Israel says Gaza ground operation is expanding as UN warns of 'growing misery'

The UN human rights office also raised the alarm over "war crimes" being committed as the Israel-Hamas conflict raged into its 21st day.

Israel pounded northern Gaza and said it was "extending" its ground operation late Friday amid UN warnings of an "avalanche of human suffering" in the battered Palestinian territory.

"Following the series of strikes of the last days, the ground forces are extending the ground operation tonight," military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters.

His announcement followed two straight nights of tank incursions into Gaza.

Earlier, the military said it had increased its strikes "in a very significant way", as AFP live footage captured intense bombardment of northern Gaza.

The armed wing of the Islamist group Hamas said it responded with "salvos" of rockets aimed at Israel.

Hamas said all internet connections and communications across the territory had been cut, and accused Israel of taking the measure "to perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land and sea."

Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 220 others, according to Israeli officials.

The Hamas-run health ministry said Friday Israeli strikes on Gaza had now killed 7,326 people, mainly civilians and many of them children.

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that Gaza faces "an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering" because of the lack of food, water and power during Israeli bombing in response to the October 7 attack.

The UN human rights office also raised the alarm over "war crimes" being committed as the Israel-Hamas conflict raged into its 21st day.

Concern is growing about regional fallout from the conflict, with the United States warning Iran against escalation while striking facilities in Syria it says were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and others.

The war, now in its 21st day, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed so far — more than three times the number killed in the six-week-long Gaza war in 2014.

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Hamas says 'ready' for Israel ground invasion

Hamas is "ready" for an Israeli invasion of Gaza over the October 7 attacks, a top official of the Palestinian Islamist group said late Friday after Israel announced it would extend its ground operation.

"If Netanyahu decides to enter Gaza tonight, the resistance is ready," said Ezzat al-Rishaq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, on social media platform Telegram.

"The remains of his soldiers will be swallowed up by the land of Gaza."

US backs 'humanitarian pause' for Gaza aid: White House

The United States backs pauses in hostilities between Israel and Hamas to allow aid to get into Gaza, the White House said on Friday as Israel said it was extending ground operations.

"We would support humanitarian pauses for stuff getting in, as well as for people getting out, and that includes pushing for fuel to get in and for the restoration of electrical power," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

A Recap of top developments so far

Israel's military says its ground forces will expand their activities in Gaza

Israel’s defence minister said the country expects to launch a long and difficult ground invasion

Internet and phone network were cut off in Gaza, following heavy Israeli airstrikes

Hamas says 'ready' for Israel ground invasion, calls on world to 'act immediately' to stop bombardment

Iran says militants have 'finger on trigger' in anticipation of Israeli ground offensive in Gaza

UN chief warned that Gaza faces "avalanche of human suffering" due to lack of food, water and power

People in Gaza are facing 'total darkness', warns chief of Palestine Red Crescent Society

Israeli army accused Hamas of using hospitals in Gaza Strip as operational centres

Israel's targeted raids in recent nights have seen forces, including tanks, enter Gaza

US strikes Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on US troops

Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza as its army extends 'ground operations'

Explosions caused by Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (Photo | AP)

Explosions caused by Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (Photo | AP)

US says anti-Iran strikes in Syria hit ammunition

The United States said Friday that its strikes in eastern Syria hit ammunition linked to Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and expected a "significant" impact on Tehran-backed militias.

"The purpose for those two sites that we targeted was to have a significant impact on future IRGC and Iran-backed militia group operations," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

"It went right at storage facilities and ammo depots that we know will be used to support the work of these militia groups, particularly in Syria."

Hamas calls on world to 'act immediately' to stop Israeli bombardment

Militant group Hamas called on the world to "act immediately" Friday to stop Israel's bombardment of Gaza, as intense strikes pounded the Palestinian territory.

"We call on the Arab and Muslim countries and the international community to take responsibility and act immediately to stop the crimes and series of massacres against our people," Hamas said in a statement.

Israel army says extending 'ground operations' into Gaza

The Israeli army said it will extend "ground operations" in the Gaza Strip on Friday night after significantly intensifying its air strikes on the Palestinian territory.

"Following the series of strikes of the last days, the ground forces are extending the ground operation tonight," military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters. The announcement followed two straight nights of tank incursions into Gaza. READ FULL REPORT HERE

In this undated image taken from a video released by Israeli Defense Forces, a line of Israeli tanks are shown during an incursion into the Gaza Strip. (Photo | AP)

Israel's army says it has intensified Gaza strikes 'very significantly'

The Israeli military said Friday it had increased its strikes on Gaza "in a very significant way", as AFP live footage captured intense bombardment of the territory's north. "We will continue to strike in Gaza City and around," military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised address.

Hamas govt says internet, communications cut across Gaza

The Hamas government said Israel "cut communications and most of the internet" across the Gaza Strip on Friday. The government's media office accused Israel of taking the measure "to perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land and sea," as heavy strikes hit northern Gaza.

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 telecom provider Paltel says internet service in the Gaza Strip has been cut off by Israeli bombardment. Services were cut Friday evening, following a heavy round of Israeli airstrikes that lit up the night sky over the darkened territory.

Rights groups and journalists also say they lost contact with colleagues in the enclave. The Associated Press’s attempts to contact people in Gaza did not go through.

UN chief says Gaza faces 'avalanche of human suffering'

The United Nations chief warned Friday that Gaza faces "an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering" due to a lack of food, water and power during the Israeli bombing in response to the Hamas attack.

"I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the delivery of life-saving supplies," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

"Misery is growing by the minute. Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering." READ FULL REPORT HERE

Iran says militants have 'finger on trigger' ahead of Israel's ground invasion

Iran's foreign minister warned Friday that Lebanese and Palestinian militants had their "finger on the trigger" in anticipation of an Israeli ground offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Amir-Abdollahian insisted, however, that militants would decide on their own rather than at the behest of Iran. READ FULL REPORT HERE

Intense Israeli strikes rock northern Gaza Strip

Intense Israeli strikes rocked the northern Gaza Strip on Friday evening, live footage filmed by AFP showed. The Israeli military told AFP it is "continuously striking in the Gaza Strip" against the militant group Hamas that rules the Palestinian territory.

Early morning airstrikes bring more death and destruction to Gaza

An early morning airstrike killed at least two people in a Gaza neighbourhood where several homes were damaged or destroyed. Chunks of concrete, clothing and broken furniture littered the street outside a home where the first floor remained standing.

The blast rocked Khan Younis hours before dawn, said Yasser Abu al-Arraj, who ran next door to pull a mother, daughter and a son, who was killed, from the wreckage. “May God avenge us from (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu,” Abu al-Arraj said.

A woman who survived the attack gestured toward a pile of cinderblocks that had toppled, saying she and the 19 others who survived had to search for each other through a cloud of dust. Nine children huddled on cushions on the other side of the room. “People of Gaza are being shattered,” she said. “I can’t believe that my kids came out of this alive.”

At another house that was damaged, Soaad Abdulahadi said she had been having breakfast with her children when the ceiling started to collapse. “We just saw the house falling over our heads,” Abdulahadi said. “Half of them (my family) are in the hospital and the other half are displaced. This is our house, where should we go now?”

Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas ‘at advanced stage’, reports Al Jazeera

Negotiations mediated by Qatar on ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas are "quickly progressing and at an advanced stage", reports Al Jazeera. The Qatari media says negotiations are continuing but the developments could mark a major shift in the war.

Israel army claims Hamas 'wages war from hospitals' in Gaza

The Israeli army Friday accused Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as operational centres for directing attacks against Israel, as the war rages in the Palestinian territory. "Hamas wages war from hospitals" in Gaza, military spokesman Daniel Hagari told journalists, adding that the Islamist group was also using fuel stored in these facilities for carrying out its operations.

Israel expects 'long' ground war in Gaza to destroy Hamas and its many tunnels

Israel expects to launch a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon to destroy Hamas, the country's defence minister said Friday, describing a campaign that will require dismantling a vast network of tunnels used by the territory's militant rulers. READ FULL REPORT HERE

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks with Israeli soldiers in a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. (Photo | AP)

Palestinians rally in West Bank in support of Gaza

Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated on Friday in the streets of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, where some expressed support for Hamas amid Israel's ongoing war against the militant group based in Gaza.

The crowd chanted slogans including: "Liberate Gaza" and "the people want the Al-Qassam Brigades" in reference to Hamas's armed wing. Others waved Hamas flags along with banners representing a range of Palestinian movements.

The demonstration came just hours after Israeli forces killed at least four Palestinians during a dawn raid in the north of the occupied West Bank, with Hamas members among the dead.

Palestinians carry Hamas flags during a protest against Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday, October 27, 2023. (Photo | AP)

Red Cross says its team of medics enter Gaza for first time

Medics from the International Committee of the Red Cross entered Gaza Friday for the first time since the outbreak of war on October 7, a spokeswoman for the organisation told AFP. Six medical staff crossed through Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt, alongside four other ICRC specialists and six aid trucks.

France President Macron calls for 'humanitarian truce' in Hamas-Israel conflict

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for a "humanitarian truce" in the conflict between Hamas and Israel to ensure the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Recognising Israel's "right" to "fight against terrorism", Macron pointed to "the complete blockade, the indiscriminate bombardment and even more the prospect of a massive ground operation" as risks for civilians.

He called for a "humanitarian truce" to protect people in Gaza who have faced bombardment from Israel prompted by the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Death toll hits 7,326 in Hamas-run Gaza: Health ministry

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Friday 7,326 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the eruption of war with Israel on October 7.

The latest death toll includes 3,038 children killed, a ministry statement said, while 18,967 people have been wounded across Gaza.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Israel says that it carried out a "targeted raid" in Gaza using ground forces backed by fighter jets

The latest incursions came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated earlier this week that Israel was "preparing for a ground offensive".

And army statement said, "During the last day, IDF (Israeli military) ground forces, accompanied by IDF fighter jets and UAVs, conducted an additional targeted raid in the central Gaza Strip."

"The IDF identified and struck numerous terror targets, including anti-tank missile launch sites, military command and control centres, as well as Hamas terrorists," it said, saying troops "exited the area at the end of the activity".

Madhath Mubashar—Commander of Hamas' Western Khan Yunis Battalion—was eliminated by an IDF aerial strike.

Furthermore, the IDF struck 250+ Hamas targets including a terrorist tunnel network in Gaza that detonated the secondary explosions. pic.twitter.com/qaB5J0np2G

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 27, 2023

United Nations raises war crimes concerns over Israel-Hamas conflict

A war crime is a serious violation of international law against civilians and combatants during armed conflict, a "grave breach" of the 1949 Geneva Conventions that established a legal framework for war after the Nuremberg tribunals of top Nazis.

"We are concerned that war crimes are being committed. We are concerned about the collective punishment of Gazans in response to the atrocious attacks by Hamas, which also amounted to war crimes," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a press conference in Geneva.

She said indiscriminate attacks by Palestinian armed groups, including through the launching of unguided rockets into Israel, had to stop.

READ FULL STORY HERE

'Many more to die' from Gaza siege, UN warns on day 21 of war

After a batch of critically needed aid was allowed in at the weekend, only 74 trucks have crossed in via the Rafah border with Egypt since then, which aid agencies say is just a tiny fraction of what was needed.

"People in Gaza are dying, they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege imposed on the Gaza Strip," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), told reporters in Jerusalem.

Before the conflict, an average of 500 trucks entered Gaza every working day, UN figures show.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Israel strikes outskirts of Gaza City during second ground raid in as many days

Israeli forces backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a second ground raid into Gaza in as many days and struck targets on the outskirts of Gaza City, the military said Friday

The Palestinian death toll has soared past 7,000 as Israel has carried out waves of devastating airstrikes in response to a bloody Hamas incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7

A view showing part of the destruction caused by the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (Photo | AP)

The Health Ministry in Gaza, which tracks the toll, released a detailed list of names and ID numbers on Thursday. The toll includes more than 2,900 minors and more than 1,500 women.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Parts of Gaza look like a wasteland from space after continuous bombings

Tightly packed streets in Beit Hanoun look obliterated, with a rare white structure standing out in the gray wasteland.

The destruction of areas of northern Gaza is visible from space in satellite images taken before and after Israeli airstrikes, which followed the raids carried out by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.

Maxar Technologies shows before and after bombing at the Beit Hanoun neighbourhoodd. (Photo | AP)

With the airstrikes continuing around the clock, the full extent of the damage remains unknown. The satellite photos provide a glimpse of the devastation, particularly in the hard-hit northern Gaza Strip.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Israel 'ground forces' conduct night raid in Gaza: army

The Israeli army said Friday its ground forces backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a "targeted raid" in Gaza over the past day, as it prepares for a land invasion.

"During the last day, IDF ground forces, accompanied by IDF fighter jets and UAVs, conducted an additional targeted raid in the central Gaza Strip," an army statement said.

"The IDF identified and struck numerous terror targets, including anti-tank missile launch sites, military command and control centres, as well as Hamas terrorists," it said, saying troops "exited the area at the end of the activity". (AP)

Fearing airstrikes and crowded shelters, Palestinians in north Gaza defy Israeli evacuation orders

Palestinians and aid workers are among the hundreds of thousands who have chosen to remain in Gaza despite Israeli warnings to head south.

The risks for those staying in the north are likely to rise exponentially in the event of an expected Israeli ground offensive.

With tens of thousands of troops massed along Israel's border with Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel was preparing for a ground incursion. He refused to say when it would begin. (AP)

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

Rocket fired in Israel-Hamas war wounds six in Egyptian border

Six people were wounded when a rocket hit an Egyptian town on the border with Israel on Thursday night, according to local media.
Witnesses told AFP that the rocket hit a hospital annex in the Red Sea town, which lies near a border crossing with Israel.

Images circulating online and in local media showed a damaged building and blown-up vehicles.
On Wednesday, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inspected Egyptian troops in Suez, telling them to "always be ready". (AFP)

Palestinians plead 'stop the bombs' at UN meeting

“Stop the bombs and save lives!” the Palestinian ambassador pleaded at an emotional U.N. meeting Thursday on the war in Gaza. But Israel’s envoy was adamant, declaring again, “We will not rest until Hamas is obliterated.”

At the assembly’s resumed emergency special session on Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories Thursday, speaker after speaker backed the Arab resolution’s cease-fire call — except for Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan.

Palestinians evacuate survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. (Photo | AP)

Israel strikes outskirts of Gaza City during second ground raid in as many days

Israeli forces backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a second ground raid into Gaza in as many days and struck targets on the outskirts of Gaza City, the military said Friday, as it prepares for a widely expected ground invasion of the Hamas-ruled territory.

The airstrikes have flattened entire neighborhoods, causing a level of death and destruction unseen in the last four wars between Israel and Hamas. Over a million people have fled their homes, with many heeding Israeli orders to evacuate to the south, despite continuing Israeli strikes across the sealed-off territory.

Palestinians rally against the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in the West Bank city of Nablus. (Photo | AP)