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Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Gaza death toll rises to 2,215 including 724 children: ministry

WHO chief said that the supplies are ready to be deployed to Gaza as soon as humanitarian access through the Rafah crossing is established.
Palestinian wounded in Israeli strikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. (Photo | AP)
Palestinian wounded in Israeli strikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. (Photo | AP)
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Air India, SpiceJet to operate flights to Tel Aviv on Saturday

Air India and SpiceJet will operate one flight each to Tel Aviv on Saturday to bring back Indians amid escalating tensions due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to officials.

These chartered flights will be operated under Operation Ajay, which the government has launched to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back from Israel.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Tributes pouring in for journalist killed in Lebanon

Tributes are pouring in for Issam Abdallah, a video journalist for the Reuters news agency who was killed on Friday in southern Lebanon, amid escalating violence along the country’s border with Israel, reports BBC.

Abdallah, who was working near the Israel-Lebanon border, was killed in a cross fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Six other journalists including from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera were wounded in the Israeli air strike. "The teams were filming missile fire coming from the direction of Israel when one struck Abdallah as he was sitting on a low stone wall near the rest of the group,” Reuters reported citing injured journalist Maher Nazeh.

Abdallah's funeral will be held later today in south-east Lebanon.

Earlier today, Israel defence forces Spokesperson Richard Hecht said, the Israeli army was "deeply regretful for the incident."

Israel, Egypt agree to let US citizens leave Gaza Saturday: US

Egypt and Israel have agreed to let US citizens leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on Saturday as Israel carries out strikes against Hamas, a US official said.

The two US partners agreed to keep the sole crossing from Gaza to Egypt open from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm (0900-1400 GMT), said a US official accompanying Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a regional tour.

The official said that the United States did not yet have confirmation that the agreement was being implemented, "but the intention was to have it open."

READ FULL STORY HERE

Iran’s foreign minister calls on Israel to stop attack on Gaza

Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning that the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make Israel suffer “a huge earthquake.”

Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Gaza death toll rises to 2,215 including 724 children: ministry

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attack on southern Israel one week ago have killed at least 2,215 people, including 724 children, the Palestinian territory's Hamas-controlled health ministry said Saturday.

Some 458 women were among those killed, the ministry said. It added that 8,714 people have also been wounded, after an earlier statement said at least 324 people were killed in the past 24 hours alone.

Israel strikes kill at least 324 in Gaza in past 24 hours: ministry

According to the health ministry in Gaza, more than 320 Palestinians, including women and children have been killed in the past 24 hours in the Israeli air strikes.

The ministry also informed that 1000 others have been wounded in the air strikes.

WHO plane with medical supplies for Gaza lands in Egypt

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, World Health Organization chief Tedros Aldhanom Ghebreyesus stated that an aircraft with medical supplies to support the urgent health needs in Gaza has landed in Egypt's Al Arish- close to the Rafah crossing.

He added that the supplies are ready to be deployed to Gaza as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established.

More than 1,300 buildings destroyed in Gaza: UN

More than 1,300 buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, the United Nations said Saturday, after nearly a week of fierce bombardment by Israeli forces.

The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said "5,540 housing units" in those buildings were destroyed and nearly 3,750 more homes were so badly damaged they were uninhabitable.

Gaza evacuation a war crime, says former Norwegian diplomat Egeland

Jan Egeland, former Norwegian diplomat who has previously facilitated talks between the Palestine and Israel, told BBC radio 4 that Israel's evacuation order for Gaza is a forced one, and considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention.

He also added that the scale of the crisis in gaza has not yet been fully grasped by the West.

"The UK, US and EU have rightfully said we're with Israel in fighting terror," Egeland adds. " I hope they haven't given a green light to smash a million children," reported BBC quoting Egeland.

IDF asks civilians to head south before 4 pm local time

Israel military told the civilians from northern Gaza to head south by 4 pm local time (6.30 pm IST).

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Israel defence Force spokesman Avichay Adraee asked Gazans to use two specific routes to head south. The statement says people can use the two routes between 10 am and 4 pm local time (6.30 pm IST) without any harm.

Civilians from gaza has been advised to move south from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis, ahead of a potential ground offensive by the Israeli army.

Israel strike kills senior Hamas military commander: army

A senior military commander of Hamas who headed the Islamist group's aerial operations in Gaza City has been killed in Israeli air strikes, the military said Saturday.

Murad Abu Murad was killed over the past day when fighter jets struck an operational centre of Hamas from where the group carried out its "aerial activity", the military said. There was no immediate confirmationfrom Hamas.

Israel army recovers bodies of missing people from Gaza in ground raid

Reports from media say Israel military recovered bodies of missing israelis during ground raid in Gaza.

According to reports by Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, the Israel Defence Forces are bringing back the bodies to Israeli territory. Infantry and armoured units took part in the raid during which a Hamas cell which fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli territory was "taken out", the Jerusalem Post reported.

International aid groups warn humanitarian crisis after Israel blocked entry of supplies

More than a million people in the northern Gaza Strip have been ordered to evacuate to the south as the latest Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh day Friday and Israel appeared to be preparing a ground offensive. Hamas urged residents to stay put.

The orders sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade of the Hamas-ruled area. International aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel prevented the entry of supplies from Egypt to Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Operation Ajay continues to bring citizens home

In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, India had launched 'Operation Ajay' to facilitate the return of those Indians who wished to come back home. The first flight bringing 212 Indian nationals back from Israel successfully landed at Delhi Airport on Friday among which 21 (including 14 male students and two female students) were from Tamil Nadu.

A second flight carrying 235 Indian citizens arrives in New Delhi

Reuters journalist dead, AFP reporters among 6 wounded in south Lebanon

A Reuters journalist was killed Friday and six others from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera were wounded while working in southern Lebanon, the three news organisations said.

A group of journalists from different media outlets was near the village of Alma al-Shaab, close to the border with Israel, when they were caught up in cross-border shelling, one of the two wounded AFP correspondents said.

A Lebanese security source had told AFP that initial Israeli shelling followed an infiltration attempt by a Palestinian faction from the Lebanese side of the border.

AFP photographer Christina Assi and AFP video journalist Dylan Collins were working in the area. Both were taken to a hospital in Tyre for treatment.

Two other Reuters reporters, "Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care," Reuters said, adding it was "urgently seeking more information".

Al Jazeera said two of their reporters were among the wounded, blaming "Israeli bombing on their vehicle". They named them as Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya.

Palestinians flee northern Gaza after Israel orders 1 million to evacuate as ground attack looms

Thousands of Palestinians fled to southern Gaza in search of refuge Friday after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel's history.

“Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you’ll make it, if you’re going to live,” said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs.

The mass exodus comes after Israel’s military told over 1.1 million people to evacuate towards the southern part of the besieged territory, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Many Palestinians in Gaza still struggled with indecision, not knowing whether to leave or stay.

However, the Palestinian militant group Hamas urged residents to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel.

UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the order would have "devastating humanitarian consequences."

Nearly 1,800 Gazans — again most of them civilians and including over 580 children — have been killed in waves of missile strikes on the densely populated enclave, the health ministry said.

At least 423,000 people — nearly one in five Gazans — have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the UN said on Thursday.

Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory’s only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them.

The current conflict has already claimed thousands of lives on both sides.

The immediate trigger was Hamas firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters --- through land, air and sea --- into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip during a major Jewish holiday (Simchat Torah) on October 7 in a deadly, surprise offensive branded "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood".

Israel has been responding to Saturday's attack with a massive bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas.

The conflict is expected to continue to escalate.

Follow for latest developments

Israel families demand urgent help to get medicines to Gaza hostages

Hamas had launched a shock October 7 attack on Israel, killing more than 1,300 people and seizing an estimated 150 hostages.

Israeli families with members held captive by Hamas for a week in Gaza demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitate an arrangement Saturday enabling the transfer of medicines to their loved ones.

"We expect that tonight, by midnight (2100 GMT), there will be an agreement to transfer medicine to the missing people and hostages," said Ronen Tzur, who heads the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

"We expect answers from the International Committee of the Red Cross tonight," Tzur said.

Two civilians killed in Israel shelling of Lebanon

Two Lebanese civilians become latest casualties of cross-border tensions over Israel's war with Hamas.

"A man and his wife have been killed in their home by Israeli shelling," mayor Mohammad Saab told AFP, adding they were both in their forties.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez warns Israel that International law does not permit evacuation

After Israel ordered Palestinians to leave the northern Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Israel that International law does not permit the kind of mass evacuation demanded by Israel.

"Israel has the right to defend itself but always within the limits of international humanitarian law, which does not authorise the evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza, as the United Nations says," Sanchez said at a meeting of his Socialist Party in the southwestern city of Merida.

Sanchez had earlier said, "We condemn, completely and without any hesitation, the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, and also the deaths of Israelis, and we demand the urgent release of all Israeli hostages and captives."

Hamas chief accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza

As Israel pounds the blockaded territory with air strikes preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.

"Israeli atrocities amount to war crimes," he said in a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that was posted on the Palestinian group's website.

He urged Guterres to pressure Israel into letting humanitarian aid enter into Gaza.

Over 400,000 Palestinians displaced in Gaza Strip with no access to clean water

More than 400,000 Palestinians have been internally displaced in the Gaza Strip amid a massive Israeli air campaign, the UN humanitarian office said Saturday, according to Anadolu Agency.

“Most people have no access to clean drinking water after supply through the water network and the operation of water desalination/purification plants came to a halt,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

Iran says not too late to prevent Israel-Hamas war widening, but finger is on the trigger to shoot

Iran says it is still possible to prevent a regional spillover of Israel's war with Islamist group Hamas but warned that time was quickly running out.

"There is still a political opportunity to prevent a widespread crisis in the region," Amir-Abdollahian told a press conference in Beirut after stops in Baghdad and Damascus.

But "maybe, in the next few hours, it will be too late," he said, warning that pro-Iran militants "have designed all the scenarios and are prepared, and their finger is on the trigger to shoot."

Attacks on medical facilities against international law: UN on Gaza hospital evacuation order

Attacks on medical facilities are prohibited under international humanitarian law, a UN human rights spokesperson told Anadolu on Saturday on the Israeli order for a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate. Anadolu Agency said.

"International humanitarian law requires parties to the conflict to apply, at a minimum and among other requirements, that the wounded and sick must be collected and cared for without discrimination," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

"Attacks against medical facilities, medical personnel and the wounded and sick are prohibited," she stressed.

Hospital in northern Gaza refuses Israeli order to evacuate

Citing patients in serious condition and the continuing need for health care, medical teams at a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip are refusing the Israeli army’s order to evacuate, according to the hospital’s chief of medicine, Anadolu, the state-run news agency of Turkey, said

“I got a call from the Israeli army Friday asking us to evacuate the hospital,” Ahmed Muhanna of Al Awda Hospital in the city of Jabalia told Anadolu. “This is not possible," the report added.

Hamas will be "destroyed": Benjamin Netanyahu

After Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel leaving 1,300 dead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel's fierce bombardment of Gaza was "just the beginning" of his country's response.

Netanyahu reaffirmed his pledge that Hamas would be "destroyed".

"We will never forgive, we will never let the world forget these horrors inflicted on the Jewish people. We will fight our enemies using a power without limit."

WHO says Gaza mass evacuation would be 'disastrous'

Israel has given Palestinians 24 hours to leave the northern Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive.

The WHO joined other UN bodies in calling for Israel to rescind the evacuation order.

"The Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that it is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients without endangering their lives," the UN health agency said in a statement.

"Vulnerable patients include those who are critically injured or dependent on life support. Moving them amid hostilities puts their lives at immediate risk."

READ MORE ON THE STORY HERE

Hamas says 70 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on people fleeing Gaza

According to Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA), Israeli warplanes shelled three convoys of Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes in Gaza City seeking shelter in southern Gaza, killing at least 70 people, including children and women. At least 200 others were injured.

MSF condemns Israel for hospital evacuation deadline

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF): Israel has given Al Awda Hospital just two hours to evacuate. Our staff are still treating patients.

We unequivocally condemn this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed and attacks on health care in Gaza.

We are trying to protect our staff and patients.

'Where do we go?', Gazans ask after Israel's evacuation warning

Videos are now emerging showing panic-stricken Palestinians fleeing their homes. Many others in northern Gaza have chosen to stay behind -- for want of transportation or places to go.

Hamas, whom Israel is targeting with this call, is staying put while also telling other Gazans to do so.

"This is a brutal enemy and what they want is to scare people into displacement," a resident, Abu Azzam, told AFP. "But, God willing, we will remain steadfast in the face of any displacement."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said it is necessary for Gaza residents to "remain steadfast on their land", warning that any mass displacement of Gazans would spell the end of the Palestinian cause.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Palestinians with their belongings flee from their homes following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AFP)
Palestinians with their belongings flee from their homes following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AFP)

Hamas attack does not justify Gaza's destruction: Red Cross

The massive Hamas attack on Israel cannot justify the "limitless destruction" of the Gaza Strip, the Red Cross said Friday, as it called for pauses in the fighting.

"Nothing can justify the horrific attacks Israel suffered last weekend," said a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"But those attacks cannot in turn justify the limitless destruction of Gaza. ...The parties must not neglect their legal obligations regarding the methods and means used to wage war."

Summary of today's top developments

  • Israel tells over one million Palestinians in North Gaza to leave within 24 hours ahead of an expected ground offensive, but Hamas has dismissed the ultimatum

  • Palestinian officials have told WHO that it would be impossible to move vulnerable hospital patients to the southern Gaza Strip.

  • US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with top Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv and reaffirmed America's support. He also reviewed some of the weapons and security assistance the US rapidly delivered after Hamas' attack.

  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict.

  • Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas "completely rejected" the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and said the move would be "tantamount to a second Nakba for our people."

  • Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said it would be "fully prepared" to join Hamas in the war against Israel when the time is right.

  • Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle Eastern nations — including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia — Friday in support of Palestinians.

  • Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have accused Israel of using white phosphorous to "endanger civilians" as part of its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon claiming they have verified the videos that prove it. Israel has denied the allegations.

  • The death toll has risen to 1,800 and over 7,000 people have been injured in Gaza since Israel began its retaliatory offensive. Around 425,000 people have been displaced from the Gaza Strip.

  • Over 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since the conflict broke out.

    • Forced transfer of Gaza population 'a crime': Arab League

    Israel's order to Palestinians to evacuate the north of the blockaded Gaza Strip is a "forced transfer" that constitutes "a crime", Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Friday.

    The secretary general of the pan-Arab body, in a letter sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres, also accused Israel of carrying out "an atrocious act of revenge... punishing helpless civilians in Gaza" rather than a "planned or studied military operation" on uprooting Hamas militants over their deadly attacks on Israeli soil.

    'Historical injustice' against Palestinians cause of Israel-Hamas conflict: China

    China's foreign minister Wang Yi said that the cause of the Israel-Hamas conflict was "historical injustice" against Palestinians, as he met with the EU's foreign policy chief in Beijing.

    "The root of this problem lies in the long delay in the realisation of Palestine's aspiration to establish an independent state, and in the fact that the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people has not been corrected," Wang said after holding a meeting with Josep Borrell.

    Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 1,799, say Palestinian authorities

    The Palestinian health ministry reported in a statement the "martyrdom of 1,799 citizens including 583 children and 351 women", adding that more than 7,000 people have been wounded.

    Palestinians evacuate wounded after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip. (Photo | AP)
    Palestinians evacuate wounded after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip. (Photo | AP)

    More than 53% of Gaza residents below poverty line in 2020, about 77% households in need of aid

    Professor Topher L McDougal, Professor of Economic Development & Peacebuilding, University of San Diego, writes in The Conversation that "More than 53% of Gaza residents were considered below the poverty line in 2020, and about 77% of Gazan households receive some form of aid from the United Nations and other groups, mostly in the form of cash or food."

    He explains that Gaza’s weak economy is caused by a number of complex factors, but the largest is the blockade and the economic and trade isolation it creates.

    Professor McDougal goes on to add: For the average Gazan, the blockade has several practical effects, including people's ability to get food. About 64% of people in Gaza are considered food insecure, meaning they do not have reliable access to sufficient amounts of food. Food as a percentage of Gaza’s total imports has skyrocketed by 50% since 2005, when Israel first imposed a temporary blockade. And the amount of food the West Bank and Gaza actually produce has tumbled by 30% since then.

    There are 2.3 million Palestinians living in the 140 square miles that make up Gaza. Israel has given 1.1 million of them a day's deadline to clear out of north Gaza.

    Employee at Israel's Embassy in Beijing attacked in unclear circumstances, hospitalised

    Since the war broke out, antisemitic remarks have surged on Chinese social media. Bombarded with hostile messages, the Israeli Embassy in Beijing is filtering comments on its Chinese social media account.

    READ THE FULL STORY

    US in talks to open Gaza's Rafah border crossing to foreigners

    The United States is in discussions to open Gaza's Rafa border crossing to foreign nationals who want to flee, a senior US official said, as Israel readies for an expected 'major offensive'.

    "That is also something we discussed with Israel, something we continue to discuss with Egypt — the importance of the Rafah crossing being open for American citizens and for foreign nationals of other countries who want to leave and have the right to leave," the official said.

    Israeli fire kills 9 in West Bank as Palestinians rally for Gaza

    At least nine Palestinians were killed Friday by Israeli fire across the occupied West Bank during rallies in solidarity with war-battered Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said.

    AFP correspondents and a security official reported clashes in Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, Hebron and other cities and towns, with the Palestinian Red Crescent reporting dozens wounded across the West Bank, some critically.

    Deaths were recorded in Tulkarm, Nablus, Beit Ula and Tammun, the health ministry said in separate statements.

    Israel accused of using white phosphorus in Gaza, endangering civilians

  • Multiple reports have emerged accusing Israel of using white phosphorous as part of its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

  • Human Rights Watch said that it verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11 respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural areas along the Israel-Lebanon border. HRW said that it also interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza.

  • The Washington Post also verified a video showing two artillery shells fired in quick succession toward the Gaza City port. When the artillery-fired munition explodes, the white phosphorus automatically ignites in the air, creating white lines followed by a thick smoke.

  • Similarly, Amnesty's Crisis Evidence Lab said that it had verified reports of Israeli military units striking Gaza with white phosphorus artillery rounds.

  • Israel has denied the allegations.


    • White phosphorus is an incendiary substance mostly used to create a dense smoke screen or mark targets. It burns at extremely high temperatures when exposed to air and can continue to burn inside flesh. It causes horrific pain and life-changing injuries.

    Israeli ground operation in Gaza will result in civilian casualties: Putin

    Russia's President Vladimir Putin has expressed concerns about the potential consequences of an Israeli "ground operation" in Gaza, citing the inherent challenges of deploying heavy military equipment in densely populated civilian areas, as reported by CNN.

    He also remarked that the main aim must be to stop the bloodshed and resolve the conflict by peaceful means.

    The Russian president also stated that his country supports a two-state solution.

    Hamas 'takes evil to another level' from IS jihadists: US defence secretary

    US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is in Tel Aviv, said Hamas fighters took "evil to another level" from Islamic State jihadists, as he pledged "iron-clad" backing for Israel in its war against the Palestinian Islamists.

    "In encountering ISIS I felt as if we were staring evil in the eye -- it was truly evil," said Austin after talks with his Israeli counterpart. "And what we've seen from Hamas, it takes that evil to another level," he added.

    READ FULL STORY HERE

    Blinken seeks Arab pressure on Hamas as Israel readies 'massive offensive' in Gaza

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday began a tour of six Arab capitals to build pressure on Hamas while Israel readies a massive offensive on the Gaza Strip following the militants' attacks.

    Blinken met with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a longtime US partner, and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

    He will head later Friday to Qatar and then Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, before heading in the coming days to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, officials said.

    CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

    Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians

    Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle East capitals Friday in support of Palestinians amid Israeli air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack. READ FULL REPORT HERE

    Protesters take part in an anti-Israeli demonstration at Tahrir Square in Baghdad on October 13, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. (Photo | AFP)
    Protesters take part in an anti-Israeli demonstration at Tahrir Square in Baghdad on October 13, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. (Photo | AFP)

    Israel army drops flyers warning Gazans to flee 'immediately'

    (Top) Flyers dropped by Israeli military over Gaza City, warning residents to flee "immediately"; (Bottom) Palestinians flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13, 2023. (Photos | AFP)
    (Top) Flyers dropped by Israeli military over Gaza City, warning residents to flee "immediately"; (Bottom) Palestinians flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13, 2023. (Photos | AFP)

    Hezbollah says 'prepared' for action against Israel when time comes

    Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement on Friday said it would be "fully prepared" to join Hamas in the war against Israel when the time is right.

    "We are fully prepared, and when the time comes for action, we will take it," Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a pro-Palestinian rally in Beirut's southern suburbs.

    Foreigners killed, abducted or missing in Hamas attack

    Dozens of foreigners were killed, wounded or taken hostage in Hamas's horrific attack on Israel that has also left many missing. Here is what we know so far (as reported by AFP):

  • United States: 27 dead; several others abducted or missing

  • Thailand: 21 dead; 16 hostages

  • France: 13 dead, 17 missing

  • Nepal: 10 dead, one missing

  • Argentina: Seven dead, 15 missing

  • Ukraine: Seven dead, nine missing

  • Russia: Four dead, six missing

  • United Kingdom: Four dead, several others missing

  • Austria: Three dead, two missing

  • Belarus: Three dead, one missing

  • Canada: Three dead, three missing

  • China: Three dead, two missing

  • Philippines: Three dead, three missing

  • Brazil: Two dead, one missing

  • Peru: Two dead, three missing

  • Australia: One dead

  • Azerbaijan: One dead

  • Cambodia: One dead

  • Chile: One dead, one missing

  • Ireland: One dead

  • Portugal: One dead, four missing

  • Spain: One dead

  • Turkey: One dead, one missing

  • Germany: Several hostages

  • Mexico: Two hostages

  • Italy: Three missing

  • Colombia: Two missing

  • Paraguay: Two missing

  • Sri Lanka: Two missing

  • Tanzania: Two missing

    • Palestinian leader Abbas warns of 'second Nakba' catastrophe in Gaza

    Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday warned against a "second Nakba" catastrophe facing Palestinians after the Israeli army ordered more than one million people to evacuate north Gaza.

    Abbas "completely rejects the displacement of our people from the Gaza Strip, because it will be tantamount to a second Nakba for our people," he said, according to a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

    The Nakba, or "catastrophe", refers to some 760,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 war that coincided with Israel's creation.

    'No place for terrorist organisations': X takes down accounts linked to Hamas

  • In response to recent Hamas attacks on Israel, the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has taken action by removing multiple Hamas-affiliated accounts.

  • Their statement underscored, "There is no place for terrorist organizations on X."

    • Hamas says 13 hostages killed in Israel strikes on Gaza

  • At least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the northern Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, Hamas's armed wing said Friday.

  • "Thirteen prisoners... including foreigners" were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.

  • According to the Hamas media office in Gaza, at least 500 children are among the dead.

    • Israeli embassy employee attacked in Beijing; Security beefed up at Israeli mission in New Delhi

  • An Israeli embassy worker in Beijing was attacked on Friday, Israel's foreign ministry said. The employee is being treated at a hospital and is in stable condition. "

  • An Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked today," a foreign ministry statement said, adding that the attack did not take place at the embassy compound.

  • Israel has also expressed deep disappointment over the absence of condemnation for Hamas attacks in Chinese statements, as reported by Reuters.

  • Meanwhile, Security has been beefed up at the Israeli mission in India after an Israeli diplomat was stabbed in Beijing.

    • US must 'control' Israel to avert regional war: Iran

    Amid escalating tensions in the region, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called on the US to "rein in" Israel to avert a regional spillover of the war with Hamas.

    "America wants to give Israel a chance to destroy Gaza, and this is... a grave mistake," Amir-Abdollahian said.

    "If the Americans want to prevent the war in the region from developing, they must control Israel," he added.

    READ FULL REPORT HERE

    Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian looks on during a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AFP)
    Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian looks on during a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AFP)

    Palestinian officials say hospital evacuations 'impossible'; WHO says Gaza at its 'breaking point'

  • Palestinian officials have told WHO that it would be impossible to move vulnerable hospital patients to the southern Gaza Strip, ahead of an expected ground offensive by Israel's military.

  • The World Health Organisation says the Gaza Strip is now at its "breaking point", with six of the seven main hospitals in Gaza only partially functioning.

    • CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

    Palestinians wounded in Israeli strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (Photo | AP)
    Palestinians wounded in Israeli strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (Photo | AP)

    Israel army drops flyers warning Gazans to flee 'immediately'

    The Israeli military on Friday dropped flyers on Gaza warning residents to flee "immediately" to the south, AFP correspondents in the Palestinian territory said.

    "Evacuate your homes immediately and go south of Wadi Gaza," read flyers dropped by drones and seen by AFP.

    A map featured on the flyers showed an arrow pointing south across a line in the central Gaza Strip.

    Palestinians flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AP)
    Palestinians flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AP)

    WHAT PROMPTED HAMAS’ ATTACK ON ISRAEL?

    1. Desperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under unending Israeli control and increasing settlements in the West Bank, the blockade in Gaza, and what they see as the world’s apathy.
    2. In addition to citing long-simmering tensions, Hamas officials cite a long-running dispute over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
    3. Competing claims over the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have spilled into violence before, including a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in 2021.
    4. Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction, says it is defending Palestinians’ right to freedom and self-determination. But the devastation following Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct 7 has sharpened questions about its strategy and objectives (Associated Press)

    Israel has no good options for dealing with Hamas’ hostage-taking in Gaza

    Hamas has said that every time Israel strikes a Gaza home “without warning,” a hostage will be killed, and that execution would be recorded and the recording played for the public.

    James Forest, an expert on international security, helps readers understand the dynamics of this hostage crisis. READ FULL REPORT HERE

    A cameraman films posters with photos of missing persons ahead of a press conference by family members of Israeli hostages at a hotel in London, Oct. 12, 2023. (Photo | AP)
    A cameraman films posters with photos of missing persons ahead of a press conference by family members of Israeli hostages at a hotel in London, Oct. 12, 2023. (Photo | AP)

    Moving severely ill people in Gaza amounts to 'death sentence' - WHO

    "There are severely ill people whose injuries mean their only chances of survival is being on life support, such as mechanical ventilators..."So moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel."," said World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic.

    'Woke up to sounds of air raid sirens': Indian evacuees recount horror

    Indians who returned home recalled the fateful night of Saturday and how they had to rush to shelters multiple times in the wake of rocket attacks by Hamas. READ FULL REPORT HERE

    Indian nationals evacuated from Israel under 'Operation Ajay' arrive at the airport, in New Delhi, on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo | PTI)
    Indian nationals evacuated from Israel under 'Operation Ajay' arrive at the airport, in New Delhi, on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo | PTI)

    Hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza Strip towards Israel

    Militants in the Gaza Strip fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel on Friday, an AFP journalist reported, as the Israeli military continued pounding the Palestinian enclave with air strikes.

    A barrage of rockets were fired within the past 15 minutes, the correspondent said.

    Thousands take to streets of Iran capital in support of Palestinians

    Thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran on Friday in a show of support for Palestinians amid a bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.

    The demonstrators waved the flags of Iran, Palestine and Hezbollah and held banners that read "Down with America" and "Down with Israel" as they marched in the Iranian capital, an AFP journalist said.

    Similar rallies were held in other cities across the Islamic Republic where flags of the US and Israel were burnt.

    Hamas attack relegates Palestinian Authority to sidelines: Analysts

  • In launching its bloody attack on Israel, Hamas has imposed itself "as the Palestinian interlocutor of reference, the one capable of dictating the political and military agenda", Xavier Guignard, a specialist on the Palestinian territories, told AFP.

  • It has effectively sidelined the Palestinian Authority and stamped its authority across the whole of the occupied Palestinian territories, analysts said. READ FULL REPORT HERE

    • US defense secretary in Israel to oversee America's security assistance

    United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Oct. 12, 2023. (AP)
    United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Oct. 12, 2023. (AP)

    Day 7 of the latest conflict: Key Developments

    1. Israel reportedly has ordered Northern Gazans to relocate, a UN spokesperson said. The United Nations said the order risked a "calamitous situation."
    2. Hamas has rejected the order. "We are steadfast on our land and in our homes and our cities. There will be no displacement."
    3. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived Friday in Tel Aviv to see firsthand some of the weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel.
    4. Militants in the Gaza Strip fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel.
    5. A barrage of rockets were fired within the past 15 minutes.

    'World hit by terrorism, still no agreement on uniform definition': PM Modi

    "India has been facing cross-border terrorism for decades and terrorists have killed thousands of innocents," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the inaugural session of the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in New Delhi.

    WHAT IS THE SITUATION IN GAZA NOW?

  • People in Gaza woke to chaos Friday under evacuation orders from Israel for northern Gaza, including Gaza City

  • “This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza said. She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah

  • Palestinians were in near-total darkness overnight after the only power station ran out of fuel and shut down

  • Hospitals' supplies of medicine and fuel for generators are expected to run out within days

  • The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed Thursday

  • Internet connectivity in Gaza City has been below 20% since Tuesday, analyst Doug Madory of the network monitoring firm Kentik Inc said. An internet provider in Gaza told him that Israeli air strikes had cut fiber optic cables

    • The Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, has only enough fuel to keep power on for two more days

    “We are in a critical situation,” said Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry. “Ambulances can’t get to the wounded, the wounded can’t get to intensive care, the dead can’t get to the morgue.”

    read full report here

    Israel wants North Gazans to move, Hamas says 'stay put'

    BREAKING:

  • Israel has reportedly told the United Nations that the entire population of northern Gaza — over 1 million people — should relocate within 24 hours.

  • The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, UN, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

  • But Hamas has called on Palestinians to stay in their homes.

  • The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs told residents of the north of the territory to “stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation.”

  • Palestinians would only be able to flee south within Gaza — a narrow strip of land about 40 kilometers (25) miles long — as Israel has completely sealed off the territory.

  • Before the evacuation directives, 423,000 Gaza Strip residents had already fled their homes, according to the United Nations.

    • READ FULL REPORT HERE

    WATCH | Hospitals fill up with children following intense bombardments in Gaza

    Hamas practiced in plain sight, posting video of mock attack weeks before border breach

  • In a video posted to Telegram, Hamas fighters are shown storming what appears to be a mockup Israeli military base, complete with a full-size model of a tank with an Israeli flag flying from its turret.

  • Michael Milshtein, a retired Israeli colonel, said he was aware of the Hamas videos, but he was still caught off guard by the ambition and scale of Saturday’s attack.

  • “We knew about the drones, we knew about booby traps, we knew about cyberattacks and the marine forces … The surprise was the coordination between all those systems,” Milshtein said.

    • This image from video posted to social media by Hamas on Sept. 12, 2023 shows a live-fire exercise dubbed operation “Strong Pillar” outside Al-Mawasi, a Palestinian town (Hamas via AP)
    This image from video posted to social media by Hamas on Sept. 12, 2023 shows a live-fire exercise dubbed operation “Strong Pillar” outside Al-Mawasi, a Palestinian town (Hamas via AP)

    READ FULL REPORT HERE

    READ OUR DAY 6 COVERAGE OF ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR HERE

    First flight carrying 212 Indian nationals from Israel lands at Delhi Airport

    Indians nationals evacuated from Israel under Operation Ajay arrive at airport, in New Delhi, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo | PTI)
    Indians nationals evacuated from Israel under Operation Ajay arrive at airport, in New Delhi, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo | PTI)

    The first flight bringing 212 Indian nationals back from Israel successfully landed at Delhi Airport on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

    45 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp

    Gaza’s interior ministry on Thursday had said that an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza has killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more.

    Eyad Bozum, the spokesperson of the interior ministry, told The Associated Press that a late afternoon airstrike hit the al-Shihab family house at the center of the Jabaliya camp.

    The al-Shihab house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the airstrike. Some family members had fled heavy bombing from other parts of the strip and taken refuge there.

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