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Updated
Summary
The death toll in the conflict, which began Saturday with a surprise attack by Hamas, has surpassed 1,100. The Israeli death toll has risen to at least 700, including 44 soldiers, as the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was embarking on a “long and difficult war”. In Gaza, which was pummelled by Israeli airstrikes, officials have reported at least 413 deaths.
Latest major developments:
Israeli rescue service Zaka said that its paramedics have removed approximately 260 bodies from a music festival that was attacked by Hamas. Videos posted online showed festival goers running frantically and getting into cars after the attacks.
Spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus posted an update on the IDF’s response online. He said “almost 48 hours into the fighting… the situation in Israel is a dire one” and the death toll will rise.
Up to 100 Israeli hostages, including women and children, may have been taken into Gaza by Hamas, hugely complicating any Israeli military operation to free them. The whereabouts and fate of the captives has become one of the most pressing issues for military planners.
Numerous members of the UN security council denounced Hamas on Sunday but the United States regretted the lack of unanimity. At an emergency session, the United States and Israel urged strong condemnation of the Palestinian Islamists. “There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They’re obviously not all,” senior US diplomat Robert Wood told reporters after the closed-door session. “You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything,” said Wood, in a clear allusion to Russia.
Iran helped Hamas plan its surprise attacks against Israel over the weekend, according to senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. US secretary of state, Antony Blinken has however said that Washington had not seen any evidence that Iran was behind the attack and Iran has denied any involvement in the attack. But Tehran has defended Hamas’s assault as a “wholly legitimate defence”.
An Israeli airstrike has killed 19 members of a Palestinian family in a Gaza refugee camp, according to the Associated Press.
The permanent observer mission of the state of Palestine to the UN has issued a response on Sunday to the Israel-Hamas war, saying that “these developments did not occur in a vacuum”. “They are preceded by the killing this year of hundreds of Palestinians … and preceded by decades of Israel’s unrelenting military raids on Palestinian villages, towns, cities and refugee camps,” it said.
US president Joe Biden told the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday that “additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces is now on its way to Israel with more to follow over the coming days.” After the call between the two leaders, the White House released a statement, saying: “The President … pledged his full support for the Government and people of Israel in the face of an unprecedented and appalling assault by Hamas terrorists.”
More airlines have suspended flights into Tel Aviv following Hamas’s attacks on Israel over the weekend. Those airlines include Delta, American Airlines, United and Air France.
The UN’s World Food Programme has called on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to deliver food supplies into Gaza following Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas’s attacks. “As the conflict intensifies, civilians, including vulnerable children and families, face mounting challenges in accessing essential food supplies,” the WFP said.
Israel, Gaza reel as death toll soars above 1,100
Agence France-Presse reports from Sderot, Israel
Israeli troops fought to regain control of the desert around the Gaza Strip and evacuate people from the embattled border area on Monday, as the death toll from the war with Hamas surged above 1,100 by the third day of clashes.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israel on Sunday to prepare for a “long and difficult” conflict a day after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise assault from Gaza, firing a barrage of rockets and sending a wave of fighters who gunned down civilians and took at least 100 hostages.
More than 700 Israelis have been killed since Hamas launched its large-scale attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday - the country’s worst losses since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
Gaza officials reported at least 413 deaths in the impoverished and blockaded enclave of 2.3 million people, which was hammered by Israeli air strikes on 800 targets ahead of what many feared may be a looming ground invasion.
Tens of thousands of Israeli forces were deployed to battle holdout Hamas fighters in the south, where the bodies of civilians had been found strewn on roads and in town centres.
“The enemy is still on the ground,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said as a second night fell after the massive opening attack.
US president Joe Biden ordered “additional support for Israel in the face of this unprecedented terrorist assault by Hamas”.
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington “will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions”.
Austin directed the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier and group of warships to the eastern Mediterranean, and said that Washington was augmenting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.
Hamas has said the US aid amounted to “aggression” against Palestinians.
The conflict has had global impact, with several other countries reporting nationals killed, abducted or missing, among them Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand and Ukraine.
A US National Security Council spokesperson confirmed that “several” Americans had been killed in the surprise attack, but did not provide further details.
China’s ministry of foreign affairs has reiterated its calls for a two-state solution to address the root causes of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
A spokesperson said:
China is deeply concerned over the current escalation of tensions and violence between Palestine and Israel. We call on relevant parties to remain calm, exercise restraint and immediately end the hostilities to protect civilians and avoid further deterioration of the situation.
The recurrence of the conflict shows once again that the protracted standstill of the peace process cannot go on. The fundamental way out of the conflict lies in implementing the two-state solution and establishing an independent State of Palestine.
The international community needs to act with greater urgency, step up input into the Palestine question, facilitate the early resumption of peace talks between Palestine and Israel, and find a way to bring about enduring peace. China will continue to work relentlessly with the international community towards that end.
Iran denies involvement in Hamas attack
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that Tehran was not involved in one of the bloodiest attacks in Israel’s history when Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more.
“The resolute measures taken by Palestine constitute a wholly legitimate defence against seven decades of oppressive occupation and heinous crimes committed by the illegitimate Zionist regime,” Iran’s UN mission said in statement.
Iran has made no secret of its backing for Hamas, funding and arming the group and another Palestinian militant organisation Islamic Jihad.
The Hamas assault on Saturday, the biggest incursion into Israel in decades, coincided with US-backed moves to push Saudi Arabia towards normalising ties with Israel in return for a defence deal between Washington and Riyadh, a move that would slam the brakes on the kingdom’s rapprochement with Tehran.
“We emphatically stand in unflinching support of Palestine; however, we are not involved in Palestine’s response, as it is taken solely by Palestine itself,” Iran’s UN mission said.
Hamas fighters’ rampage through Israeli towns on Saturday was the deadliest such incursion since Egypt and Syria’s attacks in the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago and has threatened to ignite another conflagration in the long-running conflict.
Iran’s UN mission said the “success” of the Hamas operation was because it was a surprise, which makes it the “biggest failure” of Israel’s security organisations.
“They are attempting to justify their failure and attribute it to Iran’s intelligence power and operational planning,” Iran’s UN mission said.
In response to the Hamas attacks, Israeli air strikes have hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 400 people, including 20 children.
“They (Israel) find it very difficult to accept that in the intelligence community, it is being narrated that they were defeated by a Palestinian group,” said Iran’s UN mission.
At least two Ukrainians have been killed in the conflict in Israel and more remain stranded in the country, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his daily address on Sunday.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s embassy was working with Israeli authorities “to find out the details about Ukrainians who found themselves in the areas of hostilities and shelling”.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Israel, all our diplomats who are in charge of this region, together with the intelligence service, are working around the clock to help all our people who need help. The Embassy has already received more than a hundred appeals from our citizens
Zelenskiy has spoken by phone with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US citizens are among civilians taken hostage by Hamas during an assault on Israel launched from Gaza, Israel’s minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer, has said.
Speaking on CNN, Dermer said he believed Hamas had taken “scores of hostages” from Israeli territory into Gaza.
“I can tell you there’s also American hostages as part of that number as well.”
Spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus posted an update on the IDF’s response online. He said “almost 48 hours into the fighting… the situation in Israel is a dire one”.
He said there was “still fighting going on in southern Israel, our troops are still fighting”.
Conricus said the IDF estimated upwards of 1000 Hamas militants entered Israeli territory in the attack on Saturday. He said 700 Israelis had been killed - civilians and military personnel - and more than 2100 wounded. With a “high number of critically wounded people”, more deaths are expected, he said.
“It is by far the worst day in Israeli history. Never before have so many Isarelis been killed by one single thing on one day.”
Drawing a US analogy, he said the weekend’s attack, for Israel, “could be a 9/11 and a Pearl Harbour wrapped into one”.
Conricus said a significant number of Israeli civilians and military personnel had been taken hostage and moved into Gaza. He did not specify a figure, but said “many many Israelis [have been] forcefully taken from Israel”.
He said the IDF military response had two primary objectives in its response to the Hamas attack.
“At the end of this war, Hamas will no longer have any military capabilities to threaten Israeli civilians. .. Hamas will not be able to govern the Gaza Strip.”
If you don't know anything about what the Israeli occupation of Palestine looks like in 2023, and even if you do, this is 10 minutes of pure, perfect clarity from @MustafaBarghou1 https://t.co/j0dUvAl1pH
— Bethan McKernan (@mck_beth) October 8, 2023
World reacts to war
Countries around the world have reacted to a wave of attacks by land, sea and air carried out by Palestinian armed group Hamas that Israel says has claimed more than 700 lives.
The statements by world leaders ranged from outright condemnation of the attacks and strong support for Israel from Western nations, to support for Hamas from some Middle Eastern countries.
Many have called for a de-escalation of the conflict, after Israel launched air strikes and other military operations targeting Gaza that Palestinian authorities say killed at least 413 people.
Here is a round-up of the reactions:
United States
President Joe Biden said US support for Israel was “rock solid and unwavering”.
On Sunday, he ordered US ships and warplanes to move closer to Israel.
Washington also promised to provide munitions and equipment to Israel, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Sunday.
“Several US citizens” were among those killed in Hamas’s surprise attack, according to a US National Security Council spokesperson.
Iran
President Ebrahim Raisi said on Sunday that Iran supported the Palestinians’ right to self-defence and warned Israel must be held accountable for endangering the region.
A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had already backed the attack Saturday, calling it a “proud operation”.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry called for “an immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides, protection of civilians, and self-control”.
United Nations
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Sunday, a day after secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged diplomatic efforts in the Middle East to prevent wider conflict.
Diplomats said the Security Council did not consider any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.
European Union
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had already condemned the attack by Hamas on Saturday.
On Sunday, she posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The full scale of the brutality of the Hamas terror attack leaves us breathless.
“Defenceless people, brutally murdered in cold blood on the streets. We stand strong with Israel and its people. Today the EU and Israeli flags fly side by side.”
The full scale of the brutality of the Hamas terror attack leaves us breathless.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 8, 2023
Defenseless people, brutally murdered in cold blood on the streets.
We stand strong with Israel and its people.
Today the EU and Israeli flags fly side by side. pic.twitter.com/fHJYVOM19k
China
“China is deeply concerned about the current escalation of tension and violence between Palestine and Israel,” said a foreign ministry statement Sunday.
Beijing “calls on all parties concerned to remain calm and exercise restraint, cease fire immediately, protect civilians and prevent further deterioration of the situation”, it added.
Russia
Russia’s foreign ministry called for an “immediate ceasefire” and negotiations towards “a comprehensive, lasting and long-awaited peace,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Ukraine
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country is fending off a Russian invasion, said Sunday he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer condolences “for the numerous casualties caused by the terrorist attack”.
He said on Saturday that Israel had an “indisputable” right to defend itself, adding that “terror is always a crime”.
South Africa
The ruling African National Congress issued a statement Sunday saying: “It can no longer be disputed that Apartheid South Africa’s history is occupied Palestine’s reality.
“As a result, the decision by Palestinians to respond to the brutality of the settler Israeli apartheid regime is unsurprising.”
The statement added that it was clear that “the degenerating security situation is directly linked to the unlawful Israeli occupation”.
France
French foreign minister Catherine Colonna held talks by telephone with several of her counterparts in the Middle East in a bid to “prevent the conflict degenerating” by spreading to other parts of the region, a ministry statement Sunday.
France’s foreign ministry also called for the immediate release of the hostages taken by Hamas.
Germany
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday Israel has the right to defend itself against “barbaric attacks” and “to protect its citizens and to pursue the attackers.”
He called Netanyahu to tell him Germany stands “firmly and unwaveringly by Israel’s side”.
German-Israeli nationals are among the hostages taken by Hamas, a foreign ministry source confirmed.
United Kingdom
British prime minister Rishi Sunak said Sunday he had assured Netanyahu of London’s “steadfast support”.
“We will do everything that we can to help. Terrorism will not prevail,” he added in a statement.
Turkey
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday urged Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas “to support peace” and refrain from harming civilians.
“There is no good in (attacking) civilians,” Erdogan said. “We are ready to do everything to reduce the tensions.”
Italy
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has called Netanyahu to reaffirm “Rome’s full solidarity” following the Hamas offensive.
“Italy stands by the Israeli people at this difficult time,” said a government statement.
Japan
Japan “strongly condemns” the attacks, foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa said Sunday, as well as the taking of hostages by Hamas.
“Meanwhile, we are seriously concerned about the large number of casualties in the Gaza Strip as a result of attacks by the Israel Defence Forces,” her statement continued, calling for restraint.
Vatican City
Pope Francis on Sunday said that “terrorism and war do not lead to any resolutions, but only to the death and suffering of so many innocent people.
“War is a defeat! Every war is a defeat! Let us pray that there be peace in Israel and in Palestine.”
India
Prime minister Narendra Modi said India stood “in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour”.
“Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel,” Modi said.
Venezuela
Venezuela’s government expressed its “deep concern” over the clashes.
In a statement on X, it said the fighting was “the result of the impossibility of the Palestinian people to find in multilateral international legality a space to assert their historic rights”.
Yemen
In Yemen, Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa expressed their support for “the heroic jihadist operation”.
In a statement on the website of the Huthi-controlled SABA news agency, the Iran-aligned militant group said the attack “revealed the weakness, fragility and impotence” of Israel.
AFP
Updated
Major airlines cancel dozens of flights to Israel
Agence France-Presse reports…
Major airlines cancelled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv this weekend after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel.
American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates and Ryanair are among those pulling flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.
However, airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Israel’s second international airport at Eilat, a tourist destination on the Red Sea.
And Israeli flag carrier El Al said Sunday that it was maintaining its Tel Aviv flights for now, though some flights operated by foreign partners had been cancelled.
El Al said it was operating “in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli security forces”, with all flights now departing only from Terminal Three at Ben Gurion.
Like most other airlines, it said clients could change their tickets without charge.
In Athens, the foreign ministry said it was working to repatriate 149 Greek tourists from Israel, and 81 of them were due to arrive back late Sunday on an El Al flight.
After Saturday saw a list of major carriers cancelling flights, Spain’s AENA airports operator told AFP four of nine flights scheduled to Tel Aviv on Sunday had been cancelled, two from Madrid and two from Barcelona.
Another nine flights, from Tel Aviv to airports in Spain, have so far been unaffected, the operator said.
Spain’s Air Europa said it had cancelled its two flights scheduled between Madrid and Tel Aviv, while Iberia Express, the low-cost arm of national carrier Iberia, went ahead with a Madrid-Tel Aviv flight after suspending two on Saturday.
Vueling, the Barcelona-based low-cost airline, said given the situation in Israel, “flights to/from Tel Aviv are affected and experiencing delays”.
A spokesman for Germany’s Lufthansa on Saturday cited “the current security situation” to say it was cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv “up until and including Monday”.
Air France said it had halted Tel Aviv flights “until further notice”, and the Air France-KLM group’s low-cost carrier Transavia said it was cancelling all flights from Paris and Lyon to Tel Aviv up to and including Monday.
Italy’s flag-carrier ITA airways cancelled its flight until Sunday morning at the earliest “to protect the safety of passengers and crew”, while Polish carrier LOT scrapped its flights from the Polish capital on Saturday.
US-based United Airlines told AFP its Tel Aviv flights “will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume.”
It said it had “operated two scheduled flights out of Tel Aviv late Saturday and early Sunday and accommodated our customers, crews and employee travellers who were at the airport.”
Other airlines suspending flights included Aegean, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Wizz Air and Air Canada.
Protesters gathered in the US cities of New York, Chicago and Washington DC as renewed conflict in Israel and Palestine sparked outpourings of support and anger.
In New York, around a thousand pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators took to Times Square on Sunday to voice their opposition to Hamas attacks on Israel and IDF counterattacks in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags during the peaceful march from Times Square to near both the Israeli consulate and the United Nations headquarters, where the Security Council was to convene over the weekend’s violence.
“We are here in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are fighting 75 years of Israeli settler colonialism, settler violence and 16 years of military blockade of Gaza,” said Munir Atalla, a 30-year-old member of the Palestinian Youth Movement group, which was among the demonstration’s organisers, the AFP reported.
“What we saw yesterday was the people of Gaza breaking out of their open-air prison,” he continued.
At a separate Manhattan protest on Sunday, a couple hundred people waving Israeli flags decried “vicious Hamas,” among them Ofer Jacobawitz, who said, “We need to demonstrate for public opinion.”
“We just want everyone to know that we’re supporting Israel and whatever it does now to in order to defend itself and prevent this from ever happening again.”
Updated
US citizens confirmed dead in Israel
The US government has confirmed that “several” US nationals have died since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.
The National Security Council said that it was in touch with its Israeli counterparts as the bloody counterattack on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza continues.
The IDF has tweeted a video message from a Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF reserves in which he describes a “dire situation” in Israel.
In the nightly update, he says that, almost 48 hours into the conflict, “troops are fighting and hunting down the last terrorists that are still inside Israeli territory.”
Updated
The ministry of foreign affairs for the state of Palestine has issued this statement online:
The declaration of war by Israel, the occupying power, on a civilian population it has been illegally and forcibly occupying and oppressing for decades is a continuation of its record of criminality and impunity. This is reinforced and affirmed by Israeli officials who have issued genocidal and hateful calls for ethnic cleansing publicly and unashamedly.
The scenes of devastation inflicted on Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip are harrowing. The international impunity Israel enjoys is a moral, political, and legal stain affront to humanity and basic decency as well as the principles of international law. Any attempt to excuse or cover these crimes is unacceptable and outright reprehensible. The facts are not in dispute. Israel, as an occupying power, is fully responsible for this situation because it insists on keeping the Palestinian people captive and stripping them of their rights for over half a century.
Israel has illegally used force and the threat of force, confiscation of land, persecution, collective punishment, and reprisals to deny the Palestinian people their fundamental rights and serve the common aim of displacing and replacing the Palestinian people, in violation of their right to self-determination and other peremptory norms of international law.
We are in this situation because the world failed to do what is needed and turned its back on Palestinian rights. Simplistic statements that omit Palestinian lives and rights and encourage their violation have to stop. As an occupying power, Israel has no right or justification to target the defenceless civilian population in Gaza or elsewhere in Palestine. Reprisals against civilians in armed hostilities are illegal under international humanitarian law and must stop.
In view of the open war declared by Israel on the Palestinian people in Gaza and the critical and ever-worsening situation of the Palestinian people under Israel’s colonial occupation and apartheid regime in the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, the international community must immediately intervene and provide international protection to the Palestinian people and end Israel’s barbarous campaign of death and destruction.
The international community must also act on their collective political, legal, humanitarian, and moral responsibilities towards this prolonged injustice. It has a responsibility to promote accountability, which is the only viable remedy for this illegal, abhorrent situation. The Palestinian people will continue to defend themselves, their homes, and their fundamental right to live in freedom and dignity, free from occupation, apartheid, and persecution.
UN Security Council members condemn Hamas but no unanimity
AFP reports:
Numerous members of the UN Security Council denounced Hamas on Sunday over its massive assault on Israel but the United States regretted the lack of unanimity.
At an emergency session, the United States and Israel urged strong condemnation of the Palestinian Islamists, who rule the blockaded Gaza Strip and launched a surprise assault on Saturday in fighting that has claimed more than 1,000 lives.
“There are a good number of countries that condemned the Hamas attacks. They’re obviously not all,” senior US diplomat Robert Wood told reporters after the closed-door session.
“You could probably figure out one of them without me saying anything,” said Wood, in a clear allusion to Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated sharply since its invasion of Ukraine.
Diplomats said the Security Council did not consider any joint statement, let alone a binding resolution, with members led by Russia hoping for a broader focus than condemning Hamas.
“My message was to stop the fighting immediately and to go to a ceasefire and to meaningful negotiations, which was told for decades” by the Security Council, said Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.
“This is partly the result of unresolved issues,” he said.
China, generally Russia’s ally at the Security Council, said it would support a joint statement.
“It’s abnormal that the Security Council doesn’t say anything,” Ambassador Zhang Jun said, who earlier promised Chinese support for a condemnation of “all attacks against civilians.”
Entering the session, Israel’s ambassador, Gilad Erdan, showed graphic pictures of Israeli civilians being taken captive by Hamas.
“These are war crimes - blatant, documented war crimes,” Erdan said.
“This unimaginable - unimaginable - atrocity must be condemned,” he said of the Security Council.
“Israel must be given steadfast support to defend ourselves - to defend the free world.”
The Palestinian ambassador - who represents the West Bank-centered Palestinian Authority and not rival Hamas - called on the Security Council to focus on ending Israeli occupation.
“Regrettably, history for some media and politicians starts when Israelis are killed,” said the envoy, Riyad Mansour.
“This is not a time to let Israel double-down on its terrible choices. This is a time to tell Israel it needs to change course, that there is a path to peace where neither Palestinians nor Israelis are killed.”
The Israeli Defence Force has issued an ‘Operational Recap’ of its Swords of Iron operation, 42 hours in.
It confirms that hostages remain held in Gaza by Hamas, but does not give a figure. It says more than 700 Israelis have been killed and 2,150 injured.
The IDF says 3,284 rockets have been fired from Gaza and that it has struck 653 Hamas targets. It does not give a figure for the number of Palestinians killed.
Updated
Amnesty International has urged Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups to make every effort to “protect the lives of civilians” amid the ongoing fighting.
“We are deeply alarmed by the mounting civilian death tolls in Gaza, Israel and the occupied West Bank and urgently call on all parties to the conflict to abide by international law and make every effort to avoid further civilian bloodshed,” said Agnès Callamard Amnesty International’s secretary general.
“Under international humanitarian law all sides in a conflict have a clear obligation to protect the lives of civilians caught up in the hostilities,” she added.
Amnesty International also went on to say that the “root causes of these repeated cycles of violence must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
“This requires upholding international law and ending Israel’s 16-year-long illegal blockade on Gaza, and all other aspects of Israel’s system of apartheid imposed on all Palestinians.
The Israeli government must refrain from inciting violence and tensions in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, especially around religious sites. Amnesty International calls on the international community to urgently intervene to protect civilians and prevent further suffering,” it said.
Summary
It is slightly past 1am in Gaza. Here is where the day stands:
More airlines have suspended flights into Tel Aviv following Hamas’s attacks on Israel over the weekend. Those airlines include Delta, American Airlines, United and Air France.
Iran helped Hamas plan its surprise attacks against Israel over the weekend, according to senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Details of the operation were refined during several meetings in Beirut attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed militant groups, including Hamas,which holds power in Gaza, and Hezbollah, they said.
Israeli rescue service Zaka said that its parademics have removed approximately 260 bodies from a music festival that was attacked by Hamas. Videos posted online showed festival goers running frantically and getting into cars following the attacks.
The permanent observer mission of the state of Palestine to the UN has issued a response on Sunday to the Israel-Hamas war, saying that “these developments did not occur in a vacuum”. “They are preceded by the killing this year of hundreds of Palestinians … and preceded by decades of Israel’s unrelenting military raids on Palestinian villages, towns, cities and refugee camps,” it said.
At least three American citizens have been killed in the violence following Hamas’s attacks on Israel on Saturday, Reuters reports CNN saying on Sunday, citing a US memo. In an earlier interview on CBS today, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said that the US “got reports that several Americans are among the dead, we’re working very actively to verify those reports”.
The United States defence secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford to head its “strike group” of forces as it sails to the eastern Mediterranean to be closer to Israel following Hamas’s “heinous” attacks. “In addition, the United States government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions,” he added.
Joe Biden has told the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday that “additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces is now on its way to Israel with more to follow over the coming days.” Following the call between the two leaders, the White House released a statement, saying: “The President…pledged his full support for the Government and people of Israel in the face of an unprecedented and appalling assault by Hamas terrorists.”
The UN’s World Food Programme has called on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to deliver food supplies into Gaza following Israeli air strikes in response to Hamas’s attacks. “As the conflict intensifies, civilians, including vulnerable children and families, face mounting challenges in accessing essential food supplies,” the WFP said.
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has told the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday that Britain stands with Israel “unequivocally”. “[Sunak] reaffirmed that the UK will stand with Israel unequivocally against these acts of terror, Sunak’s office said in a statement.
The UK Foreign Office has issued a travel advisory advising against all but essential travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories. British nationals requiring consular assistance should call the following numbers: +972 (0)3 725 1222 or +972 (2) 5414100, the advisory said.
The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said Iran supports the Palestinians’ right to self-defence, Agence France-Presse reports.“Iran supports the legitimate defence of the Palestinian nation,” Raisi said on Iranian state television.
Mexican foreign secretary Alicia Bárcena has announced that two Mexican citizens, a man and a woman, have allegedly been taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza on Saturday. “We are in contact with authorities in Israel and family members to provide follow-up, support and care,” Bárcena said.
Eight hundred Hamas targets were struck in Gaza with hundreds of Hamas fighters killed, Reuters reports an Israeli military spokesperson saying. Dozens more had been captured, added the spokesperson.
The UN’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said thousands of people were sheltering in its 44 schools around Gaza and food distribution for more than 112,000 families had had to be put on hold.
The German government said on Sunday it was reviewing its hundreds of millions of euros of aid for Palestinians after the militant group Hamas attacked Israel. Development minister Svenja Schulze said the government had always been careful to check that the money was only used for peaceful ends. “But these attacks on Israel mark a terrible fracture,” she said.
Up to 100 Israeli hostages, including women and children, may have been taken into Gaza by Hamas, hugely complicating any Israeli military operation to free them. Thewhereabouts and fate of the captives has become one of the most pressing issues for military planners.
Israeli airstrike kills 19 members of same family in Gaza refugee camp
An Israeli airstrike has killed 19 members of a Palestinian family in a Gaza refugee camp.
The Associated Press reports:
The evacuation warning came shortly after dark. The Israeli military fired the shot just a short distance from Nasser Abu Quta’s home in the southern Gaza Strip, a precautionary measure meant to allow people to evacuate before airstrikes.
Abu Quta, 57, thought he and his extended family would be safe some hundred meters (yards) away from the house that was alerted to the pending strike. He huddled with his relatives on the ground floor of his four-story building, bracing for an impact in the area.
But the house of Abu Quta’s neighbor was never hit. In an instant, an explosion ripped through his own home, wiping out 19 members of his family, including his wife and cousins, he said. The airstrike also killed five of his neighbors who were standing outside in the jam-packed refugee camp, a jumble of buildings and alleyways.
The airstrike in Rafah, a southern town on the border with Egypt, came as Israeli forces intensified their bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip following a big, multi-front attack by Hamas militants Saturday that had killed over 700 people in Israel by Sunday night. Hamas also took dozens of Israelis hostage and fired thousands of rockets toward Israeli population centers, although most were intercepted by the country’s Iron Dome defense system.
So far, the waves of airstrikes had killed over 400 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, health officials reported Sunday. There appeared to be several similar deadly airstrikes on crowded residential buildings.
The Israeli military said late Saturday that it had struck various Hamas offices and command centers in multi-story buildings.
But Abu Quta doesn’t understand why Israel struck his house. There were no militants in his building, he insisted, and his family was not warned. They would not have stayed in their house if they were, added his relative, Khalid.
“This is a safe house, with children and women,” Abu Quta, still shell-shocked, said as he recalled the tragedy in fragments of detail.
“Dust overwhelmed the house. There were screams,” he said. “There were no walls. It was all open.”
More airlines have suspended flights into Tel Aviv following Hamas’s attacks on Israel over the weekend.
US carrier Delta said that it is monitoring the situation to make schedule adjustments as necessary but that flights “have been canceled into this week,” Reuters reports.
“We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” said American Airlines.
On Sunday, the French prime minister, Èlisabeth Borne, said: “Air France has suspended its flights for the time being.”
Updated
Iran helped Hamas plan its surprise attacks against Israel over the weekend, according to senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reports:
Officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had worked with Hamas since August to devise the air, land and sea incursions – the most significant breach of Israel’s borders since the 1973 Yom Kippur War – those people said.
Details of the operation were refined during several meetings in Beirut attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed militant groups, including Hamas, which holds power in Gaza, and Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group and political faction in Lebanon, they said.
U.S. officials say they haven’t seen evidence of Tehran’s involvement. In an interview with CNN that aired Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship.”
“We don’t have any information at this time to corroborate this account,” said a U.S. official of the meetings.
A European official and an adviser to the Syrian government, however, gave the same account of Iran’s involvement in the lead-up to the attack as the senior Hamas and Hezbollah members.
Asked about the meetings, Mahmoud Mirdawi, a senior Hamas official, said the group planned the attacks on its own. “This is a Palestinian and Hamas decision,” he said.
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Israeli rescue service: 260 bodies removed from music festival
Israeli rescue service Zaka said that its parademics have removed approximately 260 bodies from a music festival that was attacked by Hamas.
Videos posted online appeared to show festival goers running frantically and getting into cars following the attacks.
BREAKING: Search and rescue mission at Nova festival next to Rei’m in Israel has been completed,
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) October 8, 2023
260 bodies of Israeli civillians taking part in this peaceful festival were recovered
-Emergency services pic.twitter.com/rNMB8HTBN3
“We didn’t even have any place to hide because we were at [an] open space,” festival goer Tal Gibly told CNN.
“Everyone got so panicked and started to take their stuff,” she added.
The US carrier United Airlines announced that it has suspended all flights to Tel Aviv following Hamas’s attacks on Israel this weekend.
“The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority,” the company said in a statement, Reuters reports.
“We operated two scheduled flights out of Tel Aviv late Saturday and early Sunday and accommodated our customers, crews and employee travelers who were at the airport. Our Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume,” it added.
Palestine's UN permanent observer mission on ongoing conflict: "These developments did not occur in a vacuum"
The permanent observer mission of the state of Palestine to the UN has issued a response on Sunday to the Israel-Hamas war, saying that “these developments did not occur in a vacuum”.
“At the writing of this letter, the death toll in Gaza stands at: 313 Palestinians killed, including at least 20 children, over 2,000 injured and thousands of families displaced, now over 20,000 civilians, in just the past 24 hours …
These developments did not occur in a vacuum. They are preceded by the killing this year of hundreds of Palestinians … and preceded by decades of Israel’s unrelenting military raids on Palestinian villages, towns, cities and refugee camps … arrest, detention, imprisonment and abuse of thousands of Palestinian civilians, including children and women, a suffocating 16-year air, land and sea blockade of more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza …”
🚨An all-out war has been declared by #Israel,the occupying Power,against the #Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East #Jerusalem. Read our full statement 👇@UN @Brazil_UN_NY @antonioguterres #GazaUnderAttack #Palestine @FranceskAlbs pic.twitter.com/jXlEJ4DJ6C
— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) October 8, 2023
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At least three American citizens have been killed in the violence following Hamas’s attacks on Israel on Saturday, Reuters reports CNN saying on Sunday, citing a US memo.
In an earlier interview on CBS today, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said that the US “got reports that several Americans are among the dead, we’re working very actively to verify those reports”.
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Israelis have been sharing posts on social media about missing family members and relatives, asking for help identifying the whereabouts of people feared dead or abducted following the Hamas incursion into the south of the country.
The posts describe mothers and their small children loaded by militants into vehicles, elderly grandmothers who were taken to Gaza and young party-goers seized from the desert rave that was infiltrated by militants early Saturday morning. Israeli medical services said about 260 dead bodies were retrieved from the scene of the party.
It is unclear how many Israelis were abducted and taken to Gaza, but the government has said that the number has exceeded 100. Israeli media reports Egypt is involved in early negotiations to broker the release of the elderly and children among them.
Here are some images from Gaza coming through the newswires:
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Summary
It’s around 10pm in Gaza, where explosions have been lighting up the night sky in the last hour. Frantic diplomatic calls are still being made between various world leaders and the situation in southern Israel is very tense.
Here’s where things stand:
The United States defence secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford to head its “strike group” of forces as it sails to the eastern Mediterranean to be closer to Israel following Hamas’s “heinous” attacks.
US president Joe Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces is now on its way to Israel with more to follow over the coming days.”
The United Nations World Food Programme has called on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to deliver food supplies into Gaza following Israeli air strikes in response to Hamas’s attacks.
British prime minister Rishi Sunak told Netanyahu that Britain stands with Israel “unequivocally against these acts of terror,” adding that “no-one wants to see regional escalation.”
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi said Iran supports the Palestinians’ right to self-defence and that “Iran supports the legitimate defence of the Palestinian nation” and added “the Zionist regime and its supporters are responsible for endangering the security of nations in the region.”
Israel said 800 Hamas targets have been struck in Gaza since the Palestinian militant attacks erupted and hundreds of Hamas fighters have been killed, with dozens more captured.
The UN’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said thousands of people were sheltering in its 44 schools around Gaza and food distribution for more than 112,000 families had had to be put on hold.
Up to 100 Israeli hostages, including women and children, may have been taken into Gaza by Hamas, hugely complicating any Israeli military operation to free them. The US government is investigating reports of American hostages also being taken, as well as some other nationalities.
More than 1,000 dead. At this hour, the Israeli death toll after the surprise attack by the militant group Hamas on communities in the country’s south has risen to at least 600, including 44 soldiers. In Gaza, which was pummelled by Israeli airstrikes, officials reported at least 413 deaths.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the country was at war and would exact a heavy price from its enemies. Hamas leaders said they were prepared for further escalation.
Israel military officials said “hundreds of terrorists” had been killed and dozens captured as the fighting broke out in the streets and continued on Sunday.
In northern Israel, a brief exchange of strikes between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict.
In neighbouring Egypt, a police officer shot dead two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian at a tourist site in Alexandria.
The UN security council is expecting to meet at some point after the secretary general, António Guterres, urged “all diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflagration”.
US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin has issued a short statement about decisions by the Pentagon that amount to “several steps to strengthen Department of Defense posture in the region”. He called the Hamas attacks on Israel “heinous”.
Austin’s statement said:
My thoughts continue to be with the people of Israel and the many families who have lost loved ones as a result of the abhorrent terrorist attack by Hamas. Today, in response to this Hamas attack on Israel, and following detailed discussions with President Biden, I have directed several steps to strengthen Department of Defense posture in the region to bolster regional deterrence efforts.
I have directed the movement of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean. This includes the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), as well as the Arleigh-Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116), USS Ramage (DDG 61), USS Carney (DDG 64), and USS Roosevelt (DDG 80). We have also taken steps to augment U.S. Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region. The U.S. maintains ready forces globally to further reinforce this deterrence posture if required.
In addition, the United States government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions. The first security assistance will begin moving today and arriving in the coming days.
Strengthening our joint force posture, in addition to the materiel support that we will rapidly provide to Israel, underscores the United States’ ironclad support for the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli people. My team and I will continue to be in close contact with our Israeli counterparts to ensure they have what they need to protect their citizens and defend themselves against these heinous terrorist attacks.”
The Associated Press adds that the Ford carrier strike group has been ordered to sail to the eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel after the attack by Hamas that has left more than 1,000 dead on both sides. Americans were reported to be among those killed and missing.
A US official says preliminary reports indicate that at least four American citizens were killed in the attacks and an additional seven were missing and unaccounted for.
The USS Gerald R Ford and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas to conducting surveillance.
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In 2012, the UN general assembly delivered an overwhelming vote in favour of Palestinian statehood.
At least 138 member states recognise Palestine as a state. Meanwhile, dozens of countries including the US and UK do not recognise Palestinian statehood.
For many, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip are commonly referred to as the Occupied Territories.
Over the years, various human rights organisations including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned Israeli authorities’ actions in the territories, with the HRW calling them “crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians”.
Amnesty International has called Israel’s governance a “continuing oppressive and discrminatory system” as it imposes arbitrary restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement, including limiting their rights to work and asylum-seeking processes.
In 2022, Amnesty International reported that administrative detention of Palestinians “hit a 14-year high”.
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The US has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the eastern Mediterranean to be closer to Israel following Hamas’s attacks, two US officials told the Associated Press anonymously on Sunday.
“The USS Gerald R. Ford and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas and conducting surveillance,” the Associated Press reported.
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President Joe Biden says initial US military assistance en route to Israel
Joe Biden has told the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday that “additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces is now on its way to Israel with more to follow over the coming days.”
Following the call between the two leaders, the White House released a statement, saying:
“The President again expressed deep sympathy for all those missing, wounded, and killed, and pledged his full support for the Government and people of Israel in the face of an unprecedented and appalling assault by Hamas terrorists.
They discussed the taking of hostages by Hamas terrorists, including entire families, the elderly, and young children.”
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The UN’s World Food Programme has called on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to deliver food supplies into Gaza following Israeli air strikes in response to Hamas’s attacks, Reuters reports.
“As the conflict intensifies, civilians, including vulnerable children and families, face mounting challenges in accessing essential food supplies,” the WFP said.
“WFP urges safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to affected areas, calling on all parties to uphold the principles of humanitarian law … including ensuring access to food,” it added.
The WFP delivers food assistance to approximately 350,000 Palestinians a month and said that it was ready to create pre-positioned food stocks for those who have since been displaced.
“While most shops in the affected areas in Palestine currently maintain one month of food stocks, these risk being depleted swiftly as people buy up food in fear of a prolonged conflict,” Reuters reports it saying.
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The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has told the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday that Britain stands with Israel “unequivocally”.
“[Sunak] reaffirmed that the UK will stand with Israel unequivocally against these acts of terror. The prime minister offered Prime Minister Netanyahu any support Israel needs,” Sunak’s office said in a statement following the call between the two leaders, Reuters reports.
“No one wants to see regional escalation, and both the UK and allies have urged everyone in the region not to use this as an opportunity to incite further violence,” Sunak said, adding, “In the meantime, we will continue to provide Israel with every support that it needs as we stand steadfast with Israel, including [supporting] its right to self defence to ensure that these attacks do not happen.”
Sunak also confirmed that the UK foreign ministry has been in contact with Israeli counterparts over the status of British nationals on the ground.
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The UK Foreign Office has issued a travel advisory advising against all but essential travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
British nationals requiring consular assistance should call the following numbers: +972 (0)3 725 1222 or +972 (2) 5414100. If you experience technical difficulties with these or if you are in the UK, call +44 20 7008 5000, the advisory said.
It also warned that the international air and land borders in Israel and the Palestinian territories could close at “short notice”.
“The security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories can be fast moving, tense and unpredictable. You should be vigilant at all times and keep up to date with local media and travel reports.
Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including places visited by foreigners including the Old City in Jerusalem, on public transport, and in busy public spaces,” it added.
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Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the US, said there was an “element of surprise” to the Hamas attacks but said that Israel “will have enough time to investigate once we conclude that war in victory”.
In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation, Herzog said:
“We suspect Iranian hands behind the scenes, as you know Hamas and Iran are closely tied. Iran provides a material support, funding weapons to Hamas. They are tied in what they call the Axis of Resistance, of course, resistance to the existence of the State of Israel. They are part of the same coalition. So, as far as we are concerned, this is an Iranian led coalition and we suspect that Iran is involved.”
In response to whether Israel will take the fight to Iran, Herzog said, “I’m not going to say what exactly Israel is going to do. But I will just say that whoever strikes Israel, we’ll strike back.”
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The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said Iran supports the Palestinians’ right to self-defence, Agence France-Presse reports.
“Iran supports the legitimate defence of the Palestinian nation,” Raisi said on Iranian state television.
“The Zionist regime and its supporters are responsible for endangering the security of nations in the region, and they must be held accountable in this matter,” he added.
Raisi also urged other Muslim governments to “support the Palestinian nation”, Agence France-Presse reported.
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Mexican foreign secretary Alicia Bárcena has announced that two Mexican citizens, a man and a woman, have allegedly been taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza on Saturday.
“We are in contact with authorities in Israel and family members to provide follow-up, support and care,” Bárcena said.
Lamento informar que nuestra @EmbaMexIsr, nos ha comunicado que una mexicana y un mexicano han sido presuntamente tomados como rehenes por el grupo Hamás, en Gaza, este sábado. Estamos en contacto con autoridades en Israel y los familiares para dar seguimiento, apoyo y atención.
— Alicia Bárcena (@aliciabarcena) October 8, 2023
One French citizen has been killed in the violence in Israel and Gaza, Reuters reports a French foreign ministry spokesperson saying on Sunday.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, condemned Hamas’s attacks against Israel on Saturday and held talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and other regional leaders.
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Israel says it has hit 800 Hamas targets in Gaza
Eight hundred Hamas targets were struck in Gaza with hundreds of Hamas fighters killed, Reuters reports an Israeli military spokesperson saying.
Dozens more had been captured, added the spokesperson.
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In a recent interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, the former UN ambassador and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said: “It’s not Israel that needs America. America needs Israel.”
Americans need to remember, it’s not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel. Israel is the frontline of defense for the Iranian regime and terrorists that want to hurt us and want to hurt our friends and we need to be honest with the American people about that,” said Haley.
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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, says he has spoken with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to affirm Ukraine’s solidarity with Israel.
In a tweet on Sunday, Zelenskiy said he expressed his condolences for the victims in the ongoing attacks.
“The Prime Minister informed me of the current situation and the actions of Israel’s Defense Forces and law enforcement to repel the attack. I noted the cooperation between the Israeli police and Ukrainian diplomats with regard to the safety and protection of Ukrainian citizens in Israel,” he added.
I spoke with @Netanyahu to affirm Ukraine’s solidarity with Israel, which suffers from a brazen large-scale attack, and to express condolences for the multiple victims.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 8, 2023
The Prime Minister informed me of the current situation and the actions of Israel’s Defense Forces and law…
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Major airlines cancelled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv this weekend as fighting continued following the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s surprise large-scale attack against Israel.
American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Iberia, Air Canada and Ryanair were among those pulling flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.
However, airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Israel’s second international airport at Eilat, a tourist destination on the Red Sea.
The Israeli flag carrier El Al said on Sunday that it was maintaining its Tel Aviv flights for now, though some flights operated by foreign partners had been cancelled.
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Gaza
The UN’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said thousands of people were sheltering in its 44 schools around Gaza and food distribution for more than 112,000 families had had to be put on hold.
Amid escalating violence, thousands of displaced people are sheltering in 44 schools managed by @UNRWA, which has been forced to put food distribution to 112K+ families on hold.
— United Nations (@UN) October 8, 2023
Latest update: https://t.co/SJvqcmGtvi pic.twitter.com/xHa6GbkAWp
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Germany to review aid to Palestinians
The German government said on Sunday it was reviewing its hundreds of millions of euros of aid for Palestinians after the militant group Hamas attacked Israel.
Development minister Svenja Schulze said the government had always been careful to check that the money was only used for peaceful ends. “But these attacks on Israel mark a terrible fracture,” she said. “We will now review our entire engagement for the Palestinian territories.”
Germany would discuss with Israel how development projects in the region could best be served, and coordinate with international partners, said the minister for German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left government.
Some German lawmakers, from the opposition conservatives in particular, called for an end to the aid.
“All of Europe, all 27 states, must now say: we need a new start and we will no longer finance terrorists,” said Armin Laschet, the conservatives’ candidate for chancellor at the last federal election, calling for an end to EU cooperation with the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank.
Gregor Gysi, a prominent member of the opposition Left party, argued against such a move, saying Hamas and not all Palestinians, were responsible for the attack.
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Up to 100 Israeli hostages, including women and children, may have been taken into Gaza by Hamas, hugely complicating any Israeli military operation to free them.
Amid shocking images of terrified Israeli soldiers and civilians – some bloodied, others hooded and with their hands tied – being marched away by Hamas militants, the whereabouts and fate of the captives has become one of the most pressing issues for military planners.
While a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, has said only that a “significant number” of Israeli civilians and soldiers are being held hostage, that number is believed to be in the dozens, with some Israeli news outlets speculating that up to 100 Israelis have been taken hostage.
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Shocked Israelis woke on the last day of the Jewish high holidays to the wail of sirens as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from Gaza and armed militants broke down the hi-tech barriers surrounding the strip to enter Israel, shooting and taking hostages. Militants in boats also tried to enter Israel by sea.
It was a staggering and unprecedented offensive by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and a catastrophic intelligence failure by Israel – and both will have long-lasting repercussions and consequences.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has held discussions with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said all had expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself “as much as it takes”.
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Gaza death toll climbs to 370
Gaza health ministry has said 370 people have been killed and 2,200 have been wounded following Israeli airstrikes.
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The US is working to verify reports that several Americans were killed in Israel, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has told US TV.
Blinken called the attack the worst since the 1973 Yom Kippur war, “but there’s a fundamental difference. That was a war that was state-to-state, country-to-country, army-to-army. This is a massive terrorist attack that is gunning down Israeli civilians in their towns, in their homes.”
He added: “As we’ve seen so graphically, they’re literally dragging people across the border with Gaza, including a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, women and children. So you can imagine the impact this is having throughout Israel and the world should be revolted at what it has seen.”
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Several South Americans have been caught up in the outbreak of violence in Israel, with two Argentinians reported dead and two Brazilians missing after Hamas’s unprecedented attack.
Rodolfo Fabián Skariszewski, a 56-year-old father-of-three from Córdoba in Argentina, was reportedly killed in Moshav Ohad, a village near the Gaza Strip, while walking his dog on Saturday morning.
Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernández, who has stepped up security around his country’s Jewish community, voiced solidarity with Skariszewski’s family on Twitter and condemned what he called Hamas’s “brutal terrorist attack”.
A second Argentinian, named as Abi Korin, was also killed, according to the country’s Jewish News Agency (AJN). Korin lived at the Holit kibbutz, also near Gaza.
At least two Brazilians have also been reported missing, including Ranani Glazer, a 24-year-old from Porto Alegre, Ranani Glazer. Glazer had been attending a local edition of the Brazilian psychedelic trance festival Universo Paralello near the Gaza border when it was attacked. He reportedly fled to a nearby shelter before disappearing. “Nobody knows where he is,” a friend, David Hodara Hodz, told the Brazilian news website G1.
Among those who fled the rave was Juarez Petrillo, the DJ father of one of the world’s most famous DJs, the Brazilian celebrity Alok. Petrillo, whose stage name is DJ Swarup, filmed the moment missiles began to rain down on revellers.
Another Brazilian witness, Gabriela Barbosa, told the Estado de São Paulo newspaper: “It was about 6.30am and my boyfriend looked up at the sky and said … [those are] missiles coming from Gaza … People started to scream and to panic. First there was one [missile], then loads. They explode in the air because of the anti-missile system … They turned off the music and told us to lie on the ground and cover our heads.”
Barbosa said some people had decided to flee on foot and by car but others preferred to wait for the bombardment to end, “because nobody had the slightest idea that Hamas was also launching a land invasion”.
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Schools across Israel will remain closed until at least Tuesday night, Israeli media reported.
The Times of Israel reported that businesses south of Netanya and north of the central Negev could be opened only if there was access to bomb shelters.
Gatherings would be restricted to 10 people outdoors and 50 people indoors in those areas.
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Across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, divided communities have been watching scenes from the militant group Hamas’s unprecedented attack unfold with disbelief.
Until this morning, footage of Palestinian gunmen tearing down the walls and fences that have hemmed in the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people for the last 16 years was unthinkable – as were video and images of dazed Israeli civilians bundled into safe rooms or stolen Israel Defence Forces (IDF) vehicles, hands tied behind their backs with zip ties, and driven into Gaza to be used as bargaining chips.
“If you asked any Palestinian what the best-case scenario would be to end the occupation, they would never say something like this,” said Khaled al-Taweel, a 49-year-old from the central Gaza town of Khan Yunis. “And if you asked an Israeli what the worst case scenario would be, they would never say something like this. It feels like a movie. At the Erez crossing [between Gaza and Israel], that’s where we stand to get searched, not the other way around.”
“We have entered a tunnel. But we don’t know what will be at the end of it.”
Hamas operatives hang-gliding into Israel, a Gaza journalist making his way into Israel to deliver a report for Palestinian television, an elderly Israeli woman, clearly confused, being driven around Gaza’s streets in a golf buggy – for everyone, the day felt surreal.
Israelis have been glued to their television screens as civilians across the south of the country, locked in their panic rooms from sunrise until sunset, pleaded for help.
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Summary
Here is a summary of what we know so far:
Israeli forces continued to battle Hamas fighters on the streets of southern Israel on Sunday and launched strikes that levelled buildings in Gaza, more than 24 hours after the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise and unprecedented incursion into Israel – the deadliest in decades.
At least 600 Israelis were killed, including 44 soldiers, and more than 2,000 wounded, Israeli media reported. At least 313 Palestinians were killed, including 20 children, and nearly 2,000 wounded as a result of airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday, the Palestinian authority said. Seven people were also killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the country was at war and would exact a heavy price from its enemies. Hamas leaders said they were prepared for further escalation.
Israel military officials said “hundreds of terrorists” had been killed and dozens captured as the fighting continued on Sunday.
Israeli military said a “substantial” number of civilians and soldiers had been taken to Gaza and were being held hostage.
In northern Israel, a brief exchange of strikes between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict.
In neighbouring Egypt, a police officer shot dead two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian at a tourist site in Alexandria.
The UN security council is due to meet on Sunday after the secretary general, António Guterres, urged “all diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflagration”.
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Israeli death toll from Hamas attacks reaches 600
Reports from Israeli media said the number of Israelis killed had reached 600.
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Israeli death toll rises to over 400
Israeli TV stations have reported that more than 400 Israelis have been killed, and more than 2,000 wounded.
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The mother of a British man missing in Israel has spoken to the Jewish News website.
Jake Marlowe, 26, went missing early on Saturday after an attack on an outdoor dance party near the Israeli kibbutz of Reim.
His mother, Lisa, told the Jewish News he was providing security at the party and she last heard from her son via text message.
“He was doing security at this rave and called me at 04:30 to say all these rockets were flying over,” she said. “Then, at about 05:30, he texted to say, ‘signal very bad, everything OK, will keep you updated I promise you,’ and that he loves me.”
She said his phone was on but she could not reach him.
France increased security around synagogues and Jewish schools in light of this weekend’s attacks on Israel by the Islamist group Hamas, the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, said.
She told BFMTV: “We have stepped up security at places of worship and at the schools. There is no specific threat at this stage, but we will remain extremely vigilant.”
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Pope Francis called for end to attacks and violence in Israel on Sunday, saying terrorism and war would not solve any problems, but only bring further suffering and death to innocent people.
“War is a defeat, only a defeat. Let’s pray for peace in Israel and Palestine,” the pope said in his weekly address to faithful in St Peter’s Square.
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Guardian correspondent Bethan McKernan has been at the missing persons centre at a police station near Ben Gurion airport, where dozens of people are registering and getting DNA swabs.
Bethan reports:
There was a very hushed atmosphere, with all types of people – ultra Orthodox, modern Orthodox, Arab citizens of Israel, Mizrahi, Russian, Ashkenazi, queueing up. One was man praying by the steps outside.
Nava Avadia, 60, said her son, 27-year-old Etai Hadar, was at a party when the attacks took place. “His girlfriend managed to make a call to her sister saying they escaped into the kibbutz from the field where the party was, but since then we have heard nothing.”
She said: “We hope it is just they have no battery. We have no idea. We pray for good news. The army won’t let us go down there.”
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Two Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide shot dead in Alexandria
Two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian national have been shot dead in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria by a police official, according to the news website Cairo24.
The attack reportedly took place at the Serapeum of Alexandria, an ancient Roman monument in the centre of the coastal city.
Cairo24, a news website with links to the Egyptian intelligence services, said a police officer working with the security service in the area fired random shots “from his personal weapon” at an Israeli tour group that was visiting the shrine.
“The police officer was immediately arrested and legal proceedings will be taken against him,” they said. One injured person was transferred to hospital for treatment.
The attack marks a further escalation in connection with events in Gaza, including a rare incursion by Palestinian militants into Israeli territories bordering the Gaza Strip and an ongoing exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military on Israel’s northern border.
Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979 and have forged far closer public relations in recent years, with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured alongside the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in close talks on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in 2017. Egyptian officials, particularly the top intelligence official Abbas Kamel, have also assumed a leading role in mediating talks with Palestinian militant groups in an effort to cool relations in Gaza, despite Egypt closing its border with the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian government’s decision to increasingly and publicly display their warm relations with their Israeli counterparts has come in tandem with a clampdown on protests and free expression, curtailing protests in support of Palestinian rights that were previously considered an essential outlet for the sentiment on the Egyptian street.
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Survivors recount attack on rave party
Young Israelis have told of fleeing a dance party in the early hours of Saturday as Hamas gunmen, backed by rocket barrages, entered towns and villages by the border.
The outdoor rave was attended by several hundred people near the Israeli kibbutz of Reim, witnesses said. Footage on social media showed dozens of people running through fields and along a road, escaping militants as gun shots were heard.
“The music stopped and there was a rocket siren,” a young woman named Ortal told Israel’s N12 News television. “Suddenly out of nowhere, they started shooting.”
Another partygoer, Esther Borochov, said a car had rammed her vehicle as she tried to flee before a young man told her and her friend to jump into his vehicle before he was shot point blank. She played dead until she was rescued.
“I couldn’t move my legs,” she told Reuters at the hospital. “Soldiers came and took us away to the bushes.”
Another partygoer said: “We were in the middle of a rave party and suddenly we were shot at from all sides.”
On Sunday, families continued to search for young people who were missing from the party.
The Israeli embassy in London confirmed to the BBC that a British citizen, Jack Marlowe, was missing. The BBC reported that his mother said he had been working as security staff at the dance party.
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The UK home secretary said she expected the police to halt expressions of support for Hamas in light of the events in Israel.
Whenever Israel is attacked, Islamists and other racists use Israeli defensive measures as a pretext to stir up hatred against British Jews. Yesterday I spoke with @CST_UK to ensure the government is doing everything necessary for the protection of our Jewish communities. 1/2
— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) October 8, 2023
There must be zero tolerance for anti-semitism or glorification of terrorism on the streets of Britain. I expect the police to use the full force of the law against displays of support for Hamas, other proscribed terrorist groups or attempts to intimidate British Jews. 2/2
— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) October 8, 2023
Palestinian Authority calls for emergency Arab League meeting
The Palestinian Authority submitted a memorandum on Sunday calling for an emergency Arab League meeting of foreign ministers, according to WAFA, the Palestinian news agency.
The Arab League ambassador, Muhannad Al-Aklouk, said the request for the meeting came in light of the “brutal and ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, including the escalation of the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by thousands of settlers”.
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A senior spokesperson from the militant Palestinian group Hamas said it was not attacking civilians, despite claims by Amnesty International and other rights groups.
Fighters from Hamas’s armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, yesterday launched an unprecedented incursion into territories around the Gaza strip, capturing at least 100 Israelis, according to Hamas.
Footage circulating on social media showed terrified captives, including mothers huddling with their children, in the custody of Palestinian militant groups.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said yesterday: “We are deeply alarmed by the mounting civilian death tolls in Gaza, Israel and the occupied West Bank and urgently call on all parties to the conflict to abide by international law and make every effort to avoid further civilian bloodshed. Under international humanitarian law all sides in a conflict have a clear obligation to protect the lives of civilians caught up in the hostilities.”
Responding today while speaking to Al Jazeera, the senior Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said his group was not attacking civilians.
“You have to differentiate between settlers and civilians. Settlers attacked Palestinians … We hope that Amnesty has humility to send us more developed weapons to attack only the soldiers,” he said, per Al Jazeera.
Hamdan claimed that civilians living across towns near the Israeli border with Gaza, which has long hemmed in more than 2 million people, could also be considered settlers, comparable to the hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers living across Palestinian territories in the West Bank.
“We are not targeting civilians on purpose. We have declared settlers are part of the occupation and part of the armed Israeli force. They are not civilians,” he said.
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Israel says 'hundreds of terrorists' killed
An Israeli military official said “hundreds of terrorists” had been killed and dozens captured amid ongoing fighting with Hamas militants in Gaza and southern Israel.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari spoke to reporters on Sunday, more than 24 hours after the Palestinian militant group launched an unprecedented assault into Israel, killing hundreds of people and taking hostages back into blockaded Gaza as the group launched thousands of rockets.
Israel is battling militants in the south and launching airstrikes across Gaza that have levelled buildings.
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Rising number of deaths and casualties
At least 313 Palestinians have been killed, including 20 children, and nearly 2,000 wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday, the Palestinian authority health ministry said on Sunday morning. Seven people were also killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank, including a child, it added.
Media in Israel, citing rescue service officials, said at least 300 Israelis were killed, including 26 soldiers, and more than 1,800 wounded. An update on Israeli figures was expected on Sunday.
The Israeli military said a “substantial” number of civilians and soldiers were being held hostage in Gaza.
The Thai prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, said two Thai nationals had died.
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Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the UK, said the country was experiencing “a reality that has become a nightmare”.
She told BBC Breakfast: “Israel is in a war that Hamas started yesterday. Calculated. Planned. Targeting Israelis, targeting civilians, targeting innocent children.”
She added: “We saw prime minister Sunak, we saw President Biden yesterday, they’re supporting Israel’s right for self-defence, because we are in a reality that has become a nightmare. We can’t do anything else … we need to protect our people.”
“This is a necessity war. [Israel] wasn’t expecting this to happen [but] we need to make sure the infrastructure of terrorism is 100% destroyed.”
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Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said the country is embarking on a “long and difficult war” after a surprise attack by Palestinian militants from the blockaded Gaza Strip led to hundreds of deaths, the seizure of dozens of Israeli hostages, and sparked fears of a regional escalation.
On Sunday morning, as Israelis struggled to comprehend the scale of the attack the day before, the possibility of a ground invasion into Gaza and wider conflagration with Hezbollah in Lebanon loomed large. The Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah said it had fired rockets and artillery into northern Israel “in solidarity” with the Palestinian people.
IDF footage of the attack on Hezbollah infrastructure earlier today in the Mount Dov region.
תיעוד מתקיפת תשתיות חיזבאללה מוקדם יותר היום במרחב הר דב: pic.twitter.com/Myrb7r1pqZ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 8, 2023
At least 256 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed
At least 256 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes and shelling, according to the Palestinian ministry of health, with that number expected to rise amid electricity and communications cuts as well as widespread problems with medical facilities.
Palestinians in Gaza shared images of text messages sent to residents by the Israeli military in the Beit Hanoun area near the strip’s northern Erez border crossing last night, ordering them to leave their homes prior to a barrage of airstrikes. The IDF spokesperson in Arabic also directed residents in Gaza to flee towards Gaza City.
Yet with 2 million residents living on a slim strip of land, often described as one of the most densely populated places on earth, most feared there was simply nowhere for them to go to escape the airstrikes that continued throughout the night, including strikes on towers and infrastructure in Gaza City itself.
“The number of civilian homes destroyed by Israeli aircraft is now in the hundreds, and tens of thousands of displaced people in Gaza are homeless,” said Anas Jerjawi, of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
“Water and electricity supplies are almost at a standstill, and hospitals face extreme difficulties in continuing to operate due to the huge shortage of medical supplies. The situation is very difficult and the Israeli attack must be stopped immediately.”
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The UN peacekeeping force on the Israeli-Lebanese border, UNIFIL, has issued a statement about the exchange of fire between the Israeli military and the militant group Hezbollah earlier this morning.
Early this morning, UNIFIL peacekeepers detected several rockets fired from southeast Lebanon toward Israeli-occupied territory in the general area of Kafr Chouba, and artillery fire from Israel to Lebanon in response.
We are in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line, at all levels, to contain the situation and avoid a more serious escalation. Our peacekeepers remain in their positions and on task. They continue to work, some from shelters for their safety.
We urge everyone to exercise restraint and make use of UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination mechanisms to de-escalate to prevent a fast deterioration of the security situation.
The developments this morning come after UNIFIL yesterday said they had enhanced their presence in the area, seemingly to deter an exchange exactly like the one that occurred this morning. “We have also adapted and enhanced our presence throughout our area of operations, including counter rocket-launching operations,” they said.
Andrea Tenenti, the spokesperson for UNIFIL, said late last night that UNIFIL has “fully deployed” along the so-called Blue Line, the demarcation line between Lebanese territory, Israeli territory and Syrian territory across the occupied Golan Heights.
“Our peacekeepers are working throughout the night to defuse tension, maintain stability, and help avoid escalation,” he said.
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Israel's military appears to be preparing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip
Early Sunday, Israel’s military appeared to be preparing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip as its operation to free hostages and mop up Hamas militants still in Israeli territory gained steam.
Overnight, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) recaptured all but eight sites held by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, and began conducting house-to-house sweeps for any remaining gunmen.
Attention has quickly turned to Israel’s northern front with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah: rockets were fired into Israel from south Lebanon in the early morning, but it was not immediately clear whether they were launched by Palestinians operating in the country. In previous flare-ups with Gaza, Hezbollah has chosen to stay on the sidelines - but all bets are off after yesterday’s unprecedented events.
Israel is still in a state of shock, with dozens of people missing and believed to be hostage inside the blockaded Gaza Strip. A missing persons centre has been set up near Ben Gurion Airport.
In Gaza, electricity and internet are down, and it’s hard to reach anyone to know what’s going on. Hazem Balousha, the Guardian’s correspondent there, said that no-one in the strip slept overnight as retaliatory airstrikes pounded the tiny enclave.
Israeli blockages of fuel and goods are going to cause significant hardships for the civilian population in the coming days.
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Hezbollah and IDF exchange fire
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli military have exchanged fire along Lebanon’s southern border, sparking concerns of a broader regional conflict.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for shelling an Israeli military position in an area of disputed territory near the border with Lebanon, in the occupied Golan Heights.
“The radar sites, Zibdin and Ruwaisat Al-Alam were bombed with large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles,” they said in a statement, reported by Al Jazeera.
“We targeted three Israeli occupation sites in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms area.”
The Shebaa farms are a slim strip of disputed territory along the Lebanese border of the Golan Heights, Syrian territory that Israel has occupied since the six-day war of 1967. The area has been a flashpoint for conflict between Hezbollah and Israeli forces for decades.
The Israeli Defence Forces said they fired on to areas in southern Lebanon in response, including using a drone to target Hezbollah positions in the area around Shebaa Farms.
“Israeli artillery is in the process of striking the area of Lebanon from which a shot was fired,” said the IDF, shortly before 7.30am local time.
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The Home Front Command and the Israeli Police have announced the activation of a centre for locating missing persons.
The centre will operate in HaNegev 4, Building 433 in Israel’s Airport City complex near the Ben Gurion Airport.
Relatives searching for family members are advised to come to the centre with the missing person’s identification details, a photograph, and an item from which DNA can be extracted. Relatives who are in conflict zones are urged to report to the police hotline 105 by phone.
Further reports from Israel’s northern border. Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it has targeted three occupation outposts with mortar shells in the “occupied Shebaa Farms” in southern Lebanon.
There are reports from Israeli news sources that Hamas members have launched a new incursion into Eshkol, in the southern region of Israel. Israeli Defence Forces are responding according to reports.
The US’s Federal Aviation Authority has warned US pilots and airlines to “exercise caution” flying near Tel Aviv.
The Notice to Air Missions states:
“Due to the ongoing conflict situation in the region… operators are advised to review current security, threat information.
“Operators are advised to exercise caution. Delays are expected, operators should calculate fuel accordingly.”
The Times of Israel is reporting the Israeli Defence Force has carried out artillery strikes in Lebanon after mortar shells were fired towards Israeli territory.
The mortar shells landed in the Mount Dov region on the Lebanon border. There are no reports of injury or damage.
The Times quotes an IDF statement:
“The IDF has been taking preparational measures for this type of possibility and will continue to operate in all regions and at any time necessary to ensure the safety of the Israeli civilians.”
The Israeli air force has released footage of an airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
Attached is footage of a strike on Hamas military targets located in multi-story buildings in the Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/iHqT7ta74Z
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 8, 2023
There are two key questions in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s surprise assault on Israel: what was the attack designed to achieve, and why now?
Even as the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was at war with Hamas and the other Gaza factions, it is important to understand what Hamas’s military aims did not include. Hamas fights its periodic conflicts for political reasons, to shore up support in Gaza and elsewhere and to ensure its continuing relevance.
Hamas’s military leadership is aware of its own capabilities. Taking and holding ground in Israel is far beyond its reach. As the kidnapping and killing of Israeli civilians makes clear, this is an operation that was designed both to terrorise and to have as wide an international audience as possible.
The Thai government has said one of its citizens was killed and four others kidnapped during the attacks in Israel. It said it was not yet clear where they were being held.
The Bangkok Post reported that one couple has identified their son, who is in his 20s, as among the workers to have been seized, based on images circulating online of people with their hands tied behind their backs.
Homes of senior Hamas officials attacked
Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, is reporting that the Israeli air force has attacked the homes of senior Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip.
It has named them as Yahya Sanwar, Nizar Awadallah, Fathi Hamad, Itsam al-Dealis, Kamal Abu Awan and Abu Mu’az Saraj.
Here are those images of the Brandenbrug Gate and Empire State building showing the colours of the Israeli flag.
Tonight from 10-11PM the Empire State Building will shine in the colors of the Israeli flag pic.twitter.com/1yU4HDbSVA
— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) October 7, 2023
In contrast to Germany’s Brandenburg Gate, and the Empire State building in the US, which were lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag, the Zat al-Imad towers in Tripoli, Libya, have shown the Palestinian colours.
Supporters in Istanbul, Turkey, also held a rally to voice their backing for the Palestinian cause.
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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A fresh wrap of the latest developments is live here. Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is embarking on a “long and difficult war” after the surprise attack by Hamas, with gunbattles continuing into the night, and hostages standoffs in two towns.
In a televised address on Saturday night, Netanyahu, who earlier declared Israel to be at war, said the military would use all of its strength to destroy Hamas’ capabilities and “take revenge for this black day”. But he warned, “This war will take time. It will be difficult.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has urged US airlines and pilots to use caution when flying in Israeli airspace after Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas militants, Reuters is reporting.
The US air regulator’s warning late on Saturday mirrors an alert issued by the Israeli government, and applies to all altitudes.
The Hamas offensive is on the front pages of newspapers across the world, with powerful and distressing images accompany the reports. Reporter Jordyn Beazley has compiled a selection of print front pages here.
Welcome to day two of our coverage of Israel’s military response to an unprecedented sea, air and ground offensive by Hamas that has opened a frightening new chapter in the decades-old conflict.
Here is a summary of what we know so far:
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Saturday that the country was “embarking on a long and difficult war” and that all the places where Hamas is based in Gaza or operates from will be turned “into rubble”.
His remarks came after Israeli officials said at least 250 Israelis died in Hamas attacks on Saturday, with more than 1,590 wounded.
At least 230 Palestinians have been killed and 1,610 wounded in Gaza by Israeli retaliation after the Hamas attack.
Netanyahu said the “first phase” of the counter-operation had ended, and that Israel had fought off the majority of Hamas militants inside its territory. He vowed to continue the offensive “without reservation and without respite”.
Israeli civilians and soldiers are held hostage in Gaza, a spokesperson for the Israeli defense forces confirmed. The spokesperson declined to specify the number of hostages, amid reports dozens were being detained. Israeli broadcaster Kan reported that an Israeli couple being held hostage in Ofakim had been rescued, with three soldiers “moderately and lightly wounded” and the hostage-takers killed.
The US president, Joe Biden, issued a staunch condemnation of the attacks by Hamas against Israel, saying in an address on Saturday “The United States stands with Israel”. He issued a statement earlier calling the attacks “horrific” and an “appalling assault.”
Hamas militants entered Israeli territory in the early hours of Saturday morning, appearing to take control of various communities in the south of the country. Fighting is still going on in some areas.
Hamas fired thousands of rockets towards Israel, according to Israeli authorities. The Hamas military commander, Mohammed Deif, said 5,000 had been fired, but an Israeli military spokesperson said 2,500 had been fired.
Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes, sending the area’s already crumbling medical infrastructure into chaos.
Netanyahu has offered a unity government after declaring a state of war. The move would bring Netanyahu and the opposition Yesh Atid leader, Yair Lapid, together during the national emergency.’
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told US secretary of state Antony Blinken that “injustice” towards Palestinians is driving the conflict with Israel to an “explosion”, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The agency also reported Abbas received a phone call from his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in which Abbas “emphasised that the current escalation in the region is a result of the political impasse” and a “denial of the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination”.
The UN security council is due to meet on Sunday. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, condemned the attack by Hamas and urged “all diplomatic efforts to avoid a wider conflagration”, UN spokesperson Steéphane Dujarric said in a statement.
The White House said that US and Israeli officials have been discussing Israel’s defence needs in the wake of Saturday’s Hamas attack and that an announcement of military aid could come “as early as tomorrow”.
Egypt is in talks with Saudi Arabia and Jordan in a bid to defuse Palestinian-Israeli tensions, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi discussed in a phone call with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell the need for international action to stop escalation in Gaza and “create a real political horizon to end the occupation”, the Jordanian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia, which has been in talks with the US about normalising relations with Israel, called on both sides to exercise restraint.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said the UK government stands in “full solidarity” with Israel against a “cowardly and depraved” attack.
The US does not have anything to suggest Iran was involved in “specific” Hamas attacks on Israel, a senior official said. The official also denied that Iran had any specific warning or indicator of the strike before it happened.
The UN peacekeeping force has been deployed along the Lebanon-Israel border to “maintain stability and help avoid escalation”.
The Metropolitan police in London said it is aware of a “number of incidents” related to the Israel conflict in parts of London, it has said in a statement. As a result, the force has increased policing patrols across parts of London.
