Closing summary
This blog is closing now, and our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict is moving here.
Here’s a summary of the latest developments:
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen for aid deliveries, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said. Speaking after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Blinken did not give any specifics about when the crossing would reopen. US media have reported that it will open at 9am for several hours.
UNRWA, the UN’s agency supporting Palestinian refugees, said on Sunday that Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza have led to an “unprecedented human catastrophe” as Gaza’s death toll rises to 2,670 with 9,600 injured. Speaking to reporters, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, said: “If we look at the issue of water, we all know water is life and Gaza is running out of water and Gaza is running out of life.”
Over 1,000 people were missing under the rubble of buildings in Gaza that have been targeted by deadly Israeli airstrikes, the Palestinian civil defence said on Sunday. In a statement, the civil defence team said many others were pulled alive out of the rubble, 24 hours after buildings were struck.
Gaza health officials have started to store bodies in ice-cream freezer trucks because moving them to hospitals is too risky and cemeteries are running out of space. Videos posted online showed bodies wrapped in white cloth stacked inside the empty trucks.
Israeli officials said they were restoring limited water supplies to southern Gaza, amid a wider water crisis, after a call between US President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US and Israelis officials are discussing the possibility of a visit to Israel soon by Biden at the invitation of Netanyahu, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. A potential visit by Biden would follow similar visits from other high-ranking US officials including secretary of state Antony Blinken and defense secretary Lloyd Austin. Blinken is due to return to Israel on Monday for a second round of talks with Netanyahu.
Biden, speaking to CBS, said he is “confident” Israel will act under the rules of war in its conflict with Palestine, and added deploying US troops is not necessary. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Biden said that while he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely, there must be a path for a Palestinian state. And he cautioned that the threat of terrorism in the United States had increased due to unrest in the Middle East.
Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only about 24 more hours, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said on Monday. “The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk,” OCHA said on its website.
More than 600,000 Gazans have so far moved to the southern part of the Gaza strip near the Egyptian border city of al-Arish, before an expected Israeli ground offensive. International aid workers in Gaza described an unprecedented situation of “humanitarian collapse”.
The US has warned that the war between Israel and militant group Hamas could escalate, as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on the country’s northern border with Lebanon. “There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran’s involvement,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced deployment of a second aircraft carrier group late on Saturday, calling it a sign of “our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war.”Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said the US would suffer “significant damages” if the war in Gaza spills over into a larger conflict, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. “We have conveyed our message to the Zionist regime through its allies that if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer,” Iranian state media cited Amir-Abdollahian as telling the network.
UN secretary-general António Guterres called on Hamas to release hostages without conditions and called on Israel to allow for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian aid access to Gaza. “Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it’s the right thing to do,” Guterres said. The Middle East is on the brink of an “abyss”, he said.
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, has said that he spoke by phone to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday regarding the situation in Gaza. Maduro told Abbas that Venezuela would send 30 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the next few days, Reuters reports.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the actions and policies of Islamist group Hamas do not represent Palestinian people, according to official news agency Wafa, although it later removed direct references to Hamas from its report. In a phone call with Maduro, “the president affirmed his rejection of the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees on both sides,” added the news agency.
Amnesty International has verified six videos of an attack on Salah al-Din road – a supposedly “safe” route for Palestinians feeling Gaza – that killed at least 70 people. It went on to condemn Israel’s forced evacuations of Palestinians from Gaza, saying: “Israel’s order to ‘evacuate’ is NOT compliant w/ [international humanitarian law] & must be rescinded.”
France has warned Iran “against any escalation or extension of the conflict” between Israel and Hamas, the French presidential office announced on Sunday. During a phone call between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, Macron warned against any conflict spillover into Lebanon.
Leaders from the EU’s 27 member states have issued a statement outlining their position on the situation in the Middle East. “The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms Hamas and its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks across Israel and deeply deplores the loss of lives,” the European Council said.
In a call with the Vatican, Israel’s foreign ministry said it expected the “Vatican to be more attentive to the suffering to Israelis.” The country’s foreign minister also called for a clear Vatican condemnation of deadly terrorism against Israelis and reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself.
Updated
Egyptian authorities have said the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will “most likely” open in the coming days, according to Michael Capponi, head of the Global Empowerment Mission aid agency.
Capponi said the agency was sending “large convoys” to the border early on Monday. “Once that pipeline is working we plan on sending daily convoys through,” he said, adding that it would be coordinating with UN humanitarian agencies.
He said the “main issue” holding up the reopening appeared to be that the “US wants to ensure proper checking of trucks occur so weapons are not filtered to Hamas”.
He added:
The events unfolding in the region have the potential to become one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in recent history. It is our duty and obligation to help all human beings who are caught in the crossroads of this war.
Updated
Five Canadians have been killed in the violence between Israel and Hamas, the Canadian government has confirmed, according to Canadian media.
Three Canadians are still missing, CTV News reported, citing Julie Sunday, Global Affairs Canada’s assistant deputy minister for consular security and emergency.
“It has always been a possibility that missing persons would be confirmed deceased ... It is an extremely tragic outcome,” Sunday said, announcing the fifth death. “Our thoughts are with the families in all of these cases.”
“We are very focused on addressing the cases of the three missing persons, who we continue to try to locate and bring back to safety in Canada.”
Updated
Palestinians in Gaza said Israel’s bombing campaign overnight was the heaviest since it launched its retaliatory attacks last week, Reuters reports.
Bombardment was especially heavy in Gaza City, with airstrikes hitting the areas around two of the city’s main hospitals, they said.
Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,670 people had so far been killed by Israel’s retaliatory strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble.
Updated
In case you missed it, my colleague Ruth Michaelson has written this explainer about the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt and why Egypt has closed it.
In essence, Cairo fears that any exodus of Palestinians to its Sinai peninsula could become permanent, while Palestinians worry that Israel may not allow them back to their homes in Gaza.
Egyptian president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi alluded to concerns about the consequences of an exodus of Palestinians from Gaza last week, saying that allowing them to settle in the Sinai, even temporarily, would be tantamount to allowing Israel to control an emptied Gaza Strip.
Egypt is also in the throes of a major economic crisis making the prospect of accepting refugees a challenging one. Egypt’s last remaining independent news outlet, Mada Masr, reported that while Cairo had rejected any suggestion of a mass displacement from Gaza into the Sinai, it was still “coming under pressure from western countries who are also offering economic incentives in an effort to come to a deal”.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak will address British MPs on Monday about the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza.
Sunak is expected to use his Commons statement to set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers’ response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza.
King Abdullah II of Jordan was welcomed to Downing Street on Sunday evening, as the ruler embarked on a diplomatic tour of Europe to rally international support to stop the war. Number 10 said that the prime minister would hold talks with other leaders and international partners in the days to come, as the conflict showed little sign of coming to a swift conclusion.
UK foreign secretary James Cleverly indicated on Sunday that about 10 British people are currently being held hostage by Hamas, telling Sky News that such a figure was “not an unreasonable estimate”.
Rafah border crossing to open at 9am on Monday, US media report
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is to open at 9am (0600 GMT) on Monday, NBC News has reported, citing a Palestinian official.
Citing a security source, ABC News reported the crossing would open for a few hours on Monday, without providing details. The Guardian is not able to confirm either of these reports.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken earlier said the crossing would be reopened, without giving any specifics, after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Asked whether he could confirm that the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Israel would be open tomorrow, Conricus said:
I know that there have been such discussions … I cannot yet confirm that they have been fruitful.
He also blamed Hamas for previously refusing to open the gate. Israel bombed the crossing last week.
Updated
More than 6,000 rockets have been fired at Israel and Israeli civilians since the war started, Conricus has said, accusing the media of underreporting this aspect.
Conricus also denied that Israel was targeting civilians in Gaza. “We strike Hamas, we strike their infrastructure and we are hunting their commanders,” he said. “Categorically we are not trying to strike civilians.”
But he said that traditional methods such as “roof-knocking” to warn civilians to evacuate targeted buildings could not always be used “for obvious reasons”.
He also said Israel has not used and will not use thermobaric bombs “as far as I know”.
Asked whether he could confirm media reports that Hamas had executed some of its hostages, Conricus said:
That’s a very sensitive topic … No reports of hostages [being] executed have been confirmed.
As of now is we have is a special task force at the national level .. and we are looking for information and of course we are extremely committed to getting them [the hostages] back.
Conricus has accused Hamas of carrying out the attack on a civilian evacuation convoy in Gaza on Friday in which about 70 people died. He said:
We did not actively target any convoy of civilians ... we assess this attack was done by Hamas ...
When you apply logic and you think who would benefit from those horrible images ... who stands to gain from that? Only one organisation: Hamas.
We have seen there there is no limit to its depravity… this is an organisation of subhumans ...
I don’t think it’s beneath Hamas to kill civilians if they think it will help them in the international arena.
Updated
Asked what Israel is doing to support Palestinian civilians evacuate Conricus said,
Support wise since we are at war with Hamas and Hamas governs the Gaza Strip our support quote–unquote is we have opened up two evacuation routes to the south... we have communicated it to the Gazans that the routes are safe to use. That’s the main support. And we have called on Gazans to evacuate …
Hopeful they will listen to those warnings.
The Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus is giving an update. Asked about what type of weapons Israel is using, he said Israel was using “Nato standard” weapons in its bombardment of Gaza and that Israel is committed to international law.
“We are using standard Nato equivalent, Nato standard weapons, very similar to thse used by Nato forces around the world …
We are committed to international law ...
We try in general to use the lightest weapons, the most precise weapons that we have in order to strike specific targets.
An update from Reuters here, which writes that comments by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticising Hamas – which we reported on earlier – have been removed from a report by the Palestinian news agency Wafa on its website. Reuters says:
The comments, published by Wafa on its website, came during a phone call between Abbas and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The two discussed Israel’s bombardment of Gaza following Hamas’ deadly rampage through Israeli cities.
The original Wafa report on Abbas’ call included the line: “The president also stressed that Hamas’ policies and actions do not represent the Palestinian people, and the policies, programs and decisions of the (Palestine Liberation Organization) represent the Palestinian people as their sole legitimate representative.”
Several hours later, the phrase was adjusted to read: “The president also stressed that the policies, programs, and decisions of the PLO represent the Palestinian people as their sole legitimate representative, and not the policies of any other organization.”
It was not immediately clear why the reference to Hamas was removed. There was no immediate comment by Abbas’ office or by Wafa. Hamas had no immediate comment.
Abbas’ Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He has long been opposed to Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007 and ousted Fatah party forces loyal to Abbas. Years of reconciliation talks between the rivals have failed to reach a breakthrough.
Palestinian civilians “should not suffer because of the depravity of Hamas”, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said in an interview with Riyadh-based broadcaster al-Arabiya.
Blinken, who has been touring Arab states and is expected to return to Israel on Monday, said the US was focused on getting humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip, getting civilians out of harm’s way and on getting US citizens out.
However, asked whether a ceasefire could be held in order to allow aid in, he said that attacks by Hamas on Israel were continuing and that “no country can tolerate this”.
So Israel, as I said, has the right to defend itself; in fact, it has the obligation to defend itself. But as I’ve also said – and President Biden’s been very clear about this – the way that it does it matters, makes a difference. And that’s why it is very important that Israel do everything possible to ensure that civilians are not harmed.
He also rejected a proposition put forward by Israeli officials, that Gazans could be relocated to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, the desert region to the south of Gaza. He said:
I’ve heard directly from Palestinian Authority President Abbas and from virtually every other leader that I’ve talked to in the region, that that idea is a nonstarter, and so we do not support it. We believe that people should be able to stay in Gaza, their home.
Asked whether wars in both Israel and Ukraine was too much for the US to take on at the same time, Biden said:
No. We’re the United States of America for God’s sake, the most powerful nation in the history – not in the world, in the history of the world. The history of the world. We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defence.
He also said that helping Israel and Ukraine was important to the US’ security.
In Ukraine one of my objectives was to prevent Putin, who has committed war crimes himself, who – from being able to occupy an independent country that borders Nato allies and is on the Russian border. Imagine what happens now if he were able to succeed. Have you ever known a major war in Europe we didn’t get sucked into?
Regarding his support for Israel, he said:
The Jews have been subject to abuse, prejudice, and attempt to wipe them out for, oh, God, over a thousand years. For me, it’s about decency, respect, honour. It’s just simply wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It violates every religious principle I have and every way and every single principle my father taught me.
Biden also said there was an increased threat of terrorism in the US as a result of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and that the government was making a “major effort” to protect the Jewish population. He said:
I had a meeting this morning with the Homeland Security people, with the FBI, with … for the Situation Room, for the better part of an hour to discuss how we make sure that we prevent a lone wolf and/or any coordinated effort to try to do what was done in synagogues before, do what was done to Jews in the street. We’re making a major effort to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Hamas attack 'as consequential as the Holocaust,' Biden says
Asked whether it was time for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Biden said there was “a fundamental difference” between the Israelis killed in Hamas’ attack and the Palestinians killed in the Israeli counterattack. He said:
Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. And so I think Israel has to respond.
They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards. They’re hiding behind the civilians. They put their headquarters where civilians are and buildings and the like. But to the extent they can separate out and avoi – I’m conf – the Israelis are gonna do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians.
He said the US was talking to Israel about the establishment of a humanitarian corridor and “whether there could be a safe zone” in Gaza. The US was also talking to Egypt about whether women and children could be evacuated there, he said: “But it’s hard.”
Asked whether he agreed with Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip, he replied:
I’m confident that Israel is going to act under the measure, the rules of war. There’s standards that democratic institutions and countries go by. And so I’m confident that there’s gonna be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water.
Updated
'No clear evidence' that Iran behind Hamas attack on Israel, Biden said
Biden also said there was “no clear evidence” that Iran had any involvement in Hamas’ attack on Israel, repeating what US officials have already said over the past week. He said:
Iran constantly supports Hamas and [Lebanon’s militant group] Hezbollah. I don’t mean that. But in terms of were they – did they have foreknowledge; did they help plan the attack, there’s no evidence of that at this point.
When asked what his message to Iran and Hezbollah was, he said, “Don’t. Don’t, don’t, don’t.” When asked to clarify whether that meant “don’t come across the border, don’t escalate the war”, he said: “that’s right”.
Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a 'big mistake', Biden warns
An Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a big mistake, Biden said in his 60 Minutes interview. Asked whether he would support such a move, he said:
I think it’d be a big mistake. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that ... It would be a mistake to ... for Israel to occupy ... Gaza again. We ... but going in but taking out the extremists the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south. Is a necessary requirement.
He said that he believed that Hamas must be eliminated entirely but added, “there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.”
Asked whether he believed that Israel would pursue a two-state solution, which has been US policy for decades, after Hamas’ attack Biden said:
Not now. Not now. Not now, but – but I think Israel understands that a significant portion of Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Updated
Biden 'confident' Israel will adhere to rules of war, warns Iran not to escalate conflict
US President Joe Biden has said he is “confident” Israel will act under the rules of war in its conflict with Hamas, and added that deploying US troops would not be necessary, in an interview with 60 Minutes.
In comments reported by Reuters, Biden warned Iran not to escalate the conflict and said the US could “take care” of wars in both Ukraine and Israel while also maintaining its own defence.
He also said that while he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely, there must be a path for a Palestinian state. And he cautioned that the threat of terrorism in the United States had increased due to unrest in the Middle East.
More from that interview shortly.
The actions and policies of Hamas “do not represent the Palestinian people”, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has said according to news wires.
In a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Abbas also said the Palestine Liberation Organization the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The news agency added:
The president affirmed his rejection of the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees on both sides.”
Risk that Israel-Hamas conflict could spread to wider region, top US official warns
The conflict between Israel and Hamas could spread to the wider region, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan has warned as US warships head to the region and clashes are reported on Israel’s border with Lebanon. Speaking on US broadcaster CBS, Sullivan said:
There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north, and of course of Iran’s involvement – that is a risk.
Reuters cited another US officials briefed on the situation as saying, “Iran is the elephant in the room … The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned on Sunday that his country could take action. He told al Jazeera Tehran had conveyed a message to Israeli officials that “if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer.”
Fuel reserves at Gaza hospitals can only last another 24 hours, UN warns
Fuel reserves in hospitals across Gaza are only expected to last another 24 hours, the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) has warned in its latest update. It says:
Fuel reserves at all hospitals across Gaza are expected to last for about additional 24 hours. The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk.
This is Helen Livingstone, taking over the blog from Maya Yang.
Updated
Summary
It is slightly past 2am in Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis is intensifying amid water and food shortages. The UN has warned that Gaza’s aid access should not be “bargaining chips”. Here is where things stand:
US and Israelis officials are discussing the possibility of a visit to Israel soon by Joe Biden at the invitation of Benjamin Netanyahu, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. A potential visit by the US president would follow similar visits from other high-ranking US officials, including secretary of state Antony Blinken and defense secretary Lloyd Austin.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres also called on Hamas to release hostages without conditions and called on Israel to allow for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian aid access to Gaza. “Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it’s the right thing to do,” Guterres said.
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, has said that he spoke by phone to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday regarding the situation in Gaza. Maduro told Abbas that Venezuela would send 30 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the next few days, Reuters reports.
Amnesty International has verified six videos of an attack on Salah al-Din road – a supposedly “safe” route for Palestinians feeling Gaza – that killed at least 70 people. It went on to condemn Israel’s forced evacuations of Palestinians from Gaza, saying: “Israel’s order to ‘evacuate’ is NOT compliant w/ [international humanitarian law] and must be rescinded.”
France has warned Iran “against any escalation or extension of the conflict” between Israel and Hamas, the French presidential office announced on Sunday. During a phone call between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, Macron warned against any conflict spillover into Lebanon.
Leaders from the EU’s 27 member states have issued a statement outlining their position on the situation in the Middle East. “The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms Hamas and its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks across Israel and deeply deplores the loss of lives,” the European Council said.
In a call with the Vatican, Israel’s foreign ministry said it expected the “Vatican to be more attentive to the suffering to Israelis”. The country’s foreign minister also called for a clear Vatican condemnation of deadly terrorism against Israelis and reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said the United States would suffer “significant damages” if the war in Gaza spills over into a larger conflict, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. “We have conveyed our message to the Zionist regime through its allies that if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer,” Iranian state media cited Amir-Abdollahian as telling the network.
More than 600,000 Gazans have relocated southward as evacuations from Gaza continue, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Sunday. Reuters reports the spokesperson also saying that Israel is prepared to fight on two fronts and even more if required.
UNRWA, the UN’s agency supporting Palestinian refugees, said on Sunday that Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza have led to an “unprecedented human catastrophe” as Gaza’s death toll rises to 2,670 with 9,600 injured. Speaking to reporters, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, said: “If we look at the issue of water, we all know water is life and Gaza is running out of water and Gaza is running out of life.”
Over 1,000 people are currently missing under the rubble of buildings in Gaza that have been targeted by deadly Israeli airstrikes, the Palestinian civil defence said on Sunday. In a statement, the civil defence team said many others were pulled alive out of the rubble, 24 hours after buildings were struck.
Following his multi-country tour of the region, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would be reopened. Blinken added that the US is putting in place mechanisms alongside the UN, Egypt and Israel to get assistance to those in need of it.
Gaza health officials have started to store bodies in ice cream freezer trucks because moving them to hospitals is too risky and cemeteries are running out of space. Videos posted online showed bodies wrapped in white cloth stacked inside the empty trucks.
The Gaza health ministry has announced that at least 2,450 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October. The ministry also adds that 9,200 have been wounded.
Updated
US and Israelis officials are discussing the possibility of a visit to Israel soon by Joe Biden at the invitation of Benjamin Netanyahu, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.
A potential visit by the US president would follow similar visits from other high-ranking US officials, including secretary of state Antony Blinken and defense secretary Lloyd Austin, who have both made visits to Israel following Hamas’s attacks last weekend.
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires as Israelis mourn the loss of family members killed during Hamas’s attacks while others evacuate to safety as the Israeli military prepares for a ground offensive in Gaza:
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Gaza amid deadly Israeli airstrikes along with water and food shortages due to a “complete siege” of the city:
Agence France-Presse reports of a teary return from Israel for young Argentines following last weekend’s attacks by Hamas against Israel:
A first flight of mostly young Argentines returning from Israel arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday, met by hugs, tears and a roar of applause from waiting relatives.
More than one returnee told of their fear that they might be forced to stay longer in the country, following the bloody attacks launched by Hamas fighters.
The Aerolineas Argentinas plane, on a flight from Rome, flew into Ezeiza airport near the Argentine capital. It was part of ‘Operation Safe Return,’ organized by the Foreign Ministry to repatriate Argentine citizens or binationals from Israel.
‘There were tense days of uncertainty. We lived with a lot of fear,’ Hernan Fray told AFP as he waited for the arrival of his 15-year-old daughter Karen.
The chartered flight carried 246 passengers, most of them high school students. With 1,500 Argentines and dual nationals asking to leave, more flights will follow. But several of the young people were frustrated at having to leave Israel so suddenly, and some said they hope to return as soon as possible.
When they arrived in the Ezeiza airport VIP hall – decorated with ‘Welcome’ signs and a big blue-and-white Argentine flag – several young people ran into the open arms of their parents, many with tears in their eyes.
The group had been staying far from the Gaza border area where Hamas militants massacred hundreds of people, and so felt they were not personally in danger.
But they did experience fear, some said. ‘The sirens sounded and twice we had to go into the shelters,’ said 15-year-old Coni, who did not give her last name. ‘We were just afraid we would have to stay there for days.’
But now, she added, ‘we’re feeling nothing but happiness.’
Argentina has a Jewish community of 250,000, the largest in Latin America. That community experienced terrorism in 1994 when a bombing at a Jewish community center claimed 85 lives, and in 1992 when an attack at the Israeli embassy killed 29.
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Meanwhile, in the United States, a 71-year-old man in Illinois with anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian views has been charged with murder and a hate crime after fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and severely injuring his mother for being Muslim.
The Guardian’s Michael Sainato reports:
In a statement posted to the Will county sheriff’s office social media page, law enforcement responded to an emergency call made by a 32-year-old woman who alleged her landlord had attacked her with a knife.
The Will county sheriff’s office said: “Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
On the scene, officers found the 71-year-old suspect sitting upright on the ground near the home’s driveway and inside found two stabbing victims, a 32-year-old woman and 6-year-old boy who each suffered over a dozen stab wounds to their chest, torso and arms.
The suspect was identified as 71-year-old Joseph M Czuba and police said he was the property’s landlord.
For further details, click here:
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UN chief: Gaza aid access should not be "bargaining chips"
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres also called on Hamas to release hostages without conditions and called on Israel to allow for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian aid access to Gaza.
“Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it’s the right thing to do,” Guterres said in a statement.
He added that it was his duty to make both appeals “in this dramatic moment, as we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East”.
Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it is the right thing to do.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 15, 2023
Updated
The World Health Organization chief has called on Hamas to release all civilian hostages and warned of a “public health catastrophe” amid Israel’s forced evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza.
Director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus on Sunday said that he was concerned by the deadly Israeli attacks in which Palestinian civilians are “paying the price”.
The conflict “is an awful reminder of how quickly the health of millions of people can be put at risk”, Ghebreyesus said.
“WHO calls on Hamas to release civilian hostages, and we continue to appeal to Israel to abide by its obligations under international law to protect civilians and health facilities,” he said, adding that the Hamas attacks are “unjustified and horrific” and “should be condemned”.
“I’m also gravely concerned about Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians. Innocent civilians and children are paying the price,” Ghebreyesus said, warning that Israel’s forced evacuation of Palestinians from north to south Gaza “in such a short window will create a humanitarian tragedy”.
“The forced evacuation of patients and health workers will further worsen the humanitarian and public health catastrophe,” he said. The WHO is calling for the restoration of electricity and water in the Gaza Strip, and for conditions to allow “the immediate and safe delivery of food, medical supplies, and other humanitarian aid”, Ghebreyesus added.
Updated
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, has said that he spoke by phone to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday regarding the situation in Gaza.
Maduro told Abbas that Venezuela would send 30 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the next few days, Reuters reports.
Updated
UN’s aid chief Martin Griffiths has warned that the ‘specter of death is hanging over Gaza’.
On Sunday, Martin Griffiths, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, tweeted:
With no water, no power, no food and no medicine, thousands will die. Plain and simple.
The specter of death is hanging over #Gaza.
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) October 15, 2023
With no water, no power, no food and no medicine, thousands will die.
Plain and simple.
Griffith’s tweet comes a day after he warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza, “already critical, is fast becoming untenable”.
Amid deadly Israeli airstrikes that have already killed more than 2,500 Palestinians and injured 9,000 more, surviving Palestinians are grappling with forced evacuations and water shortages under Israel’s “complete siege” of the city.
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Amnesty International: Israel’s evacuation orders ‘not compliant with international humanitarian law’
Amnesty International has verified six videos of an attack on Salah al-Din road – a supposedly “safe” route for Palestinians feeling Gaza – that killed at least 70 people.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Amnesty International said that its research team “found that a convoy, including a truck carrying around 30 people, 8 cars & other nearby people, incl. women, children & people with disabilities, was attacked”.
“Ambulances that arrived at the scene were hit in a second attack & rescuers injured. At least 70 died,” it added.
It went on to condemn Israel’s forced evacuations of Palestinians from Gaza, saying: “This is yet another brutal illustration that civilians in Gaza have nowhere safe to go.”
“Israel’s order to ‘evacuate’ is NOT compliant w/ [international humanitarian law] & must be rescinded. Civilians must be granted access to safety, medical care & aid,” it added.
This is yet another brutal illustration that civilians in Gaza have nowhere safe to go. They fear they will die whether they leave or not. Israel’s order to 'evacuate' is NOT compliant w/ IHL & must be rescinded. Civilians must be granted access to safety, medical care & aid.
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) October 15, 2023
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France has warned Iran “against any escalation or extension of the conflict” between Israel and Hamas, the French presidential office announced on Sunday.
During a phone call between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, Macron warned against any conflict spillover into Lebanon, Agence France-Presse reports.
“Iran, given its relations with Hezbollah and Hamas, has a responsibility” and “must do its utmost to avoid any regional conflagration”, the French presidency said.
Macron also “reiterated the need for all to unequivocally condemn the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas in Israel and Israel’s right to defend itself, as well as to eliminate the terrorist groups that have struck at its population”.
So far, at least 19 French nationals were killed in the attack by Hamas last weekend and another 13 more are currently missing.
Macron said the release of the hostages was “an absolute priority for France”.
He also added that France is taking “steps, in conjunction with the United Nations, to support humanitarian operations in Gaza”.
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Here is video of Israel’s Iron Dome defence system intercepting rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening:
Palestinian Hamas militants who infiltrated Israel on a rampage that killed more than 1,300 people just over a week ago have also bombarded the country with thousands of rockets, forcing residents to evacuate in some cities.
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 2,329 Palestinians, with more than 9,714 wounded. In addition, at least 53 people have been reported killed in the West Bank, with more than 1,100 wounded.
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Gaza, Israel and near the Rafah border in recent days:
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Leaders from the EU’s 27 member states have issued a statement outlining their position on the situation in the Middle East. The statement, published on Sunday, comes after diverging and at times contradictory public statements from the bloc’s leadership.
“The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms Hamas and its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks across Israel and deeply deplores the loss of lives,” the European Council said.
“We strongly emphasise Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law in the face of such violent and indiscriminate attacks,” the leaders said.
They added: “We reiterate the importance to ensure the protection of all civilians at all times in line with international humanitarian law.”
“We call on Hamas to immediately release all hostages without any precondition. We reiterate the importance of the provision of urgent humanitarian aid and stand ready to continue supporting those civilians most in need in Gaza in coordination with partners, ensuring that such assistance is not abused by terrorist organisations. It is crucial to prevent regional escalation.”
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In a call with the Vatican, Israel’s foreign ministry said it expected the “Vatican to be more attentive to the suffering to Israelis”, Reuters reports.
The country’s foreign minister also called for a clear Vatican condemnation of deadly terrorism against Israelis and reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself.
On Sunday, during his weekly address in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis called for humanitarian corridors to help those currently under siege in Gaza and also called on the release of hostages currently held by Hamas.
“I forcefully ask that children, the sick, the elderly and women, and all civilians do not become the victims of the conflict …
May humanitarian rights be respected, above all in Gaza, where it is urgent and necessary to guarantee humanitarian corridors to help the entire population…
So many have already died. Please, no more spilling of innocent blood either in the Holy Land or in Ukraine or anywhere else. Enough! Wars are always a defeat, always,” he added.
On Friday, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, offered to mediate in the conflict and called Hamas’s attack on Israeli citizens “inhuman”.
“It is the right of those who are attacked to defend themselves, but even legitimate defence must respect the parameter of proportionality,” Parolin said.
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Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said the United States would suffer “significant damages” if the war in Gaza spills over into a larger conflict, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.
“We have conveyed our message to the Zionist regime through its allies that if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer,” Iranian state media cited Amir-Abdollahian as telling the network, Reuters reports.
“If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
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Tens of thousands in Morocco took to the streets on Sunday in a show of solidarity with Palestinians, the biggest demonstration in the country since its normalisation with Israel in 2020.
Agence France-Presse reports:
Crowds stretching for two kilometres (more than a mile) marched through the capital Rabat in the mass rally called by an alliance of Islamist parties and a leftwing coalition.
“The people will liberate Palestine,” demonstrators chanted while others waved huge Palestinian flags, donned keffiyehs and voiced “unconditional support for resistance to the occupation.”
“We apologise to the people of Gaza because we can’t do more than protest,” said university professor Sheherazade Bekkari, 50, who had travelled more than 200 kilometres from Fez with her children to join the protest.
“Down with Zionism,” read some placards, while others declared that “Hamas is Palestine.”
Some protesters in Morocco stamped on Israeli and American flags, denouncing Washington’s support for Israel. Other placards denounced “terrorism regardless of its perpetrators”.
The protest, which was punctuated by prayers against “tyranny and oppression”, was the largest in Morocco since it normalised relations with Israel in December 2020 in a US-sponsored deal.
“The people want to abolish normalisation” some protesters chanted, as well as the slogan “Against occupation, against normalisation”.
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More than 600,000 Gazans have relocated southward as evacuations from Gaza continue, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Sunday.
Reuters reports the spokesperson also saying that Israel is prepared to fight on two fronts and even more if required, adding that Hezbollah is escalating the situation on the Lebanon border in attempts to hinder the Gaza counteroffensive.
The spokesperson also said Israel had informed the families of 155 captives currently held by Hamas.
Updated
As Gaza grapples with a water shortage, here is a soundbite from Medecins Sans Frontieres’s deputy medical coordinator Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb in the city:
Today, for the last two hours, we’ve been looking for drinking water. Even drinkable water is not available any more, it’s very difficult … No electricity, no pumping of normal water as well. The hospitals are barely working …
They’ve been shelling all day. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow or where we will go.
🔴GAZA:
— MSF International (@MSF) October 15, 2023
🔊"Today, for the last two hours, we've been looking for drinking water. They've been shelling all day. We don't know what will happen tomorrow or where we will go."🔊
Soundbite from our colleague Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, MSF Deputy Medical Coordinator in Gaza ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ENa7EWuFCG
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UN: Gaza witnessing 'unprecedented human catastrophe'
UNRWA, the UN’s agency supporting Palestinian refugees, said on Sunday that Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza have led to an “unprecedented human catastrophe” as Gaza’s death toll rises to 2,670 with 9,600 injured.
Speaking to reporters, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, said:
Not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a litre of fuel has been allowed in the Gaza Strip for the last eight days … Raise the alarm that as of today, my UNRWA colleagues in Gaza are no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance as I speak.
In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems the war right now has lost its humanity … If we look at the issue of water, we all know water is life and Gaza is running out of water and Gaza is running out of life.
Following talks between the US president, Joe Biden, and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s energy minister, Israel Katz, said water supply was resuming to southern Gaza.
“This will push the civilian population to the southern [part of the Gaza] strip,” Katz said in a statement, a week after Israel cut water supply to Gaza as part of a “complete siege”.
The municipality of Beni Suheila in southern Gaza confirmed the water supply had resumed to the village, Agence France-Presse reports.
Since October 7, Israeli airstrikes have killed least 2,670 Palestinians with 9,600 more wounded, the Gaza health ministry reported on Sunday.
With over 40% of Gaza’s population made up of children under the age of 15, more than 700 children have been killed in the past week amid deadly Israeli airstrikes.
Updated
Palestinian civil defence: over 1,000 people missing under rubble in Gaza
Over 1,000 people are currently missing under the rubble of buildings in Gaza that have been targeted by deadly Israeli airstrikes, the Palestinian civil defence said on Sunday.
In a statement, the civil defence team said many others were pulled alive out of the rubble, 24 hours after buildings were struck, Reuters reports.
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US secretary of state Antony Blinken: Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to reopen
Following his multi-country tour of the region, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would be reopened, Reuters reports.
Blinken added that the US is putting in place mechanisms alongside the UN, Egypt and Israel to get assistance to those in need of it.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Blinken, who visited Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, said that everyone is determined to stop the Israel-Hamas war from spilling over:
What I’ve heard from virtually every partner was a determination, a shared view, that we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesn’t spread to other places.
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Gaza running out of water as Palestinians brace for food shortages
Water is running increasingly low in Gaza with Reuters reporting UN shelters in the city being already completely out of water.
Reuters reports:
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. But the spokesman for Israel’s energy and water ministry, Adir Dahan, said it was only flowing at a single location in southern Gaza. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back and a Gaza government spokesperson said it was not flowing.
Throughout the day, Gazans lined up for hours outside bakeries and jostled to buy bread, as fears of food shortages loomed. Umm Abdullah Abu Rizq had come at 7am hoping to buy food to feed her family and the others sheltering in her home.
“Is this enough for seven families and their children?” she asked, holding a small plastic bag with bread. She was not able to buy more.
In Khan Younis, residents rushed to mosques where clean water supplies were still available, for now. Eyad Aqel, a resident, said widespread electricity outages meant water could not be pumped up to replenish his tank. He held a small plastic water container he said would be his family’s supply for washing and cooking.
Updated
UN peacekeeping force's Lebanon headquarters hit by rocket
The Lebanese headquarters of the UN’s interim force in Lebanon has been hit by a rocket, the peacekeeping group said.
In a statement released on Sunday, UNIFIL said:
Today we are observing intense exchanges of fire in several areas along the blue line between Lebanese territory and Israel.
There have been impacts on both sides of the blue line. Our headquarters in Naqoura was hit with a rocket and we are working to verify from where. Our peacekeepers were not in shelters at the time. Fortunately, no one was hurt …We remind all the parties involved that attacks against civilians or UN personnel are violations of international law that may amount to war crimes.
Updated
The US Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, is currently in Tel Aviv where he is leading a bipartisan visit with other senators to pledge support to Israel.
“These are two necessary tasks – eliminating the threat of Hamas once and for all and freeing hostages,” Schumer said in a press conference, adding that he plans to speak with president Joe Biden next week to emphasize the need to support families of hostages still held by Hamas.
Schumer went on to say that he told Israeli leaders that “it was really important, and it’s difficult, we know it’s difficult, but still we have to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza”.
“As Senate majority leader and as I mentioned, highest-ranking Jewish leader in American history, I’m doing everything in my power to ensure the Senate delivers the support Israel really needs to accomplish these military, intelligence and humanitarian goals. We will not just talk. We will act. We will work to move this aid through the Senate ASAP,” Schumer added.
Updated
The US president, Joe Biden, said he had spoken with the Palestinian Authority, president Mahmoud Abbas, tweeting on Sunday:
I assured him that we’re working with partners in the region to ensure humanitarian supplies reach civilians in Gaza and to prevent the conflict from widening.
Biden also said that he reiterated his condemnation of Hamas’s attack on Israel and that Hamas “does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination”.
I spoke with Palestinian Authority President Abbas to condemn Hamas’ attack on Israel and reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 15, 2023
I assured him that we're working with partners in the region to ensure…
Updated
Iran has warned Israel of escalation if it fails to end aggressions against Palestinians, Reuters reports Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency saying on Sunday.
“If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger,” said Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Gaza health officials have started to store bodies in ice cream freezer trucks because moving them to hospitals is too risky and cemeteries are running out of space, Reuters reports.
Videos posted online showed bodies wrapped in white cloth stacked inside the empty trucks.
One video posted on to Instagram by Palestinian photojournalist Montaz Azaiza showed what appeared to be blood seeping from the closed truck doors.
“It’s not as you see. It’s not ice cream trucks for ice cream. It’s ice cream trucks for bodies,” Azaiza said in the video.
“As there is no electricity, and the bodies of dead people are a lot, people use it to save space and provide a cold place for bodies,” Azaiza wrote in his caption.
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Gaza health ministry: 2,450 Palestinians killed and 9,200 more injured since 7 October
The Gaza health ministry has announced that 2,450 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October, Reuters reports.
The ministry also adds that 9,200 have been wounded.
Israel has faced condemnation from humanitarian organizations for its forced evacuations of Gaza patients currently hospitalized, with the World Health Organization saying the evacuations “could be tantamount to a death sentence”.
Updated
Here is a staff account from a Save the Children staff member currently on the move in Gaza with three children:
As I write this, I hold on to whatever courage I can muster, although I do not know whether this message will be my last …
No one can fully grasp the extent of the suffering. I have no answers for my three young children about what is to come.
For the first time in my life, I find myself feeling a sense of hopelessness and helplessness, which does not represent who I am …
I have often felt overwhelmed in the past, questioning why I did not make the choice to leave this besieged strip, even if it meant going against my own beliefs. I have questioned why I did not prioritize my family’s future and why I did not have the courage to make this difficult decision. My 10-year-old daughter has already witnessed three large-scale hostilities.
However, I have always answered myself that my deep connection to the land where I was born, raised, and have countless memories - my roots, and the sense of identity as a proud Palestinian, have kept me here.
Today, those questions no longer haunt me. There is no way out of Gaza. There is no safe place in Gaza.
My dream is a simple one – to wake up in the morning with my children in my arms, alive and well, and for this violence to come to an end.
Let us pray for better days ahead.
Updated
The archbishop of Canterbury has added his voice to a chorus of people calling on Israel to reverse evacuation orders applied to hospitals and healthcare facilities within Gaza. He said that four staff had been injured overnight in an Anglican-run hospital in the region.
In a statement, Justin Welby said:
Hospitals and patients in Gaza are in grave danger. The seriously ill and injured patients at the Anglican-run Ahli hospital – and other healthcare facilities in northern Gaza – cannot be safely evacuated. They are running low on medical supplies. They are facing catastrophe.
The Ahli hospital was hit by Israeli rocket fire last night, with four staff injured in the blast. Other hospitals have also been hit.
I appeal for the evacuation order on hospitals in northern Gaza to be reversed – and for health facilities, health workers, patients and civilians to be protected.
The evil and barbaric terror attacks on Israelis by Hamas were a blasphemous outrage. But the civilians of Gaza are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas.
Please continue to pray for all innocent people, Israeli and Palestinian, who are caught up in the terrible violence in the Holy Land.
Summary of the day so far…
It is 6pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has promised to “dismantle” Hamas, whom he described as “bloodthirsty monsters” at the first cabinet meeting of the new national emergency government in Tel Aviv. Speaking before the session, which began with a moment of silence for Israeli victims of the violence, he said “We are working around the clock, as a team and a united front. The unity among us gives a clear message to the nation, the enemy and the world. I have seen our amazing soldiers who are now on the frontline. They know that the entire nation is behind them. They understand the scope of the mission. They are ready to take action at any time in order to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us. Hamas thought that we would come apart – we will dismantle Hamas.”
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have said that the number of confirmed Israeli hostages being held in Gaza is 126. Hamas has previously claimed that 13 hostages have been killed within Gaza by Israeli airstrikes. It said there were foreigners among those who died, without specifying their nationalities.
The Israeli military also said that at least 279 of its soldiers had been killed since 7 October, when Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel. At least 1,300 Israelis have been killed and at least 3,400 wounded in total.
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 2,329 Palestinians, with more than 9,714 wounded. In addition at least 53 people have been reported killed in the West Bank, with more than 1,100 wounded. Medics in Gaza said on Sunday that thousands could die if hospitals packed with wounded people ran out of fuel and basic supplies, as civilians under an air bombardment struggled to find food, water and safety before an expected Israeli ground offensive.
The World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeated his claim that Israeli evacuation orders are a “death sentence” to those receiving medical care. Calling the health situation in Gaza “dire”, in a message posted to social media, he said “Attacks on health care are causing additional deaths and injuries. Evacuation orders by Israel to hospitals are practically impossible to implement and are a death sentence for the sick and injured. Health workers are staying by their patients’ sides. WHO calls on Israel to protect health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians, and to immediately reverse evacuation orders to hospitals.”
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, told the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, that Israel’s reaction to Hamas’s attack went beyond self-defence and amounted to collective punishment. In televised comments during a meeting with Blinken in Cairo on Sunday, Sisi also said he rejected the targeting of any civilians in the conflict.
Earlier, a statement from the Egyptian president’s office said Egypt rejected any plan to displace Palestinians “to the detriment of other countries” and that Egypt’s own security was a red line. It said Palestinians should stay on their lands, and that it was working to secure delivery of aid.
The Egyptian Red Crescent, World Health Organization and other NGOs and volunteer groups remain poised to deliver aid through the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza.
Fire has been exchanged over the blue line that has acted as the boundary between Lebanon and Israel since 2000. The Israel Defence Forces at one point claimed to have intercepted five out of nine rockets fired, and said they had struck back at Hezbollah targets. One person was reported killed in an Israeli village along with three people being wounded.
The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a CNN interview on Sunday that Israeli officials had informed him that water pipes in southern Gaza had been turned back on.
The US Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said on social media that a bipartisan group of senators visiting Israel had to be rushed to a shelter in Tel Aviv on Sunday to wait out a rocket attack warning.
Blinken will travel to Israel again on Monday for further consultations with Israeli leaders after visiting the country five days ago.
Israel’s communications minister has said he is seeking a possible closure of Al Jazeera’s local bureau and accused the Qatari news station of pro-Hamas incitement and of exposing Israeli soldiers to potential attack from Gaza. Shloma Karhi said the proposal to shut Al Jazeera had been vetted by Israeli security officials and was being examined by legal experts. He would bring it to the cabinet later in the day, he said. Al Jazeera and the government in Doha had no immediate comment.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier that Iran had sent a private message to Israel through the UN that it could intervene if Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza.
Pope Francis on Sunday called for humanitarian corridors to help those under siege in Gaza and renewed his appeal for the release of hostages held by the militant Islamist group Hamas. “I strongly ask that the children, the sick, the elderly, women and all civilians do not become victims of the conflict,” the pope said during his weekly address to the crowds in St Peter’s Square. “Humanitarian right must be respected, above all in Gaza.”
The EU is to convene an emergency meeting of its member states to discuss the consequences of the deteriorating situation in Israel and Palestine. Sending out an invitation for a summit on Tuesday, the European Council president, Charles Michel, said if the EU was “not careful” the conflict could “feed extremism” across Europe.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin has urged Israel to think again about its instruction to the people in the north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate.
Britain’s foreign secretary has said Israel should show “restraint”, marking a slight change of tone from the UK government. James Cleverly on Sunday urged the Israel Defence Forces to show “discipline” and avoid mass casualties. He told the BBC the UK government had been lobbying Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing.
Cleverly said that considering about 10 British people dead or missing was not an “unreasonable estimate”, and declined to say if the UK believed actions by Israel so far had been a breach of international law. The UN’s OHCHR position has been that the evacuation order imposed by the Israeli military on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip is “a crime against humanity, and collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law”.
The Scottish National party has supported the UN’s calls for an immediate ceasefire on the Gaza Strip. The motion, passed by acclaim on Sunday morning at its conference in Aberdeen, follows repeated pleas from Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, for restraint in the conflict. Yousaf’s mother-in-law and father-in-law, who is Palestinian, are stranded in Gaza and living without enough food, water and power.
Updated
Israel's energy minister: Netanyahu and Biden agreed resumption of water supplies to parts of Gaza
Israel’s energy minister said on Sunday that a decision to reconnect water supplies to parts of southern Gaza was agreed on between the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the US president, Joe Biden.
Reuters reports energy minister Israel Katz said that the decision to partially renew water supplies was in line with Israeli policy.
Updated
The World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeated his claim that Israeli evacuation orders are a “death sentence” to those receiving medical care.
Calling the health situation in Gaza “dire”, in a message posted to social media, he said:
The health situation in north Gaza is dire. Attacks on health care are causing additional deaths and injuries. Evacuation orders by Israel to hospitals are practically impossible to implement and are a death sentence for the sick and injured. Health workers are staying by their patients’ sides. WHO calls on Israel to protect health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians, and to immediately reverse evacuation orders to hospitals.
The message was accompanied by an audio recording of Dr Yousef Abu-Al Rish speaking to the WHO from a hospital in Gaza.
No one can imagine what is going on on the ground. It’s very horrible. The evacuation of Shifa (hospital), it’s something impossible. Actually, all the other hospitals, although they expanded their capacity and their bed capacity, and after the expansion, all of them are fully occupied by victims and by injured patients. So no one can evacuate the hospital, because there’s no extra beds in those hospitals.
And the other thing, most of the cases are unstable. And if we want to even transfer them, even if there is extra beds in the other hospitals, which is not true, they will die because they are too unstable to be transported.
The health situation in north Gaza is dire:
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 15, 2023
1) attacks on health care are causing additional deaths and injuries
2) evacuation orders by Israel to hospitals are practically impossible to implement and are a death sentence for the sick and injured. Health workers are staying by… pic.twitter.com/7fiUXXhxxY
Updated
The US Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said on social media that a bipartisan group of senators visiting Israel was rushed to a shelter in Tel Aviv on Sunday to wait out a rocket attack warning.
AP reports Schumer posted a photo of himself and Republican Mitt Romney of Utah in the shelter.
“It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself,” Schumer said
While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas. It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself. pic.twitter.com/wS3kq6xFVJ
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 15, 2023
Updated
Egypt: Israeli actions in Gaza amount to collective punishment
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, told the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, that Israel’s reaction to Hamas’s attack went beyond self-defence and amounted to collective punishment.
In televised comments during a meeting with Blinken in Cairo on Sunday, Sisi also said he rejected the targeting of any civilians in the conflict.
Earlier, Reuters reports, a statement from the Egyptian president’s office said Egypt rejected any plan to displace Palestinians “to the detriment of other countries” and that Egypt’s own security was a red line.
It said Palestinians should stay on their lands, and that it was working to secure delivery of aid.
Updated
The Israel Defence Forces claim to have intercepted five out of nine rockets fired into Israeli territory from Lebanon.
Following reports regarding sirens sounded in northern Israel, nine rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 15, 2023
The IAF intercepted five rockets according to protocol.
Updated
Ireland’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister Micheal Martin has urged Israel to think again about its instruction to the people of north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate.
“The decision by the Israeli military to tell the entire civilian population in the north of the Gaza Strip to move southward for their own safety is deeply dangerous and impossible to implement. The UN has been very clear: it is not possible for such a move to take place without serious humanitarian consequences and the likelihood of a catastrophic situation.
“The rules of war exist to help preserve humanity in its darkest moments, and they desperately need to be followed today. They are, and should remain, our compass to ensure that we put humanity first,” he said.
He said he was also “deeply concerned” about rising violence in the West Bank “including increased incidents of settler violence and displacement of Palestinian communities.”
Martin Griffiths, the UN’s undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, has said “the spectre of death” is hanging over Gaza. In a social media post he wrote:
The spectre of death is hanging over Gaza. With no water, no power, no food and no medicine, thousands will die. Plain and simple.
The specter of death is hanging over #Gaza.
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) October 15, 2023
With no water, no power, no food and no medicine, thousands will die.
Plain and simple.
Updated
Reuters reports that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a CNN interview on Sunday that Israeli officials have informed him that water pipes in southern Gaza have been turned back on.
Israel does not consider that it occupies Gaza since its decision to “disengage” in 2005, however the UN and other parties consider otherwise, because of Israel’s continued control of Gaza’s airspace and territorial waters, and its ability to cut utilities and block the entry of food and fuel.
Adding to that report, IDF spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari has just posted to social media to state that Israeli forces have returned fire over the blue line and into Lebanon.
Following the initial report, IDF forces are now attacking the area from which the anti-tank missiles were launched towards the IDF post on the Lebanese border. Also, another military infrastructure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization was attacked earlier today.
Updated
The Israel Defence Forces report again that they have been under fire from Lebanon.
For the 5th time today, a report was received of an anti-tank missile being fired toward an IDF post along the Blue Line with Lebanon.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 15, 2023
Updated
Here is a selection of some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza and Israel.
Netanyahu: Israel will dismantle the 'bloodthirsty monsters' of Hamas
The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has promised to “dismantle” Hamas, whom he described as “bloodthirsty monsters” at the first cabinet meeting of Israel’s new national emergency government in Tel Aviv.
Speaking before the session, which began with a moment of silence for Israeli victims of the violence, he said:
This is the first meeting of the national emergency government, to which five additional ministers have joined – Benny [Gantz], Gadi [Eizenkot], Chili [Tropper], Gideon [Sa’ar] and Yifat [Shasha-Biton].
We are working around the clock, as a team and a united front. The unity among us gives a clear message to the nation, the enemy and the world.
I have seen our amazing soldiers who are now on the frontline. They know that the entire nation is behind them. They understand the scope of the mission. They are ready to take action at any time in order to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us.
Hamas thought that we would come apart – we will dismantle Hamas.
Over 1,300 Israelis were killed after Hamas launched an incursion in southern Israel on 7 October which included a an attack on civilians at a music festival and an attack on the kibbutz Kfar Aza which was described as a “massacre” by the IDF commander whose troops reached it.
The Israel Defence Forces have confirmed that at least 126 people are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Retaliatory airstrikes by Israel on the Gaza Strip have so far killed more than 2,300 Palestinians, with an Israeli military order for people to evacuate from the north of Gaza to the south described by the UN human rights body as “a crime against humanity”.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza remains closed, with humanitarian aid waiting to be delivered to the Palestinians.
Updated
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will travel to Israel again on Monday for further consultations with Israeli leaders after visiting the country five days ago, the state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Updated
Israel's expanded emergency cabinet meets in Tel Aviv for first time
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Israel’s expanded emergency cabinet for the first time on Sunday, saying the national unity on display sent a message at home and abroad.
Reuters reports the meeting, held in military headquarters in Tel Aviv, began with ministers standing for a moment’s silence in memory of the more than 1,300 Israelis killed in Hamas’s 7 October attack.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
It is approaching 3pm in both Gaza and Tel Aviv. Here is a summary of developments so far today …
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have said that the number of confirmed Israeli hostages being held in Gaza is 126. Hamas has previously claimed that 13 hostages have been killed within Gaza by Israeli airstrikes. It said there were foreigners among those who died, without specifying their nationalities.
The Israeli military also said that at least 279 of its soldiers had been killed since 7 October, when Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel. At least 1,300 Israelis have been killed and at least 3,400 wounded in total. A sign with a prayer for IDF forces and those killed or missing was placed on Sunday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where psalms were being recited.
Medics in Gaza said on Sunday that thousands could die if hospitals packed with wounded people ran out of fuel and basic supplies, as civilians under an air bombardment struggled to find food, water and safety before an expected Israeli ground offensive. Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 2,329 Palestinians, with more than 9,714 wounded. In addition at least 53 people have been reported killed in the West Bank, with more than 1,100 wounded.
Egypt is intensifying efforts with its international and regional partners to deliver aid to Gaza, according to a statement released by Egypt’s presidency on Sunday. Egypt said its national security was a red line and that it rejected any plan to displace Palestinians. Egypt is proposing hosting a summit that would cover recent developments involving the crisis in Gaza and the future of the Palestinian issue.
The Egyptian Red Crescent, World Health Organization and other NGOs and volunteer groups remain poised to deliver aid through the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza, but as yet it remains closed.
One person was killed and three others wounded in a northern Israeli village after fire across the blue line from Lebanon into Israel. The Israeli military said it was striking in Lebanon in retaliation, and it declared a zone within 2.5 miles (4km) of the blue line off-limits to public access. It said it was deliberately disrupting GPS operations in northern Israel near Lebanon, and also in the south near Gaza.
Israel’s communications minister has said he is seeking a possible closure of Al Jazeera’s local bureau and accused the Qatari news station of pro-Hamas incitement and of exposing Israeli soldiers to potential attack from Gaza. Shloma Karhi said the proposal to shut Al Jazeera had been vetted by Israeli security officials and was being examined by legal experts. He would bring it to the cabinet later in the day, he said. Al Jazeera and the government in Doha had no immediate comment.
Pope Francis on Sunday called for humanitarian corridors to help those under siege in Gaza and renewed his appeal for the release of hostages held by the militant Islamist group Hamas. “I strongly ask that the children, the sick, the elderly, women and all civilians do not become victims of the conflict,” the pope said during his weekly address to the crowds in St Peter’s Square. “Humanitarian right must be respected, above all in Gaza.”
The US embassy in Israel has published details of how it will attempt to evacuate people by sea from Haifa to Cyprus tomorrow.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said his meeting with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh was “very productive”.
The EU is to convene an emergency meeting of its member states to discuss the consequences of the deteriorating situation in Israel and Palestine. Sending out an invitation for a summit on Tuesday, the European Council president, Charles Michel, said if the EU was “not careful” the conflict could “feed extremism” across Europe.
He is also concerned about the consequences for neighbouring countries’ capacity to deal with refugees and the potential for onward crisis support in the EU.
Israel’s actions in Gaza have gone “beyond the scope of self-defence” and the Israeli government must “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza”, China’s foreign minister said in remarks published on Sunday.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier that Iran had sent a private message to Israel through the UN that it could intervene if Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza.
Britain’s foreign secretary has said Israel should show “restraint” as it prepares to invade Gaza, marking a slight change of tone from the UK government. James Cleverly on Sunday urged the Israel Defence Forces to show “discipline” and avoid mass casualties. He told the BBC the UK government had been lobbying Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing.
Cleverly said that considering about 10 British people dead or missing was not an “unreasonable estimate”, and declined to say if the UK believed actions by Israel so far had been a breach of international law. The UN’s OHCHR position has been that the evacuation order imposed by the Israeli military on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip is “a crime against humanity, and collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law”.
The Scottish National party has supported the UN’s calls for an immediate ceasefire on the Gaza Strip. The motion, passed by acclaim on Sunday morning at its conference in Aberdeen, follows repeated pleas from Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, for restraint in the conflict. Yousaf’s mother-in-law and father-in-law, who is Palestinian, are stranded in Gaza and living without enough food, water and power.
This is Martin Belam on the live blog from London, and I will be with you for the next few hours. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Updated
Egypt is intensifying efforts with its international and regional partners to deliver aid to Gaza, according to a statement released by Egypt’s presidency on Sunday.
Egypt said its national security was a red line and that it rejects any plan to displace Palestinians. Egypt is proposing hosting a summit that would cover recent developments involving the crisis in Gaza and the future of the Palestinian issue, Reuters the statement added.
Gaza remains sealed off, with the passage of humanitarian aid through the crossing at Rafah into Palestinian territory not permitted.
There are sirens in the Tel Aviv area, with Reuters reporting that the Israeli military is warning of possible incoming rockets.
Scotland's SNP backs motion on UN Gaza ceasefire calls as leader's parents-in-law remain stranded
The Scottish National party has supported the UN’s calls for an immediate ceasefire on the Gaza strip and urgent humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza’s civilian population in an emergency motion at its annual conference.
The motion, passed by acclaim on Sunday morning at its conference in Aberdeen, follows repeated pleas from Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, for restraint in the conflict. Yousaf’s mother-in-law and father-in-law, who is Palestinian, are stranded in Gaza and living without enough food, water and power.
The first minister told BBC One’s Kuenssberg progamme on Sunday he learned at 1am on Sunday morning his mother in law Elizabeth El-Nakla was told their street was about to be targeted by Israeli bombing and expected to die imminently; it turned out to be a false alarm.
The SNP said it “unequivocally” condemned the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel, called for the unconditional release of its hostages, and “recognises the right of Israel to protect itself from terror”.
It said the party “supports the United Nation’s call for a humanitarian corridor, protected by a ceasefire, to be agreed to allow people to leave and civilian supplies, including food, fuel, water and medical supplies, to reach those who cannot leave. Conference calls on the UK government to support the United Nation’s call for a humanitarian corridor and to commit supplies and aid to mitigate the human tragedy unfolding in Gaza.
“[Conference] reaffirms support for a two-state solution which recognises the right of both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine to exist and prosper, and which respects international law and the human rights of those in the region.”
Here are some photos of volunteers, members of the Red Crescent and humanitarian aid waiting to get into the Gaza Strip from Egypt’s north Sinai Peninsula.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has announced that large signs have been displayed at the Western Wall with the “Mi Shebeirach” prayer for Israel Defense Forces soldiers and security forces, and a prayer for the speedy return of captives and missing persons.
It states that Psalms are being recited to pray for the success of IDF soldiers and security forces, and that relatives of those who have been killed or taken hostage can message to have names to be included in the Psalms recitation.
Pope Francis calls for humanitarian corridors to help those under siege in Gaza
Pope Francis on Sunday called for humanitarian corridors to help those under siege in Gaza and renewed his appeal for the release of hostages held by militant Islamist group Hamas.
“I strongly ask that the children, the sick, the elderly, women and all civilians do not become victims of the conflict,” the pope said during his weekly address to the crowds in St Peter’s square.
“Humanitarian right must be respected, above all in Gaza.”
Reuters reports the pope called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the Middle East on Tuesday 17 October.
UK foreign secretary urges Israel to show ‘restraint’ in Gaza offensive
Israel should show “restraint” as it prepares to invade Gaza, Britain’s foreign secretary has said, marking a change of tone from the UK government.
James Cleverly on Sunday urged the Israel Defence Forces to show “discipline” and avoid mass casualties, as it prepared to launch a ground attack a week after Hamas militants killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in terrorist attacks.
Cleverly told Sky News: “Restraint, discipline – these are the hallmarks of the Israeli Defence Force that I want to see. And indeed, those are the hallmarks of a high-functioning military organisation, which the IDF is, in stark contrast to the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.
“I’ve said, maintain that clear distinction: Israel seeks to avoid civilian casualties; Hamas seeks civilians in order to target.”
Separately, he told the BBC the UK government had been lobbying Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to allow people in Gaza to escape.
They include British citizens, the foreign secretary confirmed on Sunday, adding that it would not be “an unreasonable estimate” to suggest that 10 Britons had been taken hostage by Hamas.
Read more of political correspondent Kiran Stacey’s report here: UK foreign secretary urges Israel to show ‘restraint’ in Gaza offensive
EU to convene emergency meeting on Tuesday over Israel–Hamas war
Lisa O’Carroll is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent
The EU is to convene an emergency meeting of its member states to discuss the consequences of the deteriorating situation in Israel and Palestine.
It comes amid concerns in the EU that the European Commission is overreaching, making decisions on policy relating to Israel without seeking the firm views of member states first.
Sending out an invitation for a summit on Tuesday, the European Council president, Charles Michel, said if the EU was “not careful” the conflict could “feed extremism” across Europe.
He is also concerned about the consequences for neighbouring countries’ capacity to deal with refugees and the potential for onward crisis support in the EU.
“There is a major risk of migration and movements of a large number of people to neighbouring countries which already have a significant number of refugees on their territory. If not handled carefully, there is a risk of onward migratory waves to Europe,” he said.
Updated
IDF says number of confirmed Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is 126
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that the number of confirmed Israeli hostages being held in Gaza is 126.
Hamas has previously claimed that 13 hostages have been killed within Gaza by Israeli airstrikes. It said there were foreigners among those who died, without specifying their nationalities.
Reuters reports the Israeli military also said that at least 279 of its soldiers have been killed since 7 October, when Hamas launched its attack on southern Israel. The total number of Israeli casualties has been given as more than 1,300 killed.
Gaza’s health ministry has said that more than 2,300 people have been killed in Israel’s bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack, with doctors warning that thousands more could die as medical facilities in the territory run out of fuel and supplies.
Medics in Gaza said on Sunday that thousands could die if hospitals packed with wounded people ran out of fuel and basic supplies, as civilians under an air bombardment struggled to find food, water and safety before an expected Israeli ground offensive.
In Nasser hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis, Gaza’s second largest after al-Shifa, AP reported intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children below the age of three. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries had come to the hospital, where fuel was expected to run out by Monday, said Dr Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex.
There were 35 patients in the ICU that depended on ventilators to stay alive and another 60 on dialysis. If fuel ran out, “it means the whole health system will be shut down, the services will be off”, he said.
“We we are talking about another catastrophe, another war crime, a historical tragedy,” he said, as children moaned in pain in the background. “All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off,” he said.
In the Kamal Alwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of paediatrics, said the hospital did not evacuate despite the Israeli order because there was no way to move patients elsewhere without risking their lives. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said. “We cannot evacuate, it would mean their death and other patients under our care.”
And wounded patients kept coming in with severed limbs, severe burns and other life-threatening injuries. “It’s frightening,” he said.
Updated
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been appearing on television, where he has been asked about the war between Israel and Hamas. He said that considering about 10 British people dead or missing was not an “unreasonable estimate”, and declined to say if the UK believed actions by Israel so far had been a breach of international law.
In an appearance on Sky News, Cleverly declined to give an exact number of British people dead or missing and said that the situation remained uncertain, but told the programme “[Ten] is not an unreasonable estimate of the kind of number of people that we’re talking about.”
PA Media reports that later on the BBC, Cleverly said: “The interpretation of international law is that, I’m not a lawyer, but the UK’s position on international law is absolutely unwavering. So President Herzog has said … that Israel will abide by international law.
“What I’m saying is the UK government is absolutely committed to the adherence of international human (rights) law. And when we see breaches of that we raise that including with Israel.
“The point is the clear difference is from statements coming from Israel, saying that they respect and will abide by international humanitarian law and Hamas on the other hand, who are specifically targeting civilians.”
The UN’s OHCHR position has been that the evacuation order imposed by the Israeli military on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip is “a crime against humanity, and collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law”. It demanded that the order be rescinded.
Cleverly’s opposite number, the Labour politician David Lammy, said during his media appearances this morning that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is entitled to have an “operational desire” to “see an end to Hamas” but must act within international law.
“We must distinguish between Hamas, a terrorist group, and the Palestinian people. International law must prevail and that means that you have to minimise civilian casualties,” he said.
Updated
Three security sources have confirmed to Reuters that Israeli artillery is striking several areas in the south of Lebanon.
The move comes after a missile attack this morning which has killed one person and wounded three others in the Israeli village of Shtula, which is opposite the Lebanese community of Ayta a-Shab, over the UN blue line that has separated the two countries since 2000.
The Israeli military said it was striking in Lebanon in retaliation and it declared a zone within 4 km (2.5 miles) of the blue line off-limits to public access.
Updated
The Israeli military has said that as part of its operations, it is deliberately disrupting GPS operations in northern Israel near Lebanon, and also in the south near Gaza. Spokesperson Rr Adm Daniel Hagari has warned citizens it could cause glitches in their location apps.
כמו כן, במהלך הלחימה מופעלים שיבושי GPS יזומים בכלל מרחבי הלחימה לצרכים מבצעיים שונים.
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) October 15, 2023
על האזרחים להיות מודעים לכך שהפעלת השיבוש יכולה לגרום לתקלות זמניות ביישומים מבוססי מיקום.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Gaza, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The US embassy in Israel has published details of how it will attempt to evacuate people by sea from Haifa to Cyprus tomorrow. It says:
The US government is assisting US nationals and their immediate family members with a valid travel document to depart Haifa via sea for Cyprus on 16 October 2023. Boarding begins at 8am local time. US citizens must arrive at Haifa port passenger terminal no later than 9am local time. Boarding will proceed in order of arrival and is on a space limited basis.
The passage to Limassol Port is expected to take approximately 10-12 hours. US consular staff will be available both on the ship and at the Limassol port in Cyprus to assist and provide information about onward travel to the US.
Reuters has a quick snap that the Israeli military has ordered civilians not to come within 4km (2.5 miles) of the blue line that has marked the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon since 2000.
More details soon …
Latest reported casualty figures
The latest reported casualty figures since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Saturday 7 October are that at least 1,300 Israelis have been killed and at least 3,400 wounded. It remains unclear how many hostages Hamas are holding in Gaza – authorities have estimated the number to be between 100 and 150.
In subsequent Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip enclave, at least 2,329 Palestinians have been killed, with more than 9,714 wounded. In addition at least 53 people have been reported killed in the West Bank, with more than 1,100 wounded.
Tens of thousands of people in Gaza are believed to have fled their homes and moved south following Israel’s evacuation warning, according to estimates by the UN humanitarian office OCHA. Prior to the evacuation order, it said more than 400,000 Palestinians were already internally displaced.
Updated
One killed in missile attack on northern Israeli village near Lebanon – reports
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel appears to have confirmed that missiles were fired from Lebanon at the Israeli village of Shtula, and Israeli medics are stating that one person has been killed and three wounded as a result. The claims, both reported by Reuters, have not been independently verified.
More details soon …
Reuters has a quick snap that the US embassy in Israel is to offer US citizens and their relatives evacuation by sea from Haifa to Cyrpus.
During the week Cyprus said it stood ready to aid evacuation attempts, as it had done when providing logistics for evacuations from Sudan.
More details soon …
An anti-armour missile was fired from inside Lebanon at an Israeli border village on Sunday, causing at least four casualties, Reuters reports Israel’s army radio has claimed.
The Israeli military did not immediate confirm that information, saying only that it was striking in Lebanon after a reported attack on Shtula village.
Shtula, a farming community, abuts the Blue Line, the demarcation line between Israel, Lebanon and the Golan Heights created by the UN after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. It faces the Lebanese town of Ayta a-Shab.
Reuters reports that US secretary of state Antony Blinken said his meeting with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh was “very productive”.
Blinken made the comment as he was returning to a hotel.
“The secretary highlighted the US’s unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading,” the state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond,” Miller added.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Israel’s communications minister has said he is seeking a possible closure of Al Jazeera’s local bureau and accused the Qatari news station of pro-Hamas incitement and of exposing Israeli soldiers to potential attack from Gaza.
Reuters reports that Shloma Karhi said the proposal to shut Al Jazeera had been vetted by Israeli security officials and was being examined by legal experts. He would bring it to the cabinet later in the day, he said.
Al Jazeera and the government in Doha had no immediate comment.
Karhi told Israel’s army radio:
This is a station that incites, this is a station that films troops in assembly areas [outside Gaza] ... that incites against the citizens of Israel – a propaganda mouthpiece.
It is unconscionable that Hamas spokespeople’s message goes through this station.
Karhi added: “I hope we will finish with this today.” It was not clear if that referred to the cabinet discussion or implementing a closure.
Updated
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said his meeting in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was “very productive”.
Blinken was answering a question from a Reuters reporter as he returned to the hotel where the US delegation was staying. The meeting with the kingdom’s de-facto ruler lasted a little under an hour, a US official said.
Israel’s actions in Gaza have gone “beyond the scope of self-defence” and the Israeli government must “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza”, China’s foreign minister said in remarks published on Sunday.
Wang Yi’s remarks – made on a call to his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on Saturday – came as Israel appeared poised for a ground offensive in Gaza against Hamas, Agence France-Presse reports
“Israel’s actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defence,” Wang said, according to a foreign ministry readout.
It should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza.
Wang comments were China’s strongest so far on the conflict.
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
US secretary of state Antony Blinken began a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh soon after 7.30am (0430 GMT) on Sunday, a US official said, as Blinken works with regional allies to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiralling into a bigger conflict and help win release of Israeli hostages.
A senior Israeli official, meanwhile, accused Iran on Sunday of trying to open such a second front by deploying weapons in or through Syria, in a response to a post on X/Twitter posited such a scenario, Reuters reports.
“They [Iranians] are,” wrote Joshua Zarka, head of strategic affairs for Israel’s foreign ministry.
Iran’s mission to the UN warned late on Saturday that if Israel’s “war crimes and genocide” were not halted immediately, “the situation could spiral out of control” and have far-reaching consequences.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has told the militant group Hezbollah – which neighbours Israel to the north and like Hamas is backed by Iran – not to start a war on a second front, threatening the “destruction of Lebanon” if it did.
Updated
The death toll in the Gaza Strip climbed to 2,329 Palestinians dead and 9,714 injured on Sunday morning, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The latest casualty toll, reported by Reuters, reflects those killed and injured by Israeli forces since the conflict began on 7 October.
Mohammed Ghalayini awoke to the sound of outgoing rocket fire. It was 6am on Saturday 6 October and his first thought was how surreal the rockets sounded in the beautiful morning sky over Gaza City.
He soon saw that things were going to be different this time, not like the previous Israeli attacks on the enclave. Ghalayini, a 44-year-old air quality scientist living in Manchester, England, who had temporarily returned to his hometown of Gaza City, later heard a loud bang and the sound of shattering glass – a building just 100 metres away had been hit.
With his mother and sister, Ghalayini and their neighbours fled their apartments on the Gaza seafront, fearing they were too exposed to what they knew was about to come.
The buzz of drones intensified overhead as they filled their overnight bags with passports, medications and as many books, clothes, toiletries and chargers as they could carry. “It’s hard to leave your home not knowing if you’ll have a home to come back to,” he said.
Ghalayini didn’t realise this would be the first of three times he would flee in just one week.
To read what he experienced as the bombing of Gaza intensified, see Ruth Michaelson’s full piece in this view from the enclave:
Updated
Iran tells Israel it will intervene if Israel continues military campaign in Gaza, Jerusalem Post reports
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier that Iran had sent a private message to Israel through the UN that it could intervene if Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza.
The report, first covered by Israeli news site Walla, said Tehran had warned of “far-reaching consequences” if the Israel Defence Forces’ bombing of Gaza was not stopped, as diplomats worked feverishly to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from escalating into a regional conflict that could include Iran and militant Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met with the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, in Beirut on Saturday to discuss the situation.
Amirabdollahian later met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, and the two agreed to continue cooperation to achieve the group’s goals, Hamas said in a statement.
Updated
An Israeli official says Iran is trying to move strategic weapons to or via Syria to open a second front in the Israel-Hamas war, Reuters has just snapped, citing a post on X/Twitter.
Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel last weekend, which killed more than 1,300 Israelis and led to an estimated 130 more held captive in Gaza, has been met with a harsh crackdown by Israeli forces across the West Bank.
Beyond the closed checkpoints and the empty roads, residents across Ramallah have feared the rising violence from the Israeli military and security forces, as well as some of the estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers across the area.
The Palestinian health ministry said 54 people, including children, had been killed with more than 1,100 injured in the West Bank since Hamas’s attack. Monitoring groups said the dead included minors shot in the head, chest or abdomen with live rounds.
Fatal violence from Israeli settlers was twice caught on video last week. The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem circulated footage of a settler in the village of At-Tuwani, south of Hebron, shoving a Palestinian man before shooting him at point blank range as the man dropped to his knees, with an Israel Defence Forces soldier standing nearby.
The day before, video footage showed armed Israeli settlers attacking the village of Qusra, south of Nablus.
Ruth Michaelson and Sufian Taha’s full report is here:
Updated
An estimated 35,000 people have crammed into the grounds of Gaza City’s main hospital, seeking refugee ahead of the expected Israeli ground offensive, medical officials say.
Mohammad Abu Selim, the general director of Shifa hospital – the largest in Gaza Strip – confirmed that huge crowds had thronged the building and the courtyard outside, Associated Press reports.
Health ministry official Dr Medhat Abbas said:
People think this is the only safe space after their homes were destroyed and they were forced to flee.
Gaza City is a frightening scene of devastation.
The Israeli military has ordered roughly half of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million, including all of Gaza City, to evacuate as it prepares to send in ground forces.
Aid groups have warned the exodus could cause a humanitarian disaster.
Here are some of the latest images coming in from Gaza and Israel over the news wires.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas. Here is a summary with a selection of the latest developments.
The US is sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean, the US defence secretary has confirmed, saying it is “to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack”. Lloyd Austin said on Saturday the deployment signalled Washington’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war”. The USS Eisenhower and its affiliated warships will join another carrier group already deployed to the region in the wake of the attack on Israel a week ago and Israel’s ongoing response. The US has sent munitions to Israel and warned other countries not to escalate the conflict.
The World Health Organization has condemned Israel’s order to evacuate 22 hospitals in northern Gaza that are treating more than 2,000 inpatients. Moving that many patients to southern Gaza, “where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence”, the organisation said.
Iran has warned of “far-reaching consequences” if Israel’s “war crimes and genocide” are not stopped immediately. On Saturday, the permanent mission of Iran to the United Nations added: “The responsibility of which lies with the UN, the security council and the states steering the council toward a dead end.”
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar. Hamas said the two had agreed to continue cooperation to achieve Hamas’s goals. Earlier, Haniyeh said in a televised speech that “there will be no migration from Gaza to Egypt” in the wake of Israel’s order to evacuate, and that Egypt “welcomes the Palestinian people, but not on the basis of migration or an exodus”.
US president Joe Biden spoke separately with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday. Netanyahu’s office said that the prime minister told Biden that “unity and determination” were needed to achieve Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas. Meanwhile, Abbas’s office said Abbas told Biden he rejected the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza as thousands fled amid deadly Israeli airstrikes.
Russia has asked the United Nations security council to vote on Monday on a draft resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict that calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and condemns violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism.
The Syrian defence ministry has confirmed Israel’s targeting of its Aleppo airport on Saturday night, putting it out of action. “The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo international airport, which led to material damage to the airport and it being out of service,” Reuters reports the ministry saying.
Israel’s military said on Saturday that it had fired back at Syrian areas from which two rockets were launched towards Israeli territory and fell into open areas. The military also said it fired an interceptor towards a “suspicious target” that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon but did not provide any additional details.
The European Council chief has called on a virtual summit with EU leaders next week to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. “It is of utmost importance that the European Council, in line with the treaties and our values, sets our common position and establishes a clear unified course of action that reflects the complexity of the unfolding situation,” said Charles Michel, president of the European Council.
Médicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has called on the Israeli authorities to “show humanity”. In a statement issued on Saturday, MSF condemned Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip “without restraint for a week”.
Israel has admitted to intelligence “mistakes” in failing to predict Hamas’s attacks last weekend. “It’s my mistake, and it reflects the mistakes of all those making [intelligence] assessments,” Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said at a press briefing.
The Israeli military announced on Saturday that its forces were preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans. It also announced its forces had been deployed throughout Israel and were preparing for the next stages “with an emphasis on significant ground operations”.
Lebanon said on Saturday that Israel had launched a deadly strike on Friday that killed a Reuters journalist and injured six other journalists from Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Al Jazeera. The Lebanese army said in a statement: “The Israeli enemy fired a rocket shell that hit a civilian car belonging to a media team, leading to the death of Issam Abdallah.”
The UN’s under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “fast becoming untenable”. In a statement issued on Saturday, Griffiths said: “Even wars have rules, and these rules must be upheld, at all times, and by all sides. Civilians and civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian workers and assets, must be protected.”
The European Commission announced that it will triple humanitarian aid for Gaza. The move comes after the EU faced criticism for conflicting messaging from its senior leadership. The commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke on Saturday with the UN secretary general, António Guterres, the commission said.
