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All living former prime ministers of Australia, except Paul Keating, have co-signed a statement regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
The statement condemns the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel, calls for the unconditional release of hostages taken by Hamas, and for sustained humanitarian access for Palestinians.
On the battlefield in Israel and Gaza we do not presume to give strategic advice to Israel. But the legitimate objective of defeating Hamas must be accompanied by support and protection for the civilian population of Gaza. Israel promises it will do all it can to avoid civilian casualties, we urge it to do so with all of its humanity and skill.
The former prime ministers also endorse a two-state solution “as the basis for long-term lasting peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples”.
The statement concludes:
At this time, more than ever, we must, in the words of the 34th Psalm ‘seek peace and pursue it’. And here at home that is done by defending our Australian values, condemning hate speech and intolerance and respecting the people of Australia in all our diversity.
It is signed by John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. In a statement yesterday, Keating said he was contacted by Mark Leibler proposing the joint statement and asking for his agreement and signature.
I told Leibler in a written message that I would not be agreeing to join other former prime ministers in authorising the statement.
That remains my position.
Leibler is the former president of the Zionist Federation of Australia and current chairman of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.
Another 33 aid trucks were allowed to pass into Gaza from Egypt on Sunday, according to a spokesperson at the Rafah crossing, Wael Abo Omar. It is the largest number of aid trucks to cross in a day since the conflict began, but humanitarian workers have told the Associated Press that the assistance still falls desperately short of what’s needed, as only a fraction of the aid that used to cross prior has gotten through.
On Sunday thousands of Gaza residents broke into UN warehouses to take food and other essentials, in what the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency said was a sign people had reached “breaking point”.
The Palestinian Red Crescent agency earlier said 24 trucks had been allowed to pass, bringing the total number to 118.
After visiting the Rafah crossing, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court called the suffering of civilians “profound” and said he had not been able to enter Gaza. “These are the most tragic of days,” said Karim Khan, whose court has been investigating the actions of Israeli and Palestinian authorities since 2014.
Updated
Palestinians in northern Gaza have reported fierce air and artillery strikes in the last few hours.
Palestinian media reported Israeli air strikes had hit areas near Gaza City’s Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals, and that Palestinian militants and Israeli forces had fought in southern border areas east of Khan Younis. The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday that it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital, where some 14,000 people have sought shelter. The Guardian has not independently verified the reports, and there has been no comment from Hamas or the Israeli military.
On Sunday evening the IDF had delivered a briefing saying its ground operation was continuing and intensifying. The spokesman also said its call for Gaza residents to evacuate to the south – ahead of military targeting of the north - was now “a matter of urgency”.
Israel also released photos of tanks on Gaza’s west coast, which Reuters reported as a signal of a potential effort to surround Gaza’s main city.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released preliminary findings of its investigation into the death of its journalist Issam Abdallah on 13 October, saying they believe he was killed by a “targeted strike” from the direction of the Israeli border.
“According to the ballistic analysis carried out by RSF, the shots came from the east of where the journalists were standing; from the direction of the Israeli border,” RSF said.
“Two strikes in the same place in such a short space of time (just over 30 seconds), from the same direction, clearly indicate precise targeting.”
The RSF report did not conclude who had launched the strike against the journalists or provide its underlying analysis.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the RSF’s findings. It has said it does not deliberately target journalists and that it is investigating the 13 October incident.
In a statement, Reuters said: “We are reviewing the preliminary conclusion reached by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which found that Issam Abdallah and other journalists in Alma el-Chaab appear to have been deliberately fired upon from the direction of Israel on 13 October.
“We reiterate our call to the Israeli authorities to conduct a swift, thorough and transparent probe into what happened. And we call upon all other authorities with information about the incident to provide it. We will continue to fight for the rights of all journalists to report the news in the public interest free of harassment or harm, wherever they are.”
🔴 RSF releases the findings of its investigation into the death of @Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon, on the border with Israel: even though Abdallah and his colleagues were clearly identifiable as journalists, their vehicle was deliberately targeted. 👇 pic.twitter.com/Y8KeAqk8bg
— RSF (@RSF_inter) October 29, 2023
Updated
Local health authorities in Dagestan have now said about 20 people were injured after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed the airport in Makhachkala. The authorities said two of the injured are in a critical condition, Reuters has reported.
IDF strikes targets in Syria and Lebanon
Israeli forces have struck targets in Syria and Lebanon, the country’s defence force has said. In separate tweets, the IDF said an aircraft had attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanese territory, including “infrastructures for directing terrorism and military infrastructures of the organisation”, and that a fighter jet had attacked launchers in Syrian territory. It said both attacks were in response to launches from those areas into Israel.
בתגובה לשיגורים: צה״ל תקף את המשגרים מהם בוצעו השיגורים משטח סוריה
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 29, 2023
מטוס קרב של צה״ל תקף לפני זמן קצר את המשגרים מהם בוצעו השיגורים משטח סוריה לעבר שטח ישראל אמש pic.twitter.com/IBJ3So7vq0
כלי טיס של צה״ל תקף מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בשטח לבנון, בתגובה לשיגורים לעבר שטח מדינת ישראל מוקדם יותר היום.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 29, 2023
בין המטרות שהותקפו, תשתיות להכוונת טרור ותשתיות צבאיות של הארגון pic.twitter.com/lckMGgckkV
In the UK, five people have been charged in relation to protests in Central London on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people marched on Saturday, calling for a ceasefire, and protesting against the UK government’s refusal to back one.
Metropolitan Police said 11 people were arrested – nine on the day and another two on Sunday morning. Five have now been charged, including two people for racially aggravated public order offences, two for public order offences, and one for causing actual bodily harm after allegedly assaulting a police officer.
Summary
Here is where the day stands:
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said that the ICC has “active investigations ongoing” into alleged war crimes in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. The prosecutor added: “There should not be any impediment to humanitarian relief supplies going to … civilians.”
Jordan has asked the US to deploy Patriot air defense systems to bolder its border defense amid increased regional tensions, Reuters reports a Jordanian army spokesperson saying on Sunday. “We asked the American side to help bolster our defence system with Patriot air defence missile systems,” Brigadier General Mustafa Hiyari, Jordan’s army spokesperson, told state television.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has announced that three more aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Sunday. The trucks come as an addition to the six trucks and war surgery team that were sent into Gaza on Friday, the ICRC said.
Israel has summoned the Russian ambassador to lodge a protest at Moscow’s hosting last week of a delegation from Hamas following its 7 October attacks against Israel. Inviting Hamas “sends a message legitimising terrorism against Israelis”, Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement, quoting its senior staff as telling ambassador Anatoly Viktorov, Reuters reports.
Russian authorities closed an airport in the city of Makhachkala in the northern Caucasus region and diverted flights, including one from Israel, after media reports showed demonstrators denouncing Israeli actions in Gaza had gathered at the facility, Reuters reports. The authorities said the airport would remain closed pending “normalisation” of the situation. Russia’s Investigative Committee ordered a criminal probe into the incident, Reuters added.
Joe Biden spoke by phone with Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday morning, the White House said. “The president reiterated that Israel has every right and responsibility to defend its citizens from terrorism and underscored the need to do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians,” the White House said in a press statement.
Joe Biden also spoke with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the White House said. “President Biden and President Sisi affirmed their commitment to work together to set the conditions for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East to include the establishment of a Palestinian state,” it said.
Thousands of Gaza residents broke into UN warehouses on Sunday, grabbing flour and other essential items in a sign they had reached “breaking point”, said the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Reuters reports. “This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza,” UNRWA said in a statement.
“We are going to move a standalone Israeli funding bill,” the US’s new House speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview on Fox News. In a response to a question on separating Israeli aid from Ukrainian aid, Johnson said: “Our Republican colleagues in the Senate have a similar measure. We believe that that is a pressing and urgent need.”
Médecins Sans Frontières has sent 26 tons of medical supplies on a World Health Organization plane to Egypt. “The medical supplies can cover the needs for 800 surgical interventions and are destined for healthcare facilities in Gaza in collaboration with the local health authorities,” MSF said.
The number of children killed in Gaza in last three weeks surpassed annual number of children killed in war zones since 2019, Save the Children said on Sunday. “With a further 1,000 children reported missing in Gaza assumed buried under the rubble, the death toll is likely much higher,” it added.
Faculty from New York City’s Columbia University and Barnard College have signed an open letter in support of their students expressing solidarity with Palestine, noting that such expressions of solidarity and the historical contextualization of the ongoing war is not antisemitic. “One could regard the events of October 7th as just one salvo in an ongoing war between an occupying state and the people it occupies, or as an occupied people exercising a right to resist violent and illegal occupation,” the letter said.
Updated
Jordan has asked the US to deploy Patriot air defense systems to bolster its border defense amid increased regional tensions, Reuters reports a Jordanian army spokesperson saying on Sunday.
“We asked the American side to help bolster our defence system with Patriot air defence missile systems,” Brigadier General Mustafa Hiyari, Jordan’s army spokesperson, told state television.
Updated
The International Committee of the Red Cross has announced that three more aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Sunday.
The trucks come as an addition to the six trucks and war surgery team that were sent into Gaza on Friday, the ICRC said, adding that it stands ready to deliver more aid to address the “huge needs” in Gaza.
📢 3 more trucks crossed into #Gaza today - in addition to the 6 trucks & war surgery team Friday.
— ICRC (@ICRC) October 29, 2023
We are collaborating with partners @EG_Red_Crescent @PalestineRCS who are working non-stop to help those affected.
We stand ready to deliver more aid to address the huge needs. pic.twitter.com/zDRt4Ezur0
Updated
Israel has summoned the Russian ambassador to lodge a protest at Moscow’s hosting last week of a delegation from Hamas following its October 7 attacks against Israel.
Inviting Hamas “sends a message legitimising terrorism against Israelis,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement, quoting its senior staff as telling ambassador Anatoly Viktorov, Reuters reports.
The ministry described the summons as a protest rather than a reprimand.
Russia had described its hosting of Hamas as an attempt to maintain contacts across all sides of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
On Saturday, Hamas said that it is trying to locate eight Russian-Israeli dual citizens who are among the more than 200 hostages captured during its 7 October attacks against Israel.
“We are looking for those people ... It is hard but we are looking. And when we find them, we will let them go … We are very attentive to this list and will process it carefully because we consider Russia to be a close friend,” senior Hamas representative Moussa Abu Marzook said, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Russian authorities closed an airport in the city of Makhachkala in the northern Caucasus region and diverted flights, including one from Israel, after media reports showed demonstrators denouncing Israeli actions in Gaza had gathered at the facility.
Reuters reports:
The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said security forces had by 10:20 p.m. Moscow time (1920 GMT) removed the group from Makhchkala airport in Dagestan – one of several areas in the north Caucasus region that is home to large Muslim communities.
The authority said the airport would remain closed pending “normalisation” of the situation. Russia’s Investigative Committee ordered a criminal probe into the incident.
Israel urged Russian authorities to protect Israelis and Jews in their jurisdictions following the reports.
A statement by the foreign ministry in Jerusalem said the Israeli ambassador in Moscow was working with Russian authorities. “The state of Israel views gravely attempts to harm Israelis citizens and Jews anywhere,” the statement said.
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires of Gaza, where the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes have surpassed 8,000, the Gaza health ministry reports:
Updated
Angelina Jolie has spoken out about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, as well as the ongoing humanitarian crisis currently faced by thousands of Gazans as a result of Israel’s deadly strikes and seige across the strip.
In a statement on Instagram, the former UN special envoy said:
What happened in Israel is an act of terror. But that cannot justify the innocent lives lost in bombing a civilian population in Gaza that has nowhere to go, no access to food or water, no possibility of evacuation, and not even the basic human right to cross a border to see refuge …
The denial of aid, fuel and water is collectively punishing a people. Humanity demands an immediate ceasefire. Palestinian and Israeli lives – and the lives of all people globally – matter equally.
She added that she has donated to medical relief efforts and that she has “chosen to support the work of Doctors Without Borders”.
Updated
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that he spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and the need for humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In a tweet posted on Sunday, Blinken said:
I spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan to discuss our efforts to prevent the spread of the Gaza conflict further into the region, secure the release of hostages, and mobilize humanitarian aid. We also discussed ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 29, 2023
Blinken’s call follows Israel’s announcement on Saturday that it was recalling its diplomats due to “increasingly harsh statements” coming out of Ankara.
Earlier Saturday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a pro-Palestinian protest that Israel is “an occupier”.
Updated
Hundreds of people on Sunday stormed into the main airport in Makhachkala, Russia’s Dagestan region, to protest the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv, Russian news agencies and social media said.
The Associated Press reports:
Authorities closed the airport in Makhachkala, capital of the predominantly Muslim region, and police converged on the facility.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests.
Russian news reports said people in the crowd were shouting antisemitic slogans and tried to storm the airliner belonging to Russian carrier Red Wings that had landed from Tel Aviv.
Video on social media showed some in the crowd on the landing field waving Palestinian flags.
In a statement released Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.” Netanyahu’s office added that the Israeli ambassador to Russia was working with Russia to keep Israelis and Jews safe.
Mobs break into the Makhachkala airport, in Russia’s north Caucasus, looking to lynch Jews after rumors spread about the arrival of Jewish refugees from Israel. pic.twitter.com/stMvyqNUqv
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) October 29, 2023
Now on the runway https://t.co/4OD5chg3aL pic.twitter.com/mbQOHXvQ2C
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) October 29, 2023
Biden and Sisi discuss peace, Palestine
In a fascinating juxtaposition, the White House put out press releases emailed three minutes apart about the phone calls Joe Biden had earlier today, one with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and another with Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The press and the public don’t get a transcript; we get what the White House calls a readout, meaning what they present as their summary of the call.
The previous post brought you every point that was in the readout of the Biden-Netanyahu call. Neither the word Palestine nor even Palestinian was mentioned in the readout of that call from a president to a prime minister at war.
The call with Sisi was very different, per the readout, and packed with some ominous points. The White House noted that “the two leaders committed to the significant acceleration and increase of assistance flowing into Gaza beginning today and then continuously.”
The White House said: “They also discussed the importance of protecting civilian lives, respect for international humanitarian law, and ensuring that Palestinians in Gaza are not displaced to Egypt or any other nation.”
Biden briefed Sisi on efforts “to ensure that regional actors not expand the conflict in Gaza and also on continuing efforts to secure the release of hostages” – see previous posts on hostages.
Then the last line of the readout, from the White House: “President Biden and President Sisi affirmed their commitment to work together to set the conditions for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East to include the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
That’s what the US president discusses with the president who is not at war with anyone but, apparently, not with the prime minister who is at war. The United Nations General Assembly voted in 2012 to recognize the state of Palestine. Israel and the United States were among the significant votes against.
The UNGA voted in 2015 to fly the Palestinian flag at the UN, with Palestine as a non-member observer of the global body.
Updated
Biden presses Netanyahu to respect international humanitarian law
Joe Biden spoke by phone with Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday morning, the White House said.
The US president and the Israeli prime minister discussed the situation in Gaza.
“The president reiterated that Israel has every right and responsibility to defend its citizens from terrorism and underscored the need to do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians,” the White House said in a press statement.
The two leaders discussed continuing efforts to locate and secure the release of the 200+ hostages taken by Hamas during their attack on southern Israel on 7 October. The hostages are chiefly Israeli civilians.
Meanwhile: “The president underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza,” the White House said.
The two leaders agreed to continue dialogue.
Updated
Here are more comments from UNRWA’s communications director Juliette Touma on the worsening humantarian crisis in Gaza amid Israel’s deadly seige.
Speaking to Al Jazeera following Gazans breaking into UN aid warehouses in a desperate attempt to obtain aid, Touma said: “It is a worrying sign of the beginning of the fall of civil order in Gaza, but it’s equally the highest level of despair among the people.”
"It is a worrying sign of the beginning of the fall of civil order in📍#Gaza but it's equally the highest level of despair among the people"@JulietteTouma describes @AJEnglish the high levels of despair and frustration after 3 weeks of very tight siege and viscous war in #Gaza pic.twitter.com/V81YivoqLd
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 29, 2023
Updated
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that its teams in Gaza received 24 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent through the Rafah crossing this evening:
The total number of the received trucks has reached 118 so far, while the entry of fuel has not been allowed till this moment.
PRCS: Our teams in #Gaza received 24 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent through the Rafah crossing this evening, containing food supplies and medical necessities.
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 29, 2023
The total number of the received trucks has reached 118 so far, while the entry of fuel has not been allowed till… pic.twitter.com/QacQ9ZBNwm
Updated
Thousands of Gaza residents broke into UN warehouses on Sunday, grabbing flour and other essential items in a sign they had reached “breaking point”, said the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Reuters reports.
Reuters adds:
“This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, said in a statement.
Speaking to Reuters from Amman in Jordan, Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, said the scenes at the warehouses and distribution centres showed people’s despair.
“This is an indication that people in Gaza have reached a breaking point,” she said. “The levels of frustration and despair are really very high, and people are hitting rock bottom when it comes to their patience, their ability to take more.”
Touma said UNRWA had been forced to reduce the scale of its humanitarian operation in the densely populated enclave because it could not distribute fuel to some medical facilities. She said UNRWA had not received any additional supplies on Sunday.
“Those supplies are very, very little and they don’t correspond to the huge needs on the ground,” she said.
“We are asking for a standard and regular flow of humanitarian supplies, including fuel, and an increase in the number of trucks on these convoys.”
Updated
Gaza resident Mansour Shouman has expressed his gratitude to the hundreds of thousands of protestors that marched in pro-Palestine rallies around the world in recent weeks.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Shouman said:
Whenever people have access to social media and they see the demonstrations all around the world, trying to support the cause of the Palestinian people here in Gaza, trying to put pressure on their governments to ease the pressure on us here, their spirits get lifted.
On behalf of the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, I want to thank each and every one of you who go to these demonstrations, who write letters to their government officials.
Gaza resident Mansour Shouman on the global support for Palestinians:
— jordan (@JordanUhl) October 29, 2023
"On behalf of the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, I want to thank each and every one of you who go to these demonstrations, who write letters to their government officials."https://t.co/WqnKDiaCMp pic.twitter.com/tAXrb1VQWf
In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets across the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East in shows of solidarity with Palestinians.
The rallies come as Israel intensifies its deadly strikes against Gaza which have already killed over 8,000 Palestinians, left the narrow strip in a tight siege and thousands of residents with extremely limited access to food, water, medical aid and shelter.
Updated
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, as well as a handful of human rights and civil society NGOs in Israel, are calling for the end to the “state-backed wave of settler violence”.
The statement said:
We, the undersigned human rights and civil society NGOs in Israel, call on the international community to act urgently to stop the state-backed wave of settler violence which has led, and is leading to, the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
For the past three weeks, since Hamas’s atrocities of October 7th, settlers have been exploiting the lack of public attention to the West Bank, as well as the general atmosphere of rage against Palestinians, to escalate their campaign of violent attacks in an attempt to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities.
During this period, no fewer than thirteen herding communities have been displaced. Many more are in danger of being forced to flee in the coming days if immediate action is not taken …
Unfortunately, the Israeli government is supportive of these attacks and does nothing to stop this violence. On the contrary: government ministers and other officials are backing the violence and in many cases the military is present or even participates in the violence, including in incidents where settlers have killed Palestinians.
Moreover, since the war has begun there has been a growing number of incidents in which violent settlers have been documented attacking nearby Palestinian communities while wearing military uniform and using government-issued weapons.
Updated
“We are going to move a standalone Israeli funding bill,” the US’s new House speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview on Fox News.
In a response to a question on separating Israeli aid from Ukrainian aid, Johnson said:
“Our Republican colleagues in the Senate have a similar measure. We believe that that is a pressing and urgent need.
There are lots of things going on around the world that we have to address and we will but right now, what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate attention … We’ve got to separate that and get it through.
"We are going to move a stand-alone Israeli funding bill" -- Mike Johnson on Fox News says he's decoupling Israeli aid from Ukraine aid, the latter of which he suggests is not the same sort of "urgent need" pic.twitter.com/ixk3Ye5anx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 29, 2023
Updated
Médecins Sans Frontières has sent 26 tons of medical supplies on a World Health Organization plane to Egypt, the global humanitarian organization said on Sunday.
The group said:
The medical supplies can cover the needs for 800 surgical interventions and are destined for healthcare facilities in Gaza in collaboration with the local health authorities. We have long-standing partnerships with various hospitals in the Strip.
We need this delivery to happen as soon as possible, as healthcare facilities in Gaza are overwhelmed with patients and are running very low on medical supplies, following more than three weeks of complete siege by the Israeli forces.
We reiterate our call for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza to prevent more deaths and allow for the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid!
— MSF International (@MSF) October 29, 2023
Updated
International Criminal Court: 'Active investigations' into alleged war crimes committed in Israel, Gaza and West Bank
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has visited the Rafah border crossing this weekend and said that the ICC has “active investigations ongoing in relation to the crimes, allegedly committed in Israel on the 7th of October and also in relation to Gaza and the West Bank”.
Khan said:
It’s a moment of objectivity, a moment of quiet reflection and it needs to be a moment in which the international community and the international architecture built on the rubble of the second world war … ensure never again … abominations.
He also said:
We are independently looking at the situation in Palestine. We are looking at the events in Israel … We need cooperation. We need assistance. But we’re going to have the determination, the stamina and the professionalism to make sure we separate allegation from facts.
The prosecutor added:
There should not be any impediment to humanitarian relief supplies going to children, to women and men, civilians. They are innocent. They have rights under international humanitarian law.
#ICC Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC was at the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip this weekend.
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 29, 2023
Watch his remarks on the current situation in Israel and the State of Palestine. 👇 pic.twitter.com/Z22DMLaAv3
Updated
Save the Children: Number of children killed in Gaza in last three weeks surpassed annual number of children killed in war zones since 2019
Save the Children is calling on a ceasefire following the reported killings of over 3,200 children in Gaza by the Israeli military amid its expanded military operations in recent weeks.
The global humanitarian organization said on Sunday:
Children make up more than 40% of the 7,703 people killed in Gaza, and more than a third of all fatalities across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. With a further 1,000 children reported missing in Gaza assumed buried under the rubble, the death toll is likely much higher.
It noted that the number of children reported killed in Gaza in the last three weeks has surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019.
Save the Children’s country director Jason Lee called for a ceasefire, saying:
One child’s death is one too many, but these are grave violations of epic proportions. A ceasefire is the only way to ensure their safety. The international community must put people before politics – every day spent debating is leaving children killed and injured. Children must be protected at all times, especially when they are seeking safety in schools and hospitals.
Updated
A few dozen faculty members from New York City’s Columbia University and Barnard College have signed an open letter in support of their students expressing solidarity with Palestine, noting that such expressions of solidarity and the historical contextualization of the ongoing war is not antisemitic:
As scholars who are committed to robust inquiry about the most challenging matters of our time, we feel compelled to respond to those who label our students anti-Semitic if they express empathy for the lives and dignity of Palestinians, and/or if they signed on to a student-written statement that situated the military action begun on October 7th within the larger context of the occupation of Palestine by Israel.
The letter added:
In our view, the student statement aims to recontextualize the events of October 7, 2023, pointing out that military operations and state violence did not begin that day, but rather it represented a military response by a people who had endured crushing and unrelenting state violence from an occupying power over many years.
One could regard the events of October 7th as just one salvo in an ongoing war between an occupying state and the people it occupies, or as an occupied people exercising a right to resist violent and illegal occupation, something anticipated by international humanitarian law in the Second Geneva Protocol.
In either case armed resistance by an occupied people must conform to the laws of war, which include a prohibition against the intentional targeting of civilians. The statement reflects and endorses this legal framework, including a condemnation of the killing of civilians.
It also said:
It is worth noting that not all of us agree with every one of the claims made in the students’ statement, but we do agree that making such claims cannot and should not be considered antisemitic.
Columbia/Barnard faculty have signed an open letter supporting our students, making the point that identifying with the suffering of Gazans and historically contextualizing the current war in Israel/Gaza is not anti-Semitic. Please read and share. https://t.co/IXMCs2PxhN
— Katherine Franke (@ProfKFranke) October 28, 2023
Updated
Summary
Here is where the day stands:
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, spoke yesterday with the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Sunday. “Secretary Blinken and foreign secretary Cleverly affirmed Israel’s right to self-defence, discussed their engagement with regional partners to prevent the spread of the conflict and secure the release of hostages,” Miller said.
In a video statement shared to X, formerly Twitter, the Palestinian Red Crescent says it does not have the means to evacuate al-Quds hospital in Gaza. “We have over 400 patients who are inside the hospital, many of them are in the intensive care unit. Evacuating them means killing them. That’s why we refuse the evacuation order,” a representative of the group said.
About 200 people have gathered outside the Qatari embassy in central London calling for the immediate return of innocent civilians kidnapped from Israel by Hamas. People stood together holding hands in silence as a recording recited a list of names and ages of those taken by the militant group.
One of Israel’s leading businessmen, Amnon Shashua, has urged the immediate ouster of Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. In a high-profile public rebuke from Israel’s private sector, Shashua, the head of self-driving auto technologies firm Mobileye, said Israeli prime minister’s government was guilty of “failures, dissonance and incompetence”.
The White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said Washington is “talking candidly” about the military operation with Israel, but refused to share further details. Sullivan told CBS’s Face the Nation that the US and Israel were discussing hard questions, humanitarian aid, distinguishing between terrorists and innocent civilians, and the thinking behind the military operation.
The total death toll in Gaza rose to 8,005 people and 20,242 others injured, according to the official spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza on Sunday, Reuters reports. Those who have died include 3,324 children and 2,062 women, the spokesperson said.
The head of the World Health Organization has said the Palestinian Red Crescent’s report of it receiving warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip is “deeply concerning”. “The Palestinian Red Crescent report of evacuation threats to al-Quds hospital in Gaza is deeply concerning,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Updated
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, spoke yesterday with the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Sunday.
In a statement, Miller said:
Secretary of state Antony J. Blinken spoke yesterday with UK foreign secretary James Cleverly.
Secretary Blinken and foreign secretary Cleverly affirmed Israel’s right to self-defence, discussed their engagement with regional partners to prevent the spread of the conflict and secure the release of hostages.
They reiterated the need to ensure sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
Updated
The Associated Press has this on the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza:
Israeli authorities said Sunday that they would soon allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, though details remained unclear.
Elad Goren, the head of civil affairs of Cogat, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said Israel had established a “humanitarian zone” near the southern city of Khan Younis and recommended that Palestinians flee there.
But he provided no details on the exact location of the zone or how much aid would be available. He also said Israel has opened two water lines in southern Gaza within the past week. The AP could not independently verify that either line was functioning.
About 200 people have gathered outside the Qatari embassy in central London calling for the immediate return of innocent civilians kidnapped from Israel by Hamas.
People stood together holding hands in silence as a recording recited a list of names and ages of those taken by the militant group.
One woman could be seen crying as demonstrators wore yellow ribbons and held up Israeli flags.
Posters bearing the names and faces of those kidnapped were displayed on Santander bicycle docks. A small group of police officers stood outside the embassy.
Evacuating patients from Gaza's al-Quds hospital 'means killing them', says Palestinian Red Crescent
In a video statement shared to X, formerly Twitter, the Palestinian Red Crescent says it does not have the means to evacuate al-Quds hospital in Gaza (see earlier post at 09.29).
“We have over 400 patients who are inside the hospital, many of them are in the intensive care unit. Evacuating them means killing them. That’s why we refuse the evacuation order,” a representative of the group says.
“We call on the international community to intervene immediately to stop a humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding.”
In a later video, the Palestinian Red Crescent said there are 14,000 displaced civilians, the majority of whom are children and women, now residing inside the hospital.
It said:
They are living in fear and anxiety due to the threats from the occupying authorities to bomb the hospital which they sought refuge in as a result of the ongoing shelling, believing that it would be a safe haven.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has expressed alarm after teams at the al-Quds hospital in Gaza were said to have been told to immediately evacuate the site (see earlier post at 09.29).
We are deeply alarmed to hear that the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) teams at the al-Quds hospital have again this morning been told to immediately evacuate the hospital. Hospitals are places of help and refuge; they must be protected at all cost.
PRCS’s al-Quds hospital in Gaza city is caring for hundreds of injured people and bed-ridden, long-term patients. Evacuating patients, including those in intensive care, on life-support and babies in incubators, is close to, if not impossible in the current situation. Our teams also report violent attacks and shelling very close to the hospital further endangering people. Al-Quds Hospital is operated by PRCS, a component of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and together with other medical missions and facilities are protected under international humanitarian law.
We are deeply concerned about the safety of patients, health care workers and the thousands who have taken refuge in al-Quds Hospital. Healthcare workers should never be put in front of the impossible dilemma of leaving patients behind or risking their lives staying in the hospital.
Updated
A rising number of prominent US figures have faced discipline over controversial public comments they have made about the Palestinian cause, as attacks by Israel on Gaza after the 7 October massacre of Israelis by Hamas fighters intensified.
David Velasco, the editor in chief of Artforum magazine, was reportedly fired after the magazine published an open letter in response to the war.
Celebrated US photographer Nan Goldin and other artists have said they will no longer work with Artforum after the magazine’s termination of Velasco, the New York Times reported.
You can read the full story here:
Drone footage has captured scenes of destruction in the Gaza Strip as connectivity slowly returns to the territory:
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that over the past 24 hours they had hit 450 targets belonging to Hamas, which gained control of Gaza in 2007, including command centres, observation posts and anti-tank guided missile launch positions, as well as another 150 targets underground in the north of the territory.
Updated
More than 5,000 people protested in Athens on Sunday, police said, calling for an end to the “massacre” of Palestinian people in Gaza, AFP reports.
“We are fighting for the peace of people,” Athens news agency quoted demonstrators as chanting.
“Stop the massacre of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” they shouted.
Protesters marched to Israel’s embassy in the Greek capital’s Psychiko’s suburb.
Basic services in Gaza have crumbled after three weeks of a near-total blockade imposed by Israel, leaving people exposed to serious outbreaks of disease as streets overflow with sewage, and food, water and medicine run out. The UN considers the siege a war crime.
Israel has also sharply escalated an already devastating aerial campaign on the coastal exclave on Friday night that has killed more than 8,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. This figure has not been independently verified by the Guardian.
Updated
There are more quotes here from the Downing Street spokesperson about the importance of getting aid into Gaza (see earlier post at 13.28):
The prime minister (Rishi Sunak) and President Macron updated on the conversations they have had with leaders in the region to stress the importance of working to ensure regional stability.
The prime minister and President Macron agreed that it was important not to lose sight of the long-term future of the region and, in particular, the need for a two-state solution.
They underscored that Hamas does not represent ordinary Palestinians and that their barbarism should not undermine the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.
The leaders said they would stay in close contact with one another and with leaders in the region.
One of Israel’s leading businessmen, Amnon Shashua, has urged the immediate ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
In a high-profile public rebuke from Israel’s private sector, Shashua, the head of self-driving auto technologies firm Mobileye, said Netanyahu’s government was guilty of “failures, dissonance and incompetence”.
He wrote in an opinion piece in financial daily Calcalist:
We must cut our losses and do it quickly. The only solution to the current situation in Israel is to replace the government, and it needs to happen immediately.
Netanyahu caused his own uproar on Sunday by taking a jab at his intelligence chiefs, saying they never warned him Hamas was planning its attack, but later retracted his comments and issued an apology.
Netanyahu’s office, asked by Reuters, declined to comment on Shashua’s editorial.
The government, Shashua said, which seemed more concerned about its political survival than “the good of the country,” could be replaced without calling a new election, minimising political turmoil, with the formation of a new coalition within the current parliament.
Updated
Fishers in the Lebanese city of Tyre are afraid to sail into nearby fishing grounds as Israel and Hezbollah clash.
Imad Azuzu said:
Already our fish were scarce. Now we have the war. If we venture a little in the sea, we do so in fear.
While clashes between the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah – a Hamas ally – and Israel have so far been largely contained to the border, fishers who spoke to Reuters say they are venturing only a few miles from Tyre, where explosions from the fighting 20km (12 miles) away can be heard.
Adel Abde said:
The [Lebanese] army has warned us against going to southern areas like Al Bayyada or Naqoura because it’s dangerous. We are already afraid, the security situation is scary.
A Lebanese security source said the fishers were allowed to fish normally in the Tyre area but not to approach floating barriers separating Lebanese and Israeli waters.
The fishing industry employees 2,000 people in Tyre, a centre of ancient civilisation from where the Phoenicians sailed all over the Mediterranean.
The people of Tyre can ill afford more hardship. They and the rest of Lebanon were hit by the collapse of the country’s financial system four years ago, which plunged many into poverty.
Fish and seafood production in Lebanon bring in $377m a year, supporting more than 4,000 families, United Nations figures show.
Ibrahim Suwdan, who started fishing 40 years ago aged 10, said safety worries had deprived him of two weeks of fishing – and income that would have helped get him through the winter.
The fishing boats were not putting to sea, he said, “because people are afraid”.
Updated
The White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is continuing his morning media round, telling CNN that the US believes Israel should take every means possible to distinguish between Palestinian civilians and Hamas militants in its military operation in Gaza.
Sullivan also called on the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to “rein in” extremist Jewish settler violence against innocent people in the West Bank.
Updated
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and French president, Emmanuel Macron, expressed their concern about getting aid into Gaza in a phone call on Sunday, according to Downing Street.
Sunak’s spokesperson said:
The leaders stressed the importance of getting urgent humanitarian support into Gaza. They agreed to work together on efforts both to get crucial food, fuel, water and medicine to those who need it, and to get foreign nationals out.
They expressed their shared concern at the risk of escalation in the wider region, in particular in the West Bank.
Updated
The White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said Washington is “talking candidly” about the military operation with Israel, but refused to share further details.
Sullivan told CBS’ Face the Nation TV show that the US and Israel were discussing hard questions, humanitarian aid, distinguishing between terrorists and innocent civilians, the thinking behind the military operation.
We talk candidly, we talked directly, we share our views and an unvarnished way and we will continue to do that.
But sitting here in public, I will just say that the United States is going to make its principles and propositions absolutely clear, including the sanctity of innocent human life. And then we will continue to provide our advice to Israel in private.
We do not stand for the killing of innocent people, whether it be Palestinian, Israeli or otherwise.
Updated
Hundreds of people are taking part in a demonstration in support of Palestinian people under the motto “No to barbarism. Not to the war. Stop the fire” in the Spanish capital of Madrid.
Here are the latest images:
Updated
The Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, Bethan McKernan, has a report on the situation inside Gaza.
Civilians reached by the Guardian via WhatsApp in the southern half of the strip, to which the IDF has repeatedly ordered civilians to evacuate, said there was still little in the way of clean water for drinking, cooking or washing.
“We had to leave our house when they bombed my aunt’s house next door. They killed 26 people including 11 children and our house was damaged too,” said Mohammed Bashir, a 38-year-old accountant from the central town of Deir al-Balah.
“Water is our main worry. I did not find any yesterday and my youngest child is sick. We can’t wash her.”
You can read the full story here:
Updated
The total death toll in Gaza rose to 8,005 people and 20,242 others injured, according to the official spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza on Sunday, Reuters reports.
Those who have died include 3,324 children and 2,062 women, the spokesperson said. The health ministry in Gaza is run by Hamas. The Guardian has not yet been able to independently verify its claims.
Janez Lenarčič, the EU’s commissioner for crisis management, issued a plea today for more humanitarian access to Gaza.
Posting to X, he wrote:
People in Gaza depend on humanitarian aid only to survive the day. The depth of their desperation is beyond words.
Again, I urge the parties involved to allow for unhindered and safe humanitarian access into Gaza, now. This must be scaled-up. It must include fuel and shelter.
WHO 'deeply concerned' by report of evacuation warning to Gaza's al-Quds hospital
The head of the World Health Organization has said the Palestinian Red Crescent’s report of it receiving warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip is “deeply concerning” (see earlier post at 09.29).
“The Palestinian Red Crescent report of evacuation threats to al-Quds hospital in Gaza is deeply concerning,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“We reiterate – it’s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives.”
The @PalestineRCS report of evacuation threats to Al-Quds hospital in Gaza is deeply concerning.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 29, 2023
We reiterate - it’s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives.
Under International Humanitarian Law, healthcare must always be protected.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said earlier that “since this morning, there has been raids 50 meters away from the hospital”.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
The total death toll in Gaza rose to 8,005 people on Sunday, a statement released by the health ministry in Gaza said. This claim has not yet been independently verified.
UN secretary-general António Guterres has warned the situation in Gaza is “growing more desperate by the hour”.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that it had struck over 450 Hamas targets within the past 24 hours. This claim has not yet been independently verified.
Thousands of people have broken into several warehouses and distribution centres of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the middle and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, taking wheat flour and other “basic survival items”, the organisation said.
The Israeli military told civilians in Gaza on Sunday to move south, reiterating that it is increasing its operations and saying that humanitarian efforts, led by Egypt and the US, “will be expanding” south of Wadi Gaza.
Israeli airstrikes hit areas around Gaza’s largest hospital early on Sunday, destroying roads leading to the facility, according to residents interviewed by the Associated Press.
Telephone communications and internet connectivity are reportedly returning to the Gaza Strip, after a blackout that began on Friday night.
Updated
Gaza death toll has risen to 8,005, says health ministry
The total death toll in Gaza rose to 8,005 people on Sunday, a statement released by the health ministry in Gaza said, according to Reuters.
The health ministry in Gaza is run by Hamas. The Guardian has not yet been able to independently verify its claim.
Updated
Pope Francis has called for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and renewed an appeal for the release of hostages held by the militant group in Gaza.
“Let no one abandon the possibility of stopping the weapons,” Reuters quoted him as having said at his weekly blessing in St Peter’s Square.
“Ceasefire … we say ‘ceasefire, ceasefire’. Brothers and sisters, stop. War is always a defeat, always,” he added.
Updated
Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has called for greater clarity from the government on policing extremism.
The head of the UK’s biggest police force said about 100 people had been arrested at demonstrations held since the Hamas attack on Israel three weeks ago, with “many more” arrests expected in the near future.
But he said his officers were limited by legal definitions of extremism and arresting people without cause could risk “inflaming” the situation with the protesters.
Rowley said he would support a review into the legal definition of extremism and how it should be policed, PA Media reports.
He told Trevor Phillips On Sunday on Sky News:
There is scope to be much sharper in how we deal with extremism within this country.
The law was never designed to deal with extremism, there’s a lot to do with terrorism and hate crime but we don’t have a body of law that deals with extremism, and that is creating a gap.
Rowley said there had been a 14-fold increase in antisemitic incidents since the crisis started three weeks ago, and a threefold increase in crimes against the Muslim community.
He said lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service were working in the police operations room to help identify offences.
Updated
Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson, who has extended family in Gaza, said the UK government and other international allies were “failing” to prevent civilian casualties in the region with its stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking to BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Moran said:
I heard the secretary of state (Michelle Donelan) now suggest it is Hamas that is stopping them from leaving.
That is not what is happening. I find it deeply offensive to suggest that Hamas is giving my family any kind of marching orders. They have nothing to do with Hamas.
The reason they are there is because it is three generations: one is frail; you’ve got 11-year-old twins. They can’t move. There is bombing in the south – there is bombing on the so-called safe route that they were given to get to the south.
“Nowhere in Gaza is safe, and the conversation in Gaza, I’m afraid to say, has changed. No longer are people saying, ‘Where do we go to be safe?’ – the question they are now asking is, ‘Where do we want to be when we die?’.
“And this is not hyperbole, this is not just from them but their friends and family who we are in touch with. I cannot overstress the situation.
“So when I hear from the government that they want to minimise civilians casualties, I have to say to them that they are failing, the strategy of the UK government, America and what they are effectively sanctioning in the way Israel is responding …
Moran added that Israel had a right to defend itself but said there needed to be a ceasefire and a move towards a political two-state solution.
My colleague Mark Brown has more on the news that Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has discovered his parents-in-law in Gaza are alive (see earlier post at 08.42).
You can read the full story here:
Updated
The situation in Gaza is 'growing more desperate by the hour', UN chief warns
UN secretary-general António Guterres has warned the situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly and has said the number of civilians who have been killed or injured is “totally unacceptable”.
On a visit to Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, he was quoted by AFP as saying:
The situation in Gaza is growing more desperate by the hour. I regret that instead of a critically needed humanitarian pause, supported by the international community, Israel has intensified its military operations.
The number of civilians who have been killed and injured is totally unacceptable.
“The world is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe taking place before our eyes,” Guterres added.
More than two million people, with nowhere safe to go, are being denied the essentials for life – food, water, shelter and medical care – while being subjected to relentless bombardment. I urge all those with responsibility to step back from the brink.
Updated
An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the Palestinian Red Crescent statement during a media briefing (see earlier post at 09.29 for details), Reuters reports.
Israel would allow a dramatic increase in aid to Gaza in the coming days, an official said on Sunday, as he called on Palestinian civilians to head to what he described as a “humanitarian” zone in the south of the territory (see earlier post at 05.14).
“In the coming week we were planning to increase dramatically the amount of assistance” headed for Gaza from Egypt, said Col Elad Goren of Cogat, the Israeli Defence Ministry agency that coordinates with the Palestinians.
“We have marked a humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip in the Khan Younis area … we still recommend that the civilian population that evacuated will go to this zone,” he told journalists during an online briefing, according to Reuters.
Goren did not say whether the humanitarian zone was new or an existing area.
On Friday, the UN said basic services in Gaza had crumbled, leaving people exposed to major outbreaks of disease as the streets overflowed with sewage, and food, water and medicine ran out.
Updated
A senior British minister said the UK government has not set any so-called “red lines” in Israel’s fight back against Hamas in Gaza.
Science secretary Michelle Donelan told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: “I don’t think we need to do that because there are already structures in place, there is international law that is well established.”
Asked whether the UK government had told Israel that it had pledged its support “come what may”, Donelan said: “That is categorically not what we’ve said.
“The prime minister has stood there and said he backs Israel’s right to defend itself, just like we would expect our own right to defend ourselves were the shoe to be on the other foot, but that must be done within international law.
“And the protection of civilians must be a priority. We’ve seen Israel telling the Gazan people to go to the south, we’ve also seen Hamas telling them not to move.”
Donelan said Hamas has been using the Palestinian people as “human shields”, adding: “It is very difficult to get to Hamas without hurting innocent civilians.
“We of course though have said that the priority is to try and avoid doing that because we don’t want to see any loss of life.”
Updated
Palestinian Red Crescent says Israel asks it to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it has received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip, as it is “going to be bombarded”.
“Since this morning, there has been raids 50 meters away from the hospital,” it added in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter.
❌Urgent: @PRCS has just received serious threats from the occupation authorities to immediately #evacuate Al-Quds Hospital in the #Gaza Strip, as it is going to be #bombarded. Since this morning, there has been raids 50 meters away from the hospital
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 29, 2023
📢Please share widely.… pic.twitter.com/hmfbRVr1lg
Updated
IDF says it has struck more than '450 military targets' over the past day
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that it had struck over 450 Hamas targets within the past 24 hours.
“In the last day, IDF warplanes attacked over 450 military targets of the terrorist organization Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a post on X.
“Among the targets attacked were military headquarters, observation posts, and anti-tank firing positions of the terrorist organisation.
“As part of the expansion of the ground forces’ activity, the combined combat teams attacked terrorist squads that tried to harm the forces.”
The post added that two Israeli soldiers were injured. These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Updated
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has said that its ability to help people in Gaza has been completely stretched by airstrikes that have killed more than 50 of its staff and restricted the movement of supplies.
Even before the conflict, the organisation had said its mandate was being jeopardised due to a lack of funding, Reuters reports.
Scotland's first minister says parents-in-law in Gaza are 'alive' but have run out of clean drinking water
Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has said his parents-in-law in Gaza are alive but have run out of clean drinking water.
Elizabeth El-Nakla and her husband, Maged, the parents of Yousaf’s wife, Nadia, travelled to Gaza before hostilities flared up earlier this month to visit family and became trapped.
We heard from my in-laws in Gaza this morning, they are alive, thank God. However, they have run out of clean drinking water.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) October 29, 2023
The UN resolution must be implemented. We need the violence to stop, and for significant amounts of aid to get through without delay.#CeasefireNow
Updated
A British doctor trapped in Gaza with his young family after going there to visit his parents has called for UK parties to unite behind an immediate ceasefire, saying the way UK and world leaders were permitting the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, would go down in history as “a stain on humanity”.
The doctor, who did not want to be named for fear of being targeted by the Israelis, arrived in Gaza with his wife and three teenage children three days before Hamas launched its murderous assault on 7 October, in which it killed about 1,300 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages.
Speaking hours before the Israelis imposed a communications blackout on Gaza on Friday, the doctor told the Observer that his and many other children who were all living in the same house had become so traumatised and terrified at night that they talked about wanting to be hit and killed by the next strike rather than have to wait until morning for the bombing to die down.
You can read the full story here:
Updated
Thousands of people break into aid centres in Gaza Strip, says UN agency
Thousands of people have broken into several warehouses and distribution centres of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the middle and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, taking wheat flour and other “basic survival items”, the organisation has said.
One of the warehouses, in Deir al-Balah, is where UNRWA stores supplies from the humanitarian convoys coming from Egypt, the agency said in a statement.
Thomas White, the director of UNRWA affairs in the Gaza Strip, said:
This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza.
People are scared, frustrated and desperate. Tensions and fear are made worse by the cuts in the phones and internet communication lines.
They feel that they are on their own, cut off from their families inside Gaza and the rest of the world.
The UNRWA describes itself as “unique in terms of its longstanding commitment to one group of refugees”.
It has a dual role that encompasses humanitarian and developmental responsibilities – in effect delivering governance-like services across dozens of refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
It’s day 23 of the Israel-Hamas war. Here is the latest:
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night that the military had opened a “second stage” in the war, which aimed to “destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and bring the hostages home”. He said the war would be “difficult and long”, calling it “our second war of independence”.
The Israeli military told civilians in Gaza on Sunday to move south, reiterating that it is increasing its operations and saying that humanitarian efforts, led by Egypt and the US, “will be expanding” south of Wadi Gaza.
Israeli airstrikes hit areas around Gaza’s largest hospital early on Sunday, destroying roads leading to the facility, according to residents interviewed by Associated Press. The hospital is a major shelter for people fleeing the Israeli bombardment. The Israeli military alleges that Hamas has built underground bunkers beneath it.
Telephone communications and internet connectivity are returning to the Gaza Strip, after a blackout that began on Friday night, creating an information vacuum amid the heaviest aerial bombardment of the war so far. Gaza’s 2.3 million people were already in darkness after most electricity was cut off and fuel for generators ran out.
Netanyahu met with the families of hostages on Saturday evening after a protest by relatives outside the defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv. It was unclear what reassurances he could offer as there appears to be no plan to negotiate prisoner exchanges or pause the offensive, which Hamas has said is a condition of any releases. Last week Hamas said approximately 50 hostages died in the bombardment. Relatives fear the recent escalation of Israel’s assault on Gaza will lead to further deaths.
Saudi Arabia’s defence minister Khalid bin Salman is expected to visit Washington on Monday, sources told Axios. The visit had been long-scheduled, but comes as Netanyahu announced the beginning of the “second stage” in the war. The US president Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke on a call on Tuesday, and discussed efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from widening.
Qatar-mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas aimed at de-escalating fighting in Gaza continued on Saturday, a source briefed on the negotiations said. “Talks have not broken down, but are taking place at a ‘much slower pace’ than before the escalation from Friday evening,” a source told Reuters.
UN chief António Guterres met the Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani to discuss the war. “I came to Doha to express to prime minister@MBA_AlThani_ our full gratitude, appreciation and support for Qatar’s tireless mediation initiatives, namely for the release of the hostages kept in Gaza,” Guterres tweeted on Saturday.
Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, has ordered the return of Israeli diplomats from Turkey following Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan’s comments at a pro-Palestinian rally in which he called Israel an “occupier”. Cohen tweeted on Saturday: “Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a re-evaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey.”
Médecins Sans Frontières has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza “to prevent more deaths … and allow desperately needed humanitarian supplies in.” “We have teams on standby ready to send medical supplies and to enter Gaza, as soon as the situation allows it. But if the bombing continues with the current intensity, any effort to increase medical aid will inevitably fall short,” the organisation said.
Updated
Over the past 24 hours, people have gathered in cities around the world in support of Palestine, while others have rallied to show solidarity with Israel and the victims and hostages from the Hamas attacks. Here are some images from the news wires.
The UN security council scheduled an emergency meeting on Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza on Monday afternoon at the request of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, according to a report by Associated Press.
Updated
Israeli airstrikes have hit areas around Gaza’s largest hospital, destroying roads leading to the facility, which is a major shelter for Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombardment, residents have told Associated Press.
Here is some further detail from AP’s report:
The Israeli military has renewed longstanding allegations in recent days that top Hamas leaders and operatives have built underground bunkers below Shifa hospital and accused the militant group of using civilians as human shields. Israel has not presented evidence, and Hamas denies the claims.
“Reaching the hospital has become increasingly difficult,” Mahmoud al-Sawah, who was sheltering in the hospital, said over the phone on Sunday. “It seems they want to cut off the area.”
Another Gaza resident, Abdallah Sayed, described the Israeli air and land attacks in the past two days as “the most violent and intense” since the war started.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank overnight, according to the Fatah-run health ministry in the West Bank.
A 32-year-old in the northern West Bank and a 29-year old in Biet Rima, near Ramallah, were both shot dead. A 31-year-old was also killed in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus, it was reported.
Updated
Gaza civilians should move south where aid efforts 'will expand' - Israeli military
The Israeli military has told civilians in Gaza to move south, reiterating that it is increasing its operations and saying that humanitarian efforts “will be expanding” south of Wadi Gaza.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari repeated that the military was “moving to the next phase of our war against Hamas in Gaza from the air, land and sea.”
He said Israel had repeatedly warned Gazans to move away from “Hamas strongholds”, adding “today we increase the urgency of that warning.”
“Civilians in northern Gaza and Gaza City should temporarily move south of Wadi Gaza to a safer area where they can receive water, food and medicine. Tomorrow, the humanitarian efforts to Gaza, led by Egypt and the United States, will be expanding,” Hagari said.
The video statement was posted on X, formerly Twitter, early on Sunday morning, but had been recorded on Saturday. The promised expansion of humanitarian efforts is due to take place on Sunday.
Updated
Republican presidential hopefuls pledged unwavering support for Israel in its war on Hamas as they spoke at an annual gathering of influential Jewish donors on Saturday night, reports AFP.
Former president Donald Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition event he would “defend our friend and ally in the State of Israel like nobody has ever.”
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is “a fight between civilization and savagery, between decency and depravity, and between good and evil,” said Trump.
Trump has provoked fury over recent weeks after describing Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah as “very smart” and criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, called the Oct 7 Hamas surprise attack on Israel “the most deadly attack against Jews since the Holocaust itself.”
DeSantis and others pointed to what they said was rising anti-Semitism on US college campuses, and proposed cutting funding for universities and canceling visas for pro-Palestinian foreign students.
Updated
The Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) has also confirmed that landline, mobile and internet services in the Gaza Strip are gradually being restored.
“Our technical teams are diligently addressing the damage to the internal network infrastructure under challenging conditions,” it said on social media.
We are pleased to announce that telecommunication services (landline, mobile, and internet) in Gaza Strip, disrupted on Friday, October 27, 2023, due to the ongoing aggression, are gradually being restored.
— Paltel (@Paltelco) October 29, 2023
1/2
Updated
The return of communications is a very welcome development in Gaza, which was cut off from the world late on Friday as Israel expanded ground operations and launched intense airstrikes.
Associated Press has spoken to some of the journalists who were still able to get news out, using international sim cards or satellite phones. Some moved closer to the southern border with Egypt, hoping to pick up that country’s network.
AP spoke to 28-year-old Palestinian journalist Hind al-Khoudary, who said the massive airstrikes that shook the ground exceeded anything she had experienced over the past three weeks or any of the four previous Israel-Hamas wars.
Here’s some detail from AP’s report:
“It was crazy,” she said. When the pace of bombardment slowed Saturday morning, residents rushed to the homes of loved ones with whom they had lost touch overnight.
“People right now are walking, using their cars because there isn’t internet,” al-Khoudary said. “Everyone is checking on us, seeing us, and now we are going to check on others.”
She went directly to Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, where doctors, exhausted from operating on patient after patient with dwindling fuel and medical supplies, pressed on, despite the crowds of some 50,000 people sheltering in the compound.
The wounded poured in from Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, al-Khoudary said, where Israeli bombs wrought destruction the night before.
Here’s a recap of the Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest comments, televised on Saturday night, in which he said the military had opened a “second stage” in the war against Hamas by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea.
He said the war will be “long and difficult,” calling it a battle of good versus evil and a struggle for Israel’s existence.
Netanyahu told Israelis: “We have unanimously approved the widening of the ground invasion … Our objective is singular: to defeat the murderous enemy. We declared ‘never again’, and we reiterate: ‘never again, now’.”
Describing the expanding war as Israel’s “second war of independence” Netanyahu continued: “In the initial weeks of the war, we launched massive airstrikes that dealt a severe blow to the enemy.
“We eliminated many terrorists. However, we are only at the beginning. The battle within the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long; this is our second war of independence.”
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NetBlocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and the internet, has reported that internet connectivity is being restored in the Gaza Strip. Most communications in the territory were knocked out late on Friday, with the Palestinian Red Crescent saying the blackout had blocked emergency calls and disrupted critical ambulance services.
⚠️ Confirmed: Real-time network data show that internet connectivity is being restored in the #Gaza Strip; service was disrupted on Friday amid heavy bombardment by Israel, leaving most residents cut off from the outside world at a critical moment 📈 pic.twitter.com/I7hBa9L9I9
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) October 29, 2023
Opening summary
Welcome to our new live blog continuing our rolling coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, now on day 23. This is Rebecca Ratcliffe and here’s a look at the latest:
Telephone communications and internet connectivity were gradually returning to the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to reports by Palestinian media. The destruction of phone and internet connections plunged Gaza into a communications blackout on Friday night, creating an information vacuum amid the heaviest aerial bombardment of the war so far. Gaza’s 2.3 million people were already in darkness after most electricity was cut off and fuel for generators ran out. No international aid entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night that the military had opened a “second stage” in the war, which aimed to “destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and bring the hostages home”. He said: “The battle within the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long; this is our second war of independence.”
Netanyahu met with the families of hostages on Saturday evening following a protest by relatives outside the defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv. It was unclear what reassurances he could offer as there appears to be no plan to negotiate prisoner exchanges or pause the offensive, which Hamas has said is a condition of any releases. Last week Hamas said approximately 50 hostages died in the bombardment. Relatives fear the recent escalation of Israel’s assault on Gaza will lead to further deaths.
Saudi Arabia’s defense minister Khalid bin Salman is expected to visit Washington on Monday, sources told Axios. The visit had been long-scheduled, but comes as Netanyahu announced the beginning of the “second stage” in the war. US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman spoke on a call on Tuesday, and discussed efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from widening.
Qatar-mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas aimed at de-escalating fighting in Gaza continued on Saturday, a source briefed on the negotiations said. “Talks have not broken down, but are taking place at a ‘much slower pace’ than before the escalation from Friday evening,” a source told Reuters.
UN chief António Guterres met with Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani to discuss the war. “I came to Doha to express to Prime Minister@MBA_AlThani_ our full gratitude, appreciation and support for Qatar’s tireless mediation initiatives, namely for the release of the hostages kept in Gaza,” Guterres tweeted on Saturday.
Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, has ordered the return of Israeli diplomats from Turkey following Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan’s comments at a pro-Palestinian rally in which he called Israel an “occupier.” Cohen tweeted on Saturday: “Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a reevaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey.”
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its strike group has moved through the Strait of Gibraltar, putting two American carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, a rare sight in recent years. The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is already in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a buildup of forces as the US supports Israel in its war against Hamas.
Médecins Sans Frontières has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza “to prevent more deaths … and allow desperately needed humanitarian supplies in.” “We have teams on standby ready to send medical supplies and to enter Gaza, as soon as the situation allows it. But if the bombing continues with the current intensity, any effort to increase medical aid will inevitably fall short,” the organization said.
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