Family at London press conference say slow release of hostages creates more pain than hope
British relatives of hostages held in Gaza say they feel mentally tortured by Hamas releasing a handful of their captives and the speculation that more could follow.
Ayelet Svatitzky’s Israeli mother, Channah Peri, 79, and British brother, Nadav Popplewell, 51, were abducted by Hamas gunmen on 7 October. Her older brother, Roi Popplewell, was among more than 1,400 killed in the attack.
Continue reading...The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, claims he’s making a difference in the Middle East but barely has a walk-on part
It’s all very confusing. On Monday, during his statement to the Commons, I could have sworn I heard Rishi Sunak say – with great modesty – he had been vitally important in international efforts to limit the violence in the Middle East. Only his personal interventions with Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed bin Salman and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi had prevented an even worse humanitarian catastrophe. Some were even proclaiming him to be a global peacemaker. A saviour among men.
So it was a surprise on Tuesday to hear James Cleverly making pretty much the same claims for himself during Foreign Office questions. Time and again, the foreign secretary would preface an answer with a reference to his own diplomatic missions to the Middle East. He alone had a full grasp of what was at stake as politicians from Israel, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar had begged him for advice. Sure, the prime minister had done his bit, but that had been largely cosmetic. The real donkey work had been done by him. The Great Jimmy Dimly.
Continue reading...London-based daughter of one of hostages released tells BBC her mother, 85, is OK but her father is still missing
At least 12 British nationals have been killed and five are suspected to be among the hostages being held by Hamas, No 10 has said.
The updated figures emerged after Victoria Atkins, the financial secretary to the Treasury, had told Sky News it was a “very, very fast-moving situation” and that she understood the number of British citizens killed to be 10, with six being held.
Continue reading...Some of the people evacuated by British after civil war broke out say they have received no information from Home Office about their future
People who were evacuated to the UK from war-torn Sudan fear they will be left in limbo when their six-month visas begin to expire this week. Evacuees, who have been living in hotels or with family members since April, say they have received no information from the Home Office about their future status.
“I’m worried that on 26 October I finish the six months and if nothing happens with my visa and there’s no extension I’ll become an illegal immigrant,” said Azza Ahmed, who was a university lecturer in the capital, Khartoum, and is now living in a hotel in London with her son.
Continue reading...Reports say up to 50 hostages may soon be handed over as experts warn negotiations are probably only way to secure their freedom
Diplomatic efforts to free more than 200 people held hostage by Hamas were intensifying on Monday as reports from the region suggest a significant number – perhaps up to 50 – may be freed imminently.
Though Israel continues to intensify its bombardment of Gaza in an attempt to exert more pressure on Hamas, experts warn that negotiations are likely to be the only way to obtain their freedom.
Continue reading...Video from security cameras, mobile phones and body cameras screened to journalists
Israeli authorities have shown harrowing footage of killings and mutilations during Hamas’s rampage in southern Israel on 7 October.
The government showed the 43-minute compilation in a private screening for dozens of foreign journalists at a military base in Tel Aviv on Monday to counter what it said were attempts to deny or downplay the extent of the atrocities.
Continue reading...The PM, just back in the Commons after meeting Netanyahu, had only vain hopes to offer in the search for peace between Israel and Hamas
Call it war fatigue. So soon. Last week it was standing room only on both sides of the house for Rishi Sunak’s statement on Israel and Gaza. For the update on Monday there were plenty of gaps on the green benches. Especially on the Tory side. Already the Middle East has been filed under something too difficult, too unbearable and too far away. Most Conservatives no longer have the bandwidth for the conflict. They are too busy contemplating their own more immediate eternity. Losing the next general election.
Many of Sunak’s opening remarks were more or less a reprise of what he had said last week. Horror at the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas. A commitment to stand with Israel and a reaffirmation of its right to defend itself and to retrieve its hostages. An acknowledgment that the Palestinians are also victims of Hamas. Their need for humanitarian aid and for Israel to respond within international law. Hard to argue with any of that.
Continue reading...More than 350,000 reservists have joined the forces massed in southern Israel and awaiting orders
The double line of Israeli tanks stretched to the horizon. About 100 were visible, low-slung hulks quickly taking on the colour of the pervasive desert dust. This was just a small part of Israel’s coiled military might ranged along the borders of Gaza, waiting for the order to move. Israel has about 2,200 tanks, a massive force, 10 times the British army’s tank fleet, and many of them are here, fuelled up and pointing west.
About 20 miles (30km) to the north, near the border town of Sderot, huge self-propelled guns have been dug into the earth, angled towards Beit Hanoun and Gaza City, which lie just over the crest of a hill. Lorries and tankers carrying fuel and water run in convoys along the Israeli roads that run north to south, parallel to the Gaza border, and reservists fill the streets, cafes and petrol stations of the border towns that absorbed the brunt of the 7 October Hamas attack that ignited the current war.
Continue reading...Inquiry follows Guardian report on Vergie Tamfungan, whose death in the Gulf country has shone a spotlight on ‘cross-country’ employment practices
The UAE government has repatriated the body of a Filipina domestic worker who died last month, and launched an investigation into the findings of a Guardian report on the recruiters that brought her into the country.
When Vergie Tamfungan, 39, died on 25 September, she was being held in her recruiter’s accommodation in the emirate of Sharjah and had not yet been placed in a household to work. Her family said she had gone to the UAE that month after being promised a good salary and bonuses by the agency.
Continue reading...Red Cross confirms release of two more Hamas hostages; Biden official says ‘we should have those hostages released and then we can talk’
The leaders of the US, UK, France, Canada, Germany and Italy have called on Israel to adhere to international law and protect civilians, while also reiterating Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism.
In a statement put out after a phone call, the leaders’ offices said:
The leaders reiterated their support for Israel and its right to defend itself against terrorism and called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians.
They welcomed the release of two hostages and called for the immediate release of all remaining hostages. They committed to close coordination to support their nationals in the region, in particular those wishing to leave Gaza.
The leaders committed to continue close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace.
Continue reading...At least 400 Palestinians killed in last 24 hours, including 70 in refugee camp and near hospitals
The blockaded Gaza Strip has been hit by one of the deadliest nights of Israeli bombing so far in the war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as two more hostages were freed amid reports that talks to secure the release of dozens of others were under way.
At least 400 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and 70 were killed overnight on Sunday in bombardments of the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp and streets close to two hospitals in Gaza City.
Continue reading...Foreign workers in Israel often have to pay exorbitant ‘placement fees’ to secure work in the country, which has left many of them with too much debt to leave
Migrant workers in Israel have said that they are unable to return home to their families after the 7 October attacks as they are trapped in debt from the high recruitment fees they had to pay for their jobs.
It is understood that at least 50 migrant workers died in Israel during the attacks by the Hamas militant group; 30 Thai nationals, four Filipinos and 10 Nepalis are so far known to have been killed, according to government and media reports. There are reportedly more than 100,000 foreign workers in Israel, with the majority working as caregivers, as well as in agriculture and construction.
Continue reading...Groups urge government to introduce emergency family reunion scheme modelled on initiative for Ukrainians
A blueprint setting out how Britain could provide refuge to thousands of Palestinians from Gaza has been drawn up by a coalition of charities and groups.
Organisations including the Refugee Council, Safe Passage International, Doctors of the World, Helen Bamber Foundation and City of Sanctuary have raised concerns about the conflict worsening the Palestinian refugee crisis.
Continue reading...Jewish and Arab Israelis detained, fired from jobs and even attacked for expressing sentiments interpreted as pro-Hamas
Two activists from a Jewish-Arab peace movement were recently detained in Israel for putting up posters with a message that the police deemed to be offensive. The message was: “Jews and Arabs, we will get through this together.”
The activists, members of Standing Together, had their posters confiscated, as well as T-shirts printed with peace slogans in Hebrew and Arabic.
Continue reading...Noiya Sharabi confirmed dead along with sister, Yahel, and mother, Lianne, after raid on Israeli kibbutz
A 16-year-old British girl who went missing after Hamas targeted an Israeli kibbutz was murdered during the attack along with her sister and mother, her family have said.
Noiya Sharabi was feared kidnapped after the 7 October attack on Be’eri kibbutz in which her 13-year-old sister and mother were killed. However, on Sunday her family told the BBC that she too had been murdered.
Continue reading...Families given glimmer of hope by release of two US citizens, but fear time is running out before ground invasion
Pressure has intensified on Israel to negotiate the release of more than 200 people held by Palestinian militants in Gaza, with desperate families begging officials to help free their loved ones before an anticipated ground invasion.
An Israeli military spokesperson announced on Sunday that more than 212 people were held in Gaza, as officials worked to identify and locate those missing after a deadly incursion by Hamas on 7 October.
Continue reading...Israeli military offensive in Gaza offers opportunity to extremist groups in west and Middle East, experts say
Al-Qaida and Islamic State (IS) have called on their followers to strike Israeli, US and Jewish targets, raising the prospect of new terrorist violence in the Middle East or the west.
In a series of statements over the past two weeks, affiliates of al-Qaida congratulated Hamas on its “invasion of Israel”, a reference to the terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, on 7 October.
Continue reading...This blog has closed. You can follow the latest news on the Israel-Hamas conflict on our new blog.
At least two workers were killed on Sunday “as a result of Israeli bombardment targeting Syria’s Damascus airport at dawn,” Syria’s general directorate of meteorology said in a statement, Reuters reports.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Continue reading...Israel says anyone in northern Gaza will be considered ‘an accomplice in a terrorist organisation’
Israel has said it is intensifying attacks on northern Gaza and warned that anyone who stayed risked being considered as “an accomplice in a terrorist organisation”, as airstrikes continued on Sunday in the south, where civilians had fled hoping to survive the war.
A second trickle of aid was allowed into Gaza from Egypt on Sunday, but the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that the humanitarian situation was now catastrophic for the 2.3 million people trapped inside the territory.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. Our live coverage continues here
The rocket hit in the early hours of Monday morning, not far from where Jamileh Tawfiq had been sheltering with her family – as well as about 25,000 other people – at a UN compound in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The impact saw a plume of smoke rise into the air; news soon came that two families had been killed.
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