Israel evacuates 28 settlements near Lebanon, as number of known hostages taken by Hamas rises to 199; Palestinian death toll from Israeli airstrikes reaches at least 2,750
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Israel denies report of ceasefire in southern Gaza
Hamas official also reportedly denies temporary ceasefire is in place – and says border crossing to Egypt remains closed
The Israeli government has denied having agreed a ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow humanitarian aid in and for some people to leave.
The office of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a one-line statement on Monday morning, saying: “There is no ceasefire.” A Hamas official, Izzat El Reshiq, also told the Reuters news agency the border crossing at Rafah between Egypt and Gaza remained closed and denied a temporary ceasefire was in place.
Continue reading...Friends of woman killed in Israeli kibbutz pledge to rebuild community
‘Peace and love are more powerful than terror,’ say friends of 23-year-old Dorin Atias
The friends of a 23-year-old killed in a kibbutz after seeking refuge from the massacre at a music festival last Saturday plan to rebuild the community as a sign that “peace and love are more powerful than terror”.
Dorin Atias was due to start a shift as a bartender at 7am at the Supernova festival but decided to arrive earlier to get some dancing in before her work started.
Continue reading...White House seeks weapons package for Israel amid ‘real risk of escalation’
National security adviser says deployment of USS Eisenhower is to send message that ‘no group should seek to exploit the situation’
Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan toured the US Sunday morning shows to sell White House policy on the conflict between Israel and Hamas as Israeli forces massed on the border ahead of an expected ground incursion into Gaza amid a deepening humanitarian crisis there and fears over the conflict spreading.
Responding to an Axios report that Iran warned Israel through the United Nations that it will intervene if the Israeli operation in Gaza continues, Sullivan told ABC’s “This Week” that he could not confirm it.
But, he said, the US is “concerned” about the conflict spreading. “We see a real risk of escalation on the northern border and that is why President Biden has been so clear and so forceful in saying that no state and no group should seek to exploit the situation to their advantage or should escalate the conflict.”
The deployment of the USS Eisenhower from the US to the region is “to give additional capacity to respond to any contingency and also to send a clear message of deterrence that no one should get involved in this, no one should escalate this”, he added.
Hamas holding up to 10 Britons hostage in Gaza, says foreign secretary
James Cleverly says updated figure of those captured in attack on Israel is ‘not an unreasonable estimate’
Up to 10 Britons are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, the foreign secretary has said, higher than previous informal estimates.
Israel estimates that 126 people from different countries are being held hostage, with reports previously suggesting six of those taken were British. Up to 17 British people, including children, are thought to be dead or missing since the conflict began last weekend.
Continue reading...Israel-Hamas war: Biden says Gaza occupation would be ‘big mistake’ – as it happened
This blog is now closed. Follow live updates from the Israel-Hamas war in our new blog here
Israel’s actions in Gaza have gone “beyond the scope of self-defence” and the Israeli government must “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza”, China’s foreign minister said in remarks published on Sunday.
Wang Yi’s remarks – made on a call to his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on Saturday – came as Israel appeared poised for a ground offensive in Gaza against Hamas, Agence France-Presse reports
It should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza.
Continue reading...Israel confirms 155 people being held hostage by Hamas
Among the hostages are an 83-year-old Israeli journalist who was taken from his home in kibbutz Nir Oz
The Israeli military has confirmed 155 people who are being held as hostages by Hamas following its deadly attack on 7 October.
Among the hostages are an 83-year-old Israeli journalist who was taken from his home in kibbutz Nir Oz with his 85-year-old partner, who had worked for decades for peace and the recognition of Palestinian rights.
Continue reading...Hamas and Israel at war: what we know on day nine
Netanyahu promises to ‘dismantle’ Hamas; IDF confirms 126 Israeli hostages are being held in Gaza; death toll in Gaza stands at over 2,300 as humanitarian aid remains blocked at Rafah crossing
Continue reading...Egypt moves troops to Gaza border amid fears of expulsion of Palestinians
Cairo says any move by Israel to push refugees over frontier would breach international law and be a security risk for the country
Egypt is stepping up its military presence at its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, with fears that Israel intends to push hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees over the frontier into the Sinai desert.
Cairo has said the expulsion of so many Palestinians from their homes would be in breach of international law, and a national security risk for Egypt that is liable to bankrupt the country’s ailing economy. Palestinians themselves, and other Arab states, fear refugees would never be allowed back to their homes.
Continue reading...Florida governor Ron DeSantis rejects idea of Palestinian refugees in US
At event in Iowa, governor conflates Palestinian civilians with Hamas, the terrorist group that attacked Israel a week ago
Republican presidential candidate and Florida governor Ron DeSantis has rejected accepting Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the US, speaking at a campaign rally in the US midwest on Saturday.
“We cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” he said. “If you look how they behave … not all of them are Hamas but they are all antisemitic, none of them believe in Israel’s right to exist.”
Continue reading...Aid flights land in Egypt amid efforts to open safe corridors into Gaza
No agreement by Saturday night on how to bring aid to trapped Palestinians before Israel’s expected ground assault
Aid flights have been arriving in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula with relief supplies for Gaza, amid diplomatic efforts to open humanitarian corridors into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said during a tour of the region that the US was seeking agreement on establishing aid routes and safe zones. But by Saturday night, there was still no agreement on how to bring aid to the 2 million Palestinians under bombardment, as Israel laid the ground for an invasion of Gaza a week after a Hamas attack in which 1,300 Israelis and foreign nationals, mostly civilians, were murdered.
Continue reading...US has seen increase in domestic threats since Hamas attacks in Israel, FBI says
Director Christopher Wray cautioned police vigilance and encouraged police chiefs to continue sharing information
FBI director Christopher Wray has reiterated part of an FBI statement that the US domestic security agency does not have “specific and credible intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas attacks in Israel”.
Speaking from prepared remarks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in San Diego, Wray acknowledged an increase in domestic threats due to the “heightened environment”, calling for increased vigilance and requesting that police continue to share intelligence.
Continue reading...‘The next stage is coming’: Israel issues warning as residents flee Gaza assault
US urges restraint amid bombing of civilian evacuation convoy that left a reported 70 people dead, including women and children
Desperate Gaza City residents fled south in cars and lorries, carts and on foot on Saturday, risking death by airstrikes on the road to escape the even greater threat of an imminent Israeli ground attack on the north of the besieged enclave.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told troops massed in southern Israel that “the next stage is coming”, in a video shared by his office. The Israeli military announced on Saturday evening that it was preparing “significant ground operations”.
Continue reading...Sunak promises Israel ‘unqualified support in face of evil’ – but makes no mention of Gaza’s plight
Keir Starmer also backs Israel but issues call for all parties to act in line with international law
Rishi Sunak has voiced “unequivocal” UK support for Israel “not just today, not just tomorrow, but always” in a lengthy statement to mark one week since Hamas militants murdered 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and took more than 150 people hostage. The prime minister’s remarks – in which he makes no mention of the plight of innocent Palestinians now trapped in Gaza, or the need for their safe evacuation – come amid growing political tensions in the UK over how to respond to Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza, and its orders to more than 1 million Palestinians to flee their homes for their own safety.
Senior Labour figures believe the Conservatives are deliberately trying to paint them as less supportive of Israel, and to suggest that some on the left of the party are somehow sympathetic to Hamas and antisemitic, because they are pro-Palestinian.
Continue reading...Israel-Hamas war live: Syria says Aleppo airport hit as Israel prepares ground invasion of Gaza
Israeli PM posts video to troops saying ‘we are all ready’
Families, festivalgoers, soldiers and foreigners were among those killed in Hamas attacks last weekend. Here are some of their stories:
The bodies of several Israelis have been retrieved by the Israeli military after its forces entered the Gaza Strip, according to a report by Haaretz. The families of the individuals, who had been missing since Hamas attacks last Saturday, have been notified, it said.
Continue reading...Israeli ground offensive in Gaza faces physical and political risks
Military has might on its side but Hamas is prepared and the humanitarian fallout could prove costly
Israel is poised to launch a ground offensive into the northern half of Gaza, an attack that, for all the country’s military superiority, is fraught with uncertainty and whose potential humanitarian consequences are grim.
The military called up 300,000 reservists on Monday to add to its 170,000-strong standing army and has been massing them near the Gaza border. Hamas, it is estimated, can count on 30,000 fighters, perhaps a tenth of the likely invasion force, and it has neither the tanks nor the air power available to the attackers.
Continue reading...‘They had no chance’: UK relatives of missing Israelis pray for their release
London-based Noam Sagi and Sharone Lifschitz hope against hope for safety of their parents, missing after kibbutz massacre
As Noam Sagi watched footage of journalists reporting from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with Gaza last Saturday, his heart sank when he saw his 75-year-old mother’s burnt-out car in the background.
His family had not heard from Ada since she called in distress earlier that morning to say Hamas gunmen had stormed the kibbutz and she was sheltering in a safe room.
Continue reading...Don’t avoid discussing Hamas-Israel conflict with children, say experts
Ignoring tricky questions could drive young people on to the internet, where disinformation proliferates
As difficult as it might be, carers should not avoid discussing the Hamas-Israel conflict with children, experts have said. Doing so, they warn, could drive young people on to the internet where disturbing disinformation and images are easily found.
“Don’t avoid difficult questions,” said Emma Citron, a consultant clinical psychologist with extensive experience of working with children. “If those questions are in the heads of our young people, it’s our job to give them a balanced and reassuring – but also an honest – account.”
Continue reading...Tens of thousands rally around the world in support of Israel and Palestinians
Jewish and Palestinian communities take to the streets as police increase presence around schools, synagogues and mosques
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and in parts of Asia, Europe and the United States in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas attacks a week ago.
Elsewhere, Jewish communities in the US, France and other countries held rallies on Friday in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack from Gaza, the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country’s 75-year history.
Continue reading...Palestinians flee northern Gaza before expected Israeli ground invasion
Thousands pack into cars and trucks or leave on foot after Israel told them to go, as violence flares in East Jerusalem and West Bank
Thousands of people have been fleeing to the southern half of Gaza before an expected ground invasion of the blockaded strip as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict descends into its bloodiest period in decades.
The UN says it estimates “tens of thousands” of people have fled their homes and moved south, adding that more than 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza were already internally displaced before Israel’s military issued an order to evacuate.
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