Category Archives: Hamas

Blinken urges Israel to avoid civilian deaths and wants safe zones in Gaza

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Top US diplomat tours Arab states in effort to avoid wider war over expected Israeli invasion of Gaza Strip

The US’s most senior diplomat has urged Israel to take every possible precaution to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza as he called for the establishment in the territory of safe zones where shelter, food, water and medical supplies can be provided.

“We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians,” the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said. “We recognise many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives.”

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UN says tens of thousands have fled south in Gaza after Israel’s evacuation order – as it happened

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More than 400,000 in Gaza were already internally displaced before Israel’s evacuation order, UN humanitarian office says

“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City told an Associated Press reporter while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her.

She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah.

The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza city, from their homes, southwards, for their own safety and protection, and to move to the area south of wadi Gaza, the river Gaza, as shown on the map.

The Hamas terrorist organisation waged a war against the state of Israel, and Gaza City is an area where military operations are taking place. This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza city only when another announcement permitting it is made. Do not approach the area of the security fence of Israel. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza city, inside tunnels, underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent civilians who are using you as human shields.

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Gaza residents told to move south as Israel prepares for expected ground assault

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UN says Israeli military has given 1.1 million Gaza residents 24 hours to move amid warnings it could cause ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’

Israel’s military has delivered sweeping evacuation orders for almost half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people ahead of an expected ground offensive aiming to eradicate the Hamas militant group after its unprecedented assault on Israel, UN officials said.

The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade.

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Australian government to charter at least two flights for citizens affected by Israel-Hamas war

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Services are in addition to Qantas flights and come amid ‘highly challenging and rapidly changing’ situation

Australia is arranging at least two charter flights to help citizens to flee Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, on top of the two Qantas services already announced.

The Australian government described the situation in the region as “highly challenging and rapidly changing” but said on Friday there had been “no evacuation” of the Australian embassy in Tel Aviv.

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‘We came to thank him and say goodbye’: mourners bury young Briton in quiet, jittery Jerusalem

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As Nathanel Young, 20, was buried, the streets of the divided city remained uneasily empty with both sides fearing reprisals

On a hillside in Jerusalem, hundreds of people stood in near silence at the funeral of a “lone soldier”. Speaking only in whispers or exchanging glances they crammed on to the stone walls that overlooked the line of white gravestones in Israel’s national cemetery on Mount Herzl.

A fearful quiet had descended on the city, with the line of cars snaking up the hillside and the crowds of people finding their way to the cemetery marking the only crowds in a place normally teeming with life.

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Two Jewish schools in London to close over security fears

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Ministers announce £3m extra funding for charity that helps protect Jewish community sites

Two Jewish schools in north-west London are set to close temporarily because of safety fears after the crisis in Israel and Gaza, as ministers announced £3m for a charity that helps protect Jewish community sites.

The extra support for the Community Security Trust (CST) was announced after a roundtable discussion at Downing Street involving ministers, police and the charity, which recorded a quadrupling of antisemitic incidents in the UK since Hamas’s attack on Israel.

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European leaders pledge crackdown on antisemitism as incidents rise

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Bans on pro-Hamas celebrations and pro-Palestinian protests announced in several countries amid tensions

Officials across Europe are scrambling to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, told parliament on Thursday that while thousands of people had rallied in support of Israel, the country had also seen “disgraceful images on our streets in which the most brutal acts of terror have been celebrated in broad daylight”.

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Biden White House condemns Trump’s ‘dangerous’ Israel-Hamas remarks

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2024 Republican frontrunner called Hezbollah militant group ‘very smart’, prompting a stern reaction from the White House

Joe Biden and Donald Trump continued to clash over the Israel-Hamas war on Thursday as a White House spokesman rebuked the former US president for what he called “dangerous and unhinged” comments about the conflict.

Hamas, an Iran-backed militant group based in Gaza, launched attacks on Israel on Saturday, killing more than 1,000 people and taking more than 100 hostage. Israeli air strikes have subsequently killed more than 1,000 people and significantly worsened the humanitarian situation in Gaza. A ground invasion is thought likely.

Reuters contributed reporting

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First minister says SNP MP who defected to Tories ‘probably never believed’ in Scottish independence – as it happened

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Humza Yousaf says Lisa Cameron’s move was ‘the least surprising news I’ve had as leader of the SNP’

NHS waiting lists have hit a new record high, with more people facing long waits, PA Media reports. PA says:

Figures for the NHS in England show 7.75 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August, up from 7.68 million in July.

This is the highest number since records began in August 2007 and comes despite Rishi Sunak saying cutting waiting lists is one of his priorities.

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Hamas attacks on Israel had echoes of Nazi massacres, says Antony Blinken

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At press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, US secretary of state says America will always be by Israel’s side

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said the attacks by Hamas on Israel on Saturday had “harrowing echoes” of Nazi massacres, as he stood alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem in an act of public solidarity.

Blinken, who is Jewish, vowed that the US would stand for ever alongside Israel, and said he would use his tour of the region to urge all parties, especially Hezbollah, not to broaden the conflict or open a second front.

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US CEOs urge Harvard to name students in groups behind letter blaming Israel for Hamas attacks

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Several chief executives called for names to be made public so that they, and others, could know not to hire the students

A group of US business leaders has demanded that Harvard University release the names of students who were part of organizations that signed a letter blaming Israel for deadly attacks by Hamas that triggered a severe escalation of violence across Israel and Gaza.

Several chief executives called for the names to be made public so that they, and others, could know not to hire the students once they leave Harvard.

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How Israel-Hamas war disinformation is being spread online

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Case of footage from set of Palestinian film being repurposed to make false claims is far from one-off

The video shows a young boy in a black T-shirt apparently lying in a pool of blood on the ground. Above him is a camera, with a man shouting directions near him. Two men in kippahs, the Jewish skull caps, and men in green military fatigues similar to Israel Defence Forces (IDF) uniforms are gathered around him.

The clip has been viewed about 2m times on X, formerly known as Twitter. It was shared by a verified user with the caption: “Video showing Israel attempting to create fake footage of deaths.”

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‘Together we will win’: Israelis fearful but defiant in face of uncertainty

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Overwhelming response to call-up as country prepares for ‘retaliation like never before’ against Hamas

Avi Solomon cannot serve in Israel’s armed forces because he is blind, but he has about 20 close relatives who have been called up to fight. They include four brothers and more than a dozen nephews and cousins, and he accepts that they may not all come back.

“We feel like zombies anyway,” said the 39-year-old, an athlete and supermarket worker. “If we can’t feel safe in our own houses, if we can’t promise a future for our children, if any terrorist can come here and do the same thing to us, there is no point to be some kind of living dead.”

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‘Pacifist at his core’: Britons missing and feared dead in Hamas attacks

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Seventeen British nationals, including children, have died or are missing after atrocities in Israel

Seventeen British nationals, including children, are feared dead or missing in Israel after attacks by Hamas, the Guardian understands. The atrocities have so far claimed at least 2,100 lives.

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Australians ‘hold you in our hearts’, Anthony Albanese tells Jewish community

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Amid rising tensions between supporters of Israel and Palestinians, the prime minister says Jewish people will be protected from any antisemitic threat

Anthony Albanese has told Australian Jews that his government is committed to keeping them safe amid rising inter-community tensions following the Hamas attack on Israel and the prospect of all-out war in the Middle East.

As thousands of people gathered in Sydney on Wednesday night to commemorate the deaths of civilians and show support for Israel, the prime minister addressed the Jewish community at St Kilda Shule in Melbourne.

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Lula urges end to ‘insanity of war’ as Latin Americans killed in Hamas attack

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Brazil president calls for humanitarian aid to protect Israeli and Palestinian citizens, while Latin Americans also taken hostage

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has called for an end to “the insanity of war” as it emerged that more than a dozen Latin Americans were killed during Hamas’s assault, with citizens of Brazil and Argentina taken captive in the Gaza Strip.

By Wednesday morning, Latin American government and media reports had confirmed the deaths of seven Argentinians, two Brazilians, two Peruvians, one Colombian and one Paraguayan. At least 15 Argentinians, three Peruvians, two Mexicans and one Brazilian remain missing.

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Governments scramble to evacuate citizens from Israel amid pleas for help

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Countries including Canada, Germany and Australia organise evacuation flights while the US and UK insist commercial options still available as Israeli forces gather near Gaza

Countries around the world have been scrambling to evacuate their citizens from Israel after the deadly attack launched by Palestinian militants at the weekend, while some foreigners, faced with cancelled flights, have pleaded for help from their governments.

People from the US, Australia, Argentina, Cambodia, Canada, Nepal, Thailand, Russia, the UK, Ukraine and France and elsewhere are confirmed to be among those killed in the violence.

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Gaza attacks: US holds talks on safe passage as Israel forces gather around Hamas-run enclave

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US national security adviser says it is discussing option with Israel and Egypt amid heavy airstrikes on Gaza and amassing of 300,000 reservists close to border

The US is discussing the possibility of creating a safe passage for Gaza’s civilians as Israel’s air force continued to pound the enclave and the Israeli death toll from the Hamas offensive – the deadliest militant assault in its history – reached 1,200.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday talks on safe passage were being held with Israel and Egypt. “We are focused on this question, there are consultations going on. But the details of that are something that are being discussed among the operational agencies and I don’t want to share too much of that publicly at this time.”

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Israel-Hamas war likely to result in increased cyber-attacks, Australia told

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Cybersecurity organisation CyberCX says groups previously focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are refocusing on Israel-Hamas war

The Israel-Hamas war is likely to result in Australian organisations being targeted online by ideologically motivated threat actors, a leading cybersecurity organisation has warned.

CyberCX’s intelligence update on 10 October states that analysis of the activity of threat groups since Israel formally declared war on 8 October had noted at least 30 groups ideologically aligned with Russia, Ukraine, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had shifted their messaging on social media.

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