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
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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...Australia could use military flights to evacuate people from Israel, deputy PM says
Richard Marles said defence flights had ‘greater flexibility’ and could be arranged, after civilian repatriation flights were cancelled
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The Australian government is investigating using military aircraft to evacuate hundreds of its citizens wanting to leave Israel.
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said on Sunday there were around 10,000 Australians in Israel with the number of those who had registered for evacuation numbering in the “high hundreds”.
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...BBC building sprayed with red paint in ‘protest over Israel-Hamas coverage’
Palestine Action says it was behind incident in London, accusing BBC of ‘manufacturing consent for Israel’s war crimes’
A pro-Palestinian protest group has claimed responsibility for throwing red paint over the BBC’s headquarters, accusing the broadcaster of having “blood on its hands” over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
The organisation Palestine Action identified itself as being behind the incident, which took place early on Saturday morning at Broadcasting House. It alleged that the broadcaster was “manufacturing consent for Israel’s war crimes”.
Continue reading...Australia cancels flights out of Israel amid fears of violence escalating in region
Cancellation comes as Australian government echoes US call for Israel to operate by the rules of war in its response to Hamas attacks
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Two planned flights to evacuate Australians stranded in Israel have been cancelled amid growing fears of escalating violence in the region, although the Albanese government says it is working on alternatives to bring people to safety.
The cancellation of the two planned flights comes as Australia has echoed a call from the Biden administration for Israel to operate by the rules of war in its response to Hamas attacks, while pledging an additional $10m in humanitarian assistance for civilians affected by the conflict in Gaza.
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...Jewish and Muslim Americans fear rise in hate crimes amid Israel-Hamas war
With protests escalating and police departments on alert, assaults and harassment have been reported
Jewish and Muslim Americans in cities all around the country are worried that escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine, which some are calling “isolating and scary”, will exacerbate hate crimes and harassment in the United States.
For many Arab Americans in New York City, Bay Ridge was always a place of safety. The south Brooklyn neighborhood is 3 sq miles of Arabic bodega signs, halal grocers and a growing community of Palestinian, Yemeni, Syrian and Egyptian families.
Continue reading...Hard-right House Republicans are against Ukraine aid – and they seem to be in charge
The chaos in the House may have devastating outcomes for the people of Ukraine, some experts warn
As he excoriated Kevin McCarthy over his leadership of the House Republican conference last week, hard-right congressman Matt Gaetz accused the then speaker of cutting a “secret side deal” with Joe Biden to provide additional funding to Ukraine amid its ongoing war against Russia.
“It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference,” Gaetz, who represents a solidly Republican district in Florida, said in a floor speech at the time.
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.
Continue reading...US families of Hamas attack victims tell of ‘total horror’
At least 22 Americans have died and 14 are missing – and officials are scrambling to determine whether the latter are still alive
As US officials work to determine the whereabouts of 14 US citizens unaccounted for since last Saturday’s deadly Hamas assault on Israel, US families of the dead or missing are describing their loss.
At least 22 Americans are known to have died in last Saturday’s attacks, and officials have said they are working to determine whether those missing have been killed or taken hostage.
Continue reading...Shelling on south Lebanon border kills one journalist and injures six
Shell, reportedly Israeli, struck group of international journalists covering clashes at border
A group of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon have been hit by shelling, with one killed and six injured. The Associated Press and Al Jazeera said the weapon was an Israeli shell.
Reuters said: “We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer Issam Abdallah has been killed. Issam was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon who was providing a live signal. Our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time.”
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