Israel-Hamas War HIGHLIGHTS: Israel Preping For 'Multilateral Ops' Against Hamas From 'Air, Ground And Sea'
Israel-Hamas War HIGHLIGHTS: Hello and welcome to the live blog on the Israel-Hamas War. Follow this space for all the live and latest updates.
Israel is preparing a "multilateral operation" against Hamas from the "air, ground, and sea," according to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in a video message broadcast Monday, CNN reported.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's foreign minister, met with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials today to discuss Iran's support for them and Palestinians trapped in the crossfire in Gaza, according to Iranian state media. According to Iranian state media, Hamas' chief political officer, Ismail Haniyeh, assured Amir-Abdollahian that the terrorist group is determined to continue fighting Israel and has the situation under control.
The Lebanese government does not seek a conflict with Israel, according to Acting Information Minister Ziad Makari in an interview with Russian official media RIA Novosti on Monday. "The Lebanese government does not want war. If, God forbid, this happens, we will work with it," said Makari, as quoted by RIA.
According to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health in the occupied West Bank, at least 5,087 people have been killed and 15,273 have been injured in Gaza since October 7.
Norwegian Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl criticized assaults on civilians and stated that Norway is "prepared to provide resources quickly" if a request for assistance in investigating alleged war crimes in Gaza and Israel is received, CNN reported.
The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has slammed the UN Security Council for neglecting to address the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza, CNN reported.
According to an IDF statement, Omer Balva, 22, was killed by anti-tank missile fire while serving in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday in Israel's northern border. According to a statement from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the Israeli-American dual citizen from Rockville was summoned to service to serve in the IDF only last week.
According to CNN, a third fleet of vehicles bringing badly needed supplies entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Monday.
According to the Israel Defence Forces, Hamas kidnapped 222 persons during its horrific attack on Israel on October 7, as international attempts to free those kidnapped intensify, CNN reported.
Relief workers in hospitals in Gaza are unable to use morphine or painkillers to treat civilians, as Israel's siege on the enclave drains critical medical supplies amid persistent bombardment, a relief agency official said Monday, reported CNN.
On Hamas's attack on Israel, IDF's Major Doron in Kibbutz says, "I have never seen anyone face such slaughter...It's not human what they did here. I don't think we have seen anything like this except for maybe ISIS of the Holocaust...They came and killed babies, and mothers or took them as hostages. Even now we don't know who is alive or dead..."
Hamas claims some of its fighters have engaged with an Israeli force that infiltrated Gaza and destroyed some of their equipment. The militant group's armed wing said the infiltration took place east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Several US officials tell The New York Times that the White House wants Israel to allow more time for negotiations over the hostages held by terrorists in Gaza and for aid to enter the Strip, before the launch of the ground operation. The report says the Biden administration also wants to increase readiness for any potential attacks on US targets in the region from Iran-based groups, which it believes are likely to increase as the war goes on.
Overnight Israeli raids targeting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank continued in the morning, with nearly 120 in custody, reports Al Jazeera.
The Palestinian official news agency Wafa said in a report released at about 10am (07:00 GMT) that at least 120 Palestinians, including 40 workers from Gaza, were arrested.
The number of people confirmed as being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza is now 222, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a press statement, reported Al Jazeera, Sky News and Times of Israel.
The figure is an increase from the 212 thought to have been captured in the 7 October incursion. Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the IDF has been carrying out "limited" raids in the region to target Hamas gunmen and search for hostages.
Israel Defence Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military has carried out strikes to eliminate 20 Hezbollah cells in southern Lebanon since the start of the war, reports the Times of Israel.
A UK government spokesman has told Sky News it's not the right time to consider accepting refugees from Gaza.
"I think reaching for the tool of refugees at this stage is not the right one," Transport secretary Mark Harper said.
Gaza needs fuel “as urgent as water and food," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) told CNN on Monday," as the two aid convoys that entered Gaza this weekend barely alleviate the dire conditions within the territory.
Dozens of people were killed across parts of Gaza overnight in Israeli strikes, Palestinian doctors and ministry officials in Gaza told CNN. According to a report, the Israeli army says that over 320 military targets were attacked overnight inside the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck a terrorist cell in Lebanon.
"The terrorist cell was planning to carry out an anti-tank missile launch towards the town of Shlomi," which is located in northern Israel, the IDF said in a statement Monday.
Israel has released a number of images purporting to show a number of Hamas rocket launch sites near civilian infrastructure inside the Gaza Strip. "Hamas directly endangers Gazans, Israelis and the international community," the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said, sharing the images. reports Sky News.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has claimed that Hamas terrorists were carrying a USB drive with instructions for making a chemical weapon to use on civilian targets, reported SKy News.
In a statement, Herzog's office said the USB key contained pages from a 2003 al Qaeda manual that included a diagram for a "device for dispersing cyanide agents." The President reportedly provided two pages of the document in question, which included a crude sketch of a device made up of household items combined with chemical agents.
"It's Al Qaeda material. Official Al Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas," Mr Herzog said
At least one person was injured with live bullets, as Israeli forces arrested at least 14 other people following a raid north of the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the Israeli forces stormed early on Monday the Jalazoun refugee camp, which is located just north of the city of Ramallah, reports Al Jazeera.
UN says that the second convoy of 14 aid trucks which entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Sunday was carrying only about three percent of the usual daily deliveries to the besieged enclave.
Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza is on the brink of “real disaster”, with its fuel possibly running out in the next 48 hours, according to its director, reports AL Jazeera.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Dr Mohammad Abu Salmiya, said that the hospital has yet to receive any UN aid, amid the total Israeli blockade of Gaza.
US citizens in Lebanon are urged to leave due to the unpredictable security situation, the US State Department said on Sunday, reports Jerusalem Post.
The number of Thai nationals killed in Israel following Hamas' October 7 attack has risen to 30, Thailand's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, reports CNN.
Israeli military aircraft carried out airstrikes near the Al-Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals in Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news site.
The Israeli Defence Forces said it struck a number of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including a “military compound” and observation post. It added that military aircraft also targeted “a terror cell” along the border and destroyed armaments possessed by the operatives.
The forces also said they attacked Hamas targets in Gaza.
Hamas said its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh received a phone call from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian late Sunday to discuss “how to use all methods to stop” Israeli strikes on Gaza, reports CNN.
As 'Operation Ajay' perseveres, a sixth flight carrying Indian nationals has taken off from Tel Aviv, bound for Delhi. This humanitarian mission, aimed at repatriating Indian citizens stranded in Israel during the country's war with Hamas, is being executed by the Indian Armed Forces. Operation Ajay is dedicated to evacuating approximately 18,000 Indians from Israel with the Indian government committing to the safe return of its citizens.
The US government has encouraged Israel to postpone the impending attack of Gaza in order to allow more Hamas hostages and supplies enter Gaza, according to two people informed on the discussions, CNN reported.
The Israeli military issued a statement on Sunday acknowledging that one of its tanks had "accidentally fired and hit an Egyptian post" near the Gaza border as the army continues to bombard the Palestinian enclave. The Egyptian military confirmed the incident, stating that it resulted in "minor injuries," although specific details were not provided, news agency AFP reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah that if it enters the conflict, it will be crippled "with a force it cannot even imagine." “And the meaning for (Hezbollah) and for the state of Lebanon will be devastating, but we are prepared for any scenario,” Netanyahu said.
According to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, overnight air strikes in central Gaza's Deir Al Balah killed 143 people, CNN reported.
According to the hospital that received the deceased and injured, the air attack harmed a total of 262 individuals.
A top UN official has warned that the UN's gasoline supply in Gaza would run out in three days, repeating that supplies must be let into the beleaguered region.
Egyptian media report a convoy of 17 trucks bringing aid to Palestinians crosses into Gaza, reports AP.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, Israel's demands for the evacuation of Gaza hospitals amount to "the death penalty for patients."
On Friday, the Israeli military issued three evacuation orders for the Al-Quds hospital, according to the organization. "We do not have the means to safely evacuate them," said CNN's Nebal Farsakh on Sunday. The majority of the patients had serious injuries."
A total of 24 hospitals, including Al-Quds, are under fear of "being bombed at any second due to Israeli evacuation orders," according to Farsakh.
At least 65 people were arrested in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces overnight, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club. This takes the number of arrests since the beginning of October to more than 1,130, it said in a statement, reports CNN.
Israel Defence Forces hits third south Lebanon terror cell preparing anti-tank missile attack on Israel, intercepts drone. The Israel Defense Forces says it has carried out a drone strike against another cell in southern Lebanon, preparing to carry out an anti-tank guided missile attack against the northern community of Zar’it.
The Palestinian Authority calls for “real international pressure” on Isreal to stop the aggression against its people and for continued entry of humanitarian aid into the occupied Palestinian Territories. In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said, as quoted by the state-run Wafa news agency, that it viewed the air raids on the Jenin camp at dawn as a dangerous escalation due to the use of warplanes.
The death toll following an Israeli strike on a mosque in the occupied West Bank has risen to three, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Separately, following clashes in Toubas and Nablus, two people were killed, the ministry said.
According to CNN, the numbers bring the toll in the occupied West Bank since October 7 to 90.
The Israel Defense Forces says it killed two members of Hamas’s Nukhba commando forces in an airstrike near the Gaza border fence last night. The military says other Hamas terrorists were also killed in the same incident, but does not elaborate further.
People from Southern Israel left their homes and moved to Jerusalem, due to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Some 5,312 Israelis have been wounded since the beginning of Operation Swords of Iron on October 7, the Health Ministry announced on Sunday morning, reporters Jerusalem Post.
"India sends Humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine! An IAF C-17 flight carrying nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material for the people of Palestine departs for El-Arish airport in Egypt," posts MEA spox Arindam Bagchi.
"The material includes essential life-saving medicines, surgical items, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets among other necessary items," he added.
Bodies of three Nepali students killed in Hamas attack, during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, brought to Kathmandu. The body of one more Nepali student will be brought here later in the afternoon.
The Israel Defense Forces and Defense Ministry said they are planning to evacuate another 14 communities close to the Lebanese border as Hezbollah continues repeated rocket and missile attacks along with its Palestinian factions in the last two weeks.
Israeli attacks have knocked out war-torn Syria’s two main airports, according to state media citing a military source, with the transport ministry saying flights were re-routed to Latakia, reported Al Jazeera.
“At approximately 5:25 am (02:25 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out… an air attack… targeting Damascus and Aleppo international airports, leading to the death of a civilian worker at Damascus airport and wounding another,” the military source said in the statement carried by state news agency SANA
A large pro-Palestine rally is under way in Kuala Lumpur’s Independence Square, also known as Dataran Merdeka in Malaysia. Planned by Malaysian organisations Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) and MyCare, the rally appears to have drawn several thousand people, reports Al Jazeera.
Escalating attacks by Hezbollah risk “dragging Lebanon into a war,” the IDF says, amid renewed cross-border attacks on Israel by the Iran-backed terror group raise fears of a wider conflict.
“Hezbollah… is dragging Lebanon into a war that it will gain nothing from, but stands to lose a lot,” warned Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus. “They’re escalating the situation,” he said.
Independent analysis by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command indicates with "a high degree of confidence that Israel did not strike the Al-Ahli hospital" in Gaza City on October 17, according to a statement released by Canada's Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces Saturday, reported CNN.
"Based on analysis of open source and classified reporting, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces assess that the strike was more likely caused by an errant rocket fired from Gaza," the statement said, adding "This assessment is informed by an analysis of the blast damage to the hospital complex, including adjacent buildings and the area surrounding the hospital, as well as the flight pattern of the incoming munition".
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has dropped flyers in the Sabrah neighborhood of Gaza City that urgently warn residents to evacuate to the south or face the possibility of being considered "a partner for the terrorist organization,” according to a CNN translation.
The convoy of 20 trucks carrying aid supplies that arrived in Gaza on Saturday was nowhere near enough to meet the needs of people in the besieged enclave, officials have said.
The shipment included 44,000 bottles of drinking water but UNICEF, which supplied the water, said it was only “enough for 22,000 people for one day”, a tiny fraction of the more than 2 million people who live in the Gaza Strip.
The US military is sending more missile defence systems to the Middle East and placing additional US troops on prepare-to-deploy orders in response to escalations throughout the region in recent days, reports CNN.
The Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday he had “activated the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery as well as additional Patriot battalions to locations throughout the region to increase force protection for US forces."
The order for troops to prepare for deployment is meant “to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required,” he added.
At least 13 Palestinians, including five children, were reported killed in an Israeli security forces' operation that lasted 28 hours in a West Bank refugee camp, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The situation remains grim at Gaza hospitals, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said the fast-depleting fuel supplies in hospitals in Gaza is putting the lives of 130 premature babies in imminent danger.
“The world cannot simply look on as these babies are killed by the siege on Gaza,” Melanie Ward, the CEO of MAP said in a post on X.
As per the Times of Israel, a top official with Hezbollah vows that Israel will pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and says that his terror group based in Lebanon already is “in the heart of the battle.”
Israeli aircraft struck a compound beneath a mosque in the West Bank early on Sunday that the military said was being used by militants to "imminent terror attacks", and Palestinian medics said at least one person was killed, reported Jerusalem Post.
Background
Israel-Hamas War HIGHLIGHTS: Israel has intensified its attack on the Gaza Strips by hitting more specific targets as the war continues to tear the region. United Nations said that Gaza hospitals are overcrowded with many dealing with over 150 per cent of their capacity. It said that the maximum number of patients are lying on the ground as there is no facility available for them.
Meanwhile, Hamas released two American hostages -- mother and daughter. US President Joe Biden spoke to them and their family assuring them of full government support during their recovery and healing process.
Israel's military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, announced that Israel is preparing to escalate its offensive against the Gaza Strip as part of its ongoing conflict with Hamas. Hagari told reporters on Saturday night that Israel intends to intensify its attacks, with the aim of creating optimal conditions for the next stages of the war, news agency Associated Press reported. He also emphasised the need to minimise risks to Israeli forces in the upcoming phases of the conflict.
"We will deepen our attacks to minimise the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today," he stated, as quoted by AP. He also reiterated his call for the residents of Gaza City to head south for their safety.
Only 20 trucks were permitted to enter Gaza, a quantity that aid workers argue is insufficient to address the severe humanitarian crisis currently gripping the region. More than 200 trucks carrying 3,000 tons of aid have been waiting near the border for days.
Inside Gaza, where 2.3 million Palestinians reside, half of whom have been displaced from their homes, residents are facing dire conditions. Food is being rationed, and many are forced to drink contaminated water. Hospitals report dwindling supplies and fuel shortages for emergency generators, particularly amid a widespread power outage. As a result, five hospitals have ceased operations due to fuel shortages and bomb damage, as reported by the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
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