Israel-Hamas war updates | Second aid convoy enters Gaza Strip from Egypt, says UN official

Israeli warplanes targeted the surroundings of Al Shifa and Al Quds hospitals in the besieged enclave of Gaza with “several missiles”, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said early on Monday.

Reuters

Scores of Palestinians were killed in central Gaza on Sunday after Israel stepped up its strikes on the war-torn enclave and another convoy of 17 aid trucks arrived as the Hamas-run territory faces “catastrophic” shortages.

With the violence raging unchecked, Iran said the region could spiral “out of control”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, saying getting involved would be “the mistake of its life”.

Washington warned any actors looking to inflame the conflict that it would not hesitate to act in the event of any “escalation”.

Doctors treating premature babies across Gaza are grappling with similar fears. At least 130 premature babies are at “grave risk” across six neonatal units, aid workers said. The dangerous fuel shortages are caused by the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which started — along with airstrikes — after Hamas militants attacked Israeli towns on October 7.

At least 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are unable to access essential health services, and some 5,500 are due to give birth in the coming month, according to the World Health Organisation.

At least seven of the almost 30 hospitals have been forced to shut down due to damage from relentless Israeli strikes and lack of power, water and other supplies. Doctors in the remaining hospitals said they are on the brink. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Sunday it has enough fuel to last three days to serve critical needs.

“The world cannot simply look on as these babies are killed by the siege on Gaza ... A failure to act is to sentence these babies to death,” said Melanie Ward, chief executive of the Medical Aid for Palestinians aid group.

AP

Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian discussed the means of stopping the Israeli “brutal crimes” in the besieged Gaza enclave, the group said in a statement late Sunday.

Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Israel on Tuesday, the Elysee said on Sunday, confirming an announcement by the Israeli prime minister’s office earlier in the day.

Reuters

The United States warned Iran or its allies against any escalation in the wake of Israel’s war with Hamas, two top US officials said Sunday, hours after the Pentagon moved to step up military readiness in the region.

With tensions mounting, Washington also announced Sunday it had ordered non-emergency staff to leave its embassy in Iraq.

“We are concerned at the possibility of Iranian proxies escalating their attacks against our own personnel, our own people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CBS News. “We expect there is a likelihood of escalation.”

“No one should take advantage of this moment to escalate to further attacks on Israel or, for that matter, attacks on us on our personnel.”

AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday held telephonic conversations with the leaders of France, Spain, and the Netherlands on the ongoing offensive on Hamas, underlining “the determination of the people to eliminate” the terror group’s military.

PM Netanyahu held a series of conversations with leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The Israeli PM’s office posted from its official handle on X, “The Prime Minister told the leaders about the unity and determination of the people to eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and said that Israel’s victory over Hamas would be a victory for the entire world.”

He thanked the leaders for their support of Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’s “brutal terrorism”.

ANI

Jon Polin says he has watched the video of his seriously wounded son being hustled into the back of a truck by Hamas gunmen countless times.

The scene played out just hours after 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin had spent time with his family on the last day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot then spent the night dancing at a music festival with friends.

“That’s a video that nobody ever wants to see of their loved one,” his father said on Sunday.

“Despite that, I’ve watched it dozens of times, maybe hundreds of times,” he added.

“In a really confusing way, I watch it and take strength from it,” he said pointing to his son’s ability to walk “on his own legs, on his own strength” -- which he attributes to “shock”.

“I hope that he has the physical and mental fortitude to keep on fighting.”

AFP

About 20,000 people rallied in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday to demand the release of more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas during their Oct. 7 incursion from Gaza into Israel in which 1,400 Israelis were killed.

Waving the blue and white Israeli flag adorned with the Star of David, several participants wept as the names of hostages were read out to the crowd.

Ayelet Svtizky described how Hamas had entered her mother’s home as she was speaking on the phone to her.

“A few minutes later, Hamas sent me two pictures of my mum and my brother sitting in my mum’s living room,” she said. “The third picture they uploaded to my mum’s Facebook story with a Hamas gunman in the background. And that’s the last I heard of them.

“My message is these atrocities should never be forgotten,” she said. “The hostages should be brought home now.”

Reuters

Thousands of people joined vigils in Berlin and London on Sunday to oppose antisemitism and support Israel, while in Paris and other cities, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanded a cease-fire and relief for people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Some of those who gathered in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate carried Israeli flags or posters with photos of some of the more than 200 people seized by Hamas as hostages during the militants’ deadly Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.

“It is unbearable that Jews are living in fear again today — in our country of all places,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the crowd, estimated at 20,000 by organizers and 10,000 by police. “Every single attack on Jews, on Jewish institutions is a disgrace for Germany. Every single attack fills me with shame and anger.”

Several buildings in Berlin where Jews live had the star of David painted on doors and walls, and assailants threw two Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Berlin last week.

AP

President Joe Biden told a crowd of Democratic donors over the weekend about a decades-old photo he took with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an aside that seemed intended to illustrate his long support of Israel and track record of speaking bluntly with the conservative Israeli leader.

Biden said he’d written on the photo of himself as a young senator and Netanyahu as an embassy hand, “Bibi, I love you. I don’t agree with a damn thing you say.’” He told donors at a Friday night fundraiser that Netanyahu still keeps the photo on his desk and had brought it up during Biden’s lightning visit to Tel Aviv last week.

As expectations grow that Israel will soon launch a ground offensive aimed at rooting out Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip, Biden finds himself facing anew the difficult balancing act of demonstrating full-throated support for America’s closest ally in the Middle East while trying to also press the Israelis to act with enough restraint to keep the war from spreading into a broader conflagration.

AP

A second convoy of 14 aid trucks entered the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side to the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday night, Juliette Touma, director of communications at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), told Reuters in Gaza by phone from Amman.

There were a total of around 19 trucks in Sunday’s convoy carrying medical and food supplies, the security and humanitarian sources said.

A first convoy of 20 trucks of badly-needed supplies had entered Gaza on Saturday through Rafah, which had previously been out of operation after bombardments hit on the Gaza side of the border and amid wrangling over conditions for delivering aid.

U.N. officials say at least 100 trucks a day would be required in Gaza to cover urgent needs. Before the outbreak of the most recent conflict, several hundred trucks had been arriving in the enclave daily.

U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told Reuters on Saturday that work was under way to develop a “light” inspection system, whereby Israel could check the shipments but ensure a sustained flow.

Reuters

Israel’s defence minister said Sunday that the war against Hamas could take “months” but insisted it would be the last against the Gaza militant group.

Yoav Gallant stepped up the war of words with Hamas as he spoke with forces gathered for an expected ground invasion of the Palestinian territory in response to the shock Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.

“It will take one month, two months, three months, and at the end there will be no more Hamas,” Gallant said at an air force base whose location was not given by the defence ministry.

“Before Hamas makes contact with our tanks and our infantry, they will know the shells from our air force.”

He added that Israel’s fighter jets “know how to make this precise, qualitative and mortal”.

“This should be the last war in Gaza, for the simple reason that there will be no more Hamas,” Gallant said.

AFP

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Pope Francis on Sunday and discussed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, the White House said in a statement.

They discussed “the need to prevent escalation in the region and to work toward a durable peace in the Middle East,” the White House said.

The Vatican earlier said the call, which lasted about 20 minutes, “focused on conflict situations in the world and the need to identify paths to peace.”

Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday held a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation in Israel and Gaza, the White House said.

Reuters

An Israeli soldier was killed by an anti-tank missile on Sunday during a raid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the military said.

Israeli troops have been conducting raids across the border, which the military says are meant to clear the area and gather intelligence about missing people and captives being held by militant group Hamas in the enclave.

“An IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldier was killed, one was moderately injured, and two were lightly injured as a result of an anti-tank missile launched toward an IDF tank and an engineering vehicle,” the military said.

Reuters

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday the United States expects the Israel-Hamas war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran and asserted that the Biden administration is prepared to respond if American personnel or armed forces become the target of any such hostilities.

“This is not what we want, not what we’re looking for. We don’t want escalation,” Blinken said. “We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it.” Blinken’s warning came as Israel’s military response to a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas on civilians in communities in southern Israel entered its third week.

AP

Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants, as the 2-week-old war with Hamas threatened to spiral Sunday into a broader conflict.

Israel has traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in northern Israel that if Hezbollah launches a war, “it will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state will be devastating”.

AP

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the United Nations on Sunday demanding the release of hostages seized by Hamas during the Islamist group’s bloody attack on Israel.

The protest on the square outside the UN’s Palais des Nations headquarters in Geneva was organised by the Voice for Freedom coalition, bringing together several Christian Zionist organising committees.

The gathering therefore had a religious tone, with chants and slogans intermingled with prayers and psalms.

The demonstration was the culmination of a visit to Geneva by the families of several of those missing since the Hamas attack. They met with Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and UN human rights chief Volker Turk.

Many demonstrators waved Israeli flags or wore them around their shoulders, or held posters featuring pictures of missing Israelis, including children.

AFP

Israeli military said on Sunday that one of its tanks accidentally hit an Egyptian position near the border with the Gaza Strip.

“The incident is being investigated and the details are under review. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) expresses sorrow regarding the incident,” it said in a statement, giving no further details. - Reuters

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on Sunday on the international community to create “united front” to stop Israel’s attacks in the Gaza Strip.

“We place at the top of our priorities stopping the Israeli aggression (...) and bringing in medical and relief aid to prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe,” Mr. Shtayyeh said during a meeting with 25 ambassadors, representatives and consuls. - Reuters

A blast and the sound of ambulances was heard near the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon, shortly after a second aid convoy had entered the crossing from the Egyptian side, witnesses said. - Reuters

The United States sees the prospect of further attacks on its troops in the Middle East and the Israel-Hamas war escalating to the wider region, the top U.S. diplomat and defense officials said on Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the United States did not want to see the conflict spread.

Mr. Blinken told NBC News actions by Iran and its proxies could spark an escalation and that the United States hoped for more hostages to be released by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

“We’re concerned about potential escalation. In fact, what we’re seeing … is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region,” Mr. Austin told ABC’s “This Week” program.

“If any group or any country is looking to widen this conflict and take advantage of this very unfortunate situation ... our advice is: don’t,” he added. - Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden told a crowd of Democratic donors over the weekend about a decades-old photo he took with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an aside that seemed intended to illustrate his long support of Israel and track record of speaking bluntly with the conservative Israeli leader.

Mr. Biden said he’d written on the photo of himself as a young senator and Mr. Netanyahu as an embassy hand, “Bibi, I love you. I don’t agree with a damn thing you say.” He told donors at a Friday night fundraiser that Mr. Netanyahu still keeps the photo on his desk and had brought it up during Mr. Biden’s lightning visit to Tel Aviv last week. - AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops stationed near the border with Lebanon, where the Israeli army and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants also have traded fire during the Hamas-Israel war.

A top official with Iran Hezbollah vowed Saturday that Israel would pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and said Saturday that his militant group based in Lebanon already is “in the heart of the battle.”

Speaking to troops in the north on Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel would react more fiercely than it did during its short 2006 war with Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon.

“If Hezbollah decides to enter the war, it will miss the Second Lebanon War. It will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state are devastating,” the Israeli leader said. - AP

A special flight carrying 143 persons, including two Nepalese citizens and four infants, wanting to leave Israel amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict, left for India on Sunday as part of ‘Operation Ajay’.

It was the sixth flight as part of Operation Ajay launched on October 12 to facilitate the return of those Indian nationals who wish to return home.

Eighteen Nepalese nationals were earlier accommodated on the special flight last Tuesday. - PTI

The bodies of four Nepali students killed in a Hamas attack in Israel have been brought back to Kathmandu, a senior official said on Sunday.

Ten Nepali students were killed when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a barrage of rocket attacks in Southern Israel on October 7.

All four bodies were airlifted on Saturday to Dhangadhi in Western Nepal on a Nepal Army helicopter, according to Nepal Army headquarters sources.

The identification of the remaining six bodies and due legal process are underway.

Of the four students injured in the October 7 assault, two are undergoing treatment at a local hospital. One of the students discharged from the hospital is receiving care at the Nepali Embassy while the other has arrived in Nepal. - AP

A convoy of 17 trucks bringing aid to besieged Palestinians crossed into Gaza on Sunday, Egypt’s state-run media reported.

The delivery would be the second shipment into the territory in the past two days. - AP

Pope Francis pleaded Sunday for an end to the Hamas-Israeli conflict amid fears it could widen, and called for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into to the Gaza Strip.

“War is always a defeat, it is a destruction of human fraternity. Brothers, stop! Stop!” Francis said after his traditional Angelus prayer in Rome’s Saint Peter’s Square.

“I renew my call for spaces to be opened, for humanitarian aid to continue to arrive and for hostages to be freed,” the 86-year-old pontiff said.

- AFP

Iran’s foreign minster on Sunday warned Israel and its ally the United States that the Middle East risks spiralling out of control as a result of Israel’s war on Hamas.

“I warn the US and its proxy (Israel)... that if they do not immediately stop the crime against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at a joint news conference in Tehran with his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor.

- AFP

Israel expanded planned evacuations of communities on its northern front with Lebanon on Sunday as cross-border clashes with fighters from Lebanese group Hezbollah have intensified since the war in Gaza erupted more than two weeks ago.

After enacting a plan last week to move residents out of 28 border-area villages, and the nearby town of Kiryat Shmona, with state-funded temporary accommodation, the Defence Ministry said it was adding 14 communities to the evacuation list.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire at the frontier with increasing frequency since Palestinian group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded with intense air strikes on Gaza.

- Reuters

The lives of at least 120 newborn babies on incubators in war-torn Gaza’s hospitals are at risk as fuel runs out in the besieged enclave, the UN children’s agency warned Sunday.

Read more here...

Palestinian students in India anxious about well-being of loved ones, praying for war to end.

Aliah, another Palestinian student, had completed her degree course and was planning to return home when the war erupted.

Ever since losing contact with her family, she has been suffering constant panic attacks.

Aliah said the Palestine Embassy has not provided any aid to the students in India and several of them are struggling to survive on their own.

“The Palestine Embassy in India has not provided us with any kind of support or inquired about our well-being,” Aliah, who has been staying with her friends, alleged.

- PTI

As casualties rise in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, prayers and low-key protest meetings in Hyderabad, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians, have been continuing. Against this backdrop, historical evidence underscores the city’s unwavering support for Palestine.

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Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said on Sunday that it was cancelling all flights between the city and Tel Aviv until the end of the year, over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“In view of the ongoing situation in Israel, all Cathay Pacific flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv from today up to and including 31 December 2023 will be cancelled,” the airline said in a statement on its website.

It also urged its customers to continue to check its flight information and announcements for updates on departures beyond December 31.

Cathay is the latest in a string of airlines to halt flights to Israel over the conflict.

Last week, US carrier Delta said it was cancelling all flights to the country as it searched for “safe alternatives” for customers travelling to Tel Aviv.

American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates and Ryanair also suspended flights to Tel Aviv last weekend.

- AFP

Senior CPI (M) leader M Y Tarigami on Sunday called upon the Centre to push for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Tarigami said, “I request our government to not be a silent spectator and follow the traditional policy of (former PMs) Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.” “The government should use its influence and call for a ceasefire... I also appeal to all the political powers of the country to a raise voice for justice as it is our duty and I hope it will happen,” he added.

Tarigami also appealed to the Western countries, “who have shut their eyes,” to stop the violence in the region.

- PTI

Israel has confirmed that 212 people are being held hostage in Gaza, the military spokesperson said on Sunday, adding that Israeli strikes overnight killed dozens of Palestinian fighters, including the deputy chief of Hamas rocket forces.

On the northern front, Israel has been attacking fighters trying to fire missiles in across the Lebanese border and struck a site in Lebanon from where a missile was fired at an Israeli aircraft, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing.

- Reuters

The tiny Mediterranean strip of land has been thrust into the spotlight once again after the October 7 attack by Hamas shattered Israel’s security model and brought the Palestine question back to the fore in West Asia

Read more here...

Palestinians said they had received renewed warnings from Israel’s military to move from north Gaza to the south of the strip, with the added warning that they could be identified as sympathisers with a “terrorist organisation” if they stayed put.

The message was delivered in leaflets marked with the Israel Defense Forces name and logo from Saturday and sent to people via mobile phone audio messages across the Gaza Strip, a narrow territory that is just 45 km (28 miles) long.

“Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organisation,” the leaflet said.

Israel has pounded Gaza with airstrikes since the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israeli soil on Oct. 7. Israel has massed troops and armour on the border with Gaza ahead of an expected land incursion.

Israel has previously warned Palestinians to move south, although Palestinians said they had not previously been told they could be considered “terrorist” sympathisers if they did not. They also say making the journey south remains highly risky amid airstrikes and say areas of the south have also been hit.

- Reuters

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

Hezbollah’s escalating attacks on Israel risk “dragging Lebanon into a war”, Israel’s military said Sunday, after renewed cross-border exchanges of fire that have raised fears of a wider conflict.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is allied with Hamas, which touched off the latest violence with a bloody October 7 rampage in Israel that killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has retaliated with relentless strikes on the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 4,300 Palestinians, also mainly civilians.

It has also exchanged fire with Hezbollah across its northern border, with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Jonathan Conricus accusing the group of a dangerous escalation.

“Hezbollah... is dragging Lebanon into a war that it will gain nothing from, but stands to lose a lot,” Conricus said.

“Hezbollah is playing a very, very dangerous game. They’re escalating the situation. We see more and more attacks every day,” he said.

- AFP

Ambassador of Palestine Adnan Abu Alhaija has expressed his appreciation to the gesture and said the blockade of the last fortnight had stopped entry of essential items like oxygen into the Gaza Strip. “People of Palestine will truly appreciate the Indian assistance as they are in need of urgent help after nearly 15 days of Israeli blockade

Nepal has repatriated the bodies of three of 10 Nepali students who were killed during the Hamas attack in Israel two weeks ago.

Nepal’s Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud and Israeli Ambassador Hanan Goder received the bodies at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport. The bodies will be flown to the students’ home district of Kailai.

Another body of a Nepali student is expected to be flown to Kathmandu later Sunday. One Nepalese student is missing and believed to be held captive by Hamas, officials said.

Israeli authorities have so far handed over four bodies to the Nepalese Embassy in Tel Aviv. They are in the process of identifying the remaining six bodies, a statement from the embassy said. More than 200 Nepalese nationals returned home from Israel on Oct. 13. As many as 265 Nepali students were in Israel attending a program launched by the Israeli government.

- AP

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through a rainy London on Saturday to demand Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza, and similar calls were heard in cities around the world as the Israel-Hamas war entered its third week.

Protesters gathered in at Marble Arch near London’s Hyde Park before marching to the government district, Whitehall.

Police estimated the crowd that wound its way through the city for three hours at “up to 100,000.”

Waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Stop bombing Gaza,” participants called for an end to Israel’s blockade and airstrikes launched in the wake of a brutal incursion into southern Israel by the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza.

- AP

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More than 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza strip overnight, Gaza medical sources said on Sunday.

- Reuters

Israel added 14 communities to its evacuation plan in the north of the country, a joint statement by the defence ministry and military said on Sunday.

The communities outlined in the statement, which were approved by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, lie close to Lebanon and Syria.

Reuters

Israeli shelling targets Dasmascus, Aleppo airports and put them out of service: Syrian State Media

Reuters

Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank overnight, bringing the total number of deaths to 89 since Oct. 7, the Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday.

Reuters

Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking dirty water. Hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Five hospitals have stopped functioning because of fuel shortages and bombing damage, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.

Doctors reported using sewing needles to stitch wounds, and using vinegar as a disinfectant until the shops ran out. With anesthesia running low, the screams of patients could be heard during surgery.

Doctors Without Borders said Gaza’s health care system is “facing collapse.”

AP

The US has decided to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system as well as additional Patriot battalions to the Middle East to increase its force posture there following recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the region, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

These steps will bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase force protection for US forces in the region, and assist in the defence of Israel, he said.

PTI

Canada’s National Department of Defence said on Saturday that Israel was not behind the Al-Ahli hospital strike in Gaza on Oct. 17.

“Analysis conducted independently by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command indicates with a high degree of confidence that Israel did not strike the Al-Ahli hospital on 17 October 2023,” it said in a statement.

The strike was more likely caused by an errant rocket fired from Gaza, the Defence department said based on analysis of open source and classified reporting.

Canada’s findings are similar to conclusions by France and the U.S.

Reuters

Hinduism respects all sects and India has never seen strifes on issues like the one that has led to the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said.

He was speaking at a programme organised at a school here on Saturday to mark 350 years of the coronation of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

PTI

The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened Saturday to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off and began pounding it with airstrikes following Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago.

Just 20 trucks were allowed in, an amount aid workers said was insufficient to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis. More than 200 trucks carrying 3,000 tons of aid have been waiting nearby for days.

AP

The director of Red Crescent in Jenin, Mahmoud Al-Saadi, was quoted by the Palestinian news agency Wafa saying one person was killed and three others injured in the strike.

Dozens of people have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since October 7, when Hamas militants stormed into Israel and killed at least 1,400 people, most of them civilians, who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has launched heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip in retaliation, killing more than 4,300 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

AFP

The first humanitarian aid convoy to be allowed in to the besieged Gaza Strip since war broke out arrived through the Rafah border crossing on Saturday. The United Nations said the 20-truck convoy included life-saving supplies that would be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

But the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said the volume of goods that entered on Saturday was equivalent to about 4% of the daily average of imports into Gaza prior to the hostilities, and only a fraction of what was needed after 13 days of siege of an enclave that is home to 2.3 million people.

Reuters

Israel pounded southern Gaza with air strikes early on Sunday and said it would intensify its attacks in the enclave’s north, as the U.S. committed to getting more aid to Palestinians running out of food, water, medicines and fuel.

Palestinian media reported at least 11 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Palestinian media also said Israel was striking the southern city of Rafah.

The overnight strikes came hours after Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called on Gazans to move south out of harm’s way.

Reuters