Israel War Day 9 Live | Gaza UN shelters run out of water as ground attack looms

Cross-border fire erupted between Israel and Lebanon early Sunday, killing at least one person on the Israeli side of the border.

Both the Israeli military and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah acknowledged the fighting.

Hezbollah said it shelled Israeli military positions in the northern border town of Shtula. The group said in a statement the attack was in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday.

Israel has responded by targeting the outskirts of the town of Ait el-Shaab, the Israeli military said.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said a 40-year-old man was killed in the attack from Lebanon, without elaborating or giving his nationality As Israel wages its war against Hamas over last week's unprecedented attack by the Gaza Strip militant group, there's been concern that Hezbollah could enter the war as well as Israel moves toward launching a ground offensive in Gaza. (AP)

The German government has issued a travel warning for Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Lebanon.

Sunday's warning is a big step up from previous longstanding partial travel warnings for the Gaza Strip and some areas of Lebanon.

The German foreign office said in a statement that “due to the escalation of violence in the region in connection with the massive terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7, we are warning against travelling to the countries and areas mentioned.” The government also called on all German citizens affected by the warning to register on its crisis precaution list where it provides information on departure options.

In recent days, the German government has helped with the evacuation of more than 2,800 German citizens and their family members from Israel. On Saturday evening, the German army started using military airplanes for evacuations.

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday eliminated a high-ranking Hamas commander responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre in Israel, according to the Israel Air Force (IAF).

The airstrike took place in Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli intelligence had located Billal Al Kedra, a commander within the Nukhba force, a naval commando unit under Hamas' special forces unit known as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The IAF revealed that several other Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were also killed in the airstrike.

Read full report here.

Two flights from Tel Aviv carrying a total of 471 Indians landed in the national capital on Sunday morning.

One flight was operated by Air India and another by SpiceJet.

A total of four flights have been operated under Operation Ajay, which was launched by the government to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to come back from Israel, where an intense conflict is going on with militant group Hamas. (PTI)

Read full report here.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has condemned the “horror and barbarism” unleashed by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and pledged continued support to Israel in restoring security as he marked one week of the conflict in the Middle East.

In a statement issued by 10 Downing Street and also on social media on Saturday evening, the British Indian leader also reiterated his commitment to the Jewish community in the country that all protective measures would be deployed.

His warning to anyone stirring up “shameful antisemitism” came as thousands of pro-Palestine protesters marched the streets of London chanting anti-Israel slogans and 15 arrests were made on suspicion of public order offences and criminal damage.

“No words can begin to describe the horror and barbarism unleashed in Israel a week ago. Daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, grandparents were taken from people in the cruellest and most horrific way possible,” reads Sunak's statement.

“I know that the days and weeks ahead will continue to be very difficult. To the people of Israel, I say Britain is with you. What took place was an act of pure evil and Israel has every right to defend itself. We will do everything we can to support Israel in restoring the security it deserves,” he said.

Noting that British citizens are among the victims of the clashes, the Prime Minister expressed solidarity with all families suffering in deep pain and torment.

“To our Jewish community in the UK: I know you are hurting and reeling from these vile terrorist acts… We’ve seen intimidating behaviour and shameful antisemitism online and on our streets with attempts to stir up tensions. I say: not here. Not in Britain. Not in our country. Not in this century,” he said, promising to do everything he possibly can to protect Jewish people in the country.

“I am unequivocal. We stand with Israel, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always. And I stand with you, the British Jewish community, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always,” he added.

Opposition Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also marked a week since the Hamas strikes on Israel followed by retaliatory actions and called for safe humanitarian corridors for Palestinians in Gaza fleeing violence.

“A week ago, we awoke to the unimaginable and heartbreaking news of terrorist attacks on Israel from Gaza by Hamas,” said Starmer. (PTI)

Medics in Gaza warned on Sunday that thousands could die if hospitals packed with wounded people run out of fuel and basic supplies, as civilians struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas' deadly attack last week.

Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group.

A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighbourhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel.

The Israeli military has urged Palestinians to leave the north en masse. The military offered two corridors and a longer window the day before. It says hundreds of thousands have already fled south.

The UN and aid groups have said that the mass exodus within Gaza, along with Israel's complete siege of the 40-kilometer-long (25-mile-long) coastal territory, would cause untold human suffering.

The World Health Organization said the evacuation “could be tantamount to a death sentence” for the more than 2,000 patients in northern hospitals, including newborns in incubators and people in intensive care.

The Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza remained closed on Sunday morning, as Egyptian authorities continued negotiations with Israel, the US and Palestinian militant groups over allowing aid to flow into the besieged strip and letting Americans and other foreigners and wounded Palestinians cross into Egypt, two Egyptian officials said.

Convoys of humanitarian aid, including shipments from Turkey and Jordan, have been waiting near the crossing point for delivery to Gaza, they said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief media. (AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh as the Biden administration scrambles to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from becoming a broader regional conflict.

Blinken and the crown prince spoke Sunday for a little less than an hour at his private farm outside the capital, US officials said. Asked how the meeting went, Blinken replied “very productive,” but there were no other immediate details. The meeting, which had been expected late Saturday night but never materialised, was closed to media.

The talks came just hours after the Israeli military warned that a full-scale assault on Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip would begin soon amid increasingly dire warnings that the expected ground invasion will have devastating consequences for Palestinian civilians.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement after the meeting: “The Secretary highlighted the United States’ unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading. The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond.”

Prince Mohammed is the sixth Arab leader Blinken has seen in person since he arrived in the Middle East on Thursday, stopping first in Israel to reaffirm the Biden administration's pledge to stand with and support Israel.

From Israel, Blinken has travelled throughout the region meeting the leaders of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. He plans to visit Egypt later Sunday.

The Gaza Health Ministry says 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the latest fighting erupted, making this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for Palestinians.

The death toll on Sunday surpassed that of the third war between Israel and Hamas, in the summer of 2014, when 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians, were killed, according to UN figures.

That war lasted six weeks, and 74 people were killed on the Israeli side, including six civilians.

The current war erupted a week ago when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel in a shocking surprise attack. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed in the initial, wide-ranging assault and in rocket attacks from Gaza. The overwhelming majority were civilians.

For Israel, this is the deadliest war since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. (AP)

More than 2,000 Muslims rallied in Indonesia's capital on Sunday to show solidarity with Palestinians and called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war.

Waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags and signs that read “Save Palestinians,” they gathered outside Al Azhar Grand Mosque in southern Jakarta.

“Let's pray for an end to the war, which is full of tears and blood of the martyrs,” a speaker told the crowd with a loudspeaker. “Victory will at the end be in the hands of the Palestinian people." The rally ended peacefully and the community raised money for humanitarian aid in Gaza.