Israeli soldiers listen to Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant during his visit to a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Thursday, October 19. Photo: AP/PTI
LIVE: Israel-Hamas war: China sends envoy to Middle East to push for ceasefire
Catch all the updates on Israel-Hamas war as world leaders step in to stop escalation
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continue and Israel's defense minister has told troops to be ready for a ground assault on the Palestinian territory, although he has not said when that will begin.
More than 1 million Palestinians, roughly half of Gaza's population, have fled homes in the north and Gaza City after Israel told them to evacuate. The airstrikes continued overnight Friday in southern Gaza and ambulances transported the wounded to Gaza's second-largest hospital, Nasser, in Khan Younis.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that limited humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza from Egypt following a request from US President Joe Biden.
The war that began on October 7 after Hamas militants stormed into Israel has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said on Thursday that 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 12,500 others have been wounded. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack.
An Israeli military spokesperson said on Thursday that the families of 206 people believed to have been captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza had been notified. Israel has vowed to destroy the militant group.
Biden pledges support
The United States has reiterated its support for Israel with the government pledging to assist Israel in countering Hamas and facilitating the delivering of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Amid the violence, President Joe Biden pledged unwavering support for Israel's security, “today and always,” while adding that the world “can't ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians" in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In an address on Thursday night from the Oval office, hours after returning to Washington from an urgent visit to Israel, Biden drew a distinction between ordinary Palestinians and Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. He linked the current war in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin "both want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy.”
Israel rallies forces
The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating October 7 Hamas rampage in southern Israel. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza and flee south, strikes extended across the territory, heightening fears among the territory's 2.3 million people that nowhere was safe. Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and tensions flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a fiery speech to Israeli infantry soldiers on the Gaza border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged the forces to “get organized, be ready” to move in. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border.
“Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside," he said. “It might take a week, a month, two months until we destroy them,” he added, referring to Hamas.
Gaza residents struggle for bare necessities
Israel's consent for Egypt to let in food, water and medicine provided the first possible opening in its seal of the territory. Many Gaza residents are down to one meal a day and drinking dirty water. Egypt and Israel were still negotiating the entry of fuel for hospitals.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas has stolen fuel from UN facilities and Israel wants assurances that won't happen. The first trucks of aid were expected to go in Friday. With the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in Rafah closed, the already dire conditions at Gaza's second-largest hospital deteriorated further, said Dr Mohammed Qandeel of Nasser Hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis.
Power was shut off in most of the hospital and medical staff were using mobile phones for light. At least 80 wounded civilians and 12 dead flooded into the hospital after witnesses said a strike hit a residential building in Khan Younis. Doctors had no choice but to leave two to die because there were no ventilators, Qandeel said. “We can't save more lives if this keeps happening,” he said. The Gaza Health Ministry pleaded with gas stations to give fuel to hospitals and a UN agency donated some of its last fuel. The agency's donation to Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, the territory's largest, would “keep us going for another few hours,” hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said.
Al-Ahli Hospital was still recovering from Tuesday's explosion, which remains a point of dispute between Hamas and Israel. Hamas quickly said an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital, which Israel denied. The AP has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.
Read The Federal’s stories on the Israel-Hamas war here:
The Kannur-Israel connection: Tailors who ‘clothe’ the police
Eighth Column| Palestinian literature: Chronicles of exile, resistance, survival and resilience
Watch | Gaza hospital bombing: Massive setback to Biden’s diplomatic efforts
Watch | Hamas Vs Fatah: The Politics in Palestine
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Live Updates
- 20 Oct 2023 3:31 PM GMT
US funding for Israel
The White House on Friday released a sweeping set of proposals to bolster Israel and Ukraine in the midst of two wars as well as invest more in domestic defense manufacturing, humanitarian assistance and managing the influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border.
The total cost of the supplemental funding request was pegged at just over $105 billion, reports Associated Press (AP).
President Joe Biden hopes Congress will move urgently on the legislation, and he made the case for deepening US support for its allies during a rare Oval Office address on Thursday night.
The Democratic president's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters on Friday that Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and Hamas' attack on Israel represent a “global inflection point." “This budget request is critical to advancing America's national security and ensuring the safety of the American people,” Sullivan said.
However, next steps are in doubt while the House of Representatives remains in chaos with the Republican majority unable to choose a new speaker.
- 20 Oct 2023 12:24 PM GMT
China sends envoy to Middle East to push for ceasefire
China has sent an envoy to the Middle East to push for a cease fire between Israel and Hamas in the latest sign of its ambition to play a larger role in the region.
Envoy Zhai Jun's first meetings included one in Qatar with a Russian counterpart on Thursday as the two countries stake out a position at odds with the American approach.
The two sides confirmed their “unwavering focus on closely coordinating efforts for the political settlement of this and other crises in the Middle East and North Africa region,” Russia's Foreign Ministry said, according to the country's Tass state news agency.
China, which sees the US as too pro-Israel, has said it opposes attacks on civilians but has not condemned the initial Hamas attack that started the latest war. Instead, it has called for an immediate cease-fire to protect civilians as Israel bombards Gaza before a possible ground invasion.
“We believe that when dealing with hot-spot issues in the international community, major powers should be objective and impartial,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday.
- 20 Oct 2023 12:22 PM GMT
Heavy airstrikes in Khan Youni
Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy airstrikes in Khan Youni, a town in the territory's south, and ambulances carrying men, women and children streamed into the local Nasser Hospital.
The hospital, Gaza's second largest, already was overflowing with patients and people seeking shelter.
The Israeli military said it had struck more than 100 targets across Gaza linked to the territory's Hamas rulers, including a tunnel and arms depots.
- 20 Oct 2023 12:21 PM GMT
Israel says it doesn't plan to control life in Palestine after destroying Hamas
Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant said the country did not have plans to maintain control over civilians in Gaza after its war against the Hamas militant group.
Gallant's comments to lawmakers were the first time a top Israeli official discussed its long-term plans for Gaza.
Gallant said Israel expected a three-phase war, starting with airstrikes and ground maneuvers. It anticipates then defeating pockets of resistance, and finally, ceasing Israel's “responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip.”
- 20 Oct 2023 12:17 PM GMT
Two more UNRWA staff killed in Gaza
Two more United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) colleagues were confirmed killed in the Gaza Strip bringing the total number to 16 since the war began, the United Nations (UN) said on Friday.
- 20 Oct 2023 8:47 AM GMT
Rocket sirens heard in Sderot
Rocket sirens were heard in the Israeli city of Sderot on Friday morning, Jerusalem Post reported.
- 20 Oct 2023 8:44 AM GMT
Over 1,000 Chinese nationals leave Israel
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press briefing that over 1,000 Chinese nationals have left Israel and have either returned to China or gone to another country.
