LIVE | Israel-Hamas war: Israeli PM Netanyahu warns Hezbollah against escalating conflict

Israeli PM Netanyahu warns Hezbollah against escalating conflict

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern warning to Hezbollah on Sunday, cautioning that any conflict initiated by them would result in severe consequences for both the organisation and Lebanon. He expressed concerns about Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into a broader regional war, although he couldn't confirm their full engagement in the conflict yet.

עם הלוחמים שלנו בגבול הצפון.
שיהיה ברור: אם חיזבאללה יחליט להיכנס למלחמה, הוא יתגעגע למלחמת לבנון השנייה. pic.twitter.com/f16tJejTKy

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 22, 2023

German leaders voice outrage and thousands rally in Berlin in reaction to rising antisemitism

Germany's chancellor and president strongly denounced a rise in antisemitism in Germany in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war in separate appearances Sunday that stressed the same idea that it is unacceptable for such hatred to flourish in the nation that perpetrated the Holocaust.

In Berlin, thousands of people gathered at a demonstration called to show opposition to antisemitism and support for Israel.

People carried Israeli flags or posters with photos of some of the people reported to be missing or held by Hamas as hostages.

The protest, organised by a broad alliance of various organisations, comes as antisemitic incidents have been rising in Germany following the violent escalation of the war in Gaza.

“It is unbearable that Jews are living in fear again today — in our country of all places,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told those gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

“Every single attack on Jews, on Jewish institutions is a disgrace for Germany. Every single attack fills me with shame and anger." Earlier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was outraged by the antisemitic agitation spreading as the Gaza war rages, and warned at the inauguration of a new synagogue that the vow of “never again” must be unbreakable.

Assailants threw two Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Berlin on Wednesday, and police protection has been increased for Jewish institutions. - PTI

4385 Palestinians dead, 15,898 injured

Since the start of hostilities on October 7, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have led to the tragic loss of 4,385 Palestinian lives, with 15,898 individuals sustaining injuries.

Pope Francis appeals for peace

War, any war that there is in the world – I also think of tormented Ukraine – is a defeat. War is always a defeat; it is a destruction of human fraternity. Brothers, stop! Stop!

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 22, 2023

Indian aid for Palestine arrives in Egypt

🇮🇳’s humanitarian aid for the people of Palestine arrives in Egypt.

Amb @indembcairo @AjitVGupte handed over the relief material to Egyptian Red Crescent for onward transmission to Palestine. pic.twitter.com/mSn5RKoK5L

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 22, 2023

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calls for global peace summit

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an international peace summit to bring about the end of the Israel-Hamas war.

Speaking at a conference in Cairo on Saturday, Abbas reiterated his “complete rejection of the killing of civilians on both sides.” He also urged the “release of all civilians, prisoners, and detainees,” likely alluding to some 210 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Abbas leads the Palestinian Authority, a government exercising semi-autonomous control in the West Bank. The government is deeply loathed among Palestinians, who view it as corrupt and collaborationist with Israel.

Hamas seized control of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and enjoys a strong base of support in the West Bank.

Gaza's healthcare system 'facing collapse'

Doctors Without Borders says Gaza's healthcare system is “facing collapse.” The global medical group said Saturday that hospitals in Gaza are “overwhelmed and lacking resources” amid continued Israeli airstrikes and siege following Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7.

The group's warning came after Medhat Abbas, an official with the Gaza health ministry, said early Saturday that five hospitals have stopped functioning and two others were partly out of service.

“We recently made a large donation of medical stock, including medicines, narcotics and medical equipment to Al Shifa hospital, the main surgical facility in the strip,” the group, known by its French acronym MSF, wrote on X platform.

A nurse with the aid group in Gaza, Loay Harb, said that when the supplies were delivered to the hospital, she and others “saw hundreds of people taking shelter and it was difficult to walk inside.” 

'Israelis abroad under threat'

Israel will pay a high price: Top Hezbollah official

 A top official with Hezbollah vowed that Israel will 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.” The comments by Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, came as Israel shelled and made drone strikes in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah fired rockets and missiles toward Israel. Hezbollah said six of its fighters were killed Saturday, the highest daily toll since the violence began two weeks ago.

For Hezbollah, heating up the Lebanon-Israel border has a clear purpose, Kassem said: “We are trying to weaken the Israeli enemy and let them know that we are ready.” Hamas officials have said that if Israel starts a ground offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah will join the fighting.

Exchanges of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border have picked up in the two weeks since the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that killed over 1,400 civilians and soldiers in southern Israel. Retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed more than 4,000 Palestinians.

There are concerns that Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has a weapons arsenal consisting of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles as well as different types of drones, might try to open a new front in the Israel-Hamas war with a large-scale attack on northern Israel.

1.6 million people in Gaza Strip need humanitarian aid: UN bodies

United Nations aid agencies said the first 20-truck convoy of assistance that reached Gaza Saturday was “only a small beginning and far from enough.” The agencies, including the WHO, the World Food Programme and others, said in a joint statement that more than 1.6 million people are in critical need of humanitarian aid.

“Vulnerable people are at greatest risk and children are dying at an alarming rate and being denied their right to protection, food, water and health care,” they said.

The agencies, which also include the UN Population Fund and UNICEF, called for a humanitarian cease-fire, along with immediate, unrestricted humanitarian access throughout Gaza.

“Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,” they said.