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Hamas and Israel at war: what we know on day seven Hamas and Israel at war: what we know on day seven
(about 5 hours later)
Israel’s military has told 1.1 million people to move further south, UN says, warning of ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’; Gaza death toll passes 1,500, a third of them childrenIsrael’s military has told 1.1 million people to move further south, UN says, warning of ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’; Gaza death toll passes 1,500, a third of them children
Israel’s military has told 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to relocate farther south within 24 hours, the UN said, warning that it was “impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences”. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said that UN officials had been told “that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours”.Israel’s military has told 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to relocate farther south within 24 hours, the UN said, warning that it was “impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences”. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said that UN officials had been told “that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours”.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said the UN’s response was “shameful” and that it should focus on condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to self-defence. The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade. The UN said it was told by the Israeli military that about 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza should relocate to the enclave’s south within the next 24 hours.
Israel’s military, the IDF, called for all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate from their homes southwards because it “will operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days”. It said residents, “will only be able to return to Gaza City when another announcement permitting”.Israel’s military, the IDF, called for all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate from their homes southwards because it “will operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days”. It said residents, “will only be able to return to Gaza City when another announcement permitting”.
Israel began the process of burying the victims of the weekend’s attacks by Hamas. The most recent death toll in Israel stands at 1,300. Israel’s military spokesperson said the government has been able to confirm the identities of 97 people taken hostage into Gaza during the attack by Hamas. More than 100 are believed to have been taken. The majority of the dead were killed in a single day, when Hamas fighters broke through the border and attacked Israeli civilians. 222 of those who have been killed since the attacks began on Saturday are soldiers, the military said. Hamas has urged people to stay put and defy the order to evacuate their homes. Eyad al-Bozom, spokesperson for the Hamas interior ministry, said “We tell the people of northern Gaza and from Gaza City, stay put in your homes, and your places. By carrying out massacres against the civilians, the occupation wants to displace us once again from our land. The 1948 displacement will not happen. We will die and we will not leave.”
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday. Among them are 500 children, it said. A further 6,612 were wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave, the ministry said.
Human Rights Watch said it had concluded Israel used white phosphorus in military operations over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border this week. Israel’s use of white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas “poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering” , the organisation warned.
Israeli strikes have killed three journalists so far, and two others died as a result of gunshot wounds, according to Reporters without Borders. Some 12 workers with the UN Palestinian refugee agency have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the organisation has said.
Israel’s public affairs minister, Galit Distel Atbaryan, resigned from her post. In a social media post, she said other governmental ministries were better equipped to handle Israel’s diplomatic efforts. The Times of Israel reports that critics of Distel Atbaryan had said her ministry had no real powers or justification, and that what little it had produced had been widely mocked.
The World Health Organization said it has documented 34 attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday that have resulted in the death of 11 health workers, 16 injuries, and damages to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances. In a statement on Thursday, the WHO warned that the health system in the Gaza Strip is “at breaking point”, and that “time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe”.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said the situation in the Gaza Strip is “dire” and “devastating” and warned that crucial supplies were running dangerously low after Israel imposed a total blockade on the territory. Israel’s energy minister, Israel Katz, said no power, water or fuel will be allowed into Gaza until Israeli hostages are returned home.
A ground offensive will be launched on Gaza “when opportune and fit for our purposes”, the IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said in an update early on Thursday.
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, spoke to the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, on Thursday. Abbas stressed “the rejection of … killing civilians or abusing them on both sides” and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees.
Two police officers were wounded after a shooting attack near the Herod’s Gate entrance to the Jerusalem old city, Israeli police said. The gunman used a makeshift submachine gun in the attack, according to police. Officers returned fire and “neutralised” him, police said.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the attacks by Hamas had “harrowing echoes” of Nazi massacres, as he stood alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem in an act of public solidarity. Blinken vowed that the US would stand for ever alongside Israel, and said he would use his tour of the region to urge all parties, especially Hezbollah, not to broaden the conflict or open a second front. The death toll of US citizens in Israel now stands at 27, the White House said on Thursday. The number of Americans unaccounted for is 14.
Syria said Israeli forces launched simultaneous missile attacks on the airports in its capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday. “Bursts of missiles” hit the two airports at the same time, a Syrian military source was cited as saying in what he said was a bid to distract the world’s attention from Israel’s war with Hamas militants in Gaza.
The UK will deploy patrol and surveillance aircraft and two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean “to support Israel”, the government said. Maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft will begin flying in the region “to track threats to regional stability”, Downing Street said.
The US and Qatar have agreed to deny Iran’s access to any of the $6bn (£4.9bn) funds that were part of a prisoner swap deal between the Biden administration and Tehran last month, the US deputy treasury secretary, Wally Adeyemo, reportedly told House Democrats.
Emmanuel Macron said France is “doing everything possible” for the citizens missing in Israel, in a televised address on Thursday evening. “France will never abandon its children,” the French president said. Thirteen French citizens were killed in Hamas attacks on Israel at the weekend. Another 17, including children, are reported missing. Several are believed to be being held hostage in Gaza.
The British government is organising flights to repatriate British nationals from Israel, with the first due to leave from Tel Aviv on Thursday. British nationals will be invited to take up seats on the flights along with dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK.
The British children of elderly hostages abducted by Hamas pleaded for their return. Seventeen British nationals are feared dead or missing after the weekend’s atrocities.
Officials across Europe scrambled to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, warned that antisemitic acts and defending terrorism would be dealt with “severely” in France, in a televised address on the Israel-Palestine crisis on Thursday evening.
Israel’s military has told 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to relocate farther south within 24 hours, the UN said, warning that it was “impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences”. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said that UN officials had been told “that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours”.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said the UN’s response was “shameful” and that it should focus on condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to self-defence.Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said the UN’s response was “shameful” and that it should focus on condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to self-defence.
Israel’s military has told 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to relocate farther south within 24 hours, the UN said, warning that it was “impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences”. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said that UN officials had been told “that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours”.
The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade. The UN said it was told by the Israeli military that about 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza should relocate to the enclave’s south within the next 24 hours.
Israel’s military, the IDF, called for all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate from their homes southwards because it “will operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days”. It said residents, “will only be able to return to Gaza City when another announcement permitting”.Israel’s military, the IDF, called for all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate from their homes southwards because it “will operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days”. It said residents, “will only be able to return to Gaza City when another announcement permitting”.
Israel began the process of burying the victims of the weekend’s attacks by Hamas. The most recent death toll in Israel stands at 1,300. Israel’s military spokesperson said the government has been able to confirm the identities of 97 people taken hostage into Gaza during the attack by Hamas. More than 100 are believed to have been taken. The majority of the dead were killed in a single day, when Hamas fighters broke through the border and attacked Israeli civilians. 222 of those who have been killed since the attacks began on Saturday are soldiers, the military said. Hamas has urged people to stay put and defy the order to evacuate their homes. Eyad al-Bozom, spokesperson for the Hamas interior ministry, said “We tell the people of northern Gaza and from Gaza City, stay put in your homes, and your places. By carrying out massacres against the civilians, the occupation wants to displace us once again from our land. The 1948 displacement will not happen. We will die and we will not leave.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said the UN’s response was “shameful” and that it should focus on condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to self-defence.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said asking vulnerable patients to evacuate hospitals in Gaza amounted to a “death sentence”, and the director-general of the agency called upon Israel to reverse its decision to order an evacuation. “There are severely ill people whose injuries mean their only chances of survival is being on life support, such as mechanical ventilators,” Reuters reports WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said. “So moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel”. The WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said that hospitals in Gaza are at “breaking point”.
Hamas has claimed to have launched 150 rockets towards the city of Ashkelon in Israel “in response to the displacement and targeting of civilians”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said asking vulnerable patients to evacuate hospitals in Gaza amounted to a “death sentence”, and the director-general of the agency called upon Israel to reverse its decision to order an evacuation. “There are severely ill people whose injuries mean their only chances of survival is being on life support, such as mechanical ventilators,” Reuters reports WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said. “So moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel”. The WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said that hospitals in Gaza are at “breaking point”.
Hamas has claimed to have launched 150 rockets towards the city of Ashkelon in Israel “in response to the displacement and targeting of civilians”.
Hamas’s armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that 13 captives were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the last 24 hours. The statement said six of the hostages were killed in strikes on two separate locations in the northern district and seven more died in strikes that hit three locations in the Gaza district.
It remains unclear exactly how many Israeli hostages Hamas took when it carried out its incursion into Israel’s territory on Saturday. The most recent official death toll from Israel stands at 1,300. Israel’s military spokesperson has said the government has been able to confirm the identities of 97 people taken hostage into Gaza during the attack by Hamas, but more than 100 are believed to have been taken.
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said early on Friday that more than 400,000 people had already fled their homes in the Gaza Strip. It said 23 aid workers had been killed since the start of Israeli retaliatory strikes in response to the Hamas attack on Saturday.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday. Among them are 500 children, it said. A further 6,612 were wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave, the ministry said.More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday. Among them are 500 children, it said. A further 6,612 were wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave, the ministry said.
Israel began the process of burying the victims of the weekend’s attacks by Hamas. The majority of the dead were killed in a single day, when Hamas fighters broke through the border and attacked Israeli civilians. 222 of those who have been killed since the attacks began on Saturday are soldiers, the military said.
Hamas’s armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that 13 captives were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the last 24 hours. The statement said six of the hostages were killed in strikes on two separate locations in the northern district and seven more died in strikes that hit three locations in the Gaza district.
It remains unclear exactly how many Israeli hostages Hamas took when it carried out its incursion into Israel’s territory on Saturday. The most recent official death toll from Israel stands at 1,300. Israel’s military spokesperson has said the government has been able to confirm the identities of 97 people taken hostage into Gaza during the attack by Hamas, but more than 100 are believed to have been taken.
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said early on Friday that more than 400,000 people had already fled their homes in the Gaza Strip. It said 23 aid workers had been killed since the start of Israeli retaliatory strikes in response to the Hamas attack on Saturday.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday. Among them are 500 children, it said. A further 6,612 were wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave, the ministry said.
Israel began the process of burying the victims of the weekend’s attacks by Hamas. The majority of the dead were killed in a single day, when Hamas fighters broke through the border and attacked Israeli civilians. 222 of those who have been killed since the attacks began on Saturday are soldiers, the military said.
Grant Shapps, UK defence secretary, said the UK supported the decision of the IDF to give advance notice that it is intended to mount an attack. Pressed to say whether the UK government supported the specific order giving more than 1 million people in Gaza 24 hours to leave their homes, Shaps said: “The UK government supports both the right of Israel to defend itself in this way, and that Israel is providing advance warning of military action so people can move themselves out of the way. It’s absolutely right that happens.”
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that if Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip don’t stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East. Visiting Beirut he said: “America cannot send weapons and bombs to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza and at the same time call on all sides for self-restraint.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has met US secretary of state Antony Blinken. In a message posted to social media, the king warned against “any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from all Palestinian Territories or cause their internal displacement,” and called for the prevention of a “spillover” of the crisis into neighbouring countries.
European parliament president Roberta Metsola and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have landed in Israel. The Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, has also confirmed that he has arrived in Israel. US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has also arrived in the country for high level meetings.
The UK’s finance minister, chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt, has said the UK will do “everything we can” to support Israel in its fight against Hamas, saying “This is the most appalling, brutal, murderous terrorism that I think I can remember seeing in my adult lifetime. It is absolutely gruelling looking at those pictures. And I think we have to make sure as a world that we are absolutely united in our condemnation of what has happened.”
Human Rights Watch said it had concluded Israel used white phosphorus in military operations over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border this week. Israel’s use of white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas “poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering” , the organisation warned.Human Rights Watch said it had concluded Israel used white phosphorus in military operations over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border this week. Israel’s use of white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas “poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering” , the organisation warned.
Israeli strikes have killed three journalists so far, and two others died as a result of gunshot wounds, according to Reporters without Borders. Some 12 workers with the UN Palestinian refugee agency have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the organisation has said. Grant Shapps, UK defence secretary, said the UK supported the decision of the IDF to give advance notice that it is intended to mount an attack. Pressed to say whether the UK government supported the specific order giving more than 1 million people in Gaza 24 hours to leave their homes, Shaps said: “The UK government supports both the right of Israel to defend itself in this way, and that Israel is providing advance warning of military action so people can move themselves out of the way. It’s absolutely right that happens.”
Israel’s public affairs minister, Galit Distel Atbaryan, resigned from her post. In a social media post, she said other governmental ministries were better equipped to handle Israel’s diplomatic efforts. The Times of Israel reports that critics of Distel Atbaryan had said her ministry had no real powers or justification, and that what little it had produced had been widely mocked. Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that if Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip don’t stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East. Visiting Beirut he said: “America cannot send weapons and bombs to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza and at the same time call on all sides for self-restraint.”
The World Health Organization said it has documented 34 attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday that have resulted in the death of 11 health workers, 16 injuries, and damages to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances. In a statement on Thursday, the WHO warned that the health system in the Gaza Strip is “at breaking point”, and that “time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe”. Jordan’s King Abdullah II has met US secretary of state Antony Blinken. In a message posted to social media, the king warned against “any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from all Palestinian Territories or cause their internal displacement,” and called for the prevention of a “spillover” of the crisis into neighbouring countries.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said the situation in the Gaza Strip is “dire” and “devastating” and warned that crucial supplies were running dangerously low after Israel imposed a total blockade on the territory. Israel’s energy minister, Israel Katz, said no power, water or fuel will be allowed into Gaza until Israeli hostages are returned home. European parliament president Roberta Metsola and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have landed in Israel. The Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, has also confirmed that he has arrived in Israel. US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has also arrived in the country for high level meetings.
A ground offensive will be launched on Gaza “when opportune and fit for our purposes”, the IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said in an update early on Thursday. The UK’s finance minister, chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt, has said the UK will do “everything we can” to support Israel in its fight against Hamas, saying “This is the most appalling, brutal, murderous terrorism that I think I can remember seeing in my adult lifetime. It is absolutely gruelling looking at those pictures. And I think we have to make sure as a world that we are absolutely united in our condemnation of what has happened.”
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, spoke to the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, on Thursday. Abbas stressed “the rejection of … killing civilians or abusing them on both sides” and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees. Human Rights Watch said it had concluded Israel used white phosphorus in military operations over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border this week. Israel’s use of white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas “poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering” , the organisation warned.
Two police officers were wounded after a shooting attack near the Herod’s Gate entrance to the Jerusalem old city, Israeli police said. The gunman used a makeshift submachine gun in the attack, according to police. Officers returned fire and “neutralised” him, police said.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the attacks by Hamas had “harrowing echoes” of Nazi massacres, as he stood alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem in an act of public solidarity. Blinken vowed that the US would stand for ever alongside Israel, and said he would use his tour of the region to urge all parties, especially Hezbollah, not to broaden the conflict or open a second front. The death toll of US citizens in Israel now stands at 27, the White House said on Thursday. The number of Americans unaccounted for is 14.
Syria said Israeli forces launched simultaneous missile attacks on the airports in its capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday. “Bursts of missiles” hit the two airports at the same time, a Syrian military source was cited as saying in what he said was a bid to distract the world’s attention from Israel’s war with Hamas militants in Gaza.
The UK will deploy patrol and surveillance aircraft and two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean “to support Israel”, the government said. Maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft will begin flying in the region “to track threats to regional stability”, Downing Street said.
The US and Qatar have agreed to deny Iran’s access to any of the $6bn (£4.9bn) funds that were part of a prisoner swap deal between the Biden administration and Tehran last month, the US deputy treasury secretary, Wally Adeyemo, reportedly told House Democrats.
Emmanuel Macron said France is “doing everything possible” for the citizens missing in Israel, in a televised address on Thursday evening. “France will never abandon its children,” the French president said. Thirteen French citizens were killed in Hamas attacks on Israel at the weekend. Another 17, including children, are reported missing. Several are believed to be being held hostage in Gaza.
The British government is organising flights to repatriate British nationals from Israel, with the first due to leave from Tel Aviv on Thursday. British nationals will be invited to take up seats on the flights along with dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK.
The British children of elderly hostages abducted by Hamas pleaded for their return. Seventeen British nationals are feared dead or missing after the weekend’s atrocities.
Officials across Europe scrambled to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, warned that antisemitic acts and defending terrorism would be dealt with “severely” in France, in a televised address on the Israel-Palestine crisis on Thursday evening.