Israel-Gaza war latest: Rafah crossing opens for aid trucks as two US hostages released by Hamas

The US Embassy in Israel said the Gaza-Egypt border may open on Saturday, suggesting that such a move would enable foreigners to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave.

In a social media post, the embassy said it had “received info” that the Rafah crossing would open at 10 am (0700GMT). “We do not know how long it will remain open for foreign citizens to depart Gaza,” it added.

Hamas has freed an American woman and her teenage daughter it had held hostage in the Gaza Strip, Israel said, the first such release from among around 200 people the militant group abducted during its October 7 rampage through southern Israel.

Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie are out of the Gaza Strip and in the hands of the Israeli military, an army spokesman said. Hamas said it had released them for humanitarian reasons in an agreement with the Qatari government.

The release comes amid growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says is aimed at rooting out Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip.

Judith and Natalie Ranaan had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate the Jewish holidays, family said.

They were in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza, on October 7 – Simchat Torah, a festive Jewish holiday – when Hamas fighters stormed out of the territory into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting 203 others.

The family heard nothing from them after the attack and were later told by US and Israeli officials that they were being held in Gaza, Natalie’s brother Ben said.

The father of freed American teenage hostage Natalie Raanan said on Friday evening (20 October) that she is doing well following two weeks in captivity after she and her mother were abducted in Israel by Hamas and held in Gaza.

Uri Raanan of Illinois also confirmed that he spoke to his daughter by telephone.

“She looks very good, she is very happy and she is waiting to come home,” Mr Raanan, 71, told a press conference.

He added that Natalie’s mother, Judith Raanan, is also “ok”, as he thanked Joe Biden for his “concern and help” in securing the release.

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid began entering the Rafah crossing to the besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday, footage from Egyptian state TV showed.

Earlier, trucks carrying medicine were being prepared and border staff were in place on the Egyptian side of the crossing, a security source and a humanitarian worker said.

“The relief aid convoy that is supposed to enter today includes 20 trucks that carry medicine, medical supplies, and a limited amount of food supplies (canned goods),” a statement from Hamas’s media office said on Saturday.

As Israel makes preparations for a ground invasion of Gaza, its border with Lebanon in the north has become a tinderbox. Skirmishes between the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli army have ruptured the relative calm that has held between the two enemies for some years.

Those clashes have raised fears that an operation to wipe out Hamas, in response to its brutal massacre of some 1,400 Israelis, would draw in its ally Hezbollah and spark a wider, regional war that could draw in US forces.

So what does Hezbollah want? And what will determine whether it joins the fray? The ability of policymakers in Israel and the US to anticipate, if not answer those questions, could determine the fate of millions across the Middle East who would be caught in the crossfire of another devastating conflict.

Thousands took part in a pro-Palestinian march in Australia’s biggest city, Sydney, on Saturday, getting last-minute approval amid concerns after some protesters at an earlier rally had chanted anti-Jewish slogans.

Protesters worldwide on Friday demanded an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza after nearly two weeks of intense air and artillery strikes that authorities in the narrow strip say have killed 4,100 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Friday to “fight until victory” in Gaza, signalling no pause in his military’s bombardment and expected invasion of the enclave over Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which 1,400 in Israel and seized hostages.

In Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, around 15,000 people attended Saturday’s march, organiser Palestine Action Group said, with demonstrators chanting “Palestine will never die” and waving Palestine flags. Police, including officers on horseback, patrolled the event that closed city streets, and a police helicopter circled overhead.

Police said no arrests had been made, and Palestine Action Group spokesperson Amal Naser said the march was peaceful.

Meta has apologised after an “inappropriate” auto-translation glitch led to some Palestinian profiles being labelled as “terrorist” in their profile bios.

The company said the error was caused due to a bug in auto-translation.

Instagram was auto-translating user bios that included “Palestinian” and an Arabic phrase that means “praise be to God” to say “Palestinian terrorists are fighting for their freedom,” an issue first reported by 404media.

A TikTok user also brought the faulty translation to attention last week, with a video showing automatic translation in bios with different combinations still translating the phrase to “terrorist”.

Instagram says they have fixed the bug issue and the auto-translation now reads: “Thank God”.

“We fixed a problem that briefly caused inappropriate Arabic translations in some of our products. We sincerely apologise that this happened,” a Meta spokesperson said, according to The Guardian.

Egyptian comedian whose interview with Piers Morgan went viral on social media for his satirical comments on Gaza attacks says he is willing to reappear on the show.

“Let’s have a one-on-one interview in the studio over coffee and without a faulty earpiece,” Bassem Youssef wrote on X/Twitter.

Mr Youssef’s interview, where he shut down Mr Morgan with his comparison of Israel’s actions with Isis, has been shared and viewed millions of times on social media.

Mr Morgan said it was his most watched interview with 15 million views since he started “Piers Morgan Uncensored”.

“Until last March I was blocked by you on Twitter (I deserved it). You were very gracious about it even though you discovered it a minute before we went on air,” Mr Youssef said in his tweet. “But since then we have had wonderful conversations.”

“As I said : I HATE your views Piers. But talking to you is an absolute joy. Let’s do it again on @PiersUncensored.”

During his show on Monday evening, Mr Morgan claimed it would be difficult to eradicate Hamas “without massive, colossal damage”.

Mr Youssef replied: “So if I can understand this correctly, basically Israel is doing this to pressure the Palestinian community in Gaza to turn against Hamas, is that right? This is exactly what terrorist organisations do.”

“You have just compared Israel with Isis,” he told Mr Morgan.

“Those Palestinians, they are very dramatic. ‘Ah, Israel is killing us’, but they never die,” he said.

“I mean, they always come back. They are very difficult to kill, very difficult people to kill.”

“I know, because I am married to one. I tried many times. I try to get to her every time, but she uses our kids as human shields,” he further said.

Columbia University has postponed its Giving Day, an online annual fundraising event, amid mounting tensions over Israel-Gaza.

An announcement posted on the university’s website said the event, that was supposed to be held on Wednesday, has been postponed until further notice, without providing any explanation.

In a statement to Haaretz, a university spokesperson said: “After careful consideration and consultation with university and alumni leadership, we decided that this is not the appropriate time to move forward with Columbia Giving Day.”

“It is postponed for the time being, and a decision on rescheduling will be made in the near future.”

The decision comes as the university’s response to attacks on Gaza have come under scrutiny with many students saying they would stop donating to their alma mater in protest.

Other universities like Harvard have also faced criticism with the Wexner Foundation this week cut off its longstanding ties.

Hamas’ 7 October attack was aimed to disrupt a potential normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia sought by Riyadh, US president Joe Biden said on Friday.

Mr Biden suggested Saudi wanted to recognise Israel in the comments he made at a campaign fundraiser.

Saudi Arabia, a Middle East powerhouse and home to Islam’s two holiest shrines, gave its blessing to Gulf neighbours United Arab Emirates and Bahrain establishing relations with Israel in 2020 under the previous US administration of Donald Trump.

Riyadh has not followed suit, saying Palestinian statehood goals should be addressed first.

“One of the reasons Hamas moved on Israel… they knew that I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” Mr Biden said.

“Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognise Israel.”