Israel Hamas war live: Gaza supplies to run out as Palestinian enclave struck by bombs
The Independent’s Bel Trew reporting from Israel-Gaza border
The number of Palestinians killed has risen to 1,537, according to Gaza’s health ministry. This is 120 more deaths since their last statement earlier today.
It comes as Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity and critical supplies, the UN warned. No aid can come in from the outside for the 2.3m residents of the sealed-off enclave, it said.
Some 220,000 displaced people are also sheltering in schools run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees as aid workers try their “best” to support residents.
Meanwhile, Gaza has been pummelled by 6,000 Israeli Air Force bombs since Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel on Saturday, the Israeli Defence Forces said.
“Approximately 6,000 bombs have been dropped on the Gaza Strip with a total weight of 4,000 tonnes,” the army said in a statement Thursday.
On Thursday, the chief of staff for Israel‘s military, Herzi Halevi, also admitted that the military had failed to protect civilians around the Gaza Strip from Hamas’s unprecedented attack on the country.
UN raises concern as Israel directs 1.1 million people in north Gaza to leave
The United Nations has raised concerns over the Israeli military’s directive asking 1.1 million people living in north Gaza to leave in the next 24 hours.
The order that was issued a little before midnight comes as the country prepares for a ground assault on the besieged Strip.
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” the UN said in a statement.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 04:48
Iran says crimes against Palestinians to receive response from axis
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Thursday that the continuation of crimes against Palestinians will receive a response from “the rest of the axis” and Israel will be responsible for the consequences.
Israel has been pounding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in Israel this week that has killed at least 1,300 people, the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.
The Iranian minister said the displacement of Palestinians and cutting water and electricity to the Gaza Strip are considered war crimes.
“Some Western officials have questioned if there is an intention to open a new front against the Zionist entity. Of course, in light of the continuation of these circumstances that are war crimes,” he said, speaking through a translator, on television upon his arrival in Beirut.
“The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis. And naturally, the Zionist entity and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences of that,” Mr Amirabdollahian said.
He did not specify, but the Axis of Resistance refers to an alliance among Iran, Palestinian militant groups, Syria, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other factions.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 04:48
Israel engaging in collective punishment in Gaza, Taoiseach says
Israel is engaging in collective punishment and does not have the right to breach international law in its response in Gaza, Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said.
The Taoiseach also called for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach Palestinians.
The war, which was ignited by a wide-ranging Hamas attack into Israel, has already claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides.
Israel has cut off food, water and electricity to Gaza in response to the attack on Saturday and has carried out airstrikes in the region.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 04:42
An Israeli team begins a tour against NBA teams, believing games provide hope during war at home
Yehu Orland wore a shirt honoring a close friend who was killed two days earlier defending Israel, and he expected to have tears in his eyes on Thursday night when his country’s national anthem played before a game in Brooklyn.
But the coach of Maccabi Ra’anana believes continuing his team’s tour against NBA clubs while his country is at war was the right decision.
“We are the first team that is playing since the war started and nobody will break Israel, because we are a strong nation,” Orland said before the game.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 04:41
Sunak urges Israel to ‘protect ordinary Palestinians’ in fightback against Hamas
Rishi Sunak has called on Israel to “protect ordinary Palestinians” as it hunts down Hamas militants responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis.
Downing Street confirmed the prime minister spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday after agreeing to send Royal Navy vessels and Royal Air Force surveillance planes to support Tel Aviv after Hamas’ attack.
A No 10 spokesperson said that during the phone call Mr Sunak “reiterated that the UK stands side by side with Israel in fighting terror” and that Hamas should “never again be able to perpetrate atrocities against the Israeli people”.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 04:16
Letter from Harvard students about Israel war ignites campus crisis
Campus debates about Israel at the elite university have a way of turning into national conversations, where no one feels their rights are being respected, Josh Marcus reports.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 04:08
British-Palestinians ‘terrified’ for family in Gaza
British Palestinians have said they are “terrified” for their family members still living in Gaza amid Israel’s siege on the territory.
Mohammed Awad told the PA news agency his “entire close and extended family”, including his parents, siblings and young relatives, live in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
His family told him the atmosphere in Gaza is “full of the terrors of war” and they were trying to distract themselves, he said.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant ordered a “complete siege” following an attack by Hamas militants on Saturday, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 04:03
Pictured: Israeli police and security forces assist a journalist taking cover
Alexander Butler13 October 2023 04:00
Hamas practised in plain sight, posting video of mock attack weeks before border breach
Less than a month before Hamas fighters blew through Israel’s high-tech “Iron Wall” and launched an attack that would leave more than 1,200 Israelis dead, they practised in a very public dress rehearsal.
A slickly produced two-minute propaganda video posted to social media by Hamas on 12 September shows fighters using explosives to blast through a replica of the border gate, sweep in on pickup trucks and then move building by building through a full-scale reconstruction of an Israeli town, firing automatic weapons at human-silhouetted paper targets.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 03:53
Israelis rush home to volunteer in fight against Hamas
At least 100 people have travelled from the UK to Israel to serve in the Israeli military following the attacks by Hamas, joining others from around the world. Bel Trew and Namita Singh speak to those ready to take up arms.
Namita Singh13 October 2023 03:52