Israel-Hamas war live: IDF ‘divides Gaza into two’ in third blackout

Twelve people have been injured – four of whom are in a critical condition – following a “relentless and severe” attack on the area near the al-Quds hospital, an aid organisation has said.

“ Heavy artillery and aerial bombardment from all directions have injured 12 displaced individuals inside, with four in critical condition,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement on X.

“Two patients, one in the ICU, and 35 others in front of the hospital are also injured”.

Israeli forces took out a Hamas outpost in about 450 strikes across Gaza overnight, a military spokesperson has said.

Israel Defence Forces said training facilities for “terrorists operatives, as well as terrorist tunnels” were also destroyed.

“During the last day, fighter jets of the Air Force attacked about 450 targets of the terrorist organization Hamas,” it said in a statement.

“In addition, the forces of the Navy attacked headquarters, anti-tank missile launching positions and other observation posts of the terrorist organization.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken wants Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, to play a central role in governing Gaza, writes Kim Sengupta.

But imposing a new leader will be hugely problematic. Read Kim’s full piece here:

Britain’s Foreign Office said on Monday it was temporarily withdrawing some British embassy staff from Lebanon.

It had already advised Britons against all travel to Lebanon due to the conflict between neighbouring Israel and Gaza, and encouraged any Britons still in the country to leave while commercial flights remain.

Current Foreign Office guidance also advises against all travel to Lebanon amid heightened tensions along the border with Israel.

Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants and their allies have been clashing for a month along the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The US military has acknowledged positioning a nuclear-capable submarine in the Middle East.

It provided no other details in its online statement yesterday, though it posted an image that appeared to show a submarine in Egypt’s Suez Canal near its Suez Canal Bridge.

US acknowledgment of an Ohio-class submarine location is incredibly rare as they represent part of America’s so-called “nuclear triad” of atomic weapons — which also includes land-based ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs aboard strategic bombers.

Several Ohio-class submarines instead carry cruise missiles and the capability to deploy with special operations forces, so it’s unclear if the submarine operating now in the Mideast carries nuclear ballistic missiles.

The US has deployed submarines into the region before and announced its recent presence as tensions were high with Iran.

Central Command separately released an image of a nuclear-capable B-1 bomber also operating in the Mideast yesterday

Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf has said his in-laws are “safe and back home” after they fled Gaza.

Having rebuffed calls for a ceasefire, Israel was set to come under sustained pressure today to avoid civilian casualties during its assault on Gaza, while a US diplomatic blitz in the region sought to reduce risks of the conflict escalating.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken was due to meet with Turkey’s foreign minister in Ankara on Monday, hours after hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian protest tried to storm an air base that houses US troops in southern Turkey.

Mr Blinken yesterday made an unannounced visit to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who joined international calls for an immediate ceasefire.

But after Mr Blinken repeated US concerns that a ceasefire could aid Hamas, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled that out unless hostages held by Hamas were released.

“There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon,” Mr Netanyahu said.

Israeli jets struck a house near a school at the crowded Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip yesterday. At least 13 people were killed, hospital workers said.

Dozens of residents scrambled to remove the wounded and dead trapped under the rubble. Young men rushed carrying the wounded to ambulances near the school, which took them to Al-Aqsa Hospital. Hospital workers told AP that at least 13 people died.

The Bureij refugee camp is home to an estimated 46,000 people. Many Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza have stayed in refugee camps and schools as temporary shelters.

Supporters of an Islamist group marched to the US Embassy in Ankara yesterday, hours ahead of secretary of state Antony Blinken’s expected arrival in the Turkish capital.

Several hundred protesters chanted “God is great” and held their index fingers skywards as they approached the compound in the city’s Cukurambar neighborhood. Riot police lined up in front of the US complex as the crowd, many carrying black and white flags with Arabic script, called for Turkish soldiers to be sent to Gaza.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu snubbed blunt warnings from Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, on Friday that Israel risks losing any hope of an eventual peace deal with the Palestinians unless it eases the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.