Israel-Hamas war live: Gaza assault ‘only the beginning’, warns Netanyahu

Israel has provided a new update on civilians held hostage by Hamas militants.

Over 120 civilians are being held captive in Gaza by Hamas, according to Israeli defence forces.

“As of this time, the IDF has confirmed that over 120 civilians are being held captive in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization,” IDF posted on X.

A leading humanitarian aid worker has accused Israel of committing a war crime by trying to evacuate millions of Palestinians from the northern half of Gaza.

Norweigan Refugee Council secretary-general Jan Egeland said Israel’s evacuation order was a “forcible transfer of population” and a “war crime”.

“It’s an outrage. It is an order for collective punishement on hundreds of thousands of children,” he said. “Go after the terrorists. They are men. Not children.”

The Israeli Defence Forces killed a top Hamas commander after its fighter jets struck operational headquarters used by the terror group.

“During the strike, IDF fighter jets killed Merad Abu Merad who was the head of the Hamas aerial system in Gaza City, and was largely responsible for directing terrorists during the massacre on Saturday,” it said.

Israel said it vowed to “annihilate Hamas” for its attack last week that killed 1,300 Israeli civilians.

Israeli forces have begun ground operations in Gaza for the first time since the conflict began, after a 24 hours deadline to civilians to move south of the Strip.

“The end state of this war is that we will dismantle Hamas and its military capability and fundamentally change the situation so that Hamas never again has the ability to inflict any damage on Israeli civilians or soldiers,” Israeli military spokesperson lieutenant colonel Jonathan Conricus said in a video briefing early on Saturday.

Meanwhile Hamas, who took more than 120 hostages, has vowed to fight “to the last drop of blood” and told residents to stay put, Reuters reported.

The UN has warned of a disaster if over a million people are forced to flee, adding that such movement of people was impossible.

“How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated war zone in less than 24 hours?” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric asked.

Hamas has said airstrikes in Gaza on Friday have killed 70 people, hitting cars in three locations as people headed south from Gaza City.

Two witnesses reported a strike on fleeing cars near Deir el-Balah, south of the evacuation zone and in the area where Israel told people to flee.

Fayza Hamoudi said she and her family were driving from their home in the north when the strike hit some distance ahead on the road and two vehicles burst into flames. A witness from another car on the road gave a similar account.

“Why should we trust that they’re trying to keep us safe?” Hamoudi said, her voice choking.

Many feared they would not be able to return or would be gradually displaced to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Air strikes from Israel have killed at least 1,900 people in Gaza, authorities say.

As Israel begins its ground offensive in Gaza after its 24 hours deadline, forcing over a million Palestinians to move south, UN said over 400,000 Palestinians had already been internally displaced before the directive.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas after militants killed 1,300 Israelis, mainly civilians, and seized over 120 hostages.

Since then, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, with unprecedented air strikes that has led to the deaths of over 1,900 people in Gaza, Reuters reported.

The combined death toll in both Israel and Gaza is now over at least 3,200.

The Israeli Defence Force has said they will allow “safe movement” south for Gazans today – with a deadline of 4pm local time.

The IDF issued a statement on Saturday morning saying movement in the territory will be allowed between 10am and 4pm (8am and 2pm UK time) on two main roads south.

It comes after Hamas claimed 70 people, including women and children, had been killed in airstrike as they fled they fled Gaza City.

British-Palestinians say their family members in Gaza are “running for their lives” as Israeli military said the over 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza “should relocate” to the south within 24 hours.

Israel announced for the first time yesterday that its ground troops have begun operating inside Gaza.

Fady Abusidu, a 47-year-old business development consultant in Warwick, told PA that he was “really, really worried” having not heard from any of his cousins in northern Gaza.

“I don’t know where my cousins are at the moment, I’ve tried to call them so many times and it wouldn’t connect,” he said.

The UN has condemned Israel, saying moving over one million people across Gaza was impossible.

“Moving more than one million people across a densely populated warzone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory of Gaza is under siege, is extremely dangerous – and in some cases, simply not possible,” UN chief Antony Guterres said.

The bodies of some of the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas during its attack last week have reportedly been recovered in the latest ground raids in Gaza.

Israeli defence forces say over 120 people have been taken hostage by Hamas since the terrorist group began its attack against Israel.

Following its latest on-ground offensive, Israeli forces say an unspecified number of bodies of Israelis have been recovered in Gaza.

The recovered bodies have been brought back to Israel, local news reports say.

China’s Middle East envoy reportedly met representatives of the Arab League in China in an emergency session to discuss the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza.

The special envoy Zhai Jun said China would continue to provide aid to the Palestinian people and that the country supports the 22-member strong Arab League on the “Palestinian issue“, Reuters reported.

“The international community should earnestly enhance its sense of urgency to return to the correct basis of the Two State Solution to realise the peaceful coexistence of the two states of Palestine and Israel,” he added.