Nearly 3,600 people have been killed in Israel And Gaza, four days after the sudden Hamas strikes trigged a catastrophic war in the region. Israel claims it has regained control of the Gaza border areas from the group. Israel has also reported shelling from Lebanon and Syria which it has responded to with its own air strikes. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed the strikes were to avenge the deaths of it members by Israeli defence forces.
Over 1,200 people have been killed in Israel in the worst attack in the nation’s 75-year history, while Gaza reported 900 causalities. On Tuesday, Israel’s army has claimed to recover bodies of around 1,500 militants near border areas of Gaza. Vowing to turn Hamas sites in Gaza to rubble, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu compared the Hamas attacks to ISIS killings. “Hamas terrorists bound, burned and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS,” he said. Bombardment by Israeli forces on Tuesday hit the main exit point from the Palestinian region.
Here are the live updates on the Israel-Hamas war:
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Russian President Vladimir Putin today called for negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian forces and hoped the war would not expand.
“It is necessary to avoid the expansion of the conflict at all cost, because if it happens it will have an impact on the international situation,” he said, adding that parties “need to return to a negotiation process that should be acceptable to all sides, including to the Palestinians.”
11 UN staff killed in Gaza since Saturday, says spokesman: News Agency AFP
India launches “Operation Ajay”, first flight tomorrow to repatriate Indians from Israel amid war
At least 22 US citizens have been killed since Hamas militants launched a massive attack against Israel, the US State Department said Wednesday, with Washington pledging firm support for its close ally.
“At this time, we can confirm the deaths of at least 22 US citizens. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected,” a State Department spokesperson said.
Israel Government Contacts 81 Families Of Hostages Taken By Hamas: Report
Around 81 families of people taken hostage by Palestine’s Hamas group have reportedly been contacted by the Israeli government, say media reports.
Rocket sirens activated in Israel’s north, says army: News Agency AFP
The Red Cross said five members of the IFRC network had been killed in the war between Hamas and Israel, including four paramedics as ambulances were hit on Wednesday.
“The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is devastated to confirm the deaths of five members of our network due to the armed hostilities in Israel and the Gaza Strip,” the IFRC said in a statement.
Israel-Hamas War Live Updates:
Israel army says suspected aerial ‘infiltration from Lebanon’: News Agency AFP
China’s envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun called for “an immediate ceasefire” during a phone call with a Palestinian official, the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday.
“Zhai Jun said that China is deeply grieved by the intensification of the current conflict… and is deeply concerned by the serious deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Palestine. The top priorities are an immediate ceasefire and the protection of civilians,” a readout on the foreign ministry website said.
The top US military officer on Wednesday said Washington had seen no signs that other regional foes of Israel were looking to join the attack by Hamas.
“I have not seen any indications of additional players that are going to get involved to the detriment of Israel,” said General Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Nine United Nations staffers working with the UN Palestinian refugee agency have been killed in air strikes on the Gaza Strip since Saturday, the United Nations wrote on X social media platform on Wednesday.
Established in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides public services including schooling, primary healthcare and humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Nine UN staffers working with @UNRWA have been killed in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday.
Humanitarians and civilians are #NotATargetpic.twitter.com/i7DbRjBX0C
– United Nations (@UN) October 11, 2023
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for urgent international action to protect children and civilians in the Israel-Gaza war, urging Hamas to free child hostages and Israel to halt its air strikes.
“Children must never be held hostage, anywhere in the world,” Lula wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Hamas needs to free the Israeli children who were kidnapped from their families. Israel needs to stop its bombing so Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the Gaza strip via the Egyptian border,” he said.
“There needs to be a minimum of humanity in the insanity of war.”
Apelo do Presidente Lula em defesa das crianças palestinas e israelenses
Quero fazer um apelo ao secretário-geral da ONU, @antonioguterres, e à comunidade internacional para que, juntos e com urgência, lancemos mão de todos os recursos para pôr fim à mais grave violação aos…
– Lula (@LulaOficial) October 11, 2023
Israel’s war to “uproot” Palestinian group Hamas will deter militants from carrying out attacks across the world, the country’s Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel told AFP in an exclusive interview.
“We have to uproot it so it doesn’t happen, there won’t be any option, even a thought, to others in the world that they could use what happened (in Israel) as a model” for future attacks, Gamliel said.
Pakistan batsman Mohammad Rizwan on Wednesday dedicated his team’s epic Cricket World Cup victory against Sri Lanka to “our brothers and sisters in Gaza”, potentially putting him at odds with support for Israel expressed by the government of host nation India.
“This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Happy to contribute in the win,” Rizwan, 31, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. 🤲🏼
Happy to contribute in the win. Credits to the whole team and especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier.
Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout.
– Muhammad Rizwan (@iMRizwanPak) October 11, 2023
Israel’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said it was not able to confirm “at this stage” reports that Hamas fighters “murdered” 40 babies at a kibbutz in the south of the country.
On Tuesday, the official government @Israel account on X published a video from an emotional i24NEWS reporter about the devastation at the Kfar Aza kibbutz.
The video was headlined simply “40 babies murdered”.
Over the past three days Israeli jets, which include the United States-made F35 stealth fighters, have launched devastating aerial attacks on Gaza to soften Hamas targets and Palestinian defences ahead of a widely-expected ground offensive. Tel Aviv has also drafted three lakh reserve soldiers, and amassed tanks and troops, as it looks to retaliate to Saturday’s brutal attack; an estimated 1,500 Hamas gunmen stormed the fortified Gaza border, slaughtering hundreds and taking hostages.
The fierce fighting has brought Israel’s military stores into the spotlight.
Israel received a warning from Egypt of potential violence three days before Hamas caught Israeli forces off-guard with a large-scale attack, the chairman of the powerful US House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday.
“We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,” Republican Michael McCaul told reporters following an intelligence briefing for lawmakers on the crisis.
Following the deadly strike in Israel by Palestine’s Hamas group, the Swiss government on Wednesday said that the group must not be classised as a terror organisation by Switzerland.
“The Federal Council condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist acts carried out by Hamas against civilians in Israel” and “is of the opinion that Hamas should be classified as a terrorist organisation”, it said in a statement after its meeting Wednesday.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday an “emergency government” with an opposition party leader, Benny Gantz, for the duration of the war with Gaza militants.
“Following a meeting … held today, the two agreed on establishing an emergency government and war cabinet,” said a joint statement by the premier and Gantz, a former defence minister.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has not joined Gantz, but the statement said a seat would be “reserved” for him in the war cabinet.
The armed wings of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said Wednesday they were targeting southern and central Israel with rockets, as sirens sounded in areas surrounding the Gaza Strip.
Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said it was targeting the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv, Ashdod and Ashkelon as well as communities near the Gaza border with “heavy rocket fire”.
Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it had fired a rocket at Ben Gurion airport, where Israeli officials reported no hit.
UK’s King Charles III is “appalled” by Palestine’s Hamas group’s attacks in Israel and “condemns the barbaric acts of terrorism” perpetrated, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday.
“This is a situation His Majesty is extremely concerned about, and he has asked to be kept actively updated,” the palace added, noting the king’s “thoughts and prayers are with all of those suffering”.
Air raids against Hamas will not dismantle its structure completely and a ground attack is the only way to go, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated. In a conversation with US President Joe Biden, Mr Netanyahu has said, “We have to go in,” news site Axios has reported.
In a telephonic conversation with President Biden on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said Israel does not have any choice but to unleash a ground operation in Gaza, according to three Israeli and US sources briefed on the call, reported Axios.
Israel-Hamas War Day 5 Live Updates:
Rocket from Gaza hits hospital in Israeli city of Ashkelon, says spokeswoman: News Agency AFP
The Israel-Gaza war has a real risk of spreading into a larger regional war with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group firing missiles into Israel. Israel also launched counterattacks at the Hezbollah amid soaring border tensions. Both Israel and its closest ally the US have warned Hezbollah against opening a second front as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza Strip.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that providing support to Ukraine and Israel are “absolute top priorities” for the United States and she expects bipartisan support despite political upheaval in Congress.
The ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week by Republican hardliners has raised concerns about a prolonged paralysis in Congress.
Military and economic support for Ukraine “along with resources for Israel are our absolute top priorities for the Biden administration,” Janet Yellen said.
The Indian Ambassador to Israel, in a message to the Indian community of the war-torn country, said that the situation is being monitores “closely”.
In a video message, he said that the embassy is working constantly for the safety and welfare of Indians in Israel.
Message from Ambassador Sanjeev Singla to the members of Indian community in Israel 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/FKUqJZykeF
– India in Israel (@indemtel) October 11, 2023
Gaza has lost all mains electricity after the only power station in the Palestinian enclave ran out of fuel and had to shut down, Reuters reported Wednesday evening citing Hamas media sources.
Norway, which chairs an international donors group for Palestine, on Wednesday urged the international community to maintain its aid to Palestinians following the Hamas militant group’s attack on Israel.
“The situation will only deteriorate further if the international community suspends or reduces its assistance at this critical juncture,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt told AFP in an email.
Russia is set to benefit from the Israel-Hamas conflict, as Israel’s requests for US military aid risk diverting weapons and focus from Ukraine while the rising price of oil bolsters Moscow’s economy.
The Hamas group in the massive terror attack on Israel last week used some tactics that military experts say was rarely used earlier.
Apart from the use of powered gliders to insert heavily armed men into Israel from the Gaza Strip, the Hamas also deployed weaponised commercial drones to incapacitate static Israeli defences.
Four paramedics of the Palestinian Red Crescent were killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the humanitarian organisation said.
Three of them died when a strike “directly targeted an ambulance” of the Red Crescent north of Gaza, and the fourth in a separate strike in the east of the enclave, the aid group said.
4 paramedics killed in Israel strike on Gaza, says Palestinian Red Crescent: News Agency AFP
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and a visiting delegation of US senators on Wednesday condemned the “indiscriminate attack” by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel after a meeting in Seoul, Yoon’s office said.
The bipartisan delegation, led by US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, also discussed the North Korean nuclear threat during the visit, which follows a high-profile trip to Beijing where the senators met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The president and the Senate delegation condemned Hamas’ indiscriminate attack on Israel,” Yoon’s office said, adding the two countries would “play a constructive role” in easing tensions in the Middle East.
As the war between Israel and Gaza entered its fifth day on Wednesday, a heartbreaking video has surfaced, showing how Hamas is using Israeli hostages – including children – as bargaining chips.
The video, live-streamed by Hamas, shows a gunman ordering a family to talk while a man bleeds from his leg and his wife sits next to him, with a young girl in her lap. Two other children sit on either side of the couple, with a sobbing girl holding her mouth to keep from screaming.
Congress under fire for its statement on the Hamas attack on Israel, the party’s senior leader Shashi Tharoor said today that the terror group does not represent Palestine. “The Centre’s stand on Israel war doesn’t go far enough, India should also stand behind Palestinians… The country should not forget the cause of Palestine,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Watch LIVE | Shashi Tharoor Speaks To NDTV’s @maryashakil On Israel-Gaza War https://t.co/NaebkvOMq8
– NDTV (@ndtv) October 11, 2023
Over 20 people have been arrested in France after dozens antisemitic acts were reported, said police. The acts include harassment of Jewish children by fellow pupils at school, the government said on Wednesday.
“It’s important that all French people of Jewish faith know they are protected,” Darmanin said as he and Education Minister Gabriel Attal visited a Jewish school near Paris.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the Palestinian group Hamas’s killing of Israeli civilians was a cold-blooded act of war and reflected an “ancient evil”.
“We have to be clear in defining this kind of horror,” she said. “And there can only be one response to it. Europe stands with Israel. And we fully support Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Addressing the start of a meeting of European commissioners, von der Leyen also supported a full review of the EU’s multi-million-euro financial support for Palestinian projects.
17 British Nationals Dead Or Missing In Israel After Hamas Attack: Report
Seventeen British nationals including children are dead or missing in Israel after attacks by Palestinian group Hamas, the BBC reported on Wednesday, citing an official source.
At least 169 Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting with the Hamas group after it launched a shock cross-border attack, the army said on Wednesday.
“As of this morning, we’ve informed the families of 169 fallen IDF (army) soldiers,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters, adding that the families of 60 people abducted and taken to Gaza have also been contacted.
Israel is not conducting itself “like a state” in the Gaza Strip, Turkey’s president said on Wednesday, as Israel pounded the territory after a Hamas onslaught.
“Israel should not forget that if it acts more like an organisation rather than a state, it’ll finish by being treated as such,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, attacking “shameful methods” of the Israeli army in the densely-populated Gaza Strip.
The death count in the Gaza Strip surged to 1,055 on Wednesday, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said, as Israel pounded targets across the densely populated territory.
“We have at least 1,055 martyrs and 5,184 people suffering from different injuries,” the ministry said in an update on casualties since Israel unleashed a fierce air campaign in response to a surprise attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists on Saturday.
India has launched a round-the-clock emergency helpline for its citizens in Palestine as Israel moves in on Gaza to retaliate against the Hamas group’s Sabbath attack.
Public Notice
Emergency Helpline for Indian Diaspora pic.twitter.com/5Z1Q7U71nX– India in Palestine – الهند في فلسطين (@ROIRamallah) October 11, 2023
Israeli troops have killed at least 1,000 Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated from Gaza in incursions that began at the weekend, and have reinforced all communities in Israel as hostilities spread to other fronts, the military said.
“Fighter jets recently attacked the Islamic University, which serves as an important center of political and military power for the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip and a training institution for the development and production of weapons,” the tweet reads
מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר את האוניברסיטה האסלאמית שמשמשת כמוקד כח מדיני וצבאי חשוב של ארגון הטרור חמאס ברצועת עזה ומוסד הדרכה לפיתוח וייצור אמצעי לחימה.
צה”ל ממשיך בגלי תקיפה נרחבים ברצועה גם בשעה זו pic.twitter.com/NaRPoOepfM– צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 11, 2023
At least 169 Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas after its militants launched a shock cross-border attack, the army said on Wednesday. “As of this morning, we’ve informed the families of 169 fallen IDF (army) soldiers,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters, adding that the families of 60 people abducted and taken to Gaza have also been contacted.
Here are airlines that have temporarily halted flights to and from Israel:
AFRICA
Royal Air Maroc
AMERICAS
United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines
Air Canada
ASIA
Hainan Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Korean Air
EUROPE
Norwegian Air
Lufthansa
Austrian Airlines
Swiss International Airlines
Brussels Airlines
EasyJet
Ryanair
Air France KLM
Finnair
Wizz Air
TAP
Iberia Airlines
Vueling canceled
Air Europa
ITA
Aegean Airlines
Bulgaria Air
Air Malta
Icelandair
Virgin Atlantic
LOT
MIDDLE EAST
Etihad Airways
Gulf Air
Hezbollah claims missile fire on Israel as retaliation for slain members, news agency AFP reported.
A French leftist party, the New Anti-Capitalist Party, is being investigated for glorifying “terror” over comments following the deadly Hamas raids on Israel, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday. Darmanin told a TV news show prosecutors referred the case to police after the far-left NPA affirmed “its support for the Palestinians and the means of struggle they have chosen to resist”.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant will hold video talks Thursday with his NATO counterparts, after the surprise Hamas attack on his country, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said. “Tomorrow, we will also be briefed by the Israeli defence minister Gallant on the situation in Israel,” Stoltenberg told journalists Wednesday at a two-day meeting of ministers in Brussels. “Allies condemned the horrific terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Israel over the weekend, and we are looking forward to the briefing from the defence minister.”
Pope urges immediate release of hostages in Hamas-Israel war. Pope says ‘very worried’ about siege of Gaza
The Israeli military said one of its northern positions was attacked with anti-tank fire from Lebanon on Wednesday, but did not immediately provide details on any casualties or who might have been responsible. The attack took place near the Israeli town of Arab al-Aramshe, opposite the Lebanese village of Dhayra, the statement said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the Western countries to support the people of Israel as they did Ukraine after Russia’s invaded to show them they are not “alone”. “My recommendation to the leaders to go to Israel and I think to support people, just people I’m not speaking about any institutions, just to support people who have been under terrorist attacks,” he said.
Israeli fighters jets struck the Islamic University in Gaza City on Wednesday, an news agency AFP correspondent and an official with the Hamas-linked institution said. “The intense air strikes destroyed completely some buildings of the Islamic University,” Ahmed Orabi of the university management told AFP.
Australia has launched two special flights to help bring its citizens from Israel back home, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. The first flight will leave on Friday followed by the second on Sunday. The flights will begin from Ben Gurion airport and halt at London. “We are assessing all options to get Australians home as soon as possible who wish to travel back here,” said the prime minister.
Twenty Thai nationals have been killed in the conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas, the kingdom’s government said Wednesday, up from the previous toll of 18. The foreign ministry said the number of Thais held hostage had increased by three to 14, based on unofficial reports from Thai citizens in Israel.
At least 30 people were killed and hundreds wounded after Israel attacked the Gaza Strip with hundreds of rockets overnight, a Hamas government official said. Dozens of residential buildings, factories, mosques and shops were hit, the official told news agency AFP.
Thailand’s foreign ministry has said it received reports that three more of its nationals had been taken hostage in Gaza. So far, 14 national have been abducted and 20 citizens have been killed and 13 others injured.
Hacktivist groups say they are hitting Israeli targets online amid the war in Israel and Gaza, disrupting and defacing websites like the Jerusalem Post. The conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors routinely attracts both intense global interest and politically minded hackers – dubbed hacktivists – who piggyback on the fighting, either to support their favored side or simply get attention. “There are dozens of victims per day, claimed by both pre-established and new (hacktivist) groups,” cyber intelligence firm Recorded Future said.
Israel has added more flights to help bring home more military reserve force members as its war rages against Hamas, said news agency Reuters Israel had said that it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists to help its retaliation against the Hamas strikes.
🇮🇱🤝🇺🇸
The first plane carrying U.S. armaments has since arrived at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel this evening.The cooperation between our militaries is a key part of ensuring regional security and stability in times of war.
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 11, 2023
Thailand: 18 dead, 11 hostages
US: 14 dead, others missing
Nepal: 10 dead
France: Eight dead, 20 missing
Argentina: Seven dead, 15 missing
Russia: Four dead, six missing
Ukraine: Two dead
UK: Two dead
Canada: One dead, Three missing
Cambodia: One dead
Germany: Several hostages
Philippines: Five missing
Chile: Three dead, one missing
Peru: two dead, three missing
Austria: Three missing
Brazil: Two dead
Italy: Two missing
Paraguay: Two missing
Peru: Two missing
Sri Lanka: Two missing
Tanzania: Two missing
Mexico: Two hostages
Colombia: Two hostages
Ireland: One missing