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Numbers update: Gaza officials say 10,468 have been killed and more than 27,000 wounded since 7th October 2023. Day 33. Updates of the day "as it happened" below descriptions. Bombardment of Gaza has continued and now includes the Israeli navy being involved, saying they are targeting HAMAS forces. Israel's ground forces remain in central/northern Gaza. General Yaron Finkelman says "it's a complex and difficult war and comes at a price" Contradictory claims are being made by USA and Israel as to "who will have control of security" at the end of the conflict, which Israel calls a war. Charlotte Dubenskij tries to make sense of it as relationships seem to sour and PM Netanyahu is called on by some to stand down. Rory speaks to Amit Assa, a former member of the Israel Security Agency and Colonel Sultan Hali, a former Pakistani air force officer about the conflicting claims from Israel and USA. On Tuesday Israel airstrikes claimed many lives in central and southern Gaza; in Khan Yunis many are still under the rubble left by the bombings. Iyad Shaqura (a doctor) talks about his family losses and asks "what crime did my children commit to have tons of bombs dropped on them?" The Indonesian hospital has been hit again in northern Gaza. Israel justified it's actions by saying HAMAS are hiding in tunnels under the hospital. Muhammad Husein (founder of the hospital NGO sponsor) said he was involved in it's building in 2011 and no such tunnels exist - that Israel is using such narratives as an excuse to bomb. In Surabaya (Indonesia) protests about the Israeli bombing have started. In South Africa, Naledi Pandor (SA's FM) made a statement about the war crimes being committed against the Gaza civilians and alikens the situation with apartheid South Africa. Collective punishment. South Africa has submitted a peace plan. FM Pandor spoke to RT. "Double standards" The Israel Heritage Minister called for dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza. It hasn't escaped Russia's notice. Maria Zakharova (Russian FM spokeswoman) spoke to RT and asks "where is the IAEA - where are the inspectors" ??? Pres. Putin held a meeting with Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia. (Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also attended) Pres. Putin said stable Russia/China relationships are good, and are key, and calm is essential in the international situation as NATO tries to expand. Oumaima Ichchar reports. short take: The Israeli military says its forces are now fighting in the quote 'very heart of Gaza' after Prime Minister Netanyahu states Israel will take over control of security there 'indefinitely'. Those remarks contradict the country's closest ally, with the US having declared neither Washington nor Israel was seeking control over the Palestinian enclave. Israel strikes an area near the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, and says it's targeting Hamas tunnels underneath. We spoke to one of the builders of the hospital, who says there's no safe place left to go. South Africa's foreign minister condemns Israel's assault on Gaza, drawing a direct comparison with the history of apartheid in her nation. = = ======Updates "as they happened === 08 November 2023 20:31 GMT Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri offered to release the remaining hostages kidnapped on October 7 during the militant group’s raids on Israel in exchange for the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in a televised speech on Wednesday. Hamas had conducted the surprise attack in order to secure the freedom of its political prisoners, among other reasons, he claimed. “Take everyone we have and give us all of the prisoners you have,” he proposed, urging negotiators not to waste time. While Israel would rather “kill all of their hostages,” it “cannot escape from a comprehensive offer,” he argued. Hamas has previously claimed Israel rejected its attempts to release multiple hostages on humanitarian grounds, claims West Jerusalem rejected as propaganda. 19:14 GMT The high volume of civilians being killed in Gaza indicates there is “something that is clearly wrong” with Israel’s military operations in the enclave, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. “Every year the highest number of killing of children by any of the actors in all the conflicts that we witness is the maximum in the hundreds,” the UN chief continued. “We have in a few days in Gaza seen thousands of children killed.” Breaking the Silence, a group of Israeli military veterans critical of the occupation of Palestine, suggested in a thread on X that the IDF was using the “Dahiya doctrine,” a strategy allegedly devised by the IDF during its war against Lebanon that purports to justify the deliberate (and illegal) targeting of civilian infrastructure and homes as a valid military tactic, based on the extent of the destruction and loss of civilian life in Gaza. 18:49 GMT Israel’s ground operations in Gaza have no definite time limit, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz told reporters on Wednesday. “The war here is for our existence and for Zionism, and so I can’t provide an estimate of the length of each stage in the war and the fighting that will continue after,” he said. Admitting Israel still does not have a concrete plan for Gaza after Hamas is defeated, Gantz promised that “we will sit down and review an alternative mechanism for Gaza” only once the area was “safe” and the occupied West Bank had “calm[ed] down.” He did not address earlier comments by Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would maintain “security responsibility” over the enclave indefinitely. 17:38 GMT Yemen said on Wednesday it had shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over its territorial waters, while it was on a “hostile, monitoring and spying” mission in support of Israel. The US military has yet to comment on the incident. Last month, the Houthi government in Sanaa endorsed the Palestinian cause and confirmed it had launched several waves of missiles and drones at Israel. 14:09 GMT Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has passed a law prohibiting the systematic consumption of terrorist content, the Times of Israel has reported. Watching or reading materials from organizations classed by the Israeli authorities as terrorist, in a manner that indicates that a person identifies with those groups, could lead to a prison term of up to one year, according to the legislation. The law singles out groups such as Hamas and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). The legislation states that it’s not applicable to someone who consumes terrorist content “randomly, in good faith, or for a legitimate reason including providing information to the public, preventing terror attacks, or for research purposes.” The law is set to remain in force for the next two years, but the Knesset can vote to prolong it at the end of that period. 13:02 GMT The IDF has published a video showing huge crowds of Palestinian refugees leaving their homes in northern Gaza, walking to the southern part of the enclave. “Thousands of residents responded to repeated calls from the Israeli army to move south along the Saladin Highway,” it said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1722211007811244289 12:50 GMT The IDF has claimed that “one of Hamas’ leading weapon developers” has been killed in an airstrike on Gaza. Mohsen Abu Zina had headed the weapons and industries division of the Palestinian militant group, specializing in manufacturing “strategic weapons and rockets,” the Israeli military said. 12:07 GMT Gaza’s Health Ministry has said 214 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave in the past 24 hours, putting the overall death toll from Israeli attacks at 10,569, including 4,324 children. At least 2,550 Palestinians are missing, including 1,350 children, the ministry said. The number of wounded has reached 26,475 people, it added. 11:18 GMT The UK Labour Party’s Shadow Minister for the New Deal for Working People, Imran Hussain, has announced his resignation from the party’s frontbench over its leader Keir Starmer’s refusal to call for a humanitarian truce in Gaza. “A ceasefire is essential to ending the bloodshed, to ensuring that enough aid can pass into Gaza and reach those most in need, and to help ensure the safe return of the Israeli hostages,” Hussain said in a letter addressed to Starmer, which he published on X (formerly Twitter). The right of countries to self-defence should “never become a right to deliberately violate international law on protecting civilians or to commit war crimes,” he said, referring to Israel’s military campaign Gaza. 10:40 GMT US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has insisted that the conditions for “durable peace and security” must be established in Gaza after the conclusion of Israel’s ground operation against Hamas. They include “no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, not now, not after the war. No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks. No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends. No attempts to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza,” Blinken said during a press conference after the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Tokyo. According to the US secretary of state, there should be “Palestinian governance, Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority… a sustained mechanism for reconstruction in Gaza, and a pathway [to a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict].” When asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to put Gaza under IDF control for an indefinite period of time, Blinken replied that “there may be a need for some transition period.” 09:25 GMT The G7 countries are working together with partners in the Middle East on sanctions “to deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out atrocities,” the group’s foreign ministers have said in a joint statement after their meeting in Tokyo. The G7 is “working intensively to prevent the conflict [between Israel and Hamas] from escalating further and spreading more widely,” the statement read. The top diplomats from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US also said that they “support humanitarian pauses and corridors to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement [in Gaza] and the release of hostages,” held by the Palestinian armed group. 08:45 GMT Israeli police say they have identified the remains of 843 civilians killed during the attack by Hamas on October 7. They added that work to identify the remaining victims continues. According to estimates by the Israeli authorities, around 1,000 civilians and 400 members of the security forces were killed in the incursion by Palestinian militants. 08:11 GMT The suggestion by the now suspended Israeli heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, that Gaza should be nuked is proof of Israel having nuclear weapons, Mohammad Eslami the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) has said. “Once again, an Israeli official has admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, and more importantly, by threatening the innocent people of Gaza, he challenged the basic principles of international law and the UN Charter,” Eslami told IRNA news agency. The UN and other international organizations should “break their silence and take serious decisions against this arrogance that poses a serious threat to international peace and security,” he stressed. Israel is widely believed to be a nuclear power. However, the country maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity on the issue, never officially admitting or denying having atomic weapons. 07:16 GMT Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been “destroyed emotionally” by last month’s Hamas attack on Israel and is now overreacting by planning to put Gaza under IDF control for an indefinite period of time, the country’s former PM Ehud Olmert has told Politico. “I mean, something terrible happened to him. Bibi [Netanyahu] has been working all his life on the false pretence that he is Mr. Security. He’s Mr. Bulls**t,” he said. “Every minute he is prime minister he is a danger to Israel. I seriously mean it. I am certain the Americans understand he is in bad shape.” Olmert, who led the government between 2006 and 2009, suggested that “it’s not in Israel’s interests to oversee the security of Gaza.” The priority should be to negotiate a settlement to the crisis with the international community, involving a return to talks on the formation of a Palestinian state, he said. 06:44 GMT The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said it is “deeply troubled” after its humanitarian convoy came under fire in Gaza City on Tuesday. According to a statement by the ICRC, two trucks were damaged and a driver lightly wounded in the incident. It didn’t specify which side was behind the attack. “These are not the conditions under which humanitarian personnel can work,” William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC delegation in Gaza, insisted. “We are here to bring urgent assistance to civilians in need. Ensuring that vital assistance can reach medical facilities is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law.” 06:17 GMT The US House of Representatives has voted to censure Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib over her criticism of the IDF’s attacks on Gaza and claims that US President Joe Biden is supporting the “genocide” of the Palestinians by backing Israel. The House voted 234 to 188 to slap its only Palestinian-American lawmaker with the hash punishment, which is just a step below expulsion. Tlaib defended her stance ahead of the vote, insisting that “Palestinian people are not disposable. We are human beings just like anyone else.” She also stressed that her rhetoric had been targeted at Israel’s authorities, but not the Israeli people. “The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is anti-Semitic sets a very dangerous precedent, and it’s been used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation,” the lawmaker said. 05:46 GMT The Israeli military has announced the name of another soldier killed in the fighting with Hamas in northern Gaza. This puts the IDF’s overall losses since the launch of the ground operation in the Palestinian enclave at 31 troops. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1722104184219025498 04:46 GMT US Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a House bill that would have provided emergency aid to Israel without funding to Ukraine, demanding the Republicans agree to President Joe Biden’s $106 bundle request instead. The Republican-majority House of Representatives passed a $14 billion standalone package for Israel last week. “Time is of the essence and it's imperative that the Senate not delay delivering this crucial aid to Israel another day,” Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas said on Tuesday, urging the Democrats to agree to the House bill. “Our allies in Ukraine can no more afford a delay than our allies in Israel,” replied Patty Murray of Washington, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Meanwhile, the White House proposal has sought to combine the aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and migration policy – presented as “border security” – in order to overcome opposition by some Republicans to continued funding of Kiev. 02:17 GMT The White House has sounded alarms over the possible “reoccupation” of Gaza by Israel, after the country’s leader indicated Israeli forces would handle “overall security responsibility” in the area following the conflict with Hamas. Asked to weigh in on the long-term plans for Gaza during an interview with CNN on Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby urged Israel to reconsider a lengthy military deployment. “The president still believes that a reoccupation of Gaza by Israeli forces is not good. It’s not good for Israel; not good for the Israeli people,” he said without elaborating. “One of the conversations that Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken has been having in the region is what does post-conflict Gaza look like?” the spokesman added “What does governance look like in Gaza? Because whatever it is it can’t be what it was on October 6. It can’t be Hamas.” 00:38 GMT The IDF says that its warplanes have carried out a series of airstrikes against multiple Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including a warehouse, suspected rocket launch positions as well as “terrorist infrastructure and technological means.” The raid allegedly came in response to rocket fire from the Lebanese territory, the Israeli military said, releasing a video of its retaliatory strikes. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1721987782753603850

Numbers update: Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says 10,328 people, including 4,237 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7th 2023. More than 23,000 have been wounded (unconfirmed/unknown as hospitals can't report). Day 32 I decided to upload both the early and late news videos today, there are few duplications first to second and there's a lot to hear/see/know. Live updates below both short takes. I will add them as the come in (or as I can find them) Short take 1) The sky lit up over Gaza - as the IDF's ground incursion into the enclave comes alongside airstrikes across the region. The UN Secretary General sounds the alarm that the grim death toll in Gaza is burying future generations, as the number of Palestinians killed, is reported to have surpassed ten thousand people. One month ago Hamas attacked, Israel displays the wreckage from the Nova festival as the relatives of those taken hostage demand the government do more to bring them home. In Türkiye crowds protest the US Secretary of State's visit to Ankara, accusing the United States of complicity in the thousands killed in Gaza. Short take 2) Israeli forces bombard the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis, as the IDF's ground invasion of the enclave is paired with airstrikes across other parts of the region. Russia says goodbye to a key Cold War-era security treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe. Moscow says there's no point in maintaining it as it's been marred by NATO. Washington reportedly deploys the nuclear-powered USS Florida attack submarine to the Persian Gulf in an apparent bid to deter Iran. The democracy-cherishing West appears to be turning a blind eye to Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky's cancellation of the 2024 presidential elections in Ukraine, stating, 'now is not the time'. === ===== Updates "as they happened" ===08 November 2023 == = === 8th November 2023 = = 02:17 GMT The White House has sounded alarms over the possible “reoccupation” of Gaza by Israel, after the country’s leader indicated Israeli forces would handle “overall security responsibility” in the area following the conflict with Hamas. Asked to weigh in on the long-term plans for Gaza during an interview with CNN on Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby urged Israel to reconsider a lengthy military deployment. “The president still believes that a reoccupation of Gaza by Israeli forces is not good. It’s not good for Israel; not good for the Israeli people,” he said without elaborating. “One of the conversations that Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken has been having in the region is what does post-conflict Gaza look like?” the spokesman added “What does governance look like in Gaza? Because whatever it is it can’t be what it was on October 6. It can’t be Hamas.” 00:38 GMT The IDF says that its warplanes have carried out a series of airstrikes against multiple Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including a warehouse, suspected rocket launch positions as well as “terrorist infrastructure and technological means.” The raid allegedly came in response to rocket fire from the Lebanese territory, the Israeli military said, releasing a video of its retaliatory strikes. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1721987782753603850 07 November 2023 23:52 GMT A senior adviser to PM Benjamin Netanyahu, has clarified the Israeli leader’s statements, insisting that Israel will not re-occupy and control Gaza, but only plans to maintain a “security presence” in the Palestinian enclave. “There will have to be an Israeli security presence, but that doesn’t mean Israel is re-occupying Gaza, that doesn’t mean that Israel is there to govern the Gazans,” Mark Regev told CNN. “When this is over and we have defeated Hamas, it is crucial that there won’t be a resurgent terrorist element, a resurgent Hamas.” 22:11 GMT Biden pushes for ‘three-day pause’ from Israel – AxiosREAD MORE: Biden pushes for ‘three-day pause’ from Israel – Axios https://www.axios.com/2023/11/07/biden-netanayhu-gaza-hamas-ceasefire-pause-hostages US President Joe Biden has reportedly urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause attacks against Hamas for three days, saying such a halt to the fighting in Gaza could enable negotiators to secure the release of more hostages. Under a proposal being discussed between the US, Israel and Qatar, Hamas would release 10 to 15 hostages during a three-day pause and verify the identities of its remaining captives, Axios reported on Tuesday. The militant group also would deliver a list of those hostages, the outlet said, citing an unidentified US official. ===== 7th November 22:25 GMT US Sec. of Defence Lloyd Austin has spoken with his Egyptian counterpart, Minister of Defence General Mohamed Zaki, while US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli President Herzog. Austin “expressed appreciation for Egypt’s work to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and the safe evacuation of US citizens from Gaza. They also discussed the importance of civilian protection”, Pentagon. https://twitter.com/SecDef/status/1722012436193054822 22:11 GMT US President Joe Biden has reportedly urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause attacks against Hamas for three days, saying such a halt to the fighting in Gaza could enable negotiators to secure the release of more hostages. Under a proposal being discussed between the US, Israel and Qatar, Hamas would release 10 to 15 hostages during a three-day pause and verify the identities of its remaining captives, Axios reported on Tuesday. The militant group also would deliver a list of those hostages, the outlet said, citing an unidentified US official. 20:40 GMT Some 89 UN aid workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel began bombing the Palestinian enclave a month ago, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has announced. Another 26 were injured in the same period, the agency added. This death toll is the highest recorded by the UN “in any comparable period in the history of our organization,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, after a collection of UN agencies issued a joint statement calling for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.” 19:20 GMT A spokesman for the IDF unit responsible for tracking aid deliveries to Gaza has claimed that there is no shortage of food, water, or other humanitarian supplies in the Palestinian enclave, the Times of Israel has reported. Multiple aid agencies, including the UN, World Health Organization, and Palestine Red Crescent Society have argued otherwise, claiming that the trickle of aid entering Gaza via Egypt is insufficient to meet the needs of its 2.3 million people. https://twitter.com/UNRWA/status/1721802988841226333 According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the average Gazan now subsisting on two pieces of bread per day and is drinking water fit only for irrigation. 19:08 GMT “Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land,” US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel has told reporters. Responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s earlier statement that Israel will take responsibility for security in the enclave for an “indefinite period” after the war, Patel said that “our viewpoint is [that] Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions.” “Generally speaking, we do not support reoccupation of Gaza and neither does Israel,” he added. 17:14 GMT Hezbollah’s cross-border strikes on Israeli forces are intended to send “a clear message that if you expand there will be serious consequences,” the militant group’s deputy secretary general told NBC News. Naim Qassem explained that Hezbollah “participates for the sake of lowering the pressure on Gaza.” “Those in the Axis of Resistance have seen that the mastermind is America,” Qassem said, referring to a spate of recent attacks by Iran-aligned militias on US bases in Iraq and Syria. “So they strike America under the principle of sending a message to stop. Just as Israel should stop.” 16:55 GMT Al Jazeera publishes numbers update and a refresher/explainer https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/7/one-month-of-israels-war-whats-happening-to-palestinians-outside-gaza - they say 24,800 is the latest number of wounded (still no word of confirmed or not though) 16:47 GMT Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has cancelled a planned trip to Israel after news of the visit was leaked last week, the Times of Israel reported. Israel’s Channel 12 reported last Friday that the preparations were underway for the Ukrainian leader to travel to the Jewish state this week. Three weeks earlier, West Jerusalem rejected an offer by the Ukrainian president to visit, with officials reportedly telling him that “the time is not right.” Diplomatic sources told the Times of Israel that Zelensky is still expected to make the trip, but at a later date. 16:45 GMT Palestinian-American US congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s offensive in Gaza and US policy on the war, currently faces three separate resolutions attempting to censure her in the US House of Representatives. The first resolution, introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, failed last week. Rep. Rich McCormick accused Tlaib of “promoting false narratives” on the October 7 Hamas attack and “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel”. https://twitter.com/RepRashida/status/1721915427045920966 16:35 GMT At least 320 foreign nationals entered Egypt from Gaza today, after the Rafah crossing was closed over the weekend, according to the Reuters news agency, citing Egyptian sources. It re-opened on Monday with a limited number of people passing through, according to Reuters. Only four were injured Gaza Palestinians who would receive treatment in Egypt 16:27 GMT A candlelight vigil is taking place in Tel Aviv, with relatives and friends of those held in Gaza calling for their release. Similar rallies have taken place outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, as well as near United Nations headquarters in New York, over the past weeks. Amnest calls for release of hostages https://twitter.com/amnesty/status/1721918935484834000 16:15 GMT Hezbollah official says group seeking to pressure Israel, US to stop assault on Gaza Speaking to NBC News, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, said the growing level of cross-border fighting is meant to send “a clear message that if you expand there will be serious consequences”. “Hezbollah participates for the sake of lowering the pressure on Gaza,” Qassem told the US media outlet. “Those in the Axis of Resistance have seen that the mastermind is America,” Qassem said. “So they strike America under the principle of sending a message to stop. Just as Israel should stop.” He added, “How does America and the rest of the world have the right to stand on the side of Israel that kills civilians and children and destroys homes, while we don’t have the right to support our people and our loved ones in Palestine and the region?” various times between : ==Gaza’s Interior Ministry says all bakeries in Gaza City and in the northern Gaza governorates have stopped operating due to systematic targeting and the lack of fuel and flour. ==Far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman says after the war, Gaza must not be under the control of the Palestinian Authority; former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin said it is “premature” to say what happens in Gaza after the war. ==Hamas’s armed wing, Qassam Brigades, says it is “ready to release” 12 captives taken into Gaza, but Israeli air and land attacks are “what hinders this from being completed”. ==The United Nations says Gaza’s health, sanitation, water and food services are nearing a “breaking point”. ==Sec of state Blinken has discussed the situation in Gaza with his Japanese counterpart in advance of the G7 meeting in Tokyo, where Sec Blinken is hoping members will agree on a unified response to the war in Gaza. ==There has been an Israeli attack on two houses in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. ==Hezbollah has promised to “double” the death toll from any Israeli attacks on civilians after a recent attack killed three children and their grandmother in southern Lebanon. ==Israel’s southern army commander says that for the first time in a decade, the Israeli military “is fighting in the heart of Gaza City”. 12:37 GMT The IDF will have “absolute freedom” of action inside Gaza when the war against Hamas concludes, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has claimed. Questions over the future of the Palestinian enclave have arisen in recent weeks, and shortly before Gallant spoke to reporters, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News that the IDF will take responsibility for security in the enclave for an “indefinite period.” The Israeli military withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after nearly four decades of occupation. Israel has kept the region under a strict blockade ever since, forbidding all sea and air access and limiting the flow of food, medicine, and consumer goods. 05:33 GMT Israel has no plans to deport Palestinians from Gaza, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat has said, responding to Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh’s warning that doing so would be viewed as a “declaration of war.” Haiat stated that “Israel’s objective is to eliminate Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure,” while claiming that the Palestinian armed group is responsible for the “harm caused to innocent people and for the situation in Gaza today.” He added that while the country’s relations with Jordan are of “strategic importance,” Israel “regret[s] the inflammatory statements from Jordan’s leadership.” 03:51 GMT China and the United Arab Emirates have delivered a joint statement after the UN Security Council has once again failed to agree on a resolution on Monday night. “We call for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire,” China’s Ambassador Zhang Jun told reporters. “We emphasize the need for the Security Council to act with urgency and adopt a meaningful and actionable resolution.” “As we heard today, civilians in Gaza cannot even find safety in UN facilities, hospitals and refugee camps,” added UAE representative Lana Zaki Nusseibeh. “Wars have laws… And they must be upheld.” https://twitter.com/Chinamission2un/status/1721693803935867380 02:21 GMT The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees says that five staffers have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza “in the last 24 hours,” while several others were confirmed killed in earlier strikes. “This brings the total number of confirmed UNRWA colleagues killed to 88 and at least another 25 injured since the hostilities began,” the agency said on Monday evening, adding that over the past month at least 48 UNRWA-operated facilities were damaged. 01:31 GMT The Israeli forces will take “overall security responsibility” of the Gaza Strip for an “indefinite period” of time after the war with Hamas ends, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC News on Monday. “When we don't have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn't imagine,” Netanyahu added. Netanyahu also ruled out any “general ceasefire” until all hostages are released, but said that Israel would consider “tactical little pauses” in fighting to allow the entry of humanitarian aid. 00:13 GMT The IDF has accused Hamas militants of turning a mosque into a “rocket launching compound,” releasing a video that it said showed its ground troops uncovering spent missile containers. https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1721654675076718887 Previous video (6.11.23) has previous updates Channel isn't monetized and never will be. Please leave a thumbs up. Thanks for watching

Numbers update: 9,922 Palestinians have been killed and more than 23,000 wounded (unconfirmed) in Israel's attacks on Gaza and the occupied West Bank since October 7. Day 31. Situation update after video description below. As previously mentioned, all communications were cut off again by Israel ahead of some of the heaviest bombings since the conflict began on Oct. 7th. Eunan presents a short visual update of the state of play, including landings to the Gaza strip by sea/marine forces. One aerial attack killed 21 people from one family and dozens more. RT talks to some people local to the latest aerial bombardments. PM Netanyahu refuses calls for a ceasefire until the hostages are returned. Recall yesterday that some hostages have been killed by Israel's bombardment and their bodies are under the rubble. The UN has called for a ceasefire as many of it's workers have also been killed. (separate - a UN Security Council meeting behind closed doors at the request of the Emirates and China will be held this afternoon - the meeting was requested in light of the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Strip) Watch Afshin's interview/discussion with Prof. Ilan Pappé on Rumble https://rumble.com/v3txpgs-gaza-slaughter-is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-zionist-israel-proje.html In Lebanon, four people (three children) have been killed as an Israeli missile struck their car (my comment - this is serious escalation). Lebanon has been keeping the Israeli's busy in the north of Israel in the evacuated "buffer zone" (see previous reports) as a way to stop the attacks on Gaza. The IDF says it's ready for a regional conflict. Yasin Eken reports from Lebanon. (my comment this is REALLY serious. The entire region is like a "powder keg" and the countries are pretty much united in support of Palestine/Gaza). Malak Khaled gives commentary. See https://twitter.com/DontDenyThe/status/1720910687034069323 for Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-general of Hezbollah's important speech Sec of state Blinken visited Iraq and issued a warning, suggesting other countries "might take advantage of the conflict" (my comment - of course this is not the case; any action would be in support of Palestine/Gaza). Sec. Blinken was "welcomed" with mass protests in Baghdad; he has been visiting other regional states (all with similar welcomes from the public) and he continues with the no ceasefire narrative. Rachel Blevins reports/analyses on the goings on. (NB the "authority" in the West Bank is appointed by Israel). Billions of $$$ are now allocated for Israel (... me - why? ) RT spoke to Syria, Washington, Egypt & South African analysts. "This sort of U.S. plan faces a number of major red lines" The EU has been moaning about anti-Semitism in the bloc. (me - this conflict is not about Jews or any other religion. It's about avarice, lies, real estate, racism and apartheid - the actions of the Israel lobbies and people like the ADF have totally destroyed the safety of Jewish people by them making the GAZA conflict into a "holy war" - I hope to goodness someone will stand up and make proper commentary about this rotten, stinking, divisive, fascist machine and get it outlawed as a terrorist body, quickly) Rachel Marsden presents in her own inimitable way (excellent by the way, today) In Iran, their defence minister Mohammad-Reza Astiani has advised the US to immediately stop the war in Gaza and implement a ceasefire. Yusef Jalali reports. Protests around the world continued over the weekend. In Pakistan Hameedullah Khan reports from a hundred-thousand strong protest in Islamabad. = Updates "as they happened" = 07 November 2023 02:21 GMT The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees says that five staffers have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza “in the last 24 hours,” while several others were confirmed killed in earlier strikes. “This brings the total number of confirmed UNRWA colleagues killed to 88 and at least another 25 injured since the hostilities began,” the agency said on Monday evening, adding that over the past month at least 48 UNRWA-operated facilities were damaged. 01:31 GMT The Israeli forces will take “overall security responsibility” of the Gaza Strip for an “indefinite period” of time after the war with Hamas ends, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC News on Monday. “When we don't have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn't imagine,” Netanyahu added. Netanyahu also ruled out any “general ceasefire” until all hostages are released, but said that Israel would consider “tactical little pauses” in fighting to allow the entry of humanitarian aid. = === = = Updates "as they happened" = 6th November 2023 06 November 2023 23:12 GMT US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly talked about using tactical pauses in West Jerusalem’s military offensive in Gaza to enable more aid shipments to get into the Palestinian enclave and to negotiate more releases of hostages held by Hamas. No decisions were made as a result of Monday’s talks, but the two leaders agreed to continue discussing the issue in the days ahead, Reuters reported, citing White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “You can expect that we’re going to continue to advocate for temporary and localized pauses in the fighting,” Kirby said. “We consider ourselves at the beginning of this conversation, not at the end of it.” 22:48 GMT South Africa and Chad have joined the growing list of nations withdrawing their diplomatic staff from Israel, condemning West Jerusalem for killing thousands of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip as it tries to destroy Hamas. “A genocide under the watch of the international community cannot be tolerated,” South African Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Monday in Pretoria. “Another holocaust in the history of humankind is not acceptable.” Chad recalled its charge d’affaires to Israel on Saturday, according to a government statement on Monday. “Chad condemns the loss of human lives of many innocent civilians and calls for a ceasefire leading to a lasting solution to the Palestinian question,” the statement said. The central African country restored diplomatic relations with Israel in 2019, more than four decades after ties between the two governments were severed. 20:55 GMT A group of staffers at the US State Department have called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to publicly condemn Israel’s killing of civilians and demand that the Jewish state agree to a ceasefire, Politico has reported, citing a leaked memo. “We must publicly criticize Israel’s violations of international norms such as failure to limit offensive operations to legitimate military targets,” the message reportedly reads. “When Israel supports settler violence and illegal land seizures or employs excessive use of force against Palestinians, we must communicate publicly that this goes against our American values so that Israel does not act with impunity.” The report comes several weeks after Blinken reportedly met with a group of dissenting employees who formally protested his support for Israel, and after a senior official at the department resigned over what he called the US’ “destructive, unjust, and contradictory” rush to arm the Jewish state. 19:14 GMT Israel’s Foreign Minister has condemned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for warning that Gaza is “becoming a graveyard for children.” “Shame on you Antonio Guterres,” Eli Cohen wrote on social media, adding that Hamas’ kidnapping of 30 children from Israel justifies “Israel’s actions to eliminate” the militant group. https://twitter.com/elicoh1/status/1721598042858533337 Israel’s military operation in Gaza has killed more than 10,000 people, including 4,104 children, according to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry. 17:31 GMT The IDF has said that it is carrying out airstrikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, after the militant group fired 30 rockets into northern Israel earlier on Monday. The uptick in activity on the border comes days after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that his fighters would continue to tie up Israeli forces on the border, and are prepared for any escalation. 17:13 GMT Some 46 US personnel have been injured in attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria since October 17, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a briefing. In the past 24 hours, six attacks on US bases were recorded, including three separate rocket barrages on the Al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, according to multiple sources. A collective of Iran-aligned militia groups has claimed responsibility, and promised that more strikes would follow. The latest round of attacks came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Baghdad, where he warned that “the threats coming from the militia that are aligned with Iran are totally unacceptable and we will take every necessary step to protect our people.” 16:42 GMT Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Iran’s Etemad newspaper has reported. Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke by phone, and agreed to hold “an extraordinary summit aimed at reviewing the developments in Palestine, stopping the war crimes against Gaza and the West Bank, and continuously sending in humanitarian aid to the region,” according to an Iranian readout of the call. Earlier this year, Iran and Saudi Arabia restored their diplomatic relations after a seven-year freeze, following Chinese-brokered talks. 15:49 GMT The number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 has risen to 10,022, according to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry. Some 4,104 children are among the dead, while a further 25,000 people have been wounded and around 2,000 are trapped beneath rubble in unknown condition, the ministry added. The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of an immediate ceasefire last month, but Israel and the US have rejected the vote, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to “simply continue until we defeat [Hamas].” 12:10 GMT Israel’s parliamentary Constitution Committee has approved in second and third readings a bill that would make it illegal to read the publications of organizations designated as terrorist in the country, including Hamas and the Islamic State. Those who systematically consume such materials containing “words of praise, sympathy or encouragement for acts of terrorism” could face a year in prison. However, the legislation makes an exception for those who read such publications incidentally, in good faith, or for a legitimate purpose. 11:45 GMT The EU will allocate another €25 million ($27 million) for humanitarian aid to Gaza. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement at the EU Ambassadors Conference on Monday in Brussels. She noted that with this, the total amount of aid provided by Brussels is now €100 million. 10:21 GMT Several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar, have hit back at Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who had earlier suggested that the country could consider dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza. The UAE Foreign Ministry condemned the comments as “disgraceful and unacceptable,” suggesting that they “constitute a violation of international law.” This statement was echoed by the Saudi Foreign Ministry, which pointed out that Eliyahu’s remarks “show the pervasiveness of extremism and brutality among members of the Israeli government.” Jordan was also highly critical, saying the nuclear remarks were a “call for genocide and a hate crime that cannot be ignored, as well as incitement to murder and the commission of war crimes.” Meanwhile, Qatar said it considers the comments “a disregard for human and moral values and international laws.” 04:50 GMT More United Nations workers have died in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war than during any other single conflict, several UN agencies said in a joint statement. “Scores of aid workers have been killed since October 7 including 88 UNRWA colleagues,” the statement said, referring to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. 04:36 GMT Al Jazeera reported that at least five family members of the public relations chief of the Al-Najjar Hospital were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The Egypt-Gaza border crossing near Rafah serves as the only route to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave and evacuate civilians. The IDF has so far not commented on the airstrikes it conducted overnight. According to Palestinian media, 27 people were killed in Gaza on Monday. 03:25 GMT The US dispatched an Ohio-class nuclear submarine to the Mediterranean Sea. https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1721271207260033230 The Pentagon sent two carrier strike groups in the region last month following the outbreak of fighting between Israel and Hamas. The US Navy said on Friday that the naval armadas were practicing flights between two aircraft carriers and conducting other training. 02:01 GMT The Palestinian enclave remains under a communications blackout – for a third time in 10 days – the connectivity tracking website NetBlocks confirmed. The UN agency for Palestinians refugees (UNRWA) said that it is unable to contact “the vast majority” of its workers in Gaza. 01:34 GMT The Jordanian military air-dropped medical supplies for the Jordanian field hospital in the Gaza Strip. “This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza. We will always be there for our Palestinian brethren,” King Abdullah II wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. https://twitter.com/KingAbdullahII/status/1721301905731633533 The delivery of aid to the Palestinian enclave is seriously hampered by the continuing Israeli blockade. Some convoys from Egypt were able to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing, which is currently the only available route for humanitarian supplies on the ground. ======= 05 November 2023 21:57 GMT The IDF continued to bomb Gaza on Sunday evening and the early hours of Monday, the Guardian reported, citing journalists on the ground. Unverified videos posted to social media show huge explosions, with observers describing the blasts as the heaviest bombardment since October 7. https://twitter.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1721279061668901283 19:12 GMT Israeli troops have pushed through central Gaza and reached the coast, splitting the narrow enclave in two, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters. Hagari’s claim cannot immediately be verified, and Hamas has refuted a similar statement made by the spokesman earlier this week. 18:59 GMT “For more than an hour, intense bombings have been taking place around hospitals” in northern Gaza, Hamas press chief Salama Marouf told AFP. The aerial attacks, said by multiple sources to be some of the heaviest of Israel’s month-long campaign, took place after phone and internet connections between Gaza and the outside world were severed. The IDF has alternated between denying attacks on hospitals – as it did in the case of a missile strike on a Christian-run clinic last month – and claiming that Hamas militants are operating out of healthcare facilities, as it did when it launched an airstrike on an ambulance convoy earlier this week. The Israeli military has claimed that Hamas has built bunkers and tunnels under at least three hospitals in Gaza. Updates for prior times in previous posts. This channel is not monetised and never will be. Please show support by leaving a "thumbs up" - it costs nothing. short take : Israel bombards Gaza with some of the heaviest strikes in a month as communication networks in the enclave stop operating ahead of the assault. Three children are among those killed in an IDF strike on southern Lebanon as fears mount of the conflict spreading wider. As tensions in the region escalate, the US Secretary of State visits Baghdad as part of a Middle East diplomatic tour, urging other states to follow Washington's lead - or else.

Numbers update. Gaza health ministry reports 9770 civilians dead, 4,880 are children. Unconfirmed more than 23,000 wounded. Day 30. Communications are down again. Very sad, disturbing images in video. Overnight, the bombing of north Gaza has continued. Yet another bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp leaving 15 dead. Sanaa Kamal reports. In central Gaza the bombing has continued. More than 50 are reported killed after an aerial bombing of the Maghazi refugee camp. Rami Almughari reports. Rory reports on the extraordinary death toll. A young wounded girl tells her story. Unconfirmed Al-Qassam brigade video shows the destruction of 24 IDF tanks. Some 60 of the hostages taken by HAMAS have been killed in the IDF aerial bombing and their bodies are now under the rubble. Mansour Shouman reports. Important : Rory speaks to Malak Khaled who is on the Lebanon border. Things are really getting serious. (Please see a most excellent video - long and a bit dragged out but worth every second https://twitter.com/DontDenyThe/status/1720910687034069323 ) In Sderot, Maria Finoshina reports on the abandoned Israel town. The locals have all but left but some stay and tough it out. The wood from the trees? - the ideology behind the carnage. Yoni Ben-Menachem makes commentary of the situation. The Israeli heritage minister, Amihai Eliyahu suggests nuking Gaza. Galit Distel Atbaryan wants to "invest this energy into just one thing - erasing all of Gaza from the face of the Earth". Rory spoke to Bassim Khoury, former Palestinian economy minister. Pro-peace and pro-Palestine rallies have continued around the world. Citizens say the citizens of the world must be aware that Israel is committing genocide. Hundreds of thousands have protested their governments this week for a ceasefire and peace. In Iran a Rabbi has made statements denouncing the Israeli government. short take: Israeli forces bombard Northern Gaza overnight, raising the Palestinian death toll - reportedly nearing ten thousand people. Thousands of demonstrators make their feelings felt across the world, calling on the international community to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. What was once a lively community, now only has a few souls remaining - RT travels to a once-vibrant Israeli border town whose inhabitants fled after rocket attacks by Hamas. ==== UPDATES "as they happened" 05 November 2023 19:12 GMT Israeli troops have pushed through central Gaza and reached the coast, splitting the narrow enclave in two, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters. Hagari’s claim cannot immediately be verified, and Hamas has refuted a similar statement made by the spokesman earlier this week. 18:59 GMT “For more than an hour, intense bombings have been taking place around hospitals” in northern Gaza, Hamas press chief Salama Marouf told AFP. The aerial attacks, said by multiple sources to be some of the heaviest of Israel’s month-long campaign, took place after phone and internet connections between Gaza and the outside world were severed. The IDF has alternated between denying attacks on hospitals – as it did in the case of a missile strike on a Christian-run clinic last month – and claiming that Hamas militants are operating out of healthcare facilities, as it did when it launched an airstrike on an ambulance convoy earlier this week. The Israeli military has claimed that Hamas has built bunkers and tunnels under at least three hospitals in Gaza. 17:20 GMT Israeli forces shelled a car in southern Lebanon, killing three children and their grandmother, Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen news outlet reported, citing Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadallah. Reuters confirmed the deaths of three people in the strike, but did not specify whether they were children. Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have been trading cross-border fire since the Israel-Hamas war began, with the intensity of the border clashes ramping up over the last two weeks. Hezbollah forces launched multiple missile attacks on Israeli vehicles and installations on Sunday, claiming to have killed and wounded the crew of one vehicle. The IDF did not confirm any casualties, but said that it responded to the attacks with airstrikes and artillery fire. 16:59 GMT Palestinian telecom operator Paltel has said that all phone and internet connections have been severed amid a heavy Israeli bombardment on Gaza. A similar bombardment late last month broke all communications links between the enclave and the outside world, hours before the IDF sent tanks and infantry into the strip. 16:02 GMT An Israeli airstrike has hit the al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported. Around 20 Palestinians were killed in the strike, the network reported, noting that al-Bureji is the third refugee camp in the enclave to be hit in the last 24 hours, after similar strikes on the Maghazi and Jabalia camps. Israeli warplanes bombed the Jabalia refugee camp three times in the last week, with the first two attacks killing almost 200 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The IDF claimed that it took out a Hamas commander in the first bombing, but the militant group denied that any of its members were present in the camp. 15:41 GMT Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the PA is prepared to take part in governing Gaza “within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the West Bank, including east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,” Palestine’s Wafa news agency reported. Israeli officials have vowed to wipe out Hamas, but have not elaborated on how a post-conflict Gaza will be run. During his meeting with Abbas on Sunday, Blinken told the Palestinian leader that the PA should play a key role in “what comes next in Gaza,” Reuters reported, citing a State Department official. 09:06 GMT Muhammad al-Hindi, a senior official in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, signaled that all civilian prisoners held by the group will be released if a humanitarian truce is reached. Since the start of the conflict, Hamas has captured around 240 hostages, including many foreign nationals, with only four released to date. The Palestinian armed group earlier claimed that more than 60 hostages were missing due to Israeli strikes. According to several reports, the US advised West Jerusalem to delay its ground offensive in Gaza to allow time for hostage negotiations. Nevertheless, Israel “expanded” its ground operations in the enclave on October 27. 06:55 GMT An Israeli airstrike on the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza has killed more than 30 people, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. Earlier, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that 51 civilians were killed in the attack. The spokesman for the Israeli military said the IDF is investigating whether it was active in the area at the time of the bombing. 04:34 GMT Former US President Barack Obama urged to recognize the “complexity” of the Israel-Palestine conflict, both condemning the “horrific” attack of Hamas on Israeli civilians and acknowledging that “the occupation and what’s happening to Palestinians is unbearable.” “If you want to solve the problem, then you have to take in the whole truth. And you then have to admit nobody’s hands are clean, that all of us are complicit to some degree,” Obama said on the Pod Save America podcast. 02:53 GMT Tens of thousands of Palestine supporters marched in Washington, DC on Saturday night, demanding an immediate ceasefire and denouncing the “genocide” in Gaza. A group of activists then rallied outside the White House, with some shaking the front gate and smearing the security fence with red paint. https://twitter.com/stevennelson10/status/1720939658819875312 Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, however, said that an attempt to breach the gate was “handled without incident” and that no one was arrested. = ===== 04 November 2023 23:23 GMT The IDF said that Hamas militants attacked Israeli troops operating near a corridor designated for the evacuation of civilians to the southern part of the Gaza Strip. “Hamas attempted to prevent Gazan civilians from evacuating, including by firing at IDF soldiers sent to open the route and facilitate the secure movement of civilians,” the IDF wrote on X (formerly Twitter). https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1720845609958043910 20:55 GMT More than 60 hostages are missing as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades has said. Obeida added that the bodies of 23 Israeli hostages are trapped under rubble. “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said. Hamas fighters took around 240 hostages during their assault on Israel, according to the IDF. Five have been freed with the help of Qatari mediators, although Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Saturday that Israel’s continued bombing of Gaza “complicates securing their release.” 20:08 GMT Israeli forces will find Hamas’ Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, “and eliminate him,” Defence MInister Yoav Gallant said on Saturday. Gallant added that “if the residents of Gaza get there ahead of us, that will shorten the war.” The IDF claimed on Friday that its air and ground forces have killed 10 Hamas field commanders since the war began, while several members of the organization’s political bureau have died in Israeli airstrikes.

The Weekly. Heavy overnight bombardment of Northern Gaza by Israeli forces as the grim Palestinian death toll reportedly approaches nine and a half thousand people. Thousands of demonstrators make their feelings felt across the world, calling on the international community to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and negotiate peace. Once a lively town, now just a few souls remain. In the Israeli border-town of Sderot, its inhabitants fled after they were attacked by Hamas.

Numbers update : Head of Gaza’s media office Salama Maarouf said at least 9,500 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, including 3,900 children. “These numbers mean … every 10 minutes, one child is killed” He reported 24,158 injuries. Day 29 Disturbing images in video. Day "as it happened" below video description Deadly earthquake in Nepal - report below updates. In Gaza city an Israeli airstrike has killed two and wounded others near the children's hospital. An airstrike near another hospital, targeting ambulances 15 civilians were killed and 60 wounded. The IDF said it was targeting HAMAS Gaza's main hospital is out of fuel entirely and is relying on back-up systems. A doctor (Ashraf Al-Qedra) says a catastrophe is on the horizon. PM Netanyahu says Israel will not entertain a truce/ceasefire and will not allow fuel into Gaza, stating that there is fuel in the tunnels. PM Netanyahu also said he will not allow money to be transferred to Gaza. People are still stuck at the Gaza/Egyptian border at Rafah, trying to leave. RT talks to some of waiting people and to a doctor from the Nasser hospital. Some wounded people have been allowed to cross the border via ambulances to hospitals in Egypt but thousands await treatment in Gaza. == The UN reports 1.5 million Gazans are now displaced with nearly 600,000 staying in shelters. People who have decided to stay in their homes talk to RT. == Amir Oren, a political analyst says Israel has two war aims; one is to get to the leader of HAMAS, capture or assassinate him and dismantle the HAMAS government in Gaza. == In Israel protests continue to return the hostages captured on 7th October. Maria Finoshina reports from Tel-Aviv. == In USA citizens could become traumatised from watching reports of the news re Gaza. Rachel Marsden gives commentary. == King Charles of Britain has been visiting Kenya where people are demanding reparations long overdue from British colonial rule and the associated atrocities/massacres. Omondi Otieno reports. Local citizens tell of the struggles and pain of getting independence and the costs in human life. Bradley Ouna from a citizens group "Concern Citizens Kenya" says the King isn't welcome. === In Donetsk, kids are learning life-skills to help with the effects of the proxy war, including first aid. Since the start of the conflict, 231 Donetsk children have been killed by Ukraine's bombing. Roman Kosarev reports and talks to the kids. === Pres. Putin laid flowers at the monument Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square for National Unity Day. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231104/putin-lays-flowers-at-monument-to-minin-pozharsky-to-mark-russias-day-of-national-unity-1114712346.html = Short take: The largest hospital in Gaza is on the brink of completely running out of fuel. It follows a deadly Israeli strike near the facility, with Benjamin Netanyahu saying none of the crucial energy supplies will be allowed in. The so-called National Day of the fight against Global Arrogance brings thousands out to streets of Iran to mark the takeover of the US embassy in 1979, as locals mark the occasion with solidarity of those in Palestine. In light of the British King's trip to Kenya this week, a member of the African country's parliament demands compensation for what's being called colonial crimes. We hear from locals who experienced them first hand. =========== UPDATES "as they happened" 04 November 2023 20:55 GMT More than 60 hostages are missing as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades has said. Obeida added that the bodies of 23 Israeli hostages are trapped under rubble. “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said. Hamas fighters took around 240 hostages during their assault on Israel, according to the IDF. Five have been freed with the help of Qatari mediators, although Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Saturday that Israel’s continued bombing of Gaza “complicates securing their release.” 20:08 GMT Israeli forces will find Hamas’ Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, “and eliminate him,” Defense MInister Yoav Gallant said on Saturday. Gallant added that “if the residents of Gaza get there ahead of us, that will shorten the war.” The IDF claimed on Friday that its air and ground forces have killed 10 Hamas field commanders since the war began, while several members of the organization’s political bureau have died in Israeli airstrikes. 19:57 GMT The Pentagon has announced that a second US aircraft carrier group has arrived in the Mediterranean. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group consists of the eponymous carrier, two guided missile destroyers and a guided missile cruiser. Its deployment to the region follows that of the USS Gerald R. Ford, which was deployed immediately after Hamas’ attack on Israel. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that both carriers would “deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war.” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared on Friday that the American ships “do not and will never scare us,” and will “prove of no use” if the war expands and the Lebanese militants join the fight against Israel. 17:04 GMT The Israeli airstrike on an ambulance convoy outside Gaza’s largest hospital on Friday was “a new low in an endless stream of unconscionable violence,” Doctors Without Borders said in a statement. While the IDF claimed on Friday that one of the ambulances was being “used by a Hamas terrorist cell,” the Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Saturday that the vehicle had been carrying a 35-year-old woman with critical shrapnel wounds to her chest and leg. https://twitter.com/MSF_USA/status/1720840401614242057 16:53 GMT Israel is committing “war crimes” in Gaza that will create “a sea of hatred that will define generations to come,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said after a meeting with his American and Egyptian counterparts, Antony Blinken and Sameh Shoukry. Jordan has recognized Israel since 1994 and generally enjoys good relations with the Jewish state. However, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced earlier this week that it was recalling its ambassador to Israel in protest of what Safadi called “the Israeli war that is killing innocent people in Gaza.” 16:35 GMT US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Washington and Arab leaders agree that Hamas cannot be allowed to remain in control of Gaza. Speaking after meeting the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Blinken broke with the Arabs by rejecting calls for a ceasefire, stating that such a decision by Israel would give Hamas militants time to regroup and rearm. Blinken did not elaborate on how Gaza could be run after the conflict. However, he said earlier this week that the US and other countries are looking at "a variety of possible permutations" for the strip. 16:10 GMT Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades have said that their fighters killed five Israeli soldiers in an assault on “a Zionist force holed up in a building northwest of Gaza City.” The IDF has not confirmed the Hamas claim, which if true, brings to 28 the number of Israelis killed since the IDF’s ground operation in the enclave began last weekend. Counting the latest claims by Hamas, a total of 342 IDF troops have been killed since Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel on October 7. 13:45 GMT Türkiye has decided to recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv for consultations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has announced. It explained the move as a reaction to Israel’s “refusal of calls for a ceasefire and continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid.” Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is no longer someone we can talk to, we have crossed him out.” However, Erdogan stressed that Türkiye “is ready to act as a guarantor country for Gaza” once the fighting between Israel and Hamas ends. 10:10 GMT Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat has slammed Honduras for recalling its ambassador from the country, saying that by making the move the government in Tegucigalpa “ignores Israel’s right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorist organization, which is worse than ISIS (Islamic State, IS).” The fight against Hamas will continue until the Palestinian armed group is “eliminated from the Gaza Strip,” Haiat reiterated. Israel expects Honduras “not to take decisions that provide support to Hamas’ terrorism” and condemn the group’s actions, he stressed. Honduras is the latest in a number of Latin American countries to recall their envoys from Israel over what Tegucigalpa called the “serious humanitarian situation suffered by the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip” amid IDF attacks. 08:09 GMT Hamas has claimed that Israel allows itself to perpetrate “a heinous crime every single hour” in Gaza because it knows it has the backing of Washington. “We hold the US administration and President Biden himself fully responsible for this series of massacres following his open support that emboldened Israel and gave it the green light to commit a genocidal war against our vulnerable people in the besieged enclave,” the Palestinian group said in a statement on Telegram. The accusations followed an alleged Israeli strike on the UN-affiliated Osama bin Zaid School. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 20 people were killed in the attack on the school, which currently hosts displaced Palestinian civilians. 04:34 GMT French lawyer Francois Zimeray said on Friday that he was filing a genocide and war crimes complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of nine families of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. He also asked the ICC prosecutor to consider issuing an arrest warrant on Hamas leaders. “The complaint states that the Hamas terrorists do not deny the crimes committed, which they have amply documented and broadcast, and that the … facts cannot therefore be disputed,” Zimeray said in a statement carried by Al Jazeera. 03:45 GMT US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jordan on Friday evening. He will meet with Palestinian officials and the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE on Saturday. The Arab states will reiterate the call for “an immediate ceasefire, delivering humanitarian aid and [finding] ways of ending the dangerous deterioration that threatens the security of the region,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said. US President Joe Biden was due to attend a meeting with Palestinian and Arab officials in Amman on October 18. However, the event was abruptly cancelled following an explosion outside the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, for which the IDF and Hamas blamed each other. 03:30 GMT The US asked Israel for an explanation of its first strike on the Jabalia refugee camp, which took place on Tuesday, according to Politico magazine. The report said that Washington urged its ally to “do more to avoid civilian casualties.” According to the IDF, the strike eliminated a senior Hamas commander responsible for the planning of the deadly October 7 attack on Israel. Local doctors, meanwhile, said that the strike claimed the lives of more than 50 people 02:57 GMT Tokyo will deliver $65 million in additional humanitarian aid to the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said during her trip to the Middle East on Friday. “It is necessary for Israel and Palestine to be able to coexist peacefully in order to prevent the repeat of another tragic act of terrorism,” Kamikawa told reporters after visiting Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. 01:57 GMT Israel’s National Security Council issued a notice, recommending all citizens to re-evaluate “the necessity of foreign travel” and take extra precautions during trips abroad. Officials cited the sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents overseas since Israel launched its retaliatory operation against Palestinians militants in Gaza. “Jewish communities, religious and community establishments (synagogues, Chabad centres, kosher restaurants and Israeli businesses), Israeli delegations, and airports with flights to and from Israel are key targets for protests and attacks by anti-Semitic groups,” the government said. ====== NEPAL EARTHQUAKE ======= This was reported on the early RT video news post 4 Nov, 2023 04:19 Over 140 people killed by earthquake in Nepal The death toll is rising after a 6.4-magnitude quake struck the Himalayan country late Friday At least 140 people have been killed and over 140 others injured after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit a remote pocket of Nepal, officials said on Saturday. The epicentre of the quake, according to the National Earthquake Monitoring & Research Centre of Nepal, was recorded near the village of Ramidanda in the Jajarkot district, 500km (300 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. Tremors were also felt in parts of northern India, including the capital, New Delhi. Several urban centers in Nepal, including Bheri, Nalgad, Kushe, Barekot, and Chedagad, were hit particularly hard, ANI news agency reported. Chief District Officer Suresh Sunar said that all security forces in the district have been mobilized for search and rescue work. Nepal’s prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, expressed his condolences over the loss of life, his office said. He mobilized all of the country’s security agencies for the immediate rescue and relief of the injured. On Saturday morning, he headed to the site of the incident. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1720629946140287124 The prime minister flew to the area with a 16-member army medical team to oversee search, rescue and relief, his office said. It also appealed to political parties, social workers and the public to donate funds to help arrange food, water, clothes and tents for the survivors. Rescue work has been slowed due to weather conditions, as emergency teams must first clear roads blocked by landslides in many places, Reuters reported. According to local journalist Saurabh Sharma, the Nepalese army has been deployed to airlift the injured to Kathmandu for treatment. https://twitter.com/saurabhsherry/status/1720738521894580707 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday morning to express his grief over the disaster. “Deeply saddened by loss of lives and damage due to the earthquake in Nepal. India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to extend all possible assistance. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families and we wish the injured a quick recovery,” he wrote. Nepal is particularly prone to earthquakes as it lies on the ridge between the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates, which are constantly shifting. The country was hit by a devastating 7.8-magnitude quake in 2015, killing nearly 9,000 people and destroying more than half a million homes. Last year, six people died after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Doti district, near Jajarkot. https://www.rt.com/news/586551-massive-earthquake-nepal-death-toll/ ================================

Numbers update. 9,061 confirmed dead in Gaza and of those 3,760 are children. Unconfirmed wounded: more than 21,000. Day 28. The day "as it happened" below description. In Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza, a residential building has been hit killing 11 people. Khan Yunis is a receiving city for evacuees from the north of Gaza but since the first days of evacuees arriving and even two days before, the city had been struck with Israeli aerial bombing. There is literally nowhere for the evacuees or those who stay in place to go where it's safe. IDF says it only targets HAMAS centres and has urged those in the north of Gaza to evacuate to the south (my comment - meanwhile they bomb the south and north without regard to civilians) According to IDF, Gaza city is surrounded by Israeli forces. Overnight, bombs rained down on north Gaza. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari says there is no ceasefire on the table. Maria Finoshina makes reports from Jerusalem. The tanks roll in, aerial bombardment of Gaza continues despite many countries condemning Israel's actions. More than half of the remaining Gazan hospitals are now dysfunctional. Sanaa Kamal makes an audio report from Gaza. The checkpoint on the Gaza/Egypt border has been reopened by the passage isn't safe with regular bombings. Once across, the people are worried about what will happen next. Aziz Abuzayed, a Palestinian in Rafah talks to RT. In Gaza, Mansour Shouman updates with the situation, he says not only F-16 are doing the bombing raids but also now F-35s (my comment - can this EVER be called "proportional" ? ) A reporter has been killed in Gaza. His cousin speaks with RT. There have been several reporters who have been taken out. Ruptly spoke with Mohammad Abu Hatab just a few days before he died. Mohammad's colleagues are understandably angry and grief stricken. Rabbis are speaking out, some with gruesome encouragement of the actions of IDF and some vehemently against. Rabbi Arik Ascherman spoke to RT. Pro-Palestinian rallies continue around the world. In Ghana hundreds have come out to give support. Joshua Nana Kwame Ayira, researcher and journalist talked about the position of the government. In Pakistan huge pro-Palestinian rallies continue to take place, RT hears from some of the people in the crowds. Mohsin Ismail Hussaini reports. In Greece, Germany and France, protests continue demanding a ceasefire and a halt to the Israeli offensive. Charlotte Dubenskij looks at the double standards of western media reportage and attitudes. short takes: Refugee camps are flattened in central Gaza, and eleven reported killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza. The IDF forces advance into the enclave, saying peace is not an option. The Palestinian death toll tops nine-thousand, Gazans are struggling to find their relatives among the survivors. We hear the story of displaced civilians taking care of a wounded girl, whose parents have not been found. An Israeli strike kills Palestinian journalist Mohammad Abu Hattab along with 10 of his family members, with media claiming he was the direct target of the attack. Eleven people are reported killed in an Israeli strike in the south of Gaza as IDF forces advance into the enclave, saying peace is not an option. As the Palestinian death toll tops nine-thousand, Gazans are struggling to find their surviving relatives. We hear the story of displaced civilians taking care of a wounded girl, whose parents have not been found. And, as the Gaza and Ukraine conflicts continue to rage, double standards among western media and politicians become evident. We explain how coverage shapes narrative. ======= Updates "as they happened" 04 November 2023 03:45 GMT US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jordan on Friday evening. He will meet with Palestinian officials and the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE on Saturday. The Arab states will reiterate the call for “an immediate ceasefire, delivering humanitarian aid and [finding] ways of ending the dangerous deterioration that threatens the security of the region,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said. US President Joe Biden was due to attend a meeting with Palestinian and Arab officials in Amman on October 18. However, the event was abruptly canceled following an explosion outside the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, for which the IDF and Hamas blamed each other. 03:30 GMT The US asked Israel for an explanation of its first strike on the Jabalia refugee camp, which took place on Tuesday, according to Politico magazine. The report said that Washington urged its ally to “do more to avoid civilian casualties.” According to the IDF, the strike eliminated a senior Hamas commander responsible for the planning of the deadly October 7 attack on Israel. Local doctors, meanwhile, said that the strike claimed the lives of more than 50 people. 02:57 GMT Tokyo will deliver $65 million in additional humanitarian aid to the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said during her trip to the Middle East on Friday. “It is necessary for Israel and Palestine to be able to coexist peacefully in order to prevent the repeat of another tragic act of terrorism,” Kamikawa told reporters after visiting Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. 01:57 GMT Israel’s National Security Council issued a notice, recommending all citizens to reevaluate “the necessity of foreign travel” and take extra precautions during trips abroad. Officials cited the sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents overseas since Israel launched its retaliatory operation against Palestinians militants in Gaza. “Jewish communities, religious and community establishments (synagogues, Chabad centers, kosher restaurants and Israeli businesses), Israeli delegations, and airports with flights to and from Israel are key targets for protests and attacks by anti-Semitic groups,” the government said. 03 November 2023 20:28 GMT Some 420 children are killed or injured every day in Gaza, according to a statement by the UN’s relief agency in the enclave. As of Friday, more than 3,200 women and 3,760 children have been killed by Israeli forces, the agency added, noting that women and children represent 67% of all Palestinian casualties since the conflict began on October 7. More than 9,200 people in the strip have been killed and 23,500 wounded, according to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry. 20:14 GMT Israeli forces have killed ten Hamas brigade and battalion commanders since the beginning of the war last month, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters. According to him, the officers killed had “planned the terrible massacre on October 7." Israel has lost 333 soldiers since October 7, including 18 killed in Gaza since Tuesday, the IDF announced on Thursday afternoon. Among the dead is Lt. Col. Salman Habaka, a senior tank battalion commander killed in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave on Thursday. 20:01 GMT Honduras has become the latest Latin American country to recall its ambassador to Israel, with the Honduran Foreign Ministry citing Israel’s violations of humanitarian law in Gaza. Colombia and Chile have both recalled their ambassadors, while Bolivia has completely cut diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. === ==== ==== 19:53 GMT ==== === === Dozens of people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance convoy outside Gaza’s Shifa Hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that the ambulances had been returning from dropping injured people off at the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border, while the IDF has claimed that the vehicles were being used to “transfer terror operatives and weapons.” https://twitter.com/PalestineRCS/status/1720470804817703011 The Shifa Hospital is the largest healthcare facility in Gaza, and is currently sheltering around 20,000 displaced Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera. The IDF claimed last month that Hamas had constructed an elaborate network of tunnels and bunkers beneath the hospital. ================ 03 November 2023 Update "as the day happened" 14:28 GMT In his first public speech since the start of the war, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared that his forces “entered the battle” on October 8, and have since played a vital role in keeping a third of Israel’s combat troops tied up on the Lebanese border. While the border skirmishes have increased in frequency and intensity over the past week, Nasrallah did not announce any major new operation against Israel. Instead, he warned that any Israeli offensive into Lebanon would be a “grave mistake,” and that Hezbollah was prepared for any escalation. Nasrallah has also warned that “there will be more actions” against Israel on multiple fronts in the coming days, and that Hezbollah and its allies will work to ensure Hamas emerges victorious in Gaza. 12:54 GMT Israel’s reported plan to transfer people from Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula is “aimed at delaying, if not burying altogether, the UN Security Council’s decision on creating a Palestinian state,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. This idea “contradicts the interests of the Palestinians, of the Egyptians and of peace in the region,” he stressed. Russia is “very concerned by plans to destroy the prospects for a Palestinian state,” the foreign minister added. AP reported earlier this week that Israel’s Intelligence Ministry had prepared a document on October 13, in which it proposed moving Palestinians from Gaza to tent cities in northern Sinai and then building permanent cities there. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was just a “concept paper,” which hasn’t been seriously considered by the cabinet. 12:06 GMT The death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza has reached 9,227 people, with 32,500 others wounded, the Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave has announced. Out of those killed, 3,826 are children, the ministry said. Some 1,200 children also remain trapped under the rubble of buildings destroyed in IDF airstrikes, it added. 11:26 GMT Israeli forces have been placed on high alert ahead of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah scheduled for later on Friday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said. Nasrallah’s first public address since the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel is to take place on the day when the Lebanese armed group’s ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza expires. “We will be ready to respond on any front if needed. In the north, we are prepared, and we will continue to respond to any attack, today and in days to come,” Hagari assured. “Iran is encouraging proxies against Israel, we will retaliate on any front vis-a-vis any threat. There is high alert, also in the north,” where Israel borders Lebanon, he stressed. ===========10:50 GMT====== Some of the IDF’s airstrikes on =Syria= have been carried out without prior warning to Russia since the conflict between Israel and Hamas was reignited in October, people familiar with the situation have told Bloomberg. Israel has lately stepped up its bombardment of what it says are Iran-backed militias in the neighbouring country. According to the sources, those unannounced strikes are “worsening already-troubled relations between Israel and Russia.” Eleven people are reported killed in an Israeli strike in the south of Gaza as IDF forces advance into the enclave, saying peace is not an option. As the Palestinian death toll tops nine-thousand, Gazans are struggling to find their surviving relatives. We hear the story of displaced civilians taking care of a wounded girl, whose parents have not been found. And, as the Gaza and Ukraine conflicts continue to rage, double standards among western media and politicians become evident. We explain how coverage shapes narrative. 10:04 GMT Hamas is eager to reach an agreement with Israel on the release of the hostages it has been holding since October 7, Ghazi Hamad, a senior member of the Palestinian armed group’s political bureau, has told NBC News. For this to happen, Israel should set free all Palestinian prisoners from its detention centres, he said. “We want these people [hostages] to go home. And, also, we want our prisoners now to go home. So I think we are ready now to have complete compromise, complete a deal, in order to receive all the hostages, either military or civilians,” Hamad stressed. According to the latest figures from the IDF, Hamas is currently holding 241 captives inside Gaza. 09:35 GMT Thousands of Gazan workers who were in Israel when Hamas attacked on October 7 have been sent back to Gaza, several outlets, including Reuters, AFP, and Al Jazeera, have reported. According to witnesses, the people returned to the Palestinian enclave through the Kerem Shalom crossing, east of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously announced that Israel is “severing all contact” with the besieged enclave, and that “there will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza” in the country. 08:31 GMT Two Israeli troops were wounded after a drone launched by Hezbollah hit the IDF’s positions on the border with Lebanon, the Israeli military has said. One of the soldiers was in a moderate condition, while the other suffered a light injury, it added. The IDF said it carried out strikes inside Lebanese territory in response to the attack, destroying a Hezbollah compound and damaging the group’s infrastructure. 07:24 GMT US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Israel for his third visit to the country since the start of the current Israeli-Palestinian escalation. Ahead of his departure, Blinken said that he was planning to discuss “concrete measures” on the part of Israel to reduce harm to civilians amid its attacks on Gaza. The Secretary of State is expected to meet with top Israeli officials before heading to an Arab summit in neighbouring Jordan. 07:13 GMT The situation in the Middle East “is approaching a boiling point” due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, UAE Foreign Minister Noura al-Kaabi has said during a conference in Abu Dhabi. “The risk of regional spill over and further escalation is real, as well as the risk that extremist groups will take advantage of the situation to advance ideologies that will keep us locked in cycles of violence,” he warned. According to al-Kaabi, the UAE, which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, is working “relentlessly” to secure a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. “Every effort must be made to protect civilians and immediately put an end to this conflict,” he stressed. 06:39 GMT Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has said it will provide another 28 tons of humanitarian cargo for the population of Gaza on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin. According to the ministry, two Il-76 aircraft will deliver medical supplies, including haemostatic agents and dressing materials, to the besieged Palestinian enclave, which remains under heavy Israeli bombardment. The Russian aid will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society for further shipment to Gaza, it added. In October, Russia supplied Gaza with 27 tons of food products, the ministry noted. 06:05 GMT The Israeli military has said that its troops “clashed with multiple terrorist squads” inside Gaza overnight. According to the IDF, Hamas fighters targeted the soldiers with anti-tank missiles and homemade bombs, while also attempting to climb atop of one of the IDF’s vehicles. The Israeli servicemen on the ground directed air- and artillery strikes, “neutralizing the terrorists and their threats,” it said. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1720290489214107879 05:51 GMT The Israeli military has published the names of another four soldiers killed in the fighting with Hamas inside Gaza. This puts the IDF’s overall losses since it launched a ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave at 23 troops. 05:43 GMT The US has been flying surveillance drones over Gaza in search of hostages taken by Hamas during its surprise attack on Israel on October 7, two American officials have told Reuters. One of the sources said that flights above the besieged Palestinian enclave have been underway for a week now. The officials expressed the belief that the ten American citizens who still remain unaccounted for could be among the more than 200 captives held by Hamas in the network of tunnels underneath Gaza. 04:52 GMT Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) told The Washington Post that around 79 of the agency’s staffers have been killed over the course of the conflict. “There is no safe place in the Gaza Strip,” Hasna said, reiterating the call to protect civilians during the Israeli bombardment. He added that 50 sites used by the UNRWA have been targeted “directly or indirectly” by strikes. 04:11 GMT The US House of Representatives passed a Republican-backed bill on Thursday that would provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel. The legislation is set to be voted down in the Democrat-held Senate, however, because it ties the money for Israel with some spending cuts at home and leaves out additional funding for Ukraine. The White House also vowed to veto the bill, arguing that it was “further politicizing our support and treating one ally differently from others.” 01:18 GMT Israel has decided to cut “all ties” with Gaza, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday night. It added that work permits for Palestinians traveling from Gaza to Israel would be revoked and the workers already present in Israel would be “returned to Gaza.” Israel’s Security Cabinet also announced that it would remove all funds designated for the Gaza Strip from transfers to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Israeli government previously stated that the militant group Hamas, which runs Gaza, uses the money to commit acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians. https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM/status/1720211304097501416 The PA, which is based in the West Bank, is estimated to spend 30% of its budget in Gaza, according to Reuters. =================== 02 November 2023= 22:53 GMT A 29-year-old Israeli army reservist was killed in the northern part of the West Bank on Thursday, local authorities said. The man was shot in his car when driving to his home in the settlement of Einav. According to the Times of Israel, the IDF described the incident as “a terror attack,” and are searching for the gunman. https://twitter.com/btselem/status/1720057130458157546 Israeli media cited reports that settlers responded to the reservist’s murder by setting fire to Palestinian property, including shops and olive groves, in the nearby village of Deir Sharf. 21:30 GMT Despite the constant skirmishes along the Lebanese-Israeli border, the US doesn’t have “any indication yet specifically that Hezbollah is ready to go in full force” against Israel, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House press briefing on Thursday. 21:30 GMT Israeli troops have reached Rashid Street, which runs along the coast of Gaza, thereby cutting the Palestinian territory in two, the local authorities have said. 13:56 GMT Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that calls by Israel for its citizens to leave Russia’s North Caucasus and refrain from trips to the area “are simply aimed against our country and have nothing to do with reality.” The recommendations followed heated anti-Israeli protests in Russia’s Republic of Dagestan on Sunday. Zakharova stressed that rallies decrying IDF attacks on Gaza have also been taking place in some NATO countries, but the Israeli authorities have not issued any travel warnings about them. 13:25 GMT Bahrain has announced that it has recalled its ambassador to Israel and has halted all economic ties with the country. The move was made in support of “the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” according to a statement. Israel’s envoy to Manama has already left the island nation, it added. Israel and Bahrain established diplomatic ties in 2020 as part of the so-called Abraham Accords. On Wednesday, Jordan said it had recalled its ambassador to Israel to protest against the “catastrophe” caused in Gaza by the IDF’s attacks.

Numbers update 9,061 (confirmed) dead 32,000 wounded (unconfirmed) since the start of the conflict on 7th October. Day 27 Short take: (will write up properly later with details) Almost 200 killed and 700 more wounded in an Israeli double air strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, while the IDF says they were targeting only two Hamas leaders who were killed in the attacks. Amnesty International accuses Israel again of using illegal white phosphorus bombs in Gaza and along Lebanon's southern border. The IDF says it has broken through Hamas' front line of defense and reached the gates of Gaza City. Later in the program, we'll hear from a former commander in Israel's security services. events of the day "as they happened" 02 November 2023 13:56 GMT Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that calls by Israel for its citizens to leave Russia’s North Caucasus and refrain from trips to the area “are simply aimed against our country and have nothing to do with reality.” The recommendations followed heated anti-Israeli protests in Russia’s Republic of Dagestan on Sunday. Zakharova stressed that rallies decrying IDF attacks on Gaza have also been taking place in some NATO countries, but the Israeli authorities have not issued any travel warnings about them. 13:25 GMT Bahrain has announced that it has recalled its ambassador to Israel and has halted all economic ties with the country. The move was made in support of “the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” according to a statement. Israel’s envoy to Manama has already left the island nation, it added. Israel and Bahrain established diplomatic ties in 2020 as part of the so-called Abraham Accords. On Wednesday, Jordan said it had recalled its ambassador to Israel to protest against the “catastrophe” caused in Gaza by the IDF’s attacks. 13:09 GMT Gaza’s health ministry has updated the death toll from Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave, saying that 9,061 people, including 3,760 children, have been killed and more than 32,000 wounded in area since October 7. People sift through the smouldering rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. 12:14 GMT The implementation of Israel’s plan to resettle the Palestinians from Gaza in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula would have “catastrophic” consequences and worsen the situation in the region, warned Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. Such a move would affect not only the Palestinians and the Israelis, but the whole of the Middle East, she added. AP reported earlier this week that Israel’s Intelligence Ministry had prepared a document on October 13, in which it proposed moving Gaza’s population to tent cities in northern Sinai and then building permanent cities there. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was just a “concept paper, the likes of which are prepared at all levels of the government and its security agencies.” 11:46 GMT Lieutenant Colonel Salman Habaka has become the most senior Israeli military officer to be killed during the invasion of Gaza, the IDF has said. Habaka, who commanded the 188th Armored Brigade’s 53rd Battalion, died in the fighting with Hamas in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave, it added. This brings the IDF’s losses to 18 soldiers during the ground offensive in Gaza and to 333 since the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7. 11:30 GMT The further escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas could lead to a mild recession, a plunge in stock prices, and a loss of $2 trillion for the world economy, Gregory Daco, the chief economist at EY-Parthenon global consulting firm, has told the New York Times. He said this would only happen in a worst-case scenario, however, which would see fighting spread throughout the Middle East and lead to a spike in oil prices from the current $85 to $150 per barrel. However, Jason Bardoff, the director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, assured the NYT that there’s “a recognition among most of the parties, the US, Europe, Iran, other gulf countries… that it’s in no one’s interest for this conflict to significantly expand beyond Israel and Gaza.” 10:45 GMT Israel does not have the right to self-defense in the current conflict with the Palestinians, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said during the General Assembly special session on the crisis on Wednesday. The US and its allies “keep speaking about Israel’s alleged right for self-defense, which – as an occupying state – it does not have, as was confirmed by the [UN] International Court consultative ruling in 2004,” Nebenzia stated in his address. Russia recognizes Israel’s right to ensure its security, but “it could be fully guaranteed only in case of a fair resolution of the Palestinian issue based on recognized UN Security Council resolutions,” the envoy added. 10:02 GMT British retailer Marks and Spencer has issued an apology following a backlash caused by its Christians advert, which some users claimed depicted the burning of the Palestinian flag. “We shared an outtake image from our Christmas Clothing and Home advert, which was recorded in August. It showed traditional, festive colored red, green and silver Christmas paper party hats in a fire grate,” the company said in a statement. According to Marks and Spencer, it only wanted to “playfully show that some people just don't enjoy wearing paper Christmas hats over the festive season.” The controversial post has been deleted from social media, with the company saying that it apologizes “for any unintentional hurt caused.” https://twitter.com/ShayXea/status/1719961133627396587 09:04 GMT US Representative Florida Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, compared Palestinian civilians to Nazis during a debate at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Mast defended Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which, according to the Palestinian side, have claimed more than 8,800 lives, by saying that “when we look at this, as a whole, I would encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians. I don't think we would so lightly throw around the term ‘innocent Nazi civilians’” during World War II. The comment was made amid the discussion of the Hamas International Financing Prevention Act, which is aimed at imposing sanctions on those supporting groups deemed to be “terrorist organizations” by Washington. Mast, 43, is a military veteran, who lost his legs while serving as an explosive ordnance disposal technician during the American invasion of Afghanistan. https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1719788747292623010 08:19 GMT The IDF has said its troops were engaged in “prolonged battles” against Hamas in northern Gaza overnight. Israeli soldiers were targeted with missiles, explosive devices, and grenades, but fought back with the assistance of airstrikes, artillery, and tank shelling, according to a statement. “At the end of the clashes, dozens of terrorists were killed,” the Israeli military claimed. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719958938802610517 07:51 GMT The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has said that Cairo is going to help some 7,000 foreign citizens and dual nationals depart the besieged Gaza enclave. According to a statement issued by the ministry, Egypt’s Assistant Foreign Minister Ismail Khairat said during a meeting with foreign diplomats that the country was preparing “to facilitate the reception and evacuation of foreign citizens from Gaza through the Rafah crossing,” adding that they would “number at about 7,000” and represent more than 60 nationalities. 04:40 GMT The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reiterated its call to protect civilians in Gaza, adding that over 400 children have reportedly been killed or injured per day over the course of 25 straight days of Israeli strikes. “Attacks of this scale on densely populated residential neighborhoods can have indiscriminate effects and are completely unacceptable,” the agency said in a statement. UNICEF cited reports that more than 3,500 Palestinian children were killed and over 6,800 were injured since the conflict between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7. 04:07 GMT The Israel Defense Forces said in the early hours of Thursday that it carried out air and artillery strikes on Lebanon after its drone came under a missile attack. It added that the UAV was unharmed. According to the IDF, projectiles were also launched from the Lebanese territory towards the Mount Dov and Mount Hermon areas. The Israeli army responded by hitting the “source of the rocket fire” with artillery. 03:13 GMT Eleven bakeries have been struck or destroyed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its daily update on Wednesday. It added that only nine bakeries remain operational and are supplying bread to shelters, mainly in the southern and middle parts of the Palestinian enclave. “Hours-long queues are reported in front of bakeries, where people are exposed to airstrikes,” the agency warned. 01:22 GMT US President Joe Biden was heckled at a fundraiser in Minneapolis by an audience member who demanded that he “call for a ceasefire right now.” “I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out,” Biden responded, according to The Hill. https://twitter.com/jvplive/status/1719864496859054392 The White House previously argued that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas, echoing the stance taken by the Israeli government. 00:32 GMT The Israeli army published what it said was an intercepted call involving a senior Hamas commander and the director of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza. The IDF described the recording as evidence that the Palestinian militants were “stealing” fuel reserved for medical facilities. “The representative from the ministry said so, in the night he told me to fill up 1,000 liters,” a person described as a hospital manager is heard saying in Arabic. https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1719780945547452853 The UN previously warned that fuel shortages were impeding the efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip 01 November 2023 19:49 GMT Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that the Jewish state’s government should transfer frozen tax funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, in comments that could be construed as a criticism of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s decision to freeze Palestinian tax revenues to the PA. Smotrich had on Sunday announced the step to pause the payments, claiming that Ramallah had supported Hamas’ incursion into Israel on October 7. Israel collects tax revenue from the West Bank, which it then transfers to the PA monthly, with the payments making up nearly 65% of the Palestinian annual budget. Gallant said that the outstanding funds should be transferred to the PA “immediately” and that they “will be used by its forces that help prevent terrorism.” 19:07 GMT The US is complicit in the deaths of children in Gaza, according to rights group Defence for Children International-Palestine “constituting the crime of genocide,” it said. “President Biden’s statements over the last few weeks suggest he is completely unconcerned by the scope and scale of Palestinian civil harm – including the killings of 3,650 children – as a result of Israeli military attacks in Gaza,” the children’s rights organization said in a statement. It added that Biden is “actively becoming evermore complicit in an Israeli military campaign where Israeli forces are killing Palestinian children with impunity, constituting the crime of genocide.” via "Foreign Policy" (the reason we are being censored nationally and internally, in violation of our ordinary rights to free speech? Protests continued in Israel for years, with multi-$billion businesses and the lowliest, disregarded, junior office worker in attendance) NOVEMBER 22, 2019 TEL AVIV, Israel—With Benjamin Netanyahu waging a scorched-earth battle for his political and legal life after being indicted Thursday on corruption charges, and the parliament stalemated after two straight inconclusive elections, Israel’s political system has run amok in a way never before imagined. Yet even now, with Israel facing the possibility of a third vote in less than a year, the prime minister often dubbed “the magician” hopes to pull off his biggest feat yet and, against all odds, win a new election early in 2020 by running against the same government over which he presides. The charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust served by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit make Netanyahu the first sitting Israeli prime minister ever to face a criminal indictment. After Netanyahu twice failed to form a government, those indictments would seem to leave him mortally wounded on the political battlefield, but no one is counting him out after watching him recover from near-defeat so many times before. In two previous elections campaigns, Netanyahu has trumped pollsters who predicted defeat, and over the last 10 years of interrupted rule as premier, he has deftly been able to fend off rivals from left, right and center. In a televised address responding to the indictment, the prime minister alleged that he was the target of a “governmental coup” and trumped-up charges from a biased investigation. “It’s aimed at overthrowing the rule of the right-wing. It’s aimed at overthrowing me,” he said. “Investigate the investigators.” In addition to his bully pulpit, the prime minister has two factors in his favor: Israeli law only requires the resignation of a prime minister in the case of a final conviction, and, crucially, most of the leading figures in his Likud party and some of his religious party allies have so far remained loyal, giving him a foundation to keep the support of the rest of his coalition allies. Since the indictment, a parade of Likud politicians and other rightwing leaders have declared that Netanyahu deserves the presumption of innocence, rather than being punished by a forced resignation. Even so, some cracks have emerged in the Likud party, which will pose a threat to Netanyahu over the next three weeks. Gideon Saar, a former education minister, said in October he wants to run against Netanyahu in a party primary in case of a new election. If Saar were to gather up enough Likud lawmakers in over the next three weeks, it could leave Netanyahu out in the cold and avoid a new vote—which a September poll found that 60 percent of Israelis oppose. “If that happens, we’ll have a government very quickly,” said Jonathan Rynhold, a political science professor at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. “If the Likud parliamentarians feel that the Likud as a party will be punished at the ballot box for causing a third election” then the possibility of abandoning the prime minister could become more tempting. Netanyahu will “fight like a wounded lion,” wrote Yossi Verter, a political commentator, in the liberal Haaretz newspaper. “Nineteen days are now left for [Knesset members] to find a way out before we’re dragged into a third election campaign. The main dilemma has been placed before the 31 Likud [lawmakers] not named Netanyahu.” And it’s up to them to decide if they will remain loyal to the prime minister as he pushes Israel to the brink. Before Netanyahu can begin his new election campaign, he must run out the clock on the stalemated Knesset that was elected Sept. 17. In October, the prime minister failed to cobble together a government. And just one day before Mandelblit’s indictment, Netanyahu’s political rival Benny Gantz, the former army chief who heads the centrist Blue and White party, conceded that he too had failed in his turn at forming a coalition government. During those two rounds of talks, Netanyahu and Gantz danced around discussions of a power-sharing unity government, but neither has agreed who would be prime minister first. Gantz has vowed not to join a government with a prime minister under indictment. “We are entering unknown territory,” said Yedidia Stern, a law professor and a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. “The prime minister is a lame duck, because he’s operating under the heavy cloud of going to court and jail. This makes him vulnerable in the eyes of the public, along with the major doubt about whether he can function in office.” The Knesset now finds itself in a post-election overtime period, which, once it expires, triggers a new, third round of voting. Israeli parliamentarians have a little bit less than three weeks to find a 61-member majority to get behind one lawmaker to form a coalition. The two-plus months of post-election stalemate and the consecutive votes are unprecedented in Israel’s 71-year history. A third election would likely once again revolve around a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness for an office, this time with a formal indictment over his head. In the bribery case, the prime minister is alleged to have eased telecommunications regulations for a business tycoon in return for positive coverage on the tycoon’s news website. In two other cases, the prime minister is accused of fraud and breach of trust for accepting gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and proposing to pass a law limiting the circulation of a newspaper in return for positive coverage in a rival paper. “He’ll say that the prosecution is trying to take me down. I’m doing good work for the country, I’ve devoted my life for the country, let me finish the work,” said Aviv Bushinsky, a former spokesman for the prime minister. “People have got used to the situation in which Netanyahu is an alleged criminal for three years.” Beyond the parliamentary and party dynamics, Israeli legal and judicial authorities might weigh in to disqualify Netanyahu. What’s more, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin might cite the indictments as a reason to refuse to grant Netanyahu a chance to form a new government, either before or after a new election. Gantz’s Blue and White party on Friday demanded that the Israeli attorney general call for Netanyahu to resign immediately. The party’s call highlighted the near certainty that Netanyahu will face appeals to the Supreme Court arguing that the indictment should disqualify him from receiving a fresh mandate to serve as prime minister. Even though Israeli law doesn’t require a prime minister to resign in the face of criminal charges, Netanyahu’s status is different and perhaps somewhat more tenuous, because he has been serving as caretaker prime minister in a temporary government ever since he dissolved the parliament 11 months ago and called the round of elections in April. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, was last confirmed as prime minister after Israel’s election in 2015. Another avenue of appeal to the Israeli high court involves a judicial precedent from the 1990s that requires ministers under indictment to resign. Netanyahu’s predicament seems to ensure the high court will be asked to rule again—setting up a potentially unprecedented decision for a judicial panel already beleaguered by attacks from the Israeli right. A case deciding the identity of the prime minister like the U.S. high court ruling after the 2000 election would likely provoke a constitutional crisis: Netanyahu’s allies would probably rejoin their assault on Israel’s legal system and the high court as usurping the will of the people. “Right now we have a dangerous situation … my prime minister’s strategy to escape the law is by destroying the authority of the law. What can be worse,” Stern said. “The legitimacy of the authorities responsible for the rule of law is being questioned by too many people, and the one leading this terrible movement is a leader of the state. It’s like an autoimmune disease, the body attacks itself.” https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/22/netanyahu-fights-political-life-israel-indicted-corruption/

Numbers update. At least 400 more civilians killed and wounded since yesterday, official count unknown, but at least 8,500 confirmed killed and 21,000 confirmed wounded. Day 26 Updates "as they happened" below video report trans. Video contains disturbing images The IDF has bombed the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza for the second time in 24 hours. The people left are completely devastated. Mansour Shouman reports from the scene. "a complete massacre". The Israel government continues to tell lies, including to the Israelis. Eyad Al-Bosum (Gaza Interior Ministry spokesman) gives official comment, saying the occupiers (Israel) used 6 US made megabombs, each weighing 1 ton of explosives. 400 dead. White phosphorus has been used. 3 churches have been aerial bomb-destroyed. The IDF reported that HAMAS militants were hiding in the Jabalia refugee camp. Maria Finoshina reports. 11,000 targets have been hit in Gaza. A HAMAS commander has allegedly been killed. Senator Lindsey Graham alikened HAMAS to the Japanese and Germany "taking over the world" in WW2 Bolivia has broke diplomatic ties with Israel citing the barbaric nature of the Jabalia camp massacre. Arab countries have also condemned Israel's atrocities and so has Chile and Columbia. Bolivia's deputy FM Freddy Mamani spoke exclusively to RT The Iranian Jewish Community leader held a conference in Tehran and has said "not in Jewish people's name" and has stated full support for Gaza. Yusef Jalali reports The West Bank has also come under fire. Mohammed Najib reports as citizens protest in solidarity with Gaza. Yemeni Houti spokesman reported that Yemen has sent a ballistic missile and drones at Israel strategic targets as the conflict expands past the Palestine/Israel borders. He said they will continue "until the aggression stops." Yasin Eken reports. The USA Pentagaon spokesman Pat Ryder said they will deploy more troops to the region. Ryder blames Iran for the escalations ! Peter spoke with Seyed Mohammad Maradi (University Prof of Tehran) about the expansion. Egypt has been allowed to open the Rafah humanitarian route from it's borders into Gaza, according to reports. = In Donetsk, two Russian soldiers have been arrested for shooting nine civilians. Roman Kosarev reports on the developing story. ========= UPDATES "as they happened" today 01 November 2023 16:57 GMT Jordan has recalled its ambassador to Israel, its foreign minister Ayman Safadi has confirmed. In a statement, Safadi said the diplomatic measure was being taken “as an expression of Jordan’s position rejecting and condemning the Israeli war raging in Gaza.” Safadi also stated that Israel’s ambassador to Jordan, who is not presently in the Middle Eastern country according to the statement, is not currently welcome to return. Safadi added that the Israeli ambassador would be permitted back only “upon Israel ceasing its war in Gaza, halting the humanitarian disaster, and refraining from actions that deny Palestinians their basic rights, including access to food, water, and medicine, as well as as a secure and stable life on their national soil.” 15:57 GMT The IDF has said 15 of its soldiers have been killed in ongoing operations in Gaza since Tuesday, revising upwards figures reported earlier today. It brings the number of Israeli troops to have died in the renewed conflict to 330, the Anadolu news agency said. 14:31 GMT UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths has described the recent Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp, in which “scores of civilians were killed,” as the “latest atrocity to befall the people of Gaza.” The fighting in the Palestinian enclave “has entered an even more terrifying phase, with increasingly dreadful humanitarian consequences,” the official, who is charge of the UN’s relief work, warned in a statement. Griffiths called upon both Israel and Hamas “to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law” and spare civilians as they conduct their military operations. He also urged the international community to accelerate efforts to resolve the crisis. “The world seems unable, or unwilling, to act. This cannot go on. We need a step change,” he demanded. 13:55 GMT The IDF has published a clip showing its Merkava main battle tanks and soldiers in action inside Gaza, as well as airstrikes on Hamas targets in the Palestinian enclave. In another post on X (formerly Twitter), it cited one of the commanders of the troops, who said the Israeli “attacks are of the strength that the Hamas terrorist organization hasn’t yet encountered.” He also said the expansion of the IDF’s ground operation was taking place simultaneously with the bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli Air Force and navy. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719694458197828068 13:38 GMT Hamas fighters have destroyed four Israeli military vehicles using 105mm ‘Al-Yassin’ anti-tank shells in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza, the Palestinian armed group has claimed on Telegram. It did not specify if the vehicles were tanks, APCs, or some other hardware. Israel has so far confirmed the deaths of 13 of its troops in the fighting inside Gaza this week. The IDF also said that “numerous” Hamas gunmen have been killed as a result of the operation. 12:36 GMT The number of people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 has risen to 8,796, with 22,219 others wounded, the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian enclave has said. More than 3,640 children are among those killed in the bombardment, it added. According to the ministry, there are 2,030 reports of people missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings, including 1,120 children. 11:34 GMT Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Muslim states to cease oil and food exports to Israel over the IDF’s attacks on Gaza, Press TV has reported. “What Muslim states must insist on is the immediate cessation of [Israeli] crimes in Gaza… and stop the export of oil and other commodities to the Zionist regime,” Khamenei said during a meeting with students in Tehran. “The entire Muslim world must be mobilized” against Israel, ceasing any economic cooperation with the country and using international forums to draw attention to the Israeli actions in Gaza, he said. 10:55 GMT Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad has claimed that Israel is not concerned about “the safety of the prisoners in Gaza, regardless of their nationalities,” accusing it of “indiscriminate bombings” of the Palestinian enclave. “We confirmed our readiness to release foreign prisoners, but Israel is obstructing that,” Hamad told Al Jazeera. Hamas said earlier that five hostages, including three foreigners, were killed in an IDF strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza on Tuesday. The group claimed last week that some 50 captives have lost their lives due to the Israeli bombardment since October 7. According to IDF estimations, Hamas took around 240 people hostage during its surprise attack on Israel more than three weeks ago. 09:53 GMT Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed condolences to the families of 12 IDF soldiers, officially confirmed as killed during the fighting with Hamas inside Gaza this week. “We are all with you in your time of great sorrow,” he said in a statement published on social media. “We are in a difficult war. It will be a long war. We have important achievements in it, but also painful losses… Our soldiers fell in an unjust war, the war for our home. I promise you citizens of Israel: we will complete the job. We will continue until victory,” the prime minister pledged. 08:57 GMT The Rafah crossing into Egypt has opened from Gaza’s side for the first time since the start of the escalation between Israel and Hamas on October 7, Al Jazeera has reported. The Qatari broadcaster’s live footage from the scene shows dozens of people and vehicles, including ambulances, moving through the gates into Egyptian territory. The authorities in Cairo earlier allowed the evacuation of 81 critically injured Palestinians – and hundreds of foreigners or Palestinians with dual nationality – through the Rafah crossing, Al Jazeera said. The foreign nationals were notified by their embassies through the Red Cross that they could leave the besieged Palestinian enclave, it added. https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1719635426334347629 08:29 GMT The decision by Bolivia to cut ties with Israel over its attacks on Gaza is “a surrender to terrorism and to the Ayatollah’s regime in Iran,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat has said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). By making this move, the government in La Paz “is aligning itself with the Hamas terrorist organization,” Haiat claimed. “Israel condemns Bolivia’s support of terrorism and its submission to the Iranian regime, which attest to the values the government of Bolivia represents,” he added. According to the spokesman, relations between Israel and Bolivia “have been devoid of content” since the socialist government of President Luis Arce came to power in the Latin American country in 2020. 08:07 GMT The IDF has said it sent additional missile boats to the Red Sea on Tuesday, following several missile and drone attacks on Israel from Yemen. The deployment was made “in accordance with the assessment of the situation, and as part of the increased defense efforts in the area,” the Israeli military said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). It also published a video clip of Israeli warships operating in the Red Sea. The Houthi government in Yemen said on Tuesday that attacks on Israel will continue until it stops its military operation against Hamas in Gaza. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719608308737138817 07:51 GMT *** see post underneath *** The US and Israel are discussing the possibility of American troops being deployed to Gaza as part of a multinational force after the IDF succeeds in eradicating Hamas, people familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg. This is one of three options currently being considered by the two countries, they claimed. The second one is establishing a peacekeeping contingent modeled after the 13-nation Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), which had been set up as part of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty. Another solution could be to place Gaza under temporary UN oversight, the sources said. The people stressed that the conversations are still at an early stage and “much could change.” Some US officials who spoke to Bloomberg described the aforementioned options as premature or unlikely. 07:28 GMT Saudi Arabia has slammed Israel for its Tuesday airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza in which a Hamas commander and numerous Palestinian civilians were reportedly killed. Riyadh “condemns in the strongest terms possible the inhumane targeting” of Gaza’s largest refugee camp, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The Kingdom condemns and totally rejects the repeated targeting by the Israeli occupation forces of densely populated civilian areas, and its continuing violation of international law and international humanitarian law,” it added. Such attacks keep happening because of “the international community’s failure” to put pressure on Israeli authorities to agree to an immediate ceasefire and a humanitarian truce in Gaza, the ministry stressed. The local Interior Ministry said that the Israeli bombardment “destroyed the entire residential neighborhood” in Jabalia, leaving 400 Palestinians dead or wounded. According to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 50 civilians were killed and 150 others injured in the attack. 06:36 GMT The Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel) has said that there is a “complete interruption” of communications and internet services with Gaza. The problems occurred due to “the international routes that were previously reconnected being cut off again,” the company explained in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Israel is using Internet blackouts as a “warfare tactic to induce more pain on the population” of Gaza, Marwa Fatafta of the Access Now international human rights organization told Al Jazeera. The move is aimed to “cover potential war crimes as they started their ground invasion,” Fatafta claimed. 06:01 GMT The IDF has published the names of another nine Israeli soldiers killed in the fighting with Hamas in northern Gaza on Tuesday. Two troops from the the 77th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade lost their lives after their armored vehicle was hit by a guided missile. Another four soldiers were wounded in the same incident, including one seriously, it said. Seven servicemen from the Tzabar Battalion of the Givati Infantry Brigade were killed and two others seriously wounded when their tank drove on a mine, according to the Israeli military. Yesterday, the IDF announced the names of two troops killed in the fighting in the same area. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719564955425415181 02:35 GMT The US Senate confirmed Jack Lew as the country’s new ambassador to Israel on Tuesday. Lew served as treasury secretary under 44th President Barack Obama. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer described the procedure as “one of the most important and consequential nomination votes the Senate has taken in a long time.” “We need to work together on strategy with Israel,” the senator said. 01:55 GMT US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke over the phone with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday. According to the White House, Blinken “reiterated US support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism consistent with international humanitarian law and emphasized the need to take feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians.” Herzog earlier told the BBC that Israel was putting “a huge focus” on reducing civilian deaths in Gaza. 00:35 GMT Chile and Colombia are recalling their ambassadors to Israel for “consultations,” citing the continuing Israeli strikes on Gaza. Chilean President Gabriel Boric described Israel’s actions as “collective punishment of the civilian Palestinian population.” “If Israel doesn’t stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, [our envoy] can’t remain there,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 00:17 GMT Lebanon accused Israel of using incendiary munitions during strikes on its territory. “I instructed the Lebanese mission to the UN to submit a new complaint to the Security Council to condemn Israel’s use of white phosphorus in repeated attacks on Lebanon,” Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday, as cited by Arab News. Lebanese Agriculture Minister Abbas Al Hajj Hassan claimed that 40,000 olive trees have been burned down in the southern part of the country. Israel has carried out strikes on Lebanese territory in response to cross-border attacks by the pro-Palestinian group Hezbollah. The IDF denies using white phosphorus munitions. ==== = ========= = = = = 31 October 2023 == 21:53 GMT Bolivia’s government has cut diplomatic ties with Israel, demanding “an end to the attacks on the Gaza Strip which have so far claimed thousands of civilian lives and caused the forced displacement of Palestinians,” Maria Nela Prada, a minister in the presidential administration of Luis Arce, told reporters on Tuesday. Arce had condemned the “war crimes being committed in Gaza” and expressed support for “international initiatives to guarantee humanitarian aid” in a post on social media on Monday after meeting with the Palestinian ambassador to his country. Bolivia previously severed ties with Israel in 2009 under then-president Evo Morales, also in response to an invasion of Gaza that was widely condemned by the international community. Those ties were re-established in 2020 under the right-wing regime of Morales’ successor, Jeanine Anez. 21:47 GMT Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of crimes against humanity in Gaza and Western governments of enabling those crimes during a press conference on Tuesday. “The Israeli administration, backed with unconditional support by Europe and America, has been committing crimes against humanity in front of the entire world for exactly 25 days,” Erdogan said. Condemning the killing of women and children and bombing of hospitals – including, on Monday, the Friendship Hospital gifted by Türkiye to Gaza – he argued that Israel, having forgotten it was a state accountable to international law, “must be stopped immediately.” The Turkish leader has called for an immediate ceasefire and suggested an “International Peace Conference on Palestine-Israel” to work out the details of a lasting peace for the region. This would be guaranteed by a new security mechanism as the previous entities, including the UN Security Council, have failed to hold Israel accountable for its atrocities, Erdogan said. 20:05 GMT The Israel Defense Forces claimed to have killed one of the Hamas leaders responsible for the militant group’s October 7 attack, Central Jabaliya Battalion commander Ibrahim Biari, along with 50 more “terrorists” in a devastating airstrike on the Jabaliya refugee camp Tuesday. “The strike damaged Hamas’s command and control in the area, as well as its ability to direct military activity against IDF soldiers operating throughout the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said, adding that “underground terror infrastructure embedded beneath the buildings, used by the terrorists, also collapsed after the strike.” At least 100 Palestinians were killed and over 150 wounded when Israel dropped six one-ton US-made bombs on a residential area of Jabaliya, one of the most densely-populated parts of Gaza - which is itself one of the most densely-populated places on Earth. The IDF did not mention the civilians killed in the attack. 19:39 GMT Cyprus is working with European and Middle Eastern partners to set up a sea corridor for humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, a government official told the Times of Israel on Tuesday. The shipments would travel from Cyprus’ main port of Limassol to the Palestinian enclave during “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly “wasn’t opposed” to the idea, which Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides first proposed last week, so long as Israel can vet the contents of every container before it leaves Limassol. The two men were scheduled to discuss the matter further on Tuesday. 18:26 GMT Craig Mokhiber, the United Nations’ Human Rights Office director in New York, resigned on Tuesday to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, describing the UN’s mission in Palestine as a failure and Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the enclave as a “textbook case of genocide” in a letter to UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk. Mokhiber claimed the UN had “surrendered to the power of the US” and the “Israeli lobby,” abandoning both its moral high ground and its duty to protect the vulnerable. It had instead allowed its most powerful member states to provide “political and diplomatic cover” as well as economic and military support for West Jerusalem’s “horrific assault” on the Palestinian people, he said. Dismissing the “two-state solution” as a “total failure,” the human rights lawyer set out a ten-point plan aimed at creating a single democratic secular state. Following an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the UN must deploy the same resources against Israeli “apartheid” that it used in South Africa, compensate Palestinians for their displacement during the Nakba and Naksa, and facilitate their return, Mokhiber explained. 17:31 GMT United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres repeated his demand for a ceasefire in Gaza in a statement on Tuesday, insisting humanitarian access be granted “to meet the urgent needs created by the catastrophe unfolding” in the Palestinian enclave. Guterres urged restraint by both sides to avoid further escalation, calling on Hamas to release hostages and lamenting reports that two-thirds of those killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have been women and children. “International humanitarian law establishes clear rules that cannot be ignored,” the UN leader said, “It is not an a la carte menu and cannot be applied selectively.” 16:42 GMT FBI director Christopher Wray warned that the threat of terrorism against the US had reached a “whole ‘nother level” following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, in testimony before the US Senate’s Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. Acknowledging in written remarks accompanying his testimony that there was no evidence Hamas itself had either the capacity or intention to attack the US directly, Wray explained that the militant group’s surprise strike against Israel was likely to “serve as an inspiration” for both foreign terrorist groups and domestic violent extremists looking to target Americans on US soil. The FBI director predicted that both cyber and “kinetic” threats would grow with Israel’s war in Gaza, warning lawmakers that restricting the agency’s power to spy on American citizens under the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act may open the door to terrorist attacks in the future. = = ======================== *** *** 1 Nov, 2023 02:54 ==== US could deploy ‘peacekeepers’ in Gaza – Bloomberg ==== Washington and its Israeli allies are reportedly discussing the potential deployment of an international force in the Palestinian enclave US and Israeli officials are mulling an international peacekeeping force for Gaza should Israel successfully remove Hamas from power, Bloomberg has reported, suggesting that American troops could take part in the deployment. As Israel escalates its ground assault, the two countries have been “exploring options” for the future of the Palestinian enclave, including several different peacekeeping arrangements, officials familiar with the discussions told the news agency on Tuesday. “One option would grant temporary oversight to Gaza to countries from the region, backed by troops from the US, UK, Germany and France. Ideally, it would also include representation from Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates,” Bloomberg reported. While the officials stressed that the conversations are still in an early stage, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at the issue in recent comments to lawmakers, suggesting Washington is deeply involved in the planning. “We can’t have a reversion to the status quo with Hamas running Gaza. We also can’t have – and the Israelis start with this proposition themselves – Israel running or controlling Gaza,” he said at a Tuesday Senate hearing. “Between those shoals are a variety of possible permutations that we’re looking at very closely now, as are other countries.” Though Blinken did not elaborate on those possibilities, officials told Bloomberg that they also include the creation of a peacekeeping force modelled on the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, under which the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) monitor areas of the Sinai Peninsula. The Israeli government believes that idea is “worthy of consideration,” one official said. Under a third arrangement, the United Nations would be granted “temporary governance” of Gaza, although Israeli officials are reportedly less enthusiastic about the plan, viewing it as “impractical.” In announcing Israel’s ground operation in the Palestinian enclave, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the country was seeking to “destroy Hamas” and create a new “security regime.” He emphasized that Israel must not be responsible for “day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip,” suggesting it would seek to hand off governance to a third party. US President Joe Biden is hesitant to place “even a small contingent of American troops in harm’s way,” and is still far from a final decision, according to Bloomberg. Though the White House has discussed the need to establish a sovereign Palestinian state after the current conflict, exactly how to achieve that goal “has barely featured in discussions” among US officials. The latest bout of violence in Gaza erupted following a Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, which killed some 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have carried out relentless airstrikes on the territory in the weeks since, leaving more than 8,000 dead, and have gradually stepped up a major ground attack, which officials say could go on for months. https://www.rt.com/news/586319-us-israel-gaza-peacekeepers/ ======================= Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza is reportedly bombed by Israel for the second time. This follows a similar strike that killed and injured hundreds there yesterday. South American countries condemn Israel's attack on a Gaza refugee camp, and Bolivia severs diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. An Iranian Jewish community leader slams Israel's leadership and calls on the country to stop its military operation in Gaza, adding that it does not represent all Jews.

Numbers update. More than 8,300 Gazans have been killed and more than 21,000 are wounded. Day 25. The day's events "as they happened" posted below There is no safe place left to go in Gaza. The airstrikes/bombing have continued through the night and day. The ground incursion has started but the resistance is holding them back. Hamza Chalan reports. A Palestinian Red Crescent warehouse was bombed today. The United Nations has described the war against Gazans as "collective punishment" (my comment - but they don't seem to know what to do to stop it continuing. Pointless UN remarks...) Food, water and medicines are at critical levels despite 3,000 trucks being detained at the borders by Israel forces. They still have no electricity and other fuel is gone. Nebal Farsakh (Red Crescent Spokesperson) says (after IDF told hospitals, inc. Al Quds) evacuating hospitals now would be devastating. Other live (current) on the ground reports from Maria Finoshina in Sderot, Israel. Yasin Eken reports (live current) from Beirut, Lebanon. Washington is trying to exert pressure on Malaysia "to take sides" with Israel. Olsi Jazexhi (asst. professor, International Islamic University of Malaysia) talks about this and says "it's not new" In the United Nations Amb. Nebenzia poses questions to the United States in their stance against a ceasefire in the Gaza/Palestine/Israel conflict. He also shames the others who have supported continuing this horrible conflict. Elijah Magnier (journalist veteran) comments on the "double standards" and hypocrisy. Nigerians are warned about unauthorised trips to Israel. Timothy Obiezu reports. In Donbass, an attempted assassin has been caught and detained. = short take: Israel's Prime Minister says the war against Hamas has entered its third phase. The Palestinian death toll surpasses 8-thousand 3-hundred since the war began three weeks ago. The UN has labeled the forced displacement of 1.4 million Gaza civilians as collective punishment. Washington pressures Malaysia, a majority Muslim nation, over its stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says the Southeast Asian country's Prime Minister. = The day's events in Gaza, etc "as it happened" ========== 31 October 2023 16:42 GMT FBI director Christopher Wray warned that the threat of terrorism against the US had reached a “whole ‘nother level” following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, in testimony before the US Senate’s Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. Acknowledging in written remarks accompanying his testimony that there was no evidence Hamas itself had either the capacity or intention to attack the US directly, Wray explained that the militant group’s surprise strike against Israel was likely to “serve as an inspiration” for both foreign terrorist groups and domestic violent extremists looking to target Americans on US soil. The FBI director predicted that both cyber and “kinetic” threats would grow with Israel’s war in Gaza, warning lawmakers that restricting the agency’s power to spy on American citizens under the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act may open the door to terrorist attacks in the future. 15:41 GMT Thirty-six American citizens have been killed in Israel and Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified on Tuesday at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Joe Biden’s proposed $106 billion in funding to Israel and Ukraine. The Pentagon chief said he had “repeatedly made clear to Israel’s leaders that protecting civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative.” 15:07 GMT The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly raided the West Bank home of Nasser al-Laham, the Palestinian bureau chief of the Lebanese media outlet Al Mayadeen, on Tuesday morning. The journalist reported that Israeli troops had detained both of his sons before releasing one and confiscating the phone of the other. However, he said he hesitated to discuss the raid given the suffering of fellow Palestinians in Gaza. 15:00 GMT US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday was interrupted by the anti-war group Code Pink, which staged a protest demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. As Blinken attempted to make the case for “not shrinking back” from Washington’s global engagements, Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin stood up with a sign reading “No more $$$ for Israel” and urged the assembled legislators to stop funding the “brutal massacre in Gaza,” arguing neither the international community nor the American people supported Israel’s bombardment of the enclave. “Not one senator is calling for a ceasefire! Shame on you all!” Benjamin shouted as she was escorted out of the chamber by Capitol security, and over a dozen protesters silently raised their hands covered in red paint. 14:41 GMT Israel may have violated international law in its bombardment of Gaza, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barthe Eide told Reuters on Tuesday, questioning whether the country was taking care to distinguish between combatants and civilians and avoid excessive harm to the latter. “We believe that there have been cases where this proportionality and this distinction have not been fully respected,” he said, describing the situation in Gaza - whose inhabitants have been cut off almost entirely from water, electricity, and medical supplies in recent weeks - as “clearly problematic” from the viewpoint of international humanitarian law. 14:01 GMT UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, warned that Gaza “has become a graveyard of children” during a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday. Spokesperson James Elder explained that children were dying not only because of Israeli airstrikes but also because they were not receiving necessary medical care, urging for an immediate ceasefire to deliver humanitarian aid. At least 3,457 Palestinian children have reportedly been killed in Gaza since Hamas’ attack on Israel earlier this month, the enclave’s health ministry said on Tuesday - nearly half of the 8,306 total recorded Palestinian deaths. 13:51 GMT The Houthi government in Yemen have claimed they’ve launched a “large number” of missiles and drones at Israel. The attacks will continue until “the Israeli aggression stops” in Gaza, Houthi militray spokesman Yahya Saree warned in a televised address. Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF reported shooting down an unidentified “aerial target” over the Red Sea near the southern Israeli city of Eilat. 13:12 GMT Sirens have been sounding in Tel Aviv and areas north of Israel’s largest city, including Ra’anana, Herzliya, Kfar Saba, Jaljulya, and Hod Hasharon, the Times of Israel paper has reported, with Hamas taking credit for the rocket attacks. Earlier, Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said that a 29-year-old man had suffered light injuries after his car was hit with shrapnel from a rocket interceptor near the city of Beersheba in the Negev desert in southern Israel. 12:10 GMT The IDF says Israeli troops have been engaged in “fierce battles” against Hamas deep inside the northern part of Gaza. It also shared several clips of the fighting, which showed IDF soldiers and tanks moving around devastated neighborhoods in the Palestinian enclave. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719322411240231274 11:54 GMT Israel can no longer be found on China’s leading online digital maps on platforms including Baidu and Alibaba, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing web users. According to the outlet, Baidu’s Chinese language maps still show the borders of both Israel and the Palestinian territories, as well as key cities in the region. However, they no longer identify Israel by name. Alibaba’s Amap also reportedly no longer displays the name of Israel on its maps. Read full story below these updates *** 31 October 2023 11:39 GMT The death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to 8,525 people, including 3,542 children, the local health ministry in the besieged Palestinian enclave has said. “The Israeli occupiers continue to intentionally hit medical institutions,” the ministry’s spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra, told journalists. A total of 57 medical institutions have been struck so far, with 130 doctors and nurses killed, he said. According to al-Qudra, some 32 medical centers in Gaza have also been rendered inoperable due to the lack of fuel, he added. 11:00 GMT The Israeli military has published a video of the head of its Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, addressing Israeli troops and insisting that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will triumph in Gaza. “Southern Command stations, commander is speaking. We are launching an attack on Hamas and the terror groups in the Gaza Strip. Our goal is one, victory. No matter how long the fighting will be, how difficult, there is no other result but victory,” Finkelman said in the clip, according to a translation by the Times of Israel paper. “We will fight in the alleys, we will fight in the tunnels, we will fight where necessary. We will strike the terrible enemy that stands before us,” the commander added, in an apparent paraphrasing of one of the most famous World War II speeches by then UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The so-called “We shall fight on the beaches” address was delivered by Churchill to the British parliament in June 1940 shortly after the evacuation of more that 338,000 allied troops from France amid an advance by Nazi Germany. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719293627757691079 ===== 09:45 GMT Hamas has said its fighters have engaged an Israeli armored convoy in the al-Tawam area of northern Gaza. Two IDF vehicles were set on fire by rockets and one Israeli soldier was killed during the exchange of fire, the Palestinian group claimed in a Telegram post. 09:25 GMT The Israeli military has updated the number of hostages held by Hamas armed group, with IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari saying the families of 240 people have been notified that their loved ones are being held in Gaza. The number doesn’t include the four hostages released by Hamas or the Israeli soldier freed by the IDF on Sunday night. Hagari stressed that the figure isn’t final as the military keeps investigating information about missing persons. 08:20 GMT The Israeli military has said that its warplanes struck some 300 targets in Gaza overnight, attacking anti-tank and rocket launching positions, tunnel shafts and suspected Hamas military compounds. During ground operations, Israeli troops clashed with the Palestinian fighters, who employed missiles and heavy machine gun fire, the IDF said. “Numerous” Hamas fighters have been killed, it claimed. The statement gave no new information about the losses on the Israeli side. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719233279428014089 08:06 GMT Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum director Dani Dayan has said that a recent stunt by Israel’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, who addressed the UN Security Council on Monday while donning a yellow Star of David, “dishonors both the victims of the Holocaust and the State of Israel.” “The yellow patch symbolizes the helplessness of the Jewish people and being at the mercy of others. Today, we have an independent country and a strong army,” Dayan said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “We are masters of our destiny. Today, we place a blue-white flag on the lapel, not a yellow patch,” he insisted. During the World War II-era, the Nazis forced Jews to wear yellow stars in public to distinguish themselves. It’s now one of the symbols of the Holocaust. https://rumble.com/v3ssefw-israels-un-envoy-wears-yellow-star-during-security-council-meeting.html == 07:22 GMT The Israeli hostages held by Hamas have criticized their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for not doing enough to set them free in a new video published by the militant group. “We know there was supposed to be a ceasefire. You were supposed to release us as you promised,” one of the women in the clip said, addressing the PM. She claimed that the captives are suffering from a “political, security, and military failure” by Netanyahu. “Release us now, release the Palestinian citizens, release the prisoners now,” the female hostage pled. https://rumble.com/v3snvxv-netanyahus-failures-caused-gaza-war-israeli-hostages.html =========== 06:37 GMT The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have allegedly demolished a home owned by the deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, in the town of Aroura in the occupied West Bank, several media outlets have reported. The footage of what is said to be the controlled demolition of the building has also been published on social media. According to Al Jazeera, the destroyed house had been empty for a long time. Al-Arouri, who is considered one of the main masterminds of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, is reportedly staying in Lebanon, the broadcaster said. https://twitter.com/AlQastalps/status/1719210255479980462 06:15 GMT Women and children have accounted for about 70% of fatalities in Gaza since the start of the escalation between Israel and Hamas, the head of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini has said in a statement. Nearly 3,200 children have lost their lives in the area in just three weeks, surpassing the number of minors killed annually across the world’s conflict zones since 2019, he stressed. “This cannot be considered ‘collateral damage’,” Lazzarini insisted. He described Israel's action in Gaza as “collective punishment” and called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Palestinian enclave. 05:54 GMT The IDF has published footage of what it says were Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure. The "weapons, posts and sites" of the Lebanese armed group were destroyed in the attacks, it said. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719134000868958544 05:54 GMT The IDF has published footage of what it says were Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure. The "weapons, posts and sites" of the Lebanese armed group were destroyed in the attacks, it said. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1719134000868958544 05:32 GMT A total of 31 journalists have been killed in the Israeli-Palestinian hostilities this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. According to the US-based NGO, 26 media workers were killed in Gaza, four lost their lives during the initial attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, and another one died in an alleged Israeli strike on Lebanon. Another nine journalists have been reported missing or detained, it added. “Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict in the face of an Israeli ground assault on Gaza City, devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, and extensive power outages,” the CPJ stressed. 03:50 GMT Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki, meanwhile, urged the UN Security Council to intervene and end Israel’s blockade of Gaza. “2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza face death every day and every night,” the diplomat said. “How many more days will you wait to say enough?” He called on the international community to help Palestinians, who had been driven from their homes by the Israeli airstrikes and are “sleeping in their cars, sleeping in the streets and still being killed wherever they go.” The Palestinian Authority does not control the Gaza Strip, which since the 2000s has been solely governed by Hamas. 02:50 GMT Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan and his delegation wore a yellow Star of David with the words “Never Again” during the UN Security Council meeting on Monday. He compared Hamas to Nazi Germany, urging everyone to condemn the militants for killing Israeli civilians. “I will wear the yellow patch until the Nazi Hamas is eliminated and until the Security Council stops being silent and condemns the October 7 massacre. Some of you have learned nothing in the last eighty years!” he said. https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1719120471109587065 The yellow star is one of the symbols of the Holocaust. During the World War II-era, the Nazis forced Jews to distinguish themselves by wearing it in public. 00:26 GMT The UN called on Israel to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing in order to deliver humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. “More than one entry point into Gaza is indispensable if we are to make a difference,” Lisa Doughten, director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the UN Security Council on Monday. Israel previously refused to reopen the crossing, but said that aid could be delivered to Gaza through Egypt. = = 30 October 2023 ============= 22:38 GMT German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Hamas “must be held accountable” for the death of Shani Louk, the German-Israeli woman whose body was paraded by the Palestinian militants during their incursion into Israel on October 7. “This is terror, and Israel has the right to defend itself,” Scholz wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday shortly after the Israeli authorities confirmed Louk’s death. https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/1718946200307593261 Louk was kidnapped by Hamas during the group’s attack on an open-air music festival near the border with Gaza. Her fate had remained unkown for more than two weeks. 20:58 GMT “We do not believe that a ceasefire is the right answer right now,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has told reporters. “We believe that a ceasefire right now benefits Hamas, and Hamas is the only one that would gain from that right now,” Kirby added. The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Friday to adopt a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce,” between Israel and Hamas. The US and Israel were among 14 countries that voted against the resolution, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday that he would not heed the call, saying “this is a time for war.” 20:31 GMT WikiLeaks has confirmed that an Israeli government document advocating the forced depopulation of Gaza and resettlement of its residents in Egypt is genuine. First published by Israeli news site Sicha Mekomit, the document calls on the government to establish a tent city in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, which would eventually be developed into a permanent settlement separated from the Israeli border by a “sterile zone of several kilometers.” Under the proposed plan, Gaza would become Israeli territory. The document was produced by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence, a department that prepares studies and policy papers for review by the government. The ministry is run by Gila Gamliel, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. 20:17 GMT Hamas political bureau official Izzat al-Rishq has cast doubt on the IDF’s claim that it freed a female Israeli soldier from captivity in Gaza. "No one believes the false Zionist narratives, and even Zionist society itself does not believe its leaders,” he said on the militant group’s social media accounts. Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou said earlier that Israeli tanks did not enter Gaza City during the supposed operation to free the soldier, claiming that they stuck to the outskirts of the enclave for a “photo opportunity to restore the prestige of their army.” https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1719066404035391658 === == ==== == ==== ====== === = = = = = = = == === == ==== == ==== ====== === = = = = = 31 Oct, 2023 11:07 *** *** *** Chinese tech giants ‘cancel’ Israel – WSJ The Jewish state was reportedly left unnamed on China’s leading online map services Israel can no longer be found on China's leading online digital maps on platforms including Baidu and Alibaba, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing web users. According to the report, Baidu’s Chinese language maps still show the borders of both Israel and the Palestinian territories, as well as key cities in the region. However, they no longer identify Israel by name. Alibaba’s Amap also no longer displays the name of Israel. According to the report, the platform is usually known for its attention to details, with even small countries like Luxembourg clearly labelled. The companies did not respond to media requests for comment. According to the publication, it is unclear when exactly the name Israel was removed from their maps, but web users have apparently been discussing the development since the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict earlier this month. According to local reports, the Chinese internet has been overflowing with anti-Semitic comments over the past month, which may be the reason behind the disappearance of Israel’s name from the maps. The Israeli Embassy in China was recently forced to close the comment section under its official account on the Weibo platform, following a slew of verbal attacks from users. The Chinese government has not taken sides in the Mideast conflict, calling on the belligerents to end the hostilities and condemning attacks on civilians. However, Beijing has a long history of supporting Palestine. It recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964 and Palestinian sovereignty in 1988, and later established full diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority in 1989. During his visit to Saudi Arabia in 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping called the fact that the global community still largely does not recognize Palestine as a country a “historical injustice,” and said China will support the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. https://www.rt.com/business/586245-israel-disappears-china-maps/ ============================================ 30 Oct, 2023 09:24 Israel faces major economic crisis – JPMorgan The economy may shrink more than 10% amid the conflict with Hamas JPMorgan has sharply lowered its fourth quarter economic forecast for Israel. According to a research note made public on Friday, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) may shrink 11% from the previous three months amid the escalation of hostilities with the Palestinian armed group Hamas. Earlier this month, the bank forecast a 1.5% downturn, but the initial projections were deemed “too optimistic,” analysts suggested. “Gauging the impact of the war on Israel’s economy remains difficult, both due to still-very high uncertainty about the scale and duration of the conflict and the lack of high-frequency data at hand,” JPMorgan stated. The bank also cut its initial projections for the country's yearly GDP growth to 2.5% instead of the previous 3.2%. Analysts, however, slightly raised the outlook for 2024, to 2% from the previous 1.9%. JPMorgan noted that Israel’s previous conflicts, like the 2014 escalation of hostilities with Hamas or the 2006 conflict with the Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah, “barely affected activity.” However, “the current war has had a much larger impact on domestic security and confidence,” analysts warned. For instance, the death toll estimated at around 1,400 Israelis as of Friday was already much higher than during the previous conflicts, while the number of mobilized reservists has already topped 350,000, the most in Israel’s history and more than 5% of the country’s labour force. The most recent escalation of hostilities between Hamas, which controls much of Gaza, and the Israel Defence Forces started on October 7. It has since caused a global surge in the price of oil and safe haven assets, like gold and silver. Analysts fear the conflict could destabilize the Middle East, especially if it spreads to neighbouring countries, which would in turn affect the entire global economy. https://www.rt.com/business/586169-israel-economic-crisis-jpmorgan/ ========================================

Numbers update (official) more than 8,300 Gaza (Palestinians) have been killed, including 3,400 children and more than 18,000 have been wounded since the start of the conflict on 7th October. Communications are being restored slowly but most are out. Day 24 Video includes disturbing footage. Israel expands/extends it's ground operation. Israeli tanks are firing at vehicles without confirmation of who is inside them. (One instance is shown but many more are reported on social media) IDF has reported on it's ground operation with video In central Gaza, Türkiye's Freindship cancer treatment hospital has come under attack. It was already suffering from lack of fuel and supplies. Local reports from Gaza (Mansour Shouman), Mohammed Najib in Ramallah Videos from Israeli hostages are released by HAMAS Maria Finoshina reports from the Israel border in Sderot with "birds eye" imagery and commentary of what's going on there (my comment - braver than I would be !) Sporadic clashes continue at the Lebanon/Israel border, where a guided missile may have been used. Yasin Eken reports. A French magazine suggests the lives of Israeli and Gazan civilians are not equal. Mass protests have continued around the world in support of Palestine and demanding a ceasefire. Yesterday I put in the commentary re: the airport protest "against Jews" in Dagestan. Riot police got called in. It would appear that the whole thing was orchestrated by a group in Ukraine ! Pres. Putin will report on it today (now in fact - I will put a link in the comments). Oumaima Ichchar is at the Makhachala airport where things are back to normal but 8 policemen were injured. Alexandr Stepanov says there are signs this protest was "probably planned well ahead" Canada's Pres. Trudeau made comments about the airport protest on twitter. Rachel Marsden makes comments about his comments. Russia's defence minister Shoigu made comments about the west's destabilising the security of the world (see 1, below updates for full report) Short take: Palestine says the Turkish Friendship Hospital in Gaza has come under attack by Israeli forces, the strikes come as staff struggle to treat the influx of patients amid a dire shortage of fuel and supplies. The death toll in Gaza surpasses 8,000 people as Israel intensifies its ground and air campaigns, with communication outages hampering rescue efforts. Ukraine engineered anti-Israeli riots in Makhachkala airport that left 20 people injured, that's according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Moscow and Beijing-led multipolar world order is preferable to the West's confrontational approach, that's according to the Russian Defence Minister. =============== == 30 October 2023 16:50 GMT A female soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 was rescued during a ground operation in Gaza, the IDF has said in a statement. The soldier is named as Col. Uri Magidish, and was found to be in good health by Israeli medics. Hamas militants took 229 people to Gaza as hostages during their attack on Israel, according to the latest count by the IDF. Four have been released, and Hamas claims that around 50 have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. 16:35 GMT The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that its warehouses in Gaza City suffered “severe damage” and are out of service due to Israeli strikes targeting the surrounding area. https://twitter.com/PalestineRCS/status/1718984743469887964 16:18 GMT US forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked 23 times in the last two weeks, a senior Pentagon official told reporters in Washington. Fourteen of these attacks took place in Iraq and nine in Syria, the official said, adding that a mix of drones and rockets had been used. The official did not report any casualties. Iranian-linked militias have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, with one such group, the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, declaring on Thursday that it is willing to fight “a war of attrition against the enemy that will extend for years,” according to a report by Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen news network. 10:41 GMT Israel’s ground forces are “directly engaging” Hamas militants in Gaza, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said at a media briefing. “Ground forces, tanks, infantry, and armoured forces are manoeuvring towards terrorists,” Hagari stated, adding that the military had eliminated dozens of Hamas fighters who had “barricaded themselves in buildings and attempted to attack the forces that were moving in their direction.” 08:38 GMT Israeli tanks have been spotted on the edge of Gaza city amid the country’s “expanded” operation in the enclave, AFP News agency reported, citing an eyewitness. Israel’s military also reportedly managed to cut off a key road to the city. 05:59 GMT Hamas is disappointed at the lack of support from the Arab community in the region, Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of the group's political bureau, told Al Jazeera. He specifically blasted what he called the “shameful position of our brothers in the Palestinian Authority,” referring to the de jure government of Palestine in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Fatah party and enjoys international recognition. It also used to control Gaza until its conflict with Hamas in 2006. The official also suggested, citing unnamed “foreigners,” that some members of Palestinian Authority and some Arab countries “were secretly calling on the West to eliminate” Hamas. However, Fatah denounced Marzouk’s statement, with its spokesman suggesting that the official “speaks from an ivory tower.” He stressed that Fatah continues to support “the forces and heroes of our people in their legitimate human resistance in the battle for liberation and defeating the [Israeli] occupation.” He added, however, that “we call on our brothers in the Hamas movement to form a purely Palestinian front under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of our Palestinian people.” 04:34 GMT A 31-year-old Israeli soldier was killed, and two reservists seriously injured after a “tank overturned” in northern Israel on Sunday, the IDF said, without providing any further details of the incident. 03:37 GMT The United Nations humanitarian organization OCHA said that 33 trucks carrying water, food and medical supplies were allowed to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Sunday. “This is the largest delivery of humanitarian aid since 21 October, when limited deliveries resumed,” OCHA said in an update on the situation early Monday. Prior to the blockade, some 500 trucks carrying aid and other goods entered Gaza daily, according to AP, but since Israel launched its war against Hamas, only 117 trucks were allowed into the Palestinian enclave of some 2.3 million residents. 01:45 GMT The chief of Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, has warned the country’s war cabinet and security officials about a possible “eruption” of hostilities in the West Bank, according to Israeli media. “The specific warning notes a rise in violence by settlers [and] incidents between settlers and Palestinians that result in the deaths of Palestinians… These incidents are likely to set the area alight,” the Times of Israel reported Israel’s Channel 12 as saying. 00:59 Newly elected US House Speaker Mike Johnson has revealed that lawmakers will vote this week on a more “pressing and urgent” issue of helping to defend Israel in its war with Hamas, separately from any new funding for Kiev which will be put on the backburner for the time being We’re going to move a stand-alone Israel funding bill this week in the House,” Johnson said on Sunday in a Fox News interview. “We believe that that is a pressing and urgent need… There are lots of things going on around the world that we have to address, and we will, but right now, what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate attention, and I think we have got to separate that and get it through.” 00:13 GMT There have been a string of anti-Jewish incidents in Russia’s southern Muslim-majority regions, since the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began, earlier this month. Media sources in Moscow believe the unrest has been encouraged by Ukraine-based Telegram channels running information war operations. The latest major flashpoint took place on Sunday, when hundreds of anti-Jewish protesters breached the international airport of Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan. (see yesterday night's post on this channel's write up) ======= == 29 October 2023 23:58 GMT The IDF has released a video of its latest strike against "military infrastructure in Syrian territory," which allegedly targeted a launch site following a missile attack on Israel on Sunday night. https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1718772729640268123 23:36 GMT US ally Jordan has asked Washington to deploy additional missile defense systems in the country, amid concerns that the Israel-Gaza war could spill over into the wider Middle East. “We asked the American side to help bolster our defences with Patriot air defence missile systems,” Brigadier General Mustafa Hiyari, Jordan's army spokesperson, told state television, according to Reuters. 21:47 GMT Israeli warplanes have carried out a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets Lebanon, “in response to launches towards the territory of the State of Israel earlier today,” the IDF said, sharing a video of the raid. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1718724734752272569 The Israeli military also claimed “a number of launches from Syrian territory” towards Israel territory “fell in an open area,” prompting IDF to “respond by firing at the sources of the shooting.” 21:29 GMT In a phone conversation with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden emphasized the need to “immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza,” according to a White House readout of the call on Sunday. While reiterating that “Israel has every right and responsibility to defend its citizens from terrorists,” Biden emphasized that it should be done “in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians.” The leaders also discussed “ongoing efforts to locate and secure the release of hostages, to include American citizens who remain unaccounted for and may be held by Hamas.” 19:46 GMT US President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, held a phone call to discuss “the significant acceleration and increase of assistance flowing into Gaza,” according to the American readout of the call. While Biden has pledged to support Israel’s military operation, he also held a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urging him to “immediately and significantly increase” the amount of aid allowed into Gaza. Israeli officials said that they allowed a convoy of aid and food to enter the enclave from Egypt on Sunday, although the UN’s aid agency in Gaza has warned that much more is needed after “thousands” of rioters broke into one of its food warehouses earlier in the day to steal “wheat flour and other basic survival items like hygiene supplies.” ================================ === 1) 30 Oct, 2023 10:23 Western arrogance, Asia tensions, nuclear threat: Key warnings from Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu in Beijing speech Moscow’s top military official is taking part in the Xiangshan regional security conference The US and its allies are deliberately eroding global security and risking a nuclear war as they seek to defend their hegemony, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Monday. Russia and China, meanwhile, are demonstrating a model of cooperation based on equality and agreement not to enhance their own national security at the expense of other nations, he told a regional security forum in Beijing. Below is a recap of the key points of Shoigu’s speech at the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum. ‘Neocolonial diktat’ “Modern cataclysms in international relations are directly linked to the resistance of certain nations to the inevitable strengthening of a multipolar world [and] their attempts to preserve their hegemony,” Shoigu said in his address. Western nations put “hard pressure” on those who stand up to their “neocolonial diktat,” up to and including military actions and attempts to strangle their adversaries with economic sanctions. Moscow experienced this firsthand after it confronted the US over the expansion of NATO in Europe, which was done “in disregard of Russia’s legitimate right to ensure its security.” Ukrainians are being sacrificed The West has unleashed a “hybrid war” against Russia, Shoigu stressed, and has “cynically” picked Ukraine as a “battering ram” in the conflict. Ukrainians are paying a heavy price for it. According to the Russian minister, Kiev’s troops have suffered over 90,000 casualties since June 4, the day when it launched its counteroffensive. The Ukrainian army has also lost some 600 tanks and nearly 1,900 armoured vehicles of various types over the same period, he added. However, “no noticeable tactical successes have been achieved on the battlefield” by Ukraine, Shoigu concluded. Nuclear threat rising In its pursuit of a strategic advantage, Washington “has for years deliberately undermined and destroyed the system of international security and strategic stability, including the system of arms control treaties,” Shoigu noted. The Ukraine conflict may eventually result in direct hostilities between nuclear powers. There are claims in the West that Russia is “reducing the threshold” for use of nuclear weapons, but this is not true, the minister said. Russia’s nuclear doctrine has not changed. Moscow’s expected move to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is simply meant to put it on equal footing with Washington, according to Shoigu. Russia is prepared to seek to improve the state of affairs through diplomacy, but “unless the West reconsiders its destructive line, which seeks to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, it’s doubtful that fruitful talks in this area are possible.” Dividing Asia The US applies the same approach in the Asia-Pacific region, where it seeks to escalate tensions and ensure the security of the blocs and groups under its control at the expense of others, Shoigu claimed. Washington also undermines existing mechanisms, he added, mentioning the example of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus, a platform that included members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and eight outside powers, including China, Russia and the US. Moscow opposes attempts by the “pro-Western camp” in the group to “move away from the practical focus of the mechanism and politicize its agenda by imposing secondary issues” such as the purported protection of human rights. The US has in the past used allegations of human rights violations to justify military action, and may do the same with climate change and natural disasters in the future, the minister added. Model partnership Shoigu contrasted the “geopolitical adventurism and egoistic neocolonial actions of the West,” with the partnership that Russia has developed with China, calling it a model of cooperation. The two nations share a vision of a more just multipolar world, in which national security will be indivisible, he said. Russia wants similar relations with other nations that share the same goal. “The circle of our friends and like-minded individuals who do not want to be dragged into the confrontational agenda pushed by the collective West is steadily growing,” he said. https://www.rt.com/russia/586150-shoigu-beijing-xiangshan-forum/ see also https://rumble.com/v3sluj4-russian-defense-minister-shoigu-visits-china.html video of event ======================= 30 Oct, 2023 16:50 EU is Russia’s enemy – Medvedev Moscow isn’t happy to lose Brussels as a strategic partner but must accept this new reality, the former president has said Russia and the European Union are now “true enemies” rather than neighbour's, according to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Writing on social media on Sunday, Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, claimed that Brussels has become obsessed with building “crazy conspiracy theories” and raving about the “complete unpredictability of Russia.” As a result, the bloc has spent “astronomical sums to maintain its security” but has “lost Russia as a long-term strategic partner. We are not happy about this, but it is a fact,” the former president added. Medvedev accused the EU of meekly complying with the whims of the US, meaning it has lost the ability to act independently not only globally but even in Europe. “Almost all EU countries stood at attention in front of the United States and Britain and obediently began to carry out their instructions to support the Nazi Kiev regime. And now any instructions in general,” Medvedev wrote. He claimed that the EU has brought itself to the brink of “complete degeneration” by deciding to become Russia’s enemy at the instigation of Washington. At the same time, the former president insisted that the world’s great powers will sooner or later agree on how to coexist in the new geopolitical conditions, and that Washington will have no choice but to deal with Russia, China, and the Global South. Europe, however, will “soon be gone,” Medvedev predicted, comparing the EU to a “sweet little old woman.” “She was mercilessly limited in her rights by a fat-faced overseas relative, whom she trusted unreservedly. First he cynically robbed the wealthy old woman, depriving her of many sources of livelihood and sending her millions of poor relatives. Soon, he will simply throw the old woman, who has fallen into insanity, out onto the cold street, mercilessly slamming the door behind her in her own house.” One of Russia’s closest allies, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, stated last week at a meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto that he wholeheartedly supports the existence and preservation of the EU, and wants it to be “strong, resilient, sovereign, and independent.” Lukashenko explained that his support did not stem from any particular love for the EU, but because it is one of the pillars, along with Russia, China, the US, and India, that hold up the planet and whose downfall would be “bad for everyone.” https://www.rt.com/russia/586203-eu-russia-enemy-medvedev/ ===================================

Updates on the Palestine/Israel conflict as they happened below. Massive rallies around the world (towards end of video) Things are heating up on the Lebanon/Israel border. Eunan speak to Simon Tsipis; he says Washington is likely pulling the strings. Below: Israel strikes near Gaza’s largest hospital Below: Riot police deployed amid anti-Jewish protest at Russian airport Short take : Explosions rock Gaza as Israel extends its ground operations and intensifies its bombing campaign. As the Palestinian death toll reportedly tops ten thousand people, Gazans are struggling to survive and find their loved ones amid the devastating consequences of the conflict. Relatives of those held hostage by Hamas meet with the Israeli Prime Minister, saying they fear for the safety of their loved ones who are held in Gaza while it's being attacked by the IDF from above. ==================== 29 October 2023 Updates, "as they happened" 17:11 GMT Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has called on the current government not to commit more troops to a full-scale invasion of Gaza, where Hamas fighters will “exact a heavy blood price from us.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Bennett recommended that Israel create a two-kilometre “security strip” around the enclave and maintain a complete blockade on fuel supplies until Hamas surrenders, all while continuing to pound Gaza with airstrikes. “Hamas leadership will find itself in a dilemma,” Bennett wrote. “If [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar does not disarm he will go down in history as the one who destroyed his country and brought a historical disaster on his people.” 16:37 GMT The UN’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said that one of its peacekeepers was injured when two mortar shells fell on one of its bases near the Israeli border. Two other UN bases in Lebanon were hit on Saturday. “Attacking UN peacekeepers is a crime, a violation of international law and must be condemned,” the mission said in a statement, without blaming either Israeli forces or Lebanese Hezbollah militants. The Israeli military and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily since Israel’s conflict with Hamas broke out. The IDF published a video on Sunday showing one of its aircraft attacking a “terrorist cell” that it said had been firing missiles into Israeli territory earlier in the day. https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1718646434675777735 15:18 GMT Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must “rein in…extremist settler violence against innocent people in the West Bank,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has told CNN. At least seven Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers since the conflict with Hamas began on October 7, the Associated Press reported on Sunday. Across multiple terms in office, Netanyahu has overseen a dramatic expansion in the construction of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, which the International Court of Justice deems illegal. 14:52 GMT Israeli airstrikes destroyed most of the roads leading to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday morning, the Associated Press has reported. The Shifa Hospital is the largest medical facility in the Palestinian enclave. The IDF claimed on Friday that Hamas had built an elaborate network of tunnels and bunkers under the hospital. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari refused to rule out bombing the hospital, declaring that “in this war, all options are on the table.” ======= via RT 29 Oct, 2023 15:31 Israel strikes near Gaza’s largest hospital The IDF previously accused Hamas of operating a command post under the Shifa Hospital Israeli airstrikes have destroyed roads leading to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza on Sunday, the Associated Press reports. Tens of thousands of civilians are believed to be sheltering on the grounds of the hospital. Residents of Gaza told the news agency that the strikes destroyed most of the roads leading to the hospital, which is the main medical referral facility serving the Palestinian enclave. “It seems they want to cut off the area,” a resident told AP, noting that Israel’s airstrikes over the past two days have been “the most violent and intense” since the war began. The Shifa Hospital is located in Gaza City, in the northern half of the strip. The Israeli authorities have repeatedly instructed residents of the city to evacuate to the south of the enclave to be spared the airstrikes, although Israeli warplanes have bombed this supposedly safe region too, levelling homes in the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. Many civilians who stayed behind in Gaza City have taken shelter on the grounds of hospitals, including the Shifa facility. The Associated Press said that “tens of thousands” of people are currently camped out at the Shifa complex, which is also struggling to treat the high volume of patients inside. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed on Friday that the Shifa Hospital is “the main headquarters for Hamas’ terrorist activity,” and that the militant group has constructed an elaborate network of tunnels and bunkers under the building. The IDF released a computer-animated video supposedly showing the layout of these tunnels, and published a video clip in which an interrogated Hamas fighter admits to the existence of the base. It is unclear, however, whether the militant was speaking under duress. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari refused to rule out bombing the hospital, declaring that “in this war, all options are on the table.” https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1718010359397634252 Israel has also threatened to bomb the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement on Sunday morning. The organization said that Israeli forces ordered the “immediate evacuation” of the hospital “as it is going to be bombarded.” Palestinian news agency WAFA said shortly afterwards that hospital management refused to comply with the evacuation order. The IDF refused to comment on either the evacuation order or the strikes near the Shifa Hospital when asked by AP. Israel dramatically stepped up its air campaign against Gaza on Friday night, severing the enclave’s last phone and internet links with the outside world. The IDF followed the bombardment by deploying tanks and infantry to the strip, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a “second stage” in the war against Hamas. More than 8,000 Palestinians, including 3,342 children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s air campaign began, according to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry. Hamas’ rocket strikes and raids on Israeli territory earlier this month killed around 1,400 people, according to the IDF. https://www.rt.com/news/586113-israel-airstrike-gaza-hospital/ ======================================= 29 Oct, 2023 18:16 Via RT : Riot police deployed amid anti-Jewish protest at Russian airport The unrest was reportedly prompted by rumours that had spread online of incoming “Jewish refugees” A large crowd of angry protesters gathered at the airport in Makhachkala, the capital city of Russia’s Dagestan Republic, on Sunday searching for alleged “Jewish refugees” there. The unrest prompted the deployment to the scene of law enforcement teams in riot gear. The crowd breached the airport’s premises and even made it on to the runway, disrupting the airport's operation, footage from the scene circulating online shows. https://t.me/izvestia The crowds were filmed ‘questioning’ random people at the airport’s terminal to determine whether or not they were Jewish, and also approached just-landed planes with the apparent intent of entering the aircraft. The unrest at the airport was apparently prompted by rumours spread on local social media channels claiming that a flight from Tel Aviv inbound for Makhachkala was carrying a group of “Jewish refugees,” purportedly fleeing the conflict between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel. https://www.rt.com/russia/586123-dagestan-airport-riot-police/ ===================================

Numbers update (unconfirmed) 10,000 people are now thought to have died and 19,000 wounded. Day 23 Updates "as they happened" below Aistrikes and bombing have continued in Gaza overnight. Internet and phone systems come partly back online. People are communicating only by passing word of mouth, even for emergency services. 10 people were killed and many more injured as an airstrike targeted a house. 14,000 Civilians sheltering at the Al-Quds hospital are to be moved out as Israel extends it's incursion. The IDF says it has deeper into Gaza and has hit several HAMAS targets Families of Israeli hostages worry for their lives as Israel continues to bomb Gaza == short take : Explosions rock Gaza as Israel ramps up its offensive on the enclave, locals describe survival amid a communications blackout. Amid the siege on Gaza, hundreds of thousands rally for Palestine across the globe from London to Rome and New York. Relatives of those held hostage by Hamas meet with the Israeli prime minister, saying they fear for the safety of their loved ones who are held in Gaza while it's being attacked by the IDF from above. === == UPDATES "as they happened" 29 October 2023 15:18 GMT Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must “rein in…extremist settler violence against innocent people in the West Bank,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has told CNN. At least seven Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers since the conflict with Hamas began on October 7, the Associated Press reported on Sunday. Across multiple terms in office, Netanyahu has overseen a dramatic expansion in the construction of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, which the International Court of Justice deems illegal. 14:52 GMT Israeli airstrikes destroyed most of the roads leading to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday morning, the Associated Press has reported. The Shifa Hospital is the largest medical facility in the Palestinian enclave. The IDF claimed on Friday that Hamas had built an elaborate network of tunnels and bunkers under the hospital. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari refused to rule out bombing the hospital, declaring that “in this war, all options are on the table.” 09:39 GMT Israel’s military has “improved and refined [its] plan” for the ground operation in Gaza after talks with top US officials, including Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, the New York Times reported, citing sources. US officials interviewed by the outlet said the original plans “alarmed” Washington, which expressed concerns about Israel’s ability to achieve its stated objectives. However, after consultations with the US, the IDF’s ongoing operations appear to be more limited in scope than Israeli officials initially described to their American counterparts, the article says. 06:33 GMT SpaceX CEO Elon Musk insisted that no Starlink terminal operated by the company has attempted to connect from Gaza, and vowed to “take extraordinary measures to confirm that it is used only for purely humanitarian reasons.” He also pledged that his company would “do a security check with both the US and Israeli governments before turning on even a single terminal” in the Palestinian enclave. The billionaire’s comments came after Israel’s communications minister, Shlomo Kahri, said his country would do its best to fight Starlink terminals providing internet access in Gaza. Musk previously said he would only provide “internationally recognized aid organizations” with Starlink services amid a communications blackout in the besieged enclave. 04:29 GMT Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza have “crossed the red lines, which may force everyone to take action,” in a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday morning. “Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel. The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield,” the Islamic Republic’s leader added. 04:09 GMT The UN Security Council is set to meet on Monday afternoon sometime after 7pm GMT to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after the UAE requested an emergency meeting in the wake of Israel’s “expanded ground operations” in Gaza. 04:03 GMT The Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) has announced that landline, mobile and internet services are now “gradually being restored across Gaza,” following a major blackout on Friday night. The company said that its technical teams “are diligently addressing the damage to the internal network infrastructure under challenging conditions.” https://twitter.com/Paltelco/status/1718469093450289659 03:39 GMT Benjamin Netanyahu had never received any prior warnings about the October 7 Hamas assault, his office reiterated on Sunday after the PM was pressed on the issue at an earlier press conference. “All the security hierarchies, including the head of the Shin Bet and the head of IDF military intelligence, assessed that Hamas was deterred and was interested in an arrangement… That was the assessment that was repeatedly presented to the prime minister and the cabinet by all security and intelligence hierarchies,” the office said in the statement on X. 03:28 GMT The Israeli military has launched the “second stage” of war against Hamas militants in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address on Saturday night, while warning citizens to prepare for a long struggle ahead. "We are only at the beginning of the road. The battle within the Gaza Strip will be difficult and long,” Netanyahu warned, while stressing that “this is our second War of Independence. This is our mission, our purpose in life, and together we will prevail.” “Last night, additional ground forces entered Gaza, marking the beginning of the second stage of the war, whose goal is to destroy the military and political capabilities of Hamas and to bring our kidnapped citizens back,” Netanyahu declared. 02:27 GMT The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group transited the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean sea on October 28, and will soon join the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in “support of the defence of Israel and to deter aggression throughout the region,” the US navy has announced. “Our arrival in the Mediterranean, en route to CENTCOM, provides reassurance to our allies and partners that we are committed to ensuring their security and well-being,” said Rear Adm. Marc Miguez. After Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, the US military scrambled to reinforce its presence in the region. The Pentagon has sent two aircraft carriers with supporting vessels to the area, as well as “activated the deployment” of THAAD and Patriot air defence systems. Last week, it also said it had ordered more than 2,000 additional troops to prepare to deploy in support of Israel in its conflict with Hamas. On Thursday, it said that it would deploy 900 soldiers to the Middle East. US officials, however, insisted, that none of the troops would go to Israel, and are rather “intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further bolster US force protection capabilities.” 00:53 GMT The death toll in Gaza has exceeded 8,000 people, “half of whom are children,” the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave told AFP early Sunday. 00:04 GMT Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman is expected to visit Washington on Monday, where he will meet several senior US officials, including defence secretary Lloyd Austin, state secretary Antony Blinken and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Axios reports citing three unnamed sources with knowledge of the trip. Earlier on Saturday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that any “ground operation by Israel would threaten the lives of Palestinian civilians and result in inhumane dangers.” =========================== = 28 October 2023 = 22:49 GMT International humanitarian organizations Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRC) are calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to prevent more civilian deaths and desperately needed aid into the Palestinian enclave. “It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza amid the massive bombardments, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible,” the head of the ICRC Mirjana Spoljaric wrote, describing the situation as a “catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate.” https://twitter.com/ICRC/status/1718371781256659423 “The actions of world leaders are too weak, too slow, as a non-binding UN resolution for a ceasefire has done nothing to reign in the indiscriminate violence unleashed on a helpless people,” the MSF said in a separate statement, adding that it had “teams on standby ready to send medical supplies and to enter Gaza, as soon as the situation allows it.” 22:33 GMT The IDF has refused to either confirm or deny whether it was behind a near-total communications blackout in Gaza, according to Reuters. “We do what we have to do to secure our forces for as long as we must, temporary or permanent, as much as we need to and we will not say anything further about that,” IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday evening, when asked if Israel had intentionally knocked out cellular services as it “expanded” its ground operations against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave. 21:51 GMT The Israeli warplanes have struck “a number of military targets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanese territory,” the IDF said, releasing a video of the air raids. Israel claims to have destroyed “terrorist infrastructure… including a military compound and observation posts” in its retaliatory strikes, with allegedly came in response to “launches from Lebanese territory in the past day.” https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1718351209197641789 21:03 GMT Tens of thousands of people joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in London on Saturday. Video footage from the rally showed protesters packing the streets of the British capital holding signs saying “Gaza, stop the massacre” and “Free Palestine, end Israeli occupation.” https://twitter.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1718238609117942093 London’s Metropolitan Police said that nine people were arrested throughout the day, with two accused of assaulting officers. “A number of the Public Order arrests are being treated as hate crimes,” the force said in a statement. Similar protests took place in Berlin and Paris, with thousands of demonstrators in the French capital defying a ban on pro-Palestinian rallies. 18:32 “Israel will use all means at its disposal to fight” Elon Musk’s planned provision of Starlink internet access to Gaza, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Kahri wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Hamas will use it for terrorist activities,” Kahri claimed, suggesting that the SpaceX CEO only provide Starlink service to Gaza if Hamas releases “our abducted babies, sons, daughters, [and] elderly people.” ===========

"With all communications down it means that it will be even more difficult to obtain critical information and evidence about human rights violations and war crimes being committed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to hear directly from those suffering the violations" Amnesty International said today. (more LIVE UPDATES below commentary) Overnight the bombardment of Gaza continued and more than 100 civilians are reported dead. Rafah has been attacked by Israel, it's the route for humanitarian supplies. The first images emerge amidst the blackout. Footage of Israeli fighter jets bombing Gaza. (my comment - who knew they would be used for such purposes as destroying an already fully blockaded country that Israel has occupied for 56 years and wiping out it's people. These airstrike bombings happened whilst the United Nations voted for a humanitarian ceasefire.) Rory talks to Walid Seyam who reports on the blackout, it's devastating, terrifying and chaotic - we are cut out. Israel releases images of the tanks it's lining up to use for the "ground incursion" Maria Finoshina gives an update report from Jerusalem, including hostages status. (there is no internet for usual on the ground Gaza reports) Rami Aman (contributor journalist) comments with Eunan; he has lost contact with his family in Gaza. Iran's FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the US is running the war and has called it a proxy war. Iran is hosting an emergency meeting with it's top military officials as the conflict escalates. Yusef Jalali reports from Iran and was at the meeting. Yasen Eken reports from the Lebanon/Israel border and says the sentiments from Iran are felt in Lebanon too. Drones can be heard 24/7, towns near to the border have been evacuated. The Lebanese military are being sent to the south, there are about 100,000 readied. Non state actors could also amount to 10,000 The Grayzone spoke with Gabor Mate (trauma expert) who says it's the worst thing he's seen in his whole life; the victims are being shown as the perpetrators. Protests continue around the world. In South Africa Katlego Msomi reports from Johannesburg where people are calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza and BDS to apply for every import and product from Israel and to cease all Israel investments. In Türkiye many thousands have rallied in support of Palestine. Pres. Erdogan has called for an immediate ceasefire. Melda Dogan reports from Istanbul. In the United Nations General Assembly a humanitarian resolution was passed. As the meeting continued Israeli airstrikes and bombing continued. 120 voted to uphold the resolution whilst 45 abstained and 14 voted against it. UN posted "The United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza. It also demands “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of lifesaving supplies and services for civilians trapped inside the enclave, as news reports suggest Israel has expanded ground operations and intensified its bombing campaign." Israel's UN amb. Gilad Erdan said voting for peace is the same as supporting HAMAS. Short take : The first images emerging from Gaza show smoke covering the area following Israel's massive overnight strikes and a complete communications blackout. The IDF releases footage of its tanks entering Gaza from the north, as debate swirls whether a full ground operation is now in fact underway. Israel rejects a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and declares that it will use all available tools to rid the world of what it calls the evil of Hamas. 28 October 2023 16:06 GMT Israel can only succeed in destroying Hamas if it continues ground operations in Gaza, IDF Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi said in a statement. “The objectives of the war require ground entry. There are no achievements without risks, and there is no victory without prices being paid,” he said. “In order to expose the enemy and destroy it, there is no other way but to enter its territory with great force.” 14:31 GMT Israel is recalling its diplomats from Türkiye in light of “harsh statements” from Ankara, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has announced. It is unclear how many Israeli representatives are still in Türkiye, as officials from both countries told media outlets last week that Israeli ambassador Irit Lillian and other staff had left the country amid protests outside her residence. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Hamas militants as “freedom fighters” earlier this week, and on Saturday said that Türkiye would soon show the world evidence of Israeli “war crimes” in Gaza. 13:23 GMT Israel has “moved on to a new phase in the war,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced, declaring that “the ground shook in Gaza” on Friday night as Israeli forces “attacked above ground and below ground, attacking terrorists of all ranks, in all places.” Friday night saw both the heaviest Israeli bombardment of Gaza since the beginning of the conflict and the first major incursion into the strip by Israeli troops and armour. Gallant said that the operation will continue in this manner “until new orders are given.” (see earlier short post for "events as they happened" today)

Numbers update: The death toll from Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza has reached 7,326 people, including more than 3,000 children; more than 18,000 have been wounded, since October 7th. 1.4 million citizens have been displaced. Day 22 - please see recent earlier video posted for "as it happened" updates Israel has taken down all forms of communications ahead of what could be the ground incursion. RT's last communications to Gaza was with Ruptly's journalist Masoud Abu Jarash who reported it was terrifying. (Daniel Hagari) IDF announced Israel expanding/extending it's ground operation. 150 "underground" targets struck in Gaza overnight, killing HAMAS aerial array. The Red Crescent says all communications have gone. Maria Finoshina gives an update report from Jerusalem, including hostages status. Washington says there are no red lines ahead and the Iranian foreign minister says the situation could get out of control with new fronts if the attacks escalate and put Israel in a "new situation". Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the US is running the war and has called it a proxy war. Yasen Eken reports from the Israel/Lebanon border and says drones can be heard the whole day and night and sporadic clashes have occurred. Towns have been evacuated in the Israeli "buffer zone". Yasen asked how ready is the Israeli military? In the United Nations General Assembly a humanitarian resolution was passed. As the meeting continued Israeli airstrikes and bombing continued. 120 voted to uphold the resolution whilst 45 abstained and 14 voted against it. UN posted "The United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza. It also demands “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of lifesaving supplies and services for civilians trapped inside the enclave, as news reports suggest Israel has expanded ground operations and intensified its bombing campaign." Israel's UN amb. Gilad Erdan said voting for peace is the same as supporting HAMAS. Dan Kovalik, human rights and labour lawyer and Yoni Ben-Menachem give comments to Rory. Protests demanding a ceasefire continue across the globe. RT hears from Mohammed Najib (a journalist). The Arab world supports Palestine, worries about civilian deaths. In New York, 200 have been arrested in pro-Palestinian protests. Short take: A blackout in Gaza as Israel ramps up air attacks across the region and IDF tanks enter from the north. Israel rejects a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and declares that it will use all available tools to rid the world of what it calls the evil of Hamas. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations throughout the world call to end the violence as Israel steps up what it calls a quote 'expansion of its ground operation' in Gaza

live updates below🔽 13:23 GMT Israel has “moved on to a new phase in the war,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced, declaring that “the ground shook in Gaza” on Friday night as Israeli forces “attacked above ground and below ground, attacking terrorists of all ranks, in all places.” Friday night saw both the heaviest Israeli bombardment of Gaza since the beginning of the conflict and the first major incursion into the strip by Israeli troops and armour. Gallant said that the operation will continue in this manner “until new orders are given.” 12:12 GMT SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will make his Starlink internet service available to “internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza,” he announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Phone and internet lines went down in the enclave after a heavy Israeli bombardment on Friday, leaving aid groups unable to communicate with their staff in the besieged territory. 12:04 GMT Some 5,000 US troops took part in an Israeli ground assault on Gaza on Friday, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency. Last week, the Pentagon said it had ordered more than 2,000 additional troops to prepare to deploy in support of Israel in its conflict with Hamas. At the same time, the Israel Defence Forces said on Friday that it was “expanding” both ground and air operations in the enclave. Tasnim also reported, citing security sources, that Israel’s overnight assault involved three divisions and several brigades, with troops attempting to advance on several axes to divide Gaza into two or three sections. 10:53 GMT Palestinian authorities are in talks to secure access to the Starlink satellite system operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, Communications Minister Ishaq Sidr said in an interview with Al-Hadath TV. The statement comes after Gaza suffered the complete severing of internet and landline services amid the Israeli siege. The minister also noted that local authorities are in contact with neighbouring Egypt to provide communications assistance. 08:12 GMT Hamas says it has thwarted an attempted ground assault by Israel’s military on Gaza, adding that the country’s military sustained heavy losses, according to media reports. It claimed that Israeli forces were caught in ambushes set by the Palestinian resistance, and it had to use helicopters to evacuate the dead and wounded from the battlefield. 05:19 GMT The Israeli military claims it has killed Asem Abu Rakaba, a top Hamas official in charge of air defence, aerial reconnaissance, and drones, in an airstrike. The IDF said he participated in “the massacre in the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip on October 7” and directed militants who infiltrated Israel by paraglider. 04:43 GMT The newly elected US House Speaker Mike Johnson has held a phone call with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing “strong support” and saying that “the House of Representatives stands with Israel.” https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1718041485843591230 03:56 GMT The United States is “not drawing red lines for Israel,” and is going to continue to support its battle with Hamas militants, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday night. However, “since the very beginning we have, and will continue to have, conversations about the manner that they are doing this,” he added. 03:20 GMT US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has held yet another phone call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, in which he “underscored the importance of protecting civilians” during operations in Gaza, and emphasized the “urgency of humanitarian aid delivery for civilians in Gaza,” according to the Pentagon. “He also raised his focus on the need for Hamas to release all of the hostages,” Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said. 02:35 GMT US ‘entering battle’ in Gaza – Hamas A senior member of Hamas has said the Palestinian militant group was surprised by America’s reaction to recent violence in Gaza, suggesting the US would enter the fight after it sent thousands of troops and a pair of aircraft carriers to the region. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas’ political leadership based in Lebanon, said the group “didn’t expect this much of a response” from the United States. “An Israeli response? Yes, we expected that,” he said. “But what we’re seeing now is the entrance of the US into the battle, and this we didn’t count on.” US ‘entering battle’ in Gaza – Hamas Washington has deployed forces across the Middle East as Israel prepares a ground assault on the Palestinian enclave A senior member of Hamas has said the Palestinian militant group was surprised by America’s reaction to recent violence in Gaza, suggesting the US could enter the fight after it sent thousands of troops and a pair of aircraft carriers to the region. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas’ political leadership based in Lebanon, said the group “didn’t expect this much of a response” from the US. “An Israeli response? Yes, we expected that,” he said. “But what we’re seeing now is the entrance of the US into the battle, and this we didn’t count on.” Washington has made major shows of force in the Middle East since Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack on Israel, deploying two aircraft carrier strike groups to the Mediterranean, as well as an amphibious assault ship carrying 2,000 sailors and marines. US officials have said the moves were meant to deter outside actors from taking part in the Gaza war. On Thursday, the Pentagon said it carried out airstrikes on two facilities in eastern Syria alleged to be used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and “affiliated” groups, claiming the operation was in “self-defence” following a string of rocket attacks on US troops. While the mission highlighted escalating US military action in the region, officials stressed that it was “separate and distinct” from the hostilities with Hamas. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have pounded Gaza with airstrikes in response to Hamas’ attack earlier this month, which claimed around 1,400 lives, according to Israeli officials. More than 7,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in weeks of IDF bombing since, with Israel now preparing a significant ground operation intended to eliminate Hamas. READ MORE: US will ‘not be spared’ if Israel-Hamas war escalates – Iran Barakeh went on to say the militant group had at least 40,000 fighters in its ranks, and that most were based in extensive tunnel networks built under Gaza. “We have been prepared for a ground offensive,” he added, explaining that the underground complex is stocked with months of supplies. https://www.rt.com/news/586022-us-hamas-israel-war/ ===================================== 02:00 GMT The State Department was allegedly unaware about Israel’s plan to “expand” ground operations in Gaza before the official announcement on Friday, two US officials told ABC news. However, amid growing international pushback against a full-fledged ground invasion, Washington has been “pressuring Israel to adopt a narrower scope for its offensive and take a more incremental approach,” ABC News reported, citing two unnamed US officials. 01:43 GMT A member of Hamas's political bureau, Ezzat El-Reshiq, has blasted Israel for “cutting off the phone network and internet” as well as “electricity, water, food, medicine and fuel,” calling it a “full-fledged war crime” aided by the West. The militant’s group's political official added that the Qassam Brigades “and all Palestinian resistance forces” are ready to “thwart incursions.” 01:38 GMT Clashes between the Israeli forces and Hamas militants have been taking place in at least three locations along the Gaza Strip border, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Safwat Kahlout who cited information from Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the group. “After a few minutes of a relatively calm situation, now Israeli artillery resumed heavy bombardment across the border line,” the reporter claimed early Saturday morning, adding that from the rooftop of his building he could see the “flashes of Israeli artillery blowing up across the border line.” 01:25 GMT The Israel Defence Forces is “expanding ground operations” against Hamas in the Gaza Strip while the air force has intensified its aerial bombardment of the Palestinian enclave, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reiterated on Friday night, according to the Jerusalem Post. “In the last few hours, we have severely increased our attacks in Gaza,” he said during an evening briefing, noting that attacks were taking place from the air, sea and land, according to the Jerusalem Post. While Israeli soldiers and tanks have conducted several limited raids into the strip over the last days, no major offensive has been officially announced yet. A senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Mark Regev, told CNN that the “expansion” of ground operations in Gaza means the IDF is “beefing up the pressure on Hamas.” “That pressure will increase and continue to increase until we achieve our goal,” he added. 01:02 GMT Amid the communication blockade on the Gaza Strip, the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has confirmed that the organization also lost contact with its teams on the ground. “The blackout affects emergency medical services, but also we can’t know what is happening. Deeply concerned about civilians, healthcare workers and facilities,” Francesco Rocca said. The Palestinian Red Crescent's media officer, Nibal Farsakh claimed that the “Israeli authorities have cut off landline, cellular, and internet communications, severely affecting our essential emergency medical services.” https://twitter.com/PalestineRCS/status/1718021023696609374 00:51 GMT The World Health Organization also lost contact with its staff in Gaza, as well as “health facilities, health workers and the rest of our humanitarian partners on the ground,” the UN agency’s director-general has confirmed. “This siege makes me gravely concerned for their safety and the immediate health risks of vulnerable patients. We urge immediate protection of all civilians and full humanitarian access,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. 00:47 GMT The number of United Nations staff who have lost their lives in Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli war with Hamas has increased to at least 53 since October 7, after another 14 humanitarian personnel were killed in the past 24 hours, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said in a statement on Friday. https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1717943214823407678 ================= 27 October 2023 ================= 23:33 GMT Amnesty International also lost contact with its team in Gaza, according to the organization's Senior Director of Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara-Rosas. “This communications blackout means that it will be even more difficult to obtain critical information and evidence about human rights violations and war crimes being committed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and to hear directly from those experiencing the violations,” Guevara-Rosas said. Multiple humanitarian organizations and international media and have lost contact with their colleagues on Friday night, as the Gaza Strip has suffered a near-total blackout of internet and cell phone services after Israel “expanded” its military operation against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave. Internet and cell phone services stopped working in Gaza on Friday night, after Israel “expanded” its military operation against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave. The largest telecommunications provider in Gaza, Paltel, has announced “a complete severance of all communications and Internet services” due to intensified Israeli strikes. “The intense bombing in the last hour caused the destruction of all remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world,” the company said. Netblocks, a company that tracks internet connectivity globally, confirmed the information blackout, calling it “the largest single disruption to internet connectivity in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict and will be perceived by many as a total or near-total internet blackout.” International media outlets, including RT, have partially lost contact with their crews and stringers on the ground. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told news organizations that Israel “cannot guarantee your employees’ safety, and strongly urge you to take all necessary measures for their safety,” according to a letter sent to Reuters and AFP. The head of RT Arabic, Maya Manna, said there was no contact with correspondents and photographers operating in the Palestinian enclave as of Friday evening. The sole message came from an RT stringer in the area, describing a “very violent bombing.” “I don't know what to do with my children and my family. Everyone is afraid, everyone is terrified, and there is screaming everywhere in the Gaza Strip,” Masoud Abu Jarash, a local reporter, told RT. According to an NBC News crew member, who was also able to message colleagues, “all internet, electricity and everything” has been cut off. “The situation we’re in is difficult, so difficult and very dangerous. We’re being extensively shelled by artillery and by air,” the unnamed staffer said. The UN children’s agency also lost contact with their colleagues in Gaza, with UNICEF chief Catherine Russel saying she was “extremely concerned about their safety and another night of unspeakable horror for 1 million children in Gaza.” The international healthcare charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said there was no contact with some of their Palestinian colleagues. “We are particularly worried for the patients, medical staff and thousands of families taking shelter at Al Shifa hospital and other health facilities,” MSF said, expressing deep concern over the situation regarding one of Gaza’s biggest medical centres. Israel has accused Hamas of turning hospitals into “headquarters for their terror,” referring specifically to Al Shifa, and even published an “illustrative video” which supposedly points out the “different locations in and under the hospital which are being used to plan and implement terrorist activities.” Hamas claims that by cutting off communications from Gaza, Israel is attempting to “cover up the crimes of the occupation without any oversight or accountability,” and tries to “create an image of victory,” a senior official, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera. =================================== 22:47 GMT The UN children’s agency UNICEF has also lost contact with their colleagues in Gaza amid the reported near-total communications blackout. “We have lost touch with our colleagues in Gaza. I’m extremely concerned about their safety and another night of unspeakable horror for 1 million children in Gaza,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russel wrote on X, adding that “all humanitarians and the children and families they serve must be protected.” 22:17 GMT The international healthcare charity Doctors Without Borders says that it has lost contact with some of their Palestinian colleagues on the ground in Gaza. “We are particularly worried for the patients, medical staff and thousands of families taking shelter at Al Shifa hospital and other health facilities,” it said, expressing deep concern over over the situation around one Gaza’s biggest medical centres. “We call for the unequivocal protection of all medical facilities, staff and civilians across the Gaza Strip.” Israel previously accused Hamas of turning hospitals into “headquarters for their terror,” specifically one Al Shifa, and even published an “illustrative video” which supposedly points out the “different locations in and under the hospital which are being used to plan and implement terrorist activities.” https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/1717927514666844581 === 22:14 GMT Amid the reported disruption of communications with Gaza, the head of RT Arabic, Maya Manna, said that contact has been lost with RT’s war correspondents and photographers operating in the Palestinian enclave on Friday evening. The sole message came from an RT stringer in the area, describing a “very violent bombing.” “I don't know what to do with my children and my family. Everyone is afraid, everyone is terrified, and there is screaming everywhere in the Gaza Strip,” said Masoud, a local reporter. 21:50 GMT The US State Department has urged American citizens to leave Lebanon immediately, citing an “unpredictable security situation.” “There is no guarantee the US government will evacuate private US citizens and their family members in a crisis situation,” it said. “US military-assisted evacuations of civilians from a foreign country are rare… You should have a plan of action for crisis situations that does not rely on US government assistance.” 21:45 GMT Israel has slammed the UN General Assembly for passing a non-binding resolution which urged a humanitarian truce in Gaza. “This is a dark day for the UN and for mankind,” Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan said. “Today is a day that will go down as infamy. We have all witnessed that the UN no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance.” “We reject outright the UN General Assembly despicable call for a ceasefire. Israel intends to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and ISIS,” added Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. 21:38 GMT By cutting off communications from the Gaza Strip, Israel is attempting “to create an image of victory,” a senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera, accusing the IDF of “an attempt to cover up the crimes of the occupation without any oversight or accountability.” 21:34 GMT There is a near-total blackout of internet and cell phone services across the Gaza Strip, according to service providers and global connectivity monitors. The largest telecommunications provider in Gaza, Paltel, announced on Friday "a complete severance of all communications and Internet services" due to intensified Israeli strikes. “The intense bombing in the last hour caused the destruction of all remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world, in addition to the routes previously destroyed during the aggression, which led to the interruption of all communications services from the beloved Gaza Strip.” A company that tracks internet connectivity globally, Netblocks, confirmed that “live network data show a collapse in connectivity in the Gaza Strip with high impact to Paltel.” “Today’s incident is the largest single disruption to internet connectivity in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict and will be perceived by many as a total or near-total internet blackout,” said Isik Mater, the director of research at NetBlocks. https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1717942556703551590 == 21:22 GMT United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the humanitarian system in Gaza is facing a “total collapse with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians,” according to a statement on Friday night. “As the bombing intensifies, needs are growing ever more critical and colossal,” he said. “Misery is growing by the minute. Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering.” 21:09 GMT The IDF has told international news organizations that Israel “cannot guarantee your employees' safety, and strongly urge you to take all necessary measures for their safety,” according to a letter sent to Reuters and AFP, after they had sought assurances that their journalists in Gaza would not be targeted by Israeli strikes. “The IDF is targeting all Hamas military activity throughout Gaza,” the letter stated, accusing Hamas of deliberately conducting military operations “in the vicinity of journalists and civilians.” 20:48 GMT US sources told ABC News that Friday night’s ground incursion into Gaza was not a “large-scale offensive,” while an IDF spokesman confirmed that it was not the planned (and repeatedly delayed) major ground offensive. Residents of Gaza report “heavily intensified” IDF airstrikes in the enclave, according to local media. 20:29 GMT The UN General Assembly called for a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in a Friday vote. Of those present, 120 countries supported the resolution, while 45 abstained and 14 – including the US and Israel – opposed it. The vote comes after a UN Security Council resolution that would have ordered “humanitarian pauses” for aid delivery to Gaza was vetoed by the US last week. 20:22 GMT A spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces urged reporters on Friday to ignore any rumours about a deal to release the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, insisting the IDF “will reach and present any credible information” regarding the captives to the families first and then inform the public. “Until then, don’t surrender to Hamas’ manipulations of psychological terror,” IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. == 20:12 GMT The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has “completely lost contact with the operations room in Gaza and all our teams operating there,” the organization said in a statement on Friday, warning that the unusually heavy IDF bombardment of the enclave had disrupted the operations of its central emergency ‘101’ line, preventing the dispatch of ambulances to those wounded and injured in the airstrikes. 19:44 GMT The streets of Gaza are overflowing with sewage, exacerbating the massive public health hazard in the enclave, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA warned on Friday. “The last remaining public services are collapsing, our aid operation is crumbling, and for the first time ever, [our staff] report that people are now hungry,” agency director Philippe Lazzarini said, stressing that the amount of aid trickling in amounted to “nothing more than crumbs.” While aid deliveries have supplied some food, water and medicine, they have not included fuel, meaning the UNRWA is unable to collect and distribute the aid that does make it into the enclave and will soon be forced to “wind down” its relief efforts, Lazzarini explained. 19:35 GMT The US State Department will not support a ceasefire in Gaza that would allow Hamas to “rest and refit, and continue launching terrorist operations against Israel,” spokesman Matthew Miller has said. Instead, he suggested a “humanitarian pause” to allow the delivery of aid to Gaza. However, Miller declined to address concerns that Americans may have been among the 50 hostages reportedly killed during Israeli airstrikes since October 7. 18:45 GMT Hamas has called on Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Palestinian diaspora to “mobilize in support of Gaza and stop the aggression and war of extermination” being waged by Israel. In a statement, the militant group also called on Arab and Islamic countries to “take immediate action to stop the…massacres against our people.” In a separate statement on Friday, Hamas official Husam Badran called on Palestinians in the West Bank to take up arms against occupying Israeli troops, declaring “this is the time for weapons.” 17:49 GMT The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced they were “expanding ground operations” in Gaza on Friday, warning residents who were still in the city to move south as a series of massive explosions were reported in and around the vicinity on Friday night. 17:40 GMT Israel “cut communications and most of the internet” to the Gaza Strip on Friday, the Hamas militant group has said. Netblocks confirmed that live network data showed a collapse in connectivity in the territory, with Gaza's last remaining service provider, Paltel, severely impacted. Additionally, Palestinian telecom company Jawwal announced the “complete interruption of telecommunications services” to Gaza in a statement on Friday, explaining “the intense bombardment of the past hour has resulted in the destruction of all remaining international [communications] routes connecting Gaza with the outside world.” 17:30 GMT Hamas “categorically” rejected the Israel Defence Forces’ claim that it situates its command centres or any other military assets under hospitals in Gaza in a statement posted to the militant group’s Telegram account on Friday. Warning that such “criminal and dangerous allegations” paved the way for the targeting of the Al-Shifa hospital, which it said houses more than 40,000 displaced Palestinians, Hamas urged the United Nations and the Islamic world to “intervene immediately to stop the madness of bombing and destroying the medical system” in the enclave. 16:40 GMT Four people were wounded when a rocket hit an apartment building in Tel Aviv on Friday, according to emergency medical service Magen David Adom. None of the four was seriously injured, and all were taken to a nearby medical centre for treatment. Hamas reportedly took credit for firing the rocket on its Telegram channel. The city of Ashkelon also came under rocket fire, with rockets hitting the 9th floor of one building, a construction site, and a ground-level house, resulting in an unknown number of casualties.

Numbers update: The death toll from Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza has reached 7,028 people, including 2,913 children; more than 18,000 have been wounded, since October 7th. Day 21 Short take: Dozens of casualties, including women and children, are rushed to hospitals amid devastating Israeli air strikes on Gaza, while medical officials warn there's just no more space to treat them. At least three people are reportedly wounded this Friday in an alleged Hamas rocket strike on a residential building in Tel Aviv. The IDF confirms the killing of a Hamas intelligence leader it says was responsible for organizing the October 7th mass attack, as relatives of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants demand their government take immediate action. 27 October 2023 as the day has unfolded : 15:32 GMT UNESCO, the United Nations’ educational division, has demanded protection for schools, teachers, and students in Gaza amid Israel’s bombardment of the territory. It said in a press release on Friday that about 40% of the schools in Gaza – 200 buildings – had been damaged since the latest round of hostilities began on October 7. Some 40 of those schools have been damaged very seriously, according to UNESCO. Many of these were operated by the UN’s Palestinian refugee organization, UNRWA, which has already lost 38 civilian employees in the bombing. 15:15 GMT Hamas rejects Israeli accusation of hospitals as ‘operation centres’ Hamas has rejected the Israeli military’s accusation of turning hospitals into “operation centres” to carry out its attacks on Israel. A senior member of the Hamas political bureau, Izzat al-Rishq, said, “There’s no basis in truth in what the spokesman of the enemy army stated.” Israel is making the claims to “pave the way for a new massacre to be committed against our people”, al-Rishq added. 15:08 GMT ‘Catastrophic’: Qatar calls for full ceasefire and prisoner release Qatar has called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all prisoners in the Gaza war. “The Israeli attacks against innocent civilians have become catastrophic and could spiral in a manner that threatens the region and the world. We express deep regret of the UN Security Council’s failure to take responsibility under its charter,” said Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the UN. “We renew our calls for de-escalation, a full ceasefire, and the release of all prisoners – particularly civilians. We reaffirm our condemnation of all forms of targeting civilians, particularly women and children.” 15:07 GMT The IDF claims to have proof that Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest hospital in the enclave, is being used for “terror purposes,” alleging that hidden beneath the civilian complex was a network of “Hamas underground complexes,” “terror tunnels,” and even a “command and control centre” used by the Palestinian militant group. At a press conference on Friday, an IDF spokesman stressed that hospitals lose their protection as civilian targets under international law when they are used for “terror purposes.” 14:50 GMT Medics from the International Committee of the Red Cross have entered Gaza for the first time since the war began on October 7, the organization said on Friday. Six members of the group’s medical staff, along with four other Red Cross specialists and six aid trucks, entered the blockaded territory via the Rafah crossing in Egypt. The crossing – the only way into and out of Gaza for many years – had been shut for over a week due to constant aerial bombardment by the Israel Defence Forces. 14:39 GMT The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed they have killed the commander of Hamas’ Western Khan Yunis Battalion in an airstrike, according to a post by the military account on X (formerly Twitter). The IDF also took responsibility for strikes on over 250 “Hamas targets,” including an alleged tunnel network. 14:00 GMT Nearly half (49%) of Israelis polled by the Panel4All Institute on Tuesday and Wednesday opposed an “immediate military ground invasion of Gaza,” according to the Israeli news outlet Maariv, which cited the poll results on Friday. Only 29% of poll respondents said the invasion should begin “immediately.” A similar poll last week found 65% supported a ground invasion, but did not specify when it would take place. 13:55 GMT The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has insisted that the death toll provided by the health ministry in Gaza has always been reliable after US President Joe Biden claimed that he had “no confidence” in the numbers coming in from Palestinians. “In the past, the five, six cycles of conflict in the Gaza Strip, these figures were considered as credible and no-one ever really challenged these figures,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Jerusalem. According to the latest data from the Gaza health ministry, 7,028 people, including 2,913 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave since October 7. 12:12 GMT Prominent Iraqi Shia cleric and militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr has demanded that the government and parliament hold a vote to close the US Embassy in Baghdad over what he called Washington’s “unfettered support of Israel” amid the conflict with Hamas. In a statement published on X (formerly Twitter), al-Sadr warned that if the authorities “do not abide by this demand, we will go for further actions which we will later announce.” Last week, hundreds of members of an Iraqi paramilitary group gathered on the border with Jordan to show support for the Palestinians and demand an end to the Israeli siege of Gaza. 11:04 GMT The United Nations is “concerned that war crimes are being committed” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “We are concerned about the collective punishment of Gazans in response to the atrocious attacks by Hamas, which also amounted to war crimes,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani has said at a press-conference. Shamdasani stressed it was for an independent court of law to determine whether war crimes have taken place. 10:54 GMT The Israeli military has raised the number of Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas to 233 people, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said. The previous figure announced on Thursday was 228. The number does not include the four captives that were released by the Palestinian militants over the past week. The information is not final as the IDF continues its investigation, Hagari stressed. 08:13 GMT The Israeli government is set to allow police to use live fire against Israeli citizens who block roads or entrances to towns during a “multi-front war” being waged by the country, public broadcaster Kan has reported. Police will only need permission from a senior officer before shooting to kill, it added. According to Kan, Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has already agreed to fast-track the legislation. The measure had been proposed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir before the Hamas attack on October 7. Kan previously reported that police were concerned that Israeli Arab citizens could block army convoys in case of a military escalation. Ben Gvir said in early October that he believes it is “very important to change the instructions so that our policemen and soldiers can fill their role without risking their lives.” 05:43 GMT The Israeli military has confirmed media reports that it conducted another raid inside Gaza. The IDF said that it sent ground forces into the central part of the Palestinian enclave, striking numerous Hamas targets, including anti-tank missile launch sites and command centres. The incursion was accompanied by airstrikes and artillery bombardment, it added. The troops safely exited the area after concluding the operation. There were no deaths or injuries among the servicemen, according to the IDF. 04:59 GMT The IDF has launched yet another small-scale ground raid, sending infantry, tanks and engineering troops of the 36th Division into Gaza Strip “for several hours” on Thursday night, according to local media reports. 02:19 GMT An unidentified missile has landed in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Taba, just across the border with Israel, damaging a hospital and injuring at least six people, according to local media reports. The Israel Defence Forces is “aware of a security incident on the other side of the border with Egypt,” according to the Times of Israel, but it is not clear if it was related to the ongoing Gaza war.

Numbers update: The death toll from Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza has reached 7,028, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave announced. 2,913 children were among the dead, 1,709 women and 397 elderly. Day 20 (latest updates as they happened below) Disturbing images in video Airstrikes/attacks/bombings by Israel have continued. In Khan Yunis the locals say the bombings are like and earthquake. Hamza Chalan reports. Updates from Iran, Yusef Jalali reports. Updates from Israel, Maria Finoshina reports. Clashes on the Lebanon/Israel borders have created large wild-fires. Yasin Eken reports. Eunan speaks to Amb. Mohhamed El Shazly (Egyptian Council of Foreign Affairs) about Egypt's position in the conflict. The Egyptians are very annoyed that the humanitarian aid (hundreds of trucks) are being prevented entry to Gaza by the Israelis. US Sec of State Tony Blinken has asked Al Jazeera to "tone down" it's news reportage! Earlier, a member of the Israeli government said that reporters must only cover the side of the Israelis, otherwise it casts Israel in a bad light. (and he says he knows this as he was a reporter for most of his life! - I'm lost for words.... please see video at https://rumble.com/v3rrqzg-hostages-comments-benefit-hamas-israeli-diplomat.html?mref=6zof&mc=dgip3&ep=2 ) Nidal Kabalan - former Syrian Amb. to Turkiye comments from Damascus. === Short take : Dozens are reported killed in recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, as the Palestinian death toll surpasses seven-thousand according to the Gazan health ministry. Israel says its hit more than 250 Hamas targets over the past 24 hours as IDF troops look increasingly set to invade the Gaza Strip. A top Iranian commander says the US is directly responsible for the relentless Israeli bombing of Gaza. ==== stop press (as the day unfolded) 26 October 2023 ==== 14:26 GMT A Hamas representative has announced that approximately 50 hostages in Gaza have lost their lives due to Israeli airstrikes. Earlier in the day, the Israeli military reported that the number of individuals who were confirmed to be in captivity in Gaza following the cross-border raids by Hamas on October 7 had reached 224 and could potentially increase. 14:01 GMT Russia’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas has arrived in Moscow for negotiations. RIA-Novosti news agency reported earlier that the delegation was headed by a member of Hamas’ political bureau, Moussa Mohammed Abu Marzouk. 13:46 GMT Seven people were injured after an IDF drone fell on the balcony of a home in the northern Israeli city of Ma’alot-Tarshiha, not far from the country’s border with Lebanon, the Galilee Hospital has said. According to the hospital, its doctors tended to five adults and two children, aged 5 and 11, who suffered smoke inhalation and acute anxiety. Six patients have already been sent home, while a 66-year-old man had to be left at the facility for further treatment, it added. The IDF said that it was investigating the incident. The Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah had exchanged fire in the border area earlier that day. 12:34 GMT The death toll from Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza has reached 7,028, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave has announced. Some 2,913 children were among the dead, along with 1,709 women and 397 elderly, it said. 12:03 GMT Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has denied media reports that the government has been delaying a ground operation against Hamas in Gaza due to pressure from the US. “We are making decisions only based on our own interests,” Gantz told reporters in Tel Aviv. “Only we will defend ourselves and every Jew.” Gantz stressed that Israel was grateful to the US for the support it has been providing, while warning that “tough times are expected for us,” although “the danger of being eliminated” is not Israel’s, “but its enemies.” 11:03 GMT Another twelve aid trucks loaded with food, water and medicine has entered Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, the Palestine Red Crescent Society has said. This puts the number of trucks to have arrived in the Palestinian enclave over the past five days at 74. The UN said earlier that 100 trucks per day are required to meet the essential needs of the besieged enclave. 10:52 GMT The FBI has warned the American public that it “has seen an increase in reports of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities and institutions.” According to a statement issued by the agency, the escalation between Israel and Hamas has “increased the possibility of potential attacks against individuals and institutions in response to developments in the Middle East.” The FBI also claimed that foreign actors, including Iranian media outlets and terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), were using the conflict to stoke divisions and call for violent attacks in the US and other Western countries. 09:57 GMT Israel has asked India to designate Hamas as a “terrorist” organization following the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented attack on October 7, Israeli Ambassador to New Delhi Naor Gilon has said. The Indian authorities should make the move because of the countries’ shared “war on terror,” Gilon explained, as quoted by the Hindustan Times. Read full story here. 09:43 GMT Israelis and Palestinians could use Russia as an example of peaceful co-existence between peoples of different faiths, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar said during a meeting of religious leaders with Russian President Vlaimir Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday. “I have no doubt that Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims, can live in peace, respect each other, and even help each other when necessary,” Lazar stated. “The fact that here, in Russia, we have peace between Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists – all religions and all peoples – could be taken as an example. In fact, this is an example for the whole world.” 06:32 GMT The IDF is training its troops for a ground invasion of Gaza at a specially built replica of a generic Palestinian village nicknamed “Little Gaza” at a base in the Negev Desert, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Among other things, the Israeli soldiers have been practicing carrying injured troops to safety and spotting gunmen behind windows, it said. 09:11 GMT The deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, has claimed that “the battles have not begun yet” with Israel. “If the enemy enters [Gaza] by land, it will be an unprecedented defeat [for the Israeli forces],” he said. In an interview with Hezbollah-owned Lebanese broadcaster al-Manar, al-Arouri urged Palestinians in the West Bank to “escalate the resistance by any means.” He also spoke about the hostages being held by the group, describing them as “guests,” and stating that Israeli citizens would be swapped for Hamas detainees in Israel. 08:45 GMT Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has repeated his nation’s calls for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas, and for the “resumption of negotiations aimed at creating an independent Palestinian state, which had been solemnly promised to the Palestinians almost 75 years ago.” Speaking at a security conference in Belarusian capital Minsk, Lavrov stressed that Moscow condemns terrorist acts and any other actions that contravene international humanitarian law and harm civilians. The Russian diplomat said that a joint international effort would be required to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also described the US as “one of the leaders” among the countries interfering in the crisis. 08:05 GMT The IDF has said that its warplanes have struck 250 Hamas targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours. The Palestinian armed group’s underground tunnels, command centers and rocket launchers placed “in a civilian environment” were attacked, among other things, the Israeli military added. 07:40 GMT Hamas has urged mass protests in Israel, the occupied West Bank and across the Muslim world to demand the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. “We call on our people throughout the homeland and outside, and on all the members of the Arab and Islamic nation, and the free people of the world, to intensify the popular mobilization in the coming days, and to demonstrate actively on Friday and Sunday under the slogan ‘Open the Rafah crossing’ and ‘Stop the genocidal war on Gaza,’” a statement from by the Palestinian militant group read. 07:27 GMT Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged for the first time that he could also be held partly accountable for the security blunders that allowed the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. “This failure will have to be investigated to the last degree. Everyone will have to give answers. Myself included,” Netanyahu said during a televised address on Wednesday. However, he made it clear that the time for the probe hasn’t come yet, saying that now the Israeli society should “join forces for one goal: to charge forward to victory.” IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Shin Bet internal security service head Ronen Bar have been among the top Israeli officials who have publicly accepted responsibility for the events of October 7. Even former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who led the government between June 2021 and June 2022, said that he shares in the blame. Hamas “want us to come in” to Gaza, one of the servicemen suggested, describing the urban warfare that awaits the IDF inside the Palestinian enclave as “the mother of all fears.” The invasion is being delayed for now as Israel has agreed to the Pentagon’s request to give it more time to place air defenses in the region to protect US troops, American officials told WSJ. 06:07 GMT The Palestinian death toll provided by the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip is “generally reliable,” Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) Omar Shakir has told Al Jazeera. The ministry bases its figures on the data it gets from hospitals and morgues, he added. “Human Rights Watch has been working in the occupied Palestinian territories for three decades. We’ve covered rounds of escalations and hostilities, and we’ve always found the numbers from the Ministry of Health to be generally reliable,” Shakir stressed. Earlier, US President Joe Biden said that he has “no confidence in the numbers that the Palestinians are using” as he was speaking about the fatalities in Gaza. According to the Health Ministry, at least 6,546 Palestinians have been killed and 17,439 others wounded in Israeli strikes since October 7. 04:52 GMT The IDF has conducted a “targeted raid using tanks” in the northern Gaza Strip, the military said, releasing a video of the overnight combat operation. “During the activity, soldiers located and struck numerous terrorists, terror infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts, and operated to prepare the battlefield,” according to the IDF. The raid was reportedly conducted “as part of preparations for the next stages of combat,” and the soldiers have since exited the Palestinian enclave and returned to Israeli territory. https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1717401249199329634 00:39 GMT An IDF drone was targeted by a surface-to-air missile from Lebanon, which was intercepted by the Israeli air defenses, according to the military. In response, Israel has struck the alleged missile launch site in the neighboring country. ==== ==== ==== 25 October 2023 ==== 23:43 GMT The Wall Street Journal claimed on Wednesday that about 500 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters took part in exercises organized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a month before the attack on Israel. Iran has categorically denied any role in the attack. Speaking at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Iran’s envoy to the UN Ami Saeid Iravani said Tehran “categorically rejects” the “groundless allegations” by the US of Iranian involvement in the events of October 7, which he described as “Palestinian anti-occupation.” Paywall https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-fighters-trained-in-iran-before-oct-7-attacks-e2a8dbb9 22:11 GMT US President Joe Biden has cast doubt over the accuracy of casualty numbers provided by health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza, saying he has “no confidence” in the latest reports that as many as 6,546 Palestinians were killed and 17,439 wounded in Israeli airstrikes since October 7. “What they [casualty numbers] say to me is that I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden said during a join press conference with Australian PM Anthony Albanese. “I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's a price of waging a war,” the US leader added. “I think we should be incredibly careful – not we – the Israelis should be incredibly careful to be sure that they're focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war against Israel. It's against their interests when that doesn't happen, but I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.” 21:41 GMT Russia and China have vetoed a US-authored draft resolution at the UN Security Council, that condemns Hamas’ attack on Israel and calls for release of hostages, but does not urge a ceasefire. The text was supported by ten countries, with Russia, China and the UAE voting against it, while Brazil and Mozambique abstained. “The US seeks to promote some new project, saturated with politicized and extremely inappropriate statements… The authors ignored almost all objections of other delegations regarding their project,” Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya said after the vote. 22:11 GMT US President Joe Biden has cast doubt over the accuracy of casualty numbers provided by health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza, saying he has “no confidence” in the latest reports that as many as 6,546 Palestinians were killed and 17,439 wounded in Israeli airstrikes since October 7. “What they [casualty numbers] say to me is that I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden said during a join press conference with Australian PM Anthony Albanese. “I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's a price of waging a war,” the US leader added. “I think we should be incredibly careful – not we – the Israelis should be incredibly careful to be sure that they're focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war against Israel. It's against their interests when that doesn't happen, but I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.” 21:41 GMT Russia and China have vetoed a US-authored draft resolution at the UN Security Council, that condemns Hamas’ attack on Israel and calls for release of hostages, but does not urge a ceasefire. The text was supported by ten countries, with Russia, China and the UAE voting against it, while Brazil and Mozambique abstained. “The US seeks to promote some new project, saturated with politicized and extremely inappropriate statements… The authors ignored almost all objections of other delegations regarding their project,” Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya said after the vote. https://twitter.com/UN_News_Centre/status/1717300050353602807 The UN Security Council also failed to adopt an alternative Russia-led resolution calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” and unhindered aid into Gaza. The Moscow-sponsored text was backed by China, UAE and Gabon, while the US and UK voted against it. The remaining 9 members abstained. 20:49 GMT Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to lead the country to a “crushing victory” over the Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas “axis of evil” in a televised address on Wednesday evening. He also promised a ground invasion of Gaza when the time is right, and a reckoning for the “failures” of October 7 after the war, promising Israelis that the government will take care of them as it had during the Covid pandemic.

Update on numbers: 5,791 Gazans have died, 16,297 wounded by strikes/raids by Israel since the start of the conflict, October 7 2023. 2,300 of the dead are children. Day 19 40 hospitals report their fuel (for electricity etc) has run out. Twelve thousand tons of bombs have been dropped on Palestine since the start of the conflict, equivalent to a Hiroshima style nuclear bomb. In Khan Yunis bombing has continued with dozens killed and another residential block of flats levelled. Khan Yunis is an evacuee receiving city in the south which has been under attack since the refugees set off in their convoys to the south of Gaza, as instructed by Israel. Hospitals are under severe pressure after the attacks. The hospitals are also being used as shelters. More hospitals have been destroyed. Hamza Chalan gives updates. Food, water and fuel has run out for many Gazan citizens. Rami Almeghari reports from central Gaza as the communities take in evacuees from the north. Limited humanitarian aid is arriving to Gaza from Egypt. Clashes continue with Lebanon. At the border with Israel, 120,000 people have evacuated their homes. Maria Finoshina reports. Yesterday, UN Sec. Gerneral Antonio Guterres pointed out that the Palestinians have been under suffocating occupation for 56 years. The Israeli ambassador to the UN has taken umbrage to having it pointed out. Rory speaks to Yusef Daher from the Jerusalem Office of Churches World Council. [[UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his astonishment at the "misrepresentations" of his comments about Hamas, which were made during a meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday. The secretary-general said: "I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented October 7 acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing and kidnapping of civilians or the launching of rockets against civilian targets." In his speech on Tuesday, Guterres stated that Hamas's attack did not occur "in a vacuum" and emphasized that the Palestinians have endured "56 years of suffocating occupation." His remarks drew a furious response from Israeli officials, who demanded his resignation.]] ==== In Iran mass protests took place in solidarity with Palestine. Yusef Jalali was there reporting and says the country and situation is like a powder keg. Protests in support of Palestine continue around the world, RT speaks to some of the protesters. The Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain made statements about anti-Semitism. Rachel Marsden reports as protestors clash. ===== Stop press: Israel has temporarily agreed to a US request to set up air defences to protect American troops in the region, in anticipation of a potential ground operation in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The Pentagon is working to deploy nearly a dozen air-defence systems to safeguard US troops in various locations, including Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, shielding them from missile and rocket threats. Israeli officials have reportedly agreed to hold off on their preparations until these defence systems can be positioned, possibly later this week. Israel is also said to be factoring in plans for providing humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilians and diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, according to officials who spoke to the WSJ. === 16:02 GMT Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is urging the international community to prevent an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. He and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the potential for significant civilian casualties from such an incursion, pointing to the 6,600 civilian deaths, including many children, already reported in the last two weeks of Israeli attacks. == Emmanuel Macron, speaking in Cairo, emphasized that France did not apply double standards and upheld international law and humanitarian values. He emphasized the importance of compassion for all victims and a lasting commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East. Macron also emphasized the need for unhindered humanitarian aid to reach Gaza. ==== Amnesty International is calling on Israel to cancel forced evacuation orders in Gaza and stop spreading fear among civilians. According to Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s senior crisis response adviser, declaring entire areas as military targets violates international humanitarian laws, and attackers must consistently differentiate between civilians, civilian property, and military targets. Amnesty also raised concerns about leaflets distributed by the Israeli army with evacuation orders, claiming they lack effective warnings, suggesting potential forced displacement of northern Gaza’s civilians. ===== 14:46 GMT Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Hamas is not a terrorist group. In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lior Haiat, said that Israel completely rejects Erdogan’s remarks and described Hamas as a reprehensible terrorist organization. He went on to say that Hamas engages in acts of violence, including intentionally harming civilians, using them as shields, and taking hostages. He also drew a comparison between Hamas and ISIS, emphasizing the terrible actions both groups are known for: “Even the Turkish president’s attempt to defend the terrorist organization and his inciting words will not change the horrors that the whole world has seen and the unequivocal fact: Hamas = ISIS.” ====== 23 Russians have been killed in Palestine with 4 missing, since the 7th October. == At 11:25 GMT Israeli warplanes have targeted the runway at Aleppo International Airport in Syria, Lebanese broadcaster Al-Mayadeen has reported. The attack caused damaged and led to the shutdown of the airport, but did not result in any deaths or injuries, according to the outlet. Syrian military sources previously told local media that eight Syrian troops were killed and seven others injured in Israeli strikes near the city of Daraa overnight. ========== Short take : Officials in Gaza say Israel has dropped 12-thousand tonnes of explosives on Palestine, comparing it to the power of the bomb that leveled Hiroshima, as 58-hundred are killed in the area in less than three weeks. Over 120-thousand people evacuate from northern Israeli border towns as tensions with Lebanon escalate. Israel says the UN Secretary General must resign - after Antonio Guterres suggests the Hamas attack on Israel was a response to 56 years of Israeli occupation. As demonstrations in support of Palestine spread across the world, crowds in Kenya take to the streets to express their solidarity with Gaza.

Gaza health ministry says 704 people killed in Israeli bombing in the last 24 hours. 5,791 Gazans have been killed and 16,297 wounded. Day 18 The video contains disturbing images Overnight, Israeli strikes reportedly killed at least 50 people. More than 2,000 children have been killed so far in this conflict. RT shows footage from a local hospital, overwhelmed as fuel is running out to keep the power on. A local medic reports on the dire situation. Hamzah Chalan gives unscripted reports and updates. Lives lost and entire cities turned to ruins. The first batch of humanitarian aid arrives but it is woefully too little and fuel is not included. Maria Finoshina comments from Israel about the reactions from "world leaders" as two ladies have been released from hostage. RT's correspondents speak of the situation right from the ground: Yasin Eken talk about clashes in Lebanon as Israel declares a 5 kilometre no-go border zone. "The engines are started" The people of Lebanon are left to wonder what happens next. Yusef Jalali reports from Iran who are talking about "consequences" for the Israeli forces if this conflict continues. "It could spiral out of control" There needs to be a ceasefire and mediation - right now! === Free speech and censorship: Consortium News have filed a lawsuit against Newsguard and the US Biden administration, alleging 1st amendment violations. Oumaima Ichchar reports. == Sweden's may be quickly joining NATO, as Turkey's Pres. Erdogan put their approval before parliament. Nikki speaks to retired Turkish navy admiral Deniz Kutluk == Ukraine: 30 of Ukraine's artillery positions have been destroyed in Lugansk. Igor Zhdanov speaks to some Ukrainian POWs (NB unconfirmed responses, duress, etc) (more on "newsguard via the Grayzone https://rumble.com/v1s60sw-pentagon-backed-newsguard-threatening-youtubes-anti-war-voices.html)

1.4 million Palestinians displaced, 5,087 Palestinians, including 2,055 children, have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza, 181,000 housing units have been destroyed by Israel - day 17 (very) Disturbing images coming from Gaza, where the death toll surpasses 5 thousand. Rami Almeghari reports as thousands seek shelter in schools and wait for humanitarian assistance, food, water, medicines are running out. The youngest patients bear the brunt of the deadly conflict as a local hospital is overwhelmed. Israeli communities scramble through ruins to identify bodies and find out what happened in the October 7th Hamas attacks. Shocking findings that RT cannot verify yet. Rami Gold and Maria Finoshina report Nikki speaks to Alon Liel about the impending Israeli "ground operation" Ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan faces more criminal charges, this time for allegedly sharing a secret cipher in his campaign to prove US interference in Pakistan's elections. The Fertiliser Crisis: European countries are holding up shipments of fertiliser to countries in need of supply which Russia says will cause a humanitarian crisis and issues a statement to Latvia, Estonia, Belgium and the Netherlands governments. Update on the Ukraine/Russia proxy war from Igor Zhdanov with an interview with a Russian lady fighter.

4,385 have died in Palestine and 13,500 have been wounded, in Israel 1,400 have died since the start of the conflict There are some disturbing images in the video. Overnight Israel bombed the Al-Ansar mosque near to the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Israel used an F-16 to deliver the bombs. Unconfirmed reports say one civilian and two Red Crescent workers were killed and several injured. The civilian can't be identified yet. Hamza Chalan reports. The humanitarian situation is desperate with shortages of everything, food, water and medicines and power. The situation remains dangerous and precarious. Bombing continued overnight across the Gaza strip with homes and infrastructure taken out and roads destroyed. A market in Gaza was also bombed causing deaths and woundings. A witness reports and saying it was "carpet bombing" and entire streets have been destroyed. Hospitals are under increasing pressure. IDF has posted unconfirmed footage of failed HAMAS rocket launches and has blamed them for civilian damage. Meanwhile citizens bury their dead from both Israel and Palestine. Humanitarian aid to Gaza has started, just 20 trucks. It isn't enough. Some 3,000 trucks remain at the border waiting for clearance. Rami Almeghari reports from Khan Yunis on the refugee camps where displaced citizens now spend their lives waiting. Earlier this week IDF bombed the city killing 40 instantly and injuring hundreds more. Khan Yunis is an evacuee receiving city (and was once really lovely) IDF reports it has carried out an attack on a compound on the border with Lebanon. Yasin Eken reports and says the range and the scope of the attacks are increasing; Hezbollah methods/tactics cause concern for civilians in the area. 14 towns are being evacuated by Israel. USA vetoed a peace proposal on a technicality this week, it failed to specifically mention Israel's right to defend itself. Donald Courter talks about US foreign policy. Pres. Putin says that the conflict is a disaster and says dialogue is the only way forward. The conflict must end immediately and a real two state solution must be adopted. (there is in fact a UN resolution covering this formally since 2016, it's resolution 2334 which western parties have ignored and so has Israel) please see * below Finally something good - Saskia Taylor reports on China's "Belt and Road" (imagine if the money spent on wars during the past 2 years or so had been spent by the western governments developing their own "Belt and Road" initiatives ! I know that given a choice, we citizens would have opted for that and at least a half million lives lost, would still be on this Earth) ================== * UN Resolution 2334 5 years on (now 7 years on) https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/12/five-years-after-unsc-resolution-2334-international-accountability-end#:~:text=Resolution%202334%2C%20adopted%20by%20the,%C3%83%C2%A2%C2%80%C2%9Cimmediately%20and%20completely%20cease.%22 The situation in the middle east - via UNSC (2 hour video) https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1g/k1gb81yoea All ignored ====== "Israel’s Settlements Have No Legal Validity, Constitute Flagrant Violation of International Law, Security Council Reaffirms" via United Nations Security Council, December 2016 https://press.un.org/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm

A spiral of violence. According to Palestinian officials, 4,385 are dead and more than 13,500 wounded since the start of the conflict. More than 1 million people have been displaced. A family's home collapses in Gaza, killing 12 and trapping five more under the rubble. That's after reports of Israeli forces hitting the area adjacent to a nearby hospital. Food is all but run out and there is no drinking water. Hamza Chalan reports. 20 trucks have arrived into Gaza from Egypt, some are still stuck at the border as officials argue the toss. 20 trucks isn't enough for even a fraction of the people. Antonio Guterres from the UN visited the Rafah border crossing and witnessed protests. Civilians hope these small shipments won't be under attack from Israel. Hossein Kolivand, president of the Iranian Red Crescent spoke to RT in the light of their RC workers coming under attack. Two hostages have been released by Hamas. Israeli civilians protest about lack of information regarding other Israeli hostages which number around 200. Nikki speaks to an Israeli activist Ofer Rosenbaum. USA are still obstructing investigations into the Al-Ahli hospital bombing with Pres. Biden saying he takes the word of Israeli government. RT's Marina Kosareva presents details about dual standards. Live footage from Al Jazeera would seem to put the responsibility for the hospital bombing as Israel's. Al Jazeera may be banned from Israel's broadcasting. The UN asks for an independent inquiry. John Varoli contributes. Essential medicines are also critically low and there is little fuel to power the generators which are being used, due to the cuts of electricity by the Israeli government to Gaza. A doctor at the neo-natal unit in Al-Shifa makes reports. Funerals were held for 18 victims killed at the Greek Orthodox church which was bombed by Israel forced. As the evacuees from the north of Gaza move south as instructed by the Israeli government, the cities they arrive at come under bombardment from the Israeli forces. 28-30 tower blocks of flats were levelled in Al-Zahra leaving little but rubble. Earlier this week IDF bombed Khan Yunis, instantly killing 40 civilians and wounding scores more. Rami Almughari reports from Al-Zahra. RT Quick take : Two American hostages are released by HAMAS with around 200 people remaining in captivity after the latest violence erupted two weeks ago. We hear from the relatives of those yet to be freed. Washington rejects the need for an independent investigation into the brutal attack on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of civilians, and adopts Israel's version of events. Extra: Up to 300,000 people turned out in London today calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza / Israel conflict (X, formerly twitter) https://twitter.com/BenJamalpsc/status/1715779166216368350 Ben Jamal is a director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign also https://twitter.com/CensoredMen/status/1715743149761397174 from @CensoredMen (don't know who this man is) Israel doubles number of Palestinian prisoners to 10,000 in two weeks. Since October 7, Israel has arrested 4,000 labourers from Gaza and more than 1,000 people in the occupied West Bank acording to Palestinian officials. Hezbollah militants are paying “a heavy price” for their cross-border attacks on Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to troops stationed near the Lebanese border. Gallant added that the challenge posed by Hezbollah “will become greater,” and that Israeli forces should be prepared “for any situation.” Clashes along the border have escalated in recent days, with dozens of rockets fired into Israel on Friday. One Israeli soldier died in an anti-tank missile attack while another was seriously wounded by gunfire, the IDF said

(Posting this as it comes from RT today, it's too hard to add to without getting more emotional than usual. Some further details below (article & a feature/analysis post)) -- Eight people are reportedly killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on the oldest Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza where people had been seeking shelter. Distraught relatives of some of the 200 Israelis still believed to be held hostage by Hamas, demand more is done to secure their release. Vital humanitarian aid supplies build at Egypt's border with Gaza, ahead of an expected opening of the crossing. That's as Israel’s bombardment continues ahead of a looming ground offensive. ---------- 20 Oct, 2023 16:10 Israel will launch ground invasion of Gaza – ambassador “The decision has been made,” Alexander Ben Zvi, the envoy to Moscow, has said Israel will go ahead with its plans for a ground operation in Gaza, West Jerusalem’s envoy to Moscow, Alexander Ben Zvi, told Russia 24 on Friday. He said that "the decision has been made." “A ground operation is not ruled out,” Ben Zvi initially said when asked, noting that Israel has declared that it is in a state of war, which envisages “all sorts of operations, including air, maritime and ground” operations. The ambassador added that he believes the possibility of a ground invasion is “higher than 50%.” Israel seeks the “destruction of all terrorist structures” of the Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas, and also wants to free the hostages taken by the militants he added. “One cannot do that without resorting to a ground operation.” His comments come just one day after Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat told ABC News that the government has given the green light to the military to start the offensive. “We shall do all efforts to bring our hostages [back] alive,” he said, stressing that destroying Hamas is the “first and last priority” – “even if it takes a year.” The current escalation follows a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7. The initial assault and ensuing clashes between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed the lives of around 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, according to the authorities. Israel responded with a massive bombing campaign against Gaza, resulting in almost 3,500 deaths as of Thursday, according to the Palestinian enclave’s health authorities. Israel has warned that it would launch a ground operation in Gaza since the early stages of the escalation. The IDF said last week that they were ready to “expand the offensive,” including through an “extensive ground operation.” On Tuesday, however, the IDF’s spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, told journalists that the military might take a different course of action. The potential operation has sparked widespread concern. The African Union and Arab League both urged Israel to cease the hostilities on Monday. Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah made a similar call on Thursday, warning of a potential regional catastrophe. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that a ground operation would be difficult, and “fraught with serious consequences for all sides,” and the resulting civilian death toll will likely be “absolutely unacceptable.” https://www.rt.com/news/585435-israel-ground-invasion-gaza-ambassador/ ---------------------- Feature by Kanwal Sibal (retired Indian foreign secretary and a former Ambassador to Russia between 2004 and 2007) posted 20 Oct, 2023 Every Middle East agenda derailed by the Israel-Hamas conflict, explained The war in West Asia puts the participants and their supporters, including those not involved, in a very difficult situation Israel has no doubt suffered a national trauma, with a large loss of civilian lives at the hands of Hamas terrorists and the failure to prevent it due to a serious intelligence failure. Israel is seeking vengeance, so Gaza is being bombed and fuel, water, and food supplies to the strip have been cut off. Asking more than a million Gazans to move from the north to the south to allow a flattening of buildings and prepare for a ground invasion – in order to supposedly reduce civilian deaths – will inevitably lead to a greater humanitarian disaster. The bombing of a hospital in Gaza, notwithstanding the dispute over who is actually responsible – whether it is Israel or the Islamic Jihad – has inflamed Muslims worldwide, with pro-Palestinian demonstrations taking place even in Europe and the US. Israel’s position is further complicated internally and externally by polarized domestic politics. Repeated elections, unstable coalition governments, frequent changes in leadership, months of street protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to introduce judicial reforms – which many see as threatening Israeli democracy – may in part explain why the Hamas carnage caught the Israelis by surprise. Senior Israeli political figures and the leftist Israeli media blame Netanyahu personally for creating the conditions for this disaster by taking eyes off Gaza with the larger strategic aim of preventing the emergence of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank, to the point of even boosting Hamas against the Palestinian Authority in order to keep the Palestinian movement divided. The extreme right-wing elements in Netanyahu’s current government, called “messianic” by Israeli politicians of repute, are blamed for more land grabs in the West Bank with accompanying violence, inflaming as a result Palestinian sentiments and drawing attention away from preparations in Gaza that culminated in the horrendous Hamas attack in southern Israel. Symptomatic of the divisions amongst the international Jewish community is the pro-Palestinian demonstration by American Jews within the precincts of the US Capitol. The US, the principal supporter of Israel, and traditionally the dominating external power in West Asia, is facing a major dilemma. Many reasons – geopolitical, humanitarian, and the influence of powerful lobbies – compel the US to support Israel. At the same time, a wider conflagration in West Asia risks drawing the US into another unwanted war in the region. To prevent this, the US has sent two aircraft carrier groups and a marine formation to the Mediterranean. The intention is to deter the Lebanese Hezbollah from opening another front against Israel, as this could potentially lead to Iran and Syria getting involved. While it publicly expresses full solidarity with Israel, the US has to be careful on the humanitarian front, which is why it has pressed Israel to provide water to southern Gaza and has pushed for some humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza from Egypt. Whether Israel can be dissuaded from launching a ground invasion of Gaza is unclear. If Israel does go ahead, it would appear – rightly or wrongly – that Biden green-lit it. This would create a backlash against the US in the Islamic world. If Israel does not go ahead, it would politically expose the ruling Israeli government to a backlash by far-right elements in the country. That Biden chose to visit the area suggested that the earlier tour of State Secretary Antony Blinken to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia had not succeeded in finding a way to prevent the situation from worsening. Unfortunately for Biden, the hospital attack in Gaza subverted his visit and the planned summit with Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority was called off by Jordan's monarch. Street pressure in the Arab world, indeed the Muslim world, has made it politically risky for Arab regimes to confer under US tutelage. This has been a personal political blow to Biden, as well as the US role in the region. That the US was alone in vetoing a Security Council resolution by Brazil in favor of a humanitarian pause to allow the flow of aid into the territory increases the reputational loss of the US in the Muslim world. The UN Security Council has once again proven to be ineffective in dealing with security issues. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has seen his low-keyed role confined to humanitarian aid issues. That he was physically present at the Rafah border in Egypt to supervise a very limited and inadequate flow of humanitarian aid sends its own message about the diminution of the UNSG’s role. The Arabs too are placed in an awkward situation. Their support to the Palestinian cause has waned over the years. The political acceptance of Israel has grown, to the point that the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco have – as part of the US-promoted Abraham Accords – established diplomatic ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia was in intensive negotiations with the US on normalizing its ties with Israel subject to the US fulfilling its security and some other demands. The Saudis have officially put this process on hold. Saudi Arabia deeply opposed to Hamas as a terrorist organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. This explains why Saudi Arabia’s statements on the Israeli-Hamas conflict have been moderate, which is the case of UAE too, which is also strongly opposed to Hamas. Both Gulf monarchies want to focus on economic development issues, modernize their economies, moderate their Islamic image, part of which has been the willingness to make Israel part of realizing these ambitions. Significantly, Qatar and Türkiye have strong links with Hamas, as their leaders have strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar, in fact, hosts the top Hamas leadership. It has funnelled a lot of money to Hamas under Israeli watch, and now is being used as an intermediary to effect a release, if possible, of Israeli hostages. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke diplomatic relations with Israel in 2011 over his seaborne efforts to provide relief to the Gazans, which were violently blocked by Israel. Ankara is taking up the Palestinian cause and has come forward with a peace plan based on a two-state solution, with regional countries providing security guarantees. Egypt is resisting pressure to allow Gazans to seek “temporary” humanitarian refuge in the Sinai desert. Egypt has burnt its fingers with Hamas before and fears its presence in Sinai will revive the problem of terrorism infesting this area. Besides, it is well aware that “temporary” refuge could well become a more permanent one. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has suggested that Israel shelter the Gazans in Israel’s Negev desert instead. Jordan, too, has completely rejected the idea of sheltering more Palestinian refugees given their already large presence in the country, with memories of the civil war that erupted in 1970 between the Jordan monarchy and the Palestinian Liberation Organization under Yasser Arafat. Iran is blowing hot and cold. It is hostile to the state of Israel and supports both Hamas and the Hezbollah. While it denies having any hand in the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, it is warning against the conflict spreading if Israel continues its unrestrained bombardment of civilians in Gaza, warning that this could bring Hezbollah into the fray, with all the ensuing dangers. Most significantly, the Iranian foreign minister has visited Saudi Arabia (besides Lebanon) to discuss the gravity of the situation. This shows how much the political landscape in this region has changed, and this at the cost of US influence. Russia too is an awkward position in some respects, as it has interests in both Israel and the Arab world. A significant portion, about a million, of the Israeli Jewish population is of Russian origin. At the same time, Russia has become a powerful actor in West Asia with its presence in Syria, as well as its close ties with Saudi Arabia and Iran. It moved a resolution in the UN in favor of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, release of all hostages, aid access and safe evacuation of civilians, but it could not be passed. In President Vladimir Putin’s view, the only solution to the crisis enveloping the region is a two-state solution, and he hopes that this crisis would compel this outcome. On the other hand, this conflict draws attention away from the Ukraine issue, where a degree of fatigue in supporting Ukraine in US and European political and public opinion is setting in. China has taken a robust position in favor of Palestine, advocating restraint, ending hostilities to protect civilians, condemning all acts that harm civilians, opposing all acts that violate international law and calling for Palestinian statehood. However, it has not condemned Hamas. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has stated that Israel’s actions went beyond the scope of self-defense, adding dramatically that “Israel had obtained the safeguards for survival, but who will care about the survival of the Palestinians,” and that the “Jewish nation is no longer homeless in the world, but when will the Palestinian nation return to its home?” China is consolidating its position in West Asia, seeing an opportunity to do so at the expense of the US. India too is an awkward position. It has roundly condemned the terror attacks against Israel, expressed solidarity with Israel more than once, but has also restated its established position in favor of a sovereign, independent, and viable Palestinian state. India has excellent ties with Israel and the Arab world, which it must preserve. India had profited from the Abraham Accords to establish the I2U2 grouping (India, Israel, US and UAE) with economic cooperation in view. The India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, announced at the G20 summit in New Delhi, envisioned Israel’s Haifa port as the staging point for connecting with Greece. Bot these projects will be put on hold for now. https://www.rt.com/news/585439-israel-hamas-middle-east-agendas/

More than 3,300 Palestinian civilians have been killed since the start of the conflict. Israel however, is adamant they are not being targeted. Leaders of Britain and USA continue to take the part of Israel. The blame game for the hospital in Gaza continues with both parties accusing each other for the attack. Both give "evidence" Numerous medical facilities/hospitals have been attacked/destroyed. Shortages are causing problems for treating the wounded. A doctor makes a statement. People in Gaza make comment. Sanaa Kamal says the people are at a loss at what to do as the situation remains dangerous and unpredictable. Civilians grieve for the victims. Egypt is to open the Rafah border to allow aid humanitarian aid to pass through. Maged Botros speaks to Mike (eventually, after connection problems. 3rd time a charm...) Mass protests continue around the world in support of Palestine. Runjhun Sharma talks about India's perspective about the conflict. The IDF has carried out strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon after exchanges of fire last week. Yasin Eken reports. In Gaza food and water is in very short supply, it could become an humanitarian disaster. Donald Courter talks about the siege and threats not only from bombs but also disease and potential starvation/thirst. Short-take : Muslims unite in support of Palestinians, with mass rallies in Syria, Yemen and Tunisia, as Jordan warns Israel about an escalating war. And, Jewish protesters, voicing outrage over the plight of Palestinian civilians, storm into the US Congress building in Washington and demand an immediate ceasefire.