Israel-Hamas War Updates: Attacks by Israel hit the main exit point from the Palestinian region.
Nearly 3,600 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza, five days after the sudden Hamas strikes triggered a catastrophic war in the region. The United Nations said that more than 3,38,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip as heavy Israeli bombardments continue to hit the Palestinian enclave.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the complete destruction of the Hamas group. “Every Hamas member is a dead man,” the veteran right-wing Israeli leader said, again likening them to the ISIS group and promising: “We will crush them and destroy them as the world has destroyed Daesh.”
Israel claims that it has regained control of the Gaza border areas from the group. Israel has also reported shelling from Lebanon and Syria which it has responded to with its own air strikes. Lebanese group Hezbollah claimed the strikes were to avenge the deaths of its members by Israeli defence forces.
Here are the Live Updates on the Israel-Hamas war:
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The United States is encouraging its international partners to use their influence with Hamas and its supporters in Iran to get the militants to stand down after their assault on Israel, a senior official said Thursday.
The comments came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading Thursday to Israel for a visit of solidarity before stops in Jordan and likely other countries in the region.
A senior official traveling with Blinken said that the United States had no issue with reported talks between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
“Frankly, we’re asking all of our partners to engage with Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran — with any of that trifecta — with whom they have any channels or relations or what have you, to get Hamas to stand down from its attacks, to release those hostages, and to keep Hezbollah out, and to keep Iran out of the fray,” the official said on a refueling stop in Ireland.
In the wake of deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, the US State Department has advised Americans to reconsider travelling to Israel.
The travel advisory for the West Bank has also been raised to level 3, while the advisory for Gaza remains at the most severe – “Level 4: Do Not Travel.”
“On October 11, 2023, the Department of State raised the Travel Advisory Level for Israel and the West Bank to Level 3 – Reconsider Travel. The Travel Advisory for Gaza remains Level 4 – Do Not Travel. This replaces the previous Travel Advisory issued on October 3, 2023,” the department’s official statement said.
The agency raised its travel advisory to level 3, citing the terrorist groups, lone-actor terrorists and other violent extremists continuing to plot “possible attacks in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza”.
Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for the fifth straight day since the militants’ audacious attack and the death toll spiralled into the thousands, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the complete destruction of the militant group.
“Every Hamas member is a dead man,” the veteran right-wing Israeli leader said, again likening them to the Islamic State group and promising: “We will crush them and destroy them as the world has destroyed Daesh.”
Netanyahu earlier temporarily settled his political differences and set up an emergency government including centrist former defence minister Benny Gantz for the duration of the crisis.
Saturday’s surprise attack — the worst in Israel’s 75-year history — has seen a total of 1,200 people killed in the Islamist militants’ onslaught, according to Israeli forces. Most were civilians.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and Iran’s president spoke by phone about the war between Israel and Hamas, Saudi state media said early Thursday, their first call since a surprise rapprochement in March.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call on Wednesday from the Iranian leader, Ebrahim Raisi, during which they discussed “the current military situation in Gaza and its environs”, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
Prince Mohammed told Raisi that Riyadh is “communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation”, SPA said.
He also stressed “the kingdom’s firm position towards supporting the Palestinian cause”, it said.
More than 3,38,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said, as heavy Israeli bombardments continue to hit the Palestinian enclave.
The number of displaced in the densely populated territory of 2.3 million people had by late Wednesday “risen by an additional 75,000 people and reached 3,38,934,” the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in an statement sent on Thursday.