Israel-Hamas war, Day 22 updates | Netanyahu says fighting in Gaza will be ‘long and difficult’

The Israeli military has sought to assure the public it can achieve the two goals of its war on Hamas simultaneously — toppling the strip’s militant rulers and rescuing some 230 hostages abducted from Israel.

But as the army ramps up airstrikes and ground incursions on the blockaded enclave, laying waste to entire neighborhoods in preparation for a broader invasion, the anguished families of hostages are growing increasingly worried those aims will collide — with devastating consequences.

AP

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell demanded on Saturday a “pause of hostilities” to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip after the intense overnight bombing of the coastal territory.

But later Saturday, his comments were challenged by Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on social media for having exceeded the position agreed by EU leaders earlier in the week.

AFP

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday called on all sides to act to halt the “intolerable” human suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

“This is a catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate,” said Mirjana Spoljaric, as Israel declared its war on Hamas had “entered a new phase” with its massive bombardment of Gaza.

“I am shocked by the intolerable level of human suffering and urge the parties to the conflict to de-escalate now,” she said.

“The tragic loss of so many civilian lives is deplorable.

AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the two leaders exchanged views on the latest developments in the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, a statement released by the Egyptian side said.

They also discussed the gravity of the continuation of the current escalation, given its formidable impact on the lives of civilians and the threat it poses to the security of the entire region, the statement said.

President El-Sisi received a phone call from Prime Minister Modi and the two leaders exchanged views on the latest developments in the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, it said.

PTI

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that fighting inside the Gaza Strip would be “long and difficult”, as Israeli ground forces operate in the Palestinian territory for more than 24 hours.

“The war in the (Gaza) Strip will be long and difficult and we are prepared for it,” Netanyahu told a news conference after meeting families of hostages held in Gaza since surprise Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7.

AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel would explore “every option” to secure the release of more than 220 hostages taken by Palestinian militants to Gaza on October 7.

Facing increasing anger over the fate of the captives as Israel steps up its war on Gaza’s Hamas rulers, Netanyahu agreed to meet representatives of hostage relatives who demanded to know how the government would handle the crisis.

Netanyahu made no commitment to any exchange deal but told the families authorities would “exhaust every option to bring them (the hostages) home”.

AFP

Israeli ground forces were operating in the northern Gaza Strip, the Army said, more than 24 hours after entering the Palestinian territory.

“Since early Friday evening, combined combat forces of armour, combat engineers and infantry have been operating on the ground in the northern Gaza Strip,” an Army statement said.

Israeli forces have made several smaller-scale ground incursions inside Gaza, but the current one has been their longest presence in the territory since violence erupted with a deadly Hamas assault on October 7. - AFP

The United Arab Emirates asked the United Nations Security Council to meet “as soon as possible” following Israel’s expanded ground operations in Gaza and the disconnection of telecommunications networks, diplomats said.

The 15-member council could meet as early as October 29, diplomats said, and the UAE has asked for U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths and Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency providing aid to Palestinians, to brief. - Reuters

A shell hit the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon, its spokesman said in the second such incident since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza. “A shell hit inside the base” in Naqura, said Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, indicating there were “no injuries but some damage”.

He said UNIFIL was seeking to verify who fired the shell.

A Lebanese military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media, said “an Israeli shell penetrated the cement wall” around the UNIFIL headquarters.

The shell did not explode, a UNIFIL statement said, adding that “several of our other positions have also sustained damage in the past three weeks” and urging “all parties to immediately cease fire”. - AFP

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said “Israeli obstacles” including truck inspection procedures were impeding the prompt delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave.

“The trucks must be inspected at the Israeli Nitzana crossing before they head to the Rafah crossing on a journey that takes a distance of 100 kilometres (62 miles) before they actually enter the Rafah crossing, which causes obstacles that significantly delay the arrival of aid,” a Ministry spokesperson said. - Reuters

Israel’s military was moving to a new phase of its war with Hamas in Gaza, the Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said, as ground forces continued operations in the bombarded Palestinian enclave.

“This war has stages and today we are moving to the next stage. Our forces are currently operating on the ground in the Gaza Strip,” Halevi said in a televised message. - Reuters

Hamas was about to reach an agreement with Israel over the hostages held by the Palestinian militant faction but Israel had “stalled” on that possibility, a spokesman for the group’s armed wing said on October 28.

Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, also said in a video speech the group would only release all the hostages it has if Israel freed all Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas can also hold talks over a “partial” agreement over the captives, he added. - Reuters

President Tayyip Erdogan addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters at one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies since the Israel-Hamas war began, courting his Islamist political base a day ahead of the centenary of Turkey’s secular republic.

“Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to it,” Mr. Erdogan told the crowd in Istanbul, who waved Palestinian flags.

“We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are making preparations for this. We will declare Israel a war criminal,” he said.

In an hour-long speech, Mr. Erdogan also repeated his assertion that Hamas was not a terrorist organisation, describing Israel as an occupier. - Reuters

Elon Musk said on Saturday that SpaceX’s Starlink will support communication links in Gaza with “internationally recognized aid organizations”.

Mr. Musk said in a post on social media X, formerly known as Twitter, that it is not clear who has authority for ground links in Gaza, but we do know that “no terminal has requested a connection in that area”.

A telephone and internet blackout isolated people in the Gaza Strip from the world and from each other on Saturday, with calls to loved ones, ambulances or colleagues elsewhere all but impossible as Israel widened its air and ground assault. - Reuters

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was surprised by Israel’s massive overnight airstrikes on Gaza amid a communication blackout across the besieged strip.

Writing Saturday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Guterres said he previously had felt encouraged by an apparent growing consensus on the need for a humanitarian cease-fire.

“Regrettably, instead I was surprised by an unprecedented escalation of bombardments, undermining humanitarian objectives. This situation must be reversed,” he said.

Mr. Guterres called President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt on Saturday, and the two discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the war between Israel and Hamas, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement. - AP

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned there was potential for thousands more civilians to die if Israel presses a major ground offensive in Gaza.

“Given the manner in which military operations have been conducted until now, in the context of the 56-year-old occupation, I am raising alarm about the possibly catastrophic consequences of large-scale ground operations in Gaza and the potential for thousands more civilians to die,” Turk said.

“There is no safe place in Gaza and there is no way out. I am very worried for my colleagues, as I am for all civilians in Gaza,” he said.

The UN rights chief also condemned the Internet and telecommunications blackout that has hit the Palestinian enclave since Friday.

“Ambulances and civil defence teams are no longer able to locate the injured, or the thousands of people estimated to be still under the rubble. He called on all parties “to do all in their power to de-escalate the conflict”. - AFP

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told a massive pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul that Israel was an occupier, and repeated his stance about Hamas not being a terrorist organisation.

“I reiterate that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. Israel was very offended by this. (...) Israel is an occupier, Erdogan speaks clearly because Turkey does not owe you anything,” he told hundreds of thousands of supporters.

He called Western powers “the main culprit” behind the Israeli Army’s “massacre” of Palestinians in Gaza. “The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West,” Erdogan told a rally of several hundred thousand Palestinian supporters in Istanbul. - Agencies

One Palestinian was killed on October 28 by an Israeli settler near the northern city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Bilal Abu Salah, 40, was “shot in the chest by a settler” in the village of Sawiya near Nablus, the Ministry said.

Sawiya mayor Mahmud Hassan said Abu Salah was killed while he was harvesting olives with other members of his family in their fields located not far from the security fence around Rechelim settlement.

“They were attacked by four settlers, and one of them who was armed with an M16 rifle opened fire at them without warning,” Hassan said. - AFP

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in central London to demand the British government call for a ceasefire after Israel’s military widened its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Aerial footage showed large crowds setting off on the march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with the protest due to end outside the Houses of Parliament after passing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street office.

Echoing Washington’s stance, Sunak’s government has stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, and instead advocated humanitarian pauses to allow aid to reach people in Gaza.London police have faced criticism in recent days for not being tougher over slogans shouted by some protesters during another pro-Palestinian march in the capital last week, which drew about 100,000 people. That protest was mostly peaceful with only a handful of arrests.

Ahead of Saturday’s event, police warned there was no place for hate crime and said 2,000 officers would be on duty across the city. Special restrictions were in place restricting protests around the Israeli Embassy. - Reuters

Israeli forces will continue operations begun overnight in the Gaza Strip, targeting tunnels and other infrastructure of Hamas as well as leaders of the Islamist movement, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on October 28.

“We attacked above the ground and under ground, we attacked terror operatives of all ranks, everywhere,” he said in a video statement. “The instructions for the forces are clear: the operation will continue until a new order,” he said - Reuters

Israeli military reissues its call to Gaza residents to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of its impending operation. - Reuters

Hamas is trying to locate eight Russian-Israeli dual citizens among nearly 230 taken hostage during the Palestinian militants’ attack on Israel after Moscow’s request to free them, Russian news agencies reported on the day.

Russia has good relations with Hamas, which it does not consider a terror group, and has launched a diplomatic effort to try to free hostages held in Gaza.

“From the Russian side, via the foreign ministry, we received a list of citizens that have dual citizenship,” senior Hamas representative Moussa Abu Marzook was cited as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency. “We are looking for those people... It is hard but we are looking. And when we find them, we will let them go.”

The Hamas official told Russian media there was no progress on international talks to free the hostages. - AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza runs counter to international law and risks creating a catastrophe that could last decades.

Lavrov made the comments, some of Moscow’s most critical of Israel yet, in an interview with the Belarusian state news agency Belta, which released them on the day.

“While we condemn terrorism, we categorically disagree that you can respond to terrorism by violating the norms of international humanitarian law, including indiscriminately using force against targets where civilians are known to be present, including hostages that have been taken,” said Lavrov.

It was impossible, he added, to destroy Hamas, as Israel has vowed to do, without destroying Gaza along with most of its civilian population. Lavrov said Russia was in close contact with Israel too. - Reuters

The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said at least 7,703 people killed in the war with Israel. More than 3,500 children were among the dead, the Ministry added.

The ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel has caused the highest number of fatalities in Gaza since Israel unilaterally withdrew from the territory in 2005. - AFP

Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will address what is expected to be one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies since the Israel-Hamas war began, courting his Islamist political base a day ahead of the centenary of the secular republic.

Political analysts said his planned address in Istanbul aimed to reinforce his growing criticism of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip and to overshadow the celebrations on October 28 marking Turkiye’s secular roots.

Erdogan also called on Israel to “immediately stop this madness” and end its “attacks” on targets in Gaza after Israeli forces intensified strikes on the Palestinian territory.

“The Israeli bombardments on Gaza intensified last night and once again targeted women, children and innocent civilians and worsened the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” Erdogan said on X, formerly Twitter. “Israel must immediately stop this madness and end its attacks,” he said.

Erdogan also encouraged heavy turnout for his rally in support of Palestinians in Istanbul on October 28, organised by his Islamo-conservative AKP party, which could see around one million people attend.

“We will declare loud and clear that we stand alongside the Palestinian people against Israel’s persecution,” he said.

Turkiye has condemned Israeli civilian deaths caused by Hamas’s Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel, but Erdogan this week called the militant group Palestinian “freedom fighters”. - Agencies

Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon amid deadly exchanges between Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army, a United Nations agency has said.

A total of 28,965 people have been displaced, mainly in the country’s south, the International Organization for Migration said in an update, adding that the figure had risen by 37 percent since October 23. - AFP

The UNGA on Friday adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza. The adopted resolution moved by Jordan, however did not include any explicit condemnation of the terrorist attacks of October 7.

Hamas said its militants in Gaza were ready to confront Israeli attacks with “full force” after Israel’s military widened its air and ground attacks on the Palestinian enclave.

The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza said earlier its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in areas near the border with Israel after Israel reported intensified attacks in Gaza.

“The Al-Qassam brigades and all the Palestinian resistance forces are completely ready to confront (Israel’s) aggression with full force and frustrate its incursions,” Hamas said in a statement early on Saturday. - Reuters

Israeli air strikes destroyed hundreds of buildings in the Gaza Strip overnight, the civil defence service in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory said.

“Hundreds of buildings and houses were completely destroyed and thousands of other homes were damaged,” Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defence told AFP, adding that the intense bombardments had “changed the landscape” of northern Gaza. - Reuters

“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) thwarted a surface-to-air missile that was fired from Lebanon toward an IDF UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). In response, the IDF is striking the origin of the missile’s fire,” a tweet for the official X account said.

Here’s what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

• Israel is expanding its ground operation in Gaza with infantry and armoured vehicles backed by “massive” strikes from the air and sea.

• Israel’s military announced it had struck and killed a top Hamas naval operative, Ratib Abu Tzahiban, who it says orchestrated an attempted naval attack in Israel on Oct. 24.

• The U.N. health agency and other aid groups said they remain unable to communicate with their teams in the besieged Gaza Strip during intense Israeli air and land bombardment.

French Jewish groups have set up a helpline to provide support to people in the community traumatized by the latest Israel-Hamas war — from families who have lost loved ones in the Middle East to parents anxious about their children’s reaction to the conflict and Holocaust survivors.

Fabien Azoulay, the deputy director general in charge of solidarity at the United Jewish Social Fund, or FSJU, which brings together many associations in France, said that over 60 psychologists, psychiatrists and child psychiatrists are volunteering to call back those who leave messages on the helpline number.

People of all ages are seeking support, from teenagers to parents and elderly people, Azoulay stressed. - AP

Israel knocked out communications and created a near-blackout of information by striking targets in the Gaza Strip with stepped-up bombardment and artillery fire overnight and into Saturday.

The Israeli military released grainy images Saturday of tank columns moving slowly in open areas of Gaza and said warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers. - AP

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza on Saturday demanded an immediate government explanation about the fate of the captives after the Army intensified strikes on the Palestinian territory.

The main group representing more than 220 people believed abducted in the October 7 attacks by Hamas sought an immediate meeting with ministers.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that relatives were angry over the “absolute uncertainty regarding the fate of the hostages held [in Gaza], who were also subject to the heavy bombings”.

- AFP

Israeli warplanes bombed Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers in the northern Gaza Strip, the military said Saturday, signaling a further escalation in its campaign to crush the territory’s ruling militant group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago.

Fighter jets hit dozens of underground targets, the military said. As part of the stepped-up bombardment, Israel also knocked out communications and created a near-blackout of information, largely cutting off the 2.3 million people in besieged Gaza from contact with the outside world.

Explosions from continuous airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City for hours after nightfall Friday.

The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the bombardment caused “complete disruption” of internet, cellular and landline services. The cutoff meant that casualties from strikes and details of ground incursions could not immediately be known. Some satellite phones continued to function.

Already plunged into darkness after most electricity was cut off weeks ago, Palestinians were thrown into isolation, huddling in homes and shelters with food and water supplies running out. Attempts to reach Gaza residents by phone were largely unsuccessful early Saturday.

- AP

French Jewish groups have set up a helpline to provide support to people in the community traumatized by the latest Israel-Hamas war — from families who have lost loved ones in the Middle East to parents anxious about their children’s reaction to the conflict and Holocaust survivors.

Since it was launched a few days after the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas incursion into southern Israel, dozens of people have called in every day, organizers said.

Fabien Azoulay, the deputy director general in charge of solidarity at the United Jewish Social Fund, or FSJU, which brings together many associations in France, said that over 60 psychologists, psychiatrists and child psychiatrists are volunteering to call back those who leave messages on the helpline number.

People of all ages are seeking support, from teenagers to parents and elderly people, Azoulay stressed.

For some survivors of the Holocaust, “it brings back childhood traumas they thought they’d never see again,” Azoulay said. “They see it in the country (Israel) that was supposed to be the refuge for Jews. So it’s very, very traumatic.”

- AP

Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) secretary Virendra Vashishth called on Palestine Ambassador to India, Adnan Abu Al-Haija in the national capital on Friday.

As per IOC, the Palestinian envoy informed the visiting AICC leader about the hardship, struggles and complete collapse of healthcare in the war-torn nation.Ambassador Adnan also thanked the people of India for their valuable contribution towards providing humanitarian aid.

At the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) India abstained from voting on the Jordanian resolution which called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in Gaza. However, it is pertinent to note that India was in favour of the Canadian resolution which added a line that condemned the terrorist attacks by Hamas.

Earlier, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had passed a resolution supporting the rights of the Palestinian people and called for a ceasefire in the region.

- ANI

The Israeli army said Saturday its fighter jets had struck 150 “underground targets” in northern Gaza during an intense night of raids in its war against Hamas.

A military statement said the sites hit included “terror tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure. Furthermore, several Hamas terrorists were killed.”

- AFP

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday expressed “shock” over New Delhi abstaining on a United Nations resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying that watching in silence thousands of men, women and children in Palestine being annihilated goes against everything India has stood for.

In a post on X, Priyanka Gandhi quoted Mahatma Gandhi’s “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” to drive home her point.

“I am shocked and ashamed that our country has abstained from voting for a ceasefire in Gaza,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

“Our country was founded on the principles of non-violence and truth, principles for which our freedom fighters laid down their lives, these principles form the basis of the constitution that defines our nationhood,” she said. They represent the moral courage of India that guided its actions as a member of the international community, she added.

- PTI

Gaza has not seen meaningful development in recent decades. The latest war with Israel is the fifth in the last 15 years, with the other four recorded in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021. Each time, air strikes from Israel have flattened buildings and killed civilians. This has led to an increase in poverty levels.

Read more here...

“Today, here in the General Assembly, in the world’s parliament, countries of principle & conscience, peace-loving nations stood up & proved that the int. community has not forsaken humanity (Cont.),” posted State of Palestine’s Mission to the UN on X.

“The State of Palestine welcomes the overwhelming support for the General Assembly resolution calling for the protection of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip from Israel’s onslaught and massacres and the unequivocal call for immediate humanitarian truce and unimpeded humanitarian assistance as well as the unambiguous rejection of any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian population,” said the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in a statement.

“As the Israeli assault against the Palestinian people reaches a new peak of brutality, including a complete communications blackout, there is a solid international position rejecting Israel’s unhinged aggression and its clear disregard for international humanitarian law and the lives of Palestinian civilians. This vote signals the commitment of a moral majority of the international community to uphold its obligations and the rejection of double standards and politicisation of international humanitarian law,” the statement added.

The statement also appealed to Israel to comply with its obligations and heed the calls of the international community: “End its aggression, end its massacres, and end its mass killing of the Palestinian people”.

The State of Palestine calls on all States to comply with this resolution and affirms the need to ensure accountability in with this resolution in case of non-compliance, it said.

- ANI

The Committee to Protect Journalists says the past three weeks have been the deadliest on record for journalists covering conflict since the organization started tracking in 1992.

The organization said in a statement Friday that at least 29 journalists have died covering the Israel-Hamas war since it ignited Oct. 7, including 24 Palestinians, four Israelis and 1 Lebanese. Additionally, 8 other journalists were reported injured and 9 were reported missing or detained.

CPJ also criticized the cutting of communications services in the Gaza Strip, warning that the blackout is also a “news blackout” that has compromised the public’s ability to “know and understand what is happening in this conflict.”

“This can lead to serious consequences with an independent, factual information vacuum that can be filled with deadly propaganda, dis- and misinformation,” it said.

- AP

Terrorism is a “malignancy” and knows no borders, nationality or race and the world should not buy into any justification of terror acts, India has told the UN General Assembly as it abstained on a resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

India on Friday abstained in the UN General Assembly on a Jordanian-drafted resolution titled ‘Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations’ that called for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict and unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza strip.

- PTI

Battles were raging in Gaza early on Saturday, as Israel expanded its ground operations and cut communications to the Palestinian territory, three weeks after the deadliest attack in the country’s history.

The United Nations warned of a looming “unprecedented avalanche of human suffering” inside the Gaza Strip, following weeks of relentless bombing by Israel, while the General Assembly pushed for an “immediate humanitarian truce”.

“We are confronting an Israeli ground incursion in Beit Hanoun (in the northern Gaza Strip) and east Bureij (in the centre) and violent engagements are taking place on the ground,” Hamas’s armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.

Israeli military spokesman Major Nir Dinar told AFP: “Our troops are operating inside Gaza as they did yesterday.”

- AFP

Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that Tel Aviv rejects the United Nations General Assembly’s call for a ceasefire. He said that Israel intends to eliminate Hamas as the world dealt with Nazis and ISIS.

Eli Cohen’s statement comes after the United Nations General Assembly on Friday (local time) adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Taking to X, Cohen stated, “We reject outright the UN General Assembly’s despicable call for a ceasefire. Israel intends to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and ISIS.”

The Jordanian-led draft resolution has been adopted by the General Assembly, with 120 votes in favour, 14 against and 45 abstentions. The 45 nations that abstained from voting on the resolution included Iceland, India, Panama, Lithuania and Greece.

- ANI

Israel’s military has told international news organisations Reuters and Agence France Presse that it cannot guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, under Israeli bombardment and siege for almost three weeks.

Gaza has been under bombardment since Oct. 7 when Hamas gunmen burst through the Gaza border into Israel and killed some 1,400 people. Gaza’s health ministry says over 7,300 people have been killed by Israeli strikes.

The Israel Defense Forces wrote to Reuters and AFP this week 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 IDF letter said, adding that Hamas deliberately put military operations “in the vicinity of journalists and civilians”.

The IDF also noted that its high-intensity strikes on Hamas targets could cause damage to surrounding buildings and that Hamas rockets could also misfire and kill people inside Gaza.

“Under these circumstances, we cannot guarantee your employees’ safety, and strongly urge you to take all necessary measures for their safety,” the IDF letter concluded.

Hamas did not immediately comment when asked about the IDF’s allegation that it put military operations near where journalists in Gaza are known to be based.

Reuters could not verify how many other news organizations operating in Gaza had received the same letter from the IDF.

- Reuters

Hundreds of protesters demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas forced officials on Friday to close Grand Central Terminal, one of New York City’s major transit hubs, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

“Grand Central Terminal is closed until further notice due to a protest,” the MTA said on its website, urging commuters to use alternate stations and plan for extra travel time.

Images on social media showed protesters pouring out of the train station and onto 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan.

“Mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living,” read one banner raised inside the building.

The demonstration was organized by a group called Jewish Voice for Peace, the New York Times reported.

- Reuters

The near-total telecommunications blackout in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Palestinian territory risks providing cover for mass atrocities, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday.

Internet access and the phone network were completely cut across the Gaza Strip on Friday, nearly three weeks after Israel began bombarding the enclave following an armed attack by Hamas militants that Israeli officials say killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

“Widespread phone and internet outages occurred in Gaza on October 27, 2023, amid a concerted Israeli bombardment, almost entirely cutting off the 2.2 million residents from the outside world,” HRW said in a statement.

“This information blackout risks providing cover for mass atrocities and contributing to impunity for human rights violations,” Deborah Brown, the group’s senior technology and human rights researcher, said in the statement.

A number of international agencies and NGOs said they had lost touch with their staff in Gaza on Friday, including the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.

- AFP