38 minutes ago
Images of daily life in Gaza
Images published by Getty Images on Sunday showed black smoke rising from the southern Gaza Strip after Israeli airstrikes overnight.
Palestinians in Gaza were seen evacuating destroyed buildings and assessing the damage as Israel vowed to step up its bombardment of the besieged enclave.
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 22, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups.
Said Khatib | Afp | Getty Images
A Palestinian helps evacuate a woman from a damaged building after overnight Israeli attacks on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 22, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups.
Said Khatib | Afp | Getty Images
A man rides a bicycle past a fire truck in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, October 22, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images
Palestinians assess the damage after overnight Israeli attacks on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 22, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups.
Said Khatib | Afp | Getty Images
An hour ago
Israel’s military says attack on occupied West Bank mosque was a ‘terror cell’
The Israeli military said on Sunday it launched an airstrike on an underground compound of a mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, believed to be home to a “terror cell” made up of militants from the Palestinian militant group Hamas and a second Palestinian militant group, the Islamic Jihad, found .
The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Securities Authority said in a joint statement that the militants “were responsible for several terrorist attacks in recent months and were organizing another upcoming terrorist attack.”
CNBC could not independently verify this claim.
“Recently, information was received indicating that the neutralized terrorists were organizing an imminent terrorist attack. The mosque was used by the terrorists as a command center for planning the attacks and as a base for carrying them out,” the joint statement said.
–Sam Meredith
An hour ago
Israel is urging Gazans to move south or risk being viewed as a “terrorist” partner
The Palestinians said they received renewed warnings from the Israeli military to move from northern Gaza to the south of the Strip, with the added warning that if they remained there they could be identified as sympathizers of a “terrorist organization.”
The message was delivered Saturday in leaflets bearing the name and logo of the Israel Defense Forces and sent via cellphone audio message to people throughout the Gaza Strip, a narrow area just 45 km (28 miles) long.
“Urgent warning to the residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Anyone who chooses not to leave the north of the Gaza Strip south of Wadi Gaza could be identified as an accomplice of a terrorist organization,” the brochure says.
—Portal
2 hours ago
According to Hamas, 1.4 million people have been internally displaced in Gaza since October 7, and 4,385 have been killed
A young man transports bags of bread on a bicycle in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 22, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images
About 1.4 million people have been internally displaced in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began, according to the latest daily update from the Hamas-run government media office.
Half of Gaza’s displaced people have sought refuge in the 217 emergency shelters, while the rest are staying with relatives, friends and others, according to Hamas.
The daily update said 248 people were killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths since October 7 to 4,385 and 13,561 citizens injured.
Hamas said Israeli forces continued to target educational institutions, with 176 schools suffering various damages and 30 schools out of service.
–Sam Meredith
2 hours ago
Syria says Israel hit Damascus and Aleppo airports with missile strikes, disabling them
Israel’s military has carried out targeted airstrikes on airports in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria’s state news agency Syrian Arab News Agency said on Sunday. One civilian worker was killed and another injured.
The damage from the missiles put both airports out of service, SANA said.
CNBC was unable to independently verify the details on site.
–Sam Meredith
3 hours ago
Hezbollah is playing a “very dangerous game,” warns the IDF
“Hezbollah is playing a very dangerous game,” IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus warned in a social media update.
Residents of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona have already been ordered to evacuate for their own safety as violence flares on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Overnight Israel said it had attacked military targets of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and that one of its soldiers was killed by an anti-tank missile. “The IDF will not stand idly by while its soldiers and civilians are attacked,” the IDF said.
According to Portal, Hezbollah lost six of its fighters in the cross-border fighting.
– Joanna Tan
3 hours ago
Gazans who are not evacuated will not be considered terrorists, the IDF says
A young girl stands amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes.
Mohammed Zanoun | Afp | Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces said it had “no intention to consider those yet to be evacuated as members of a terrorist group.”
There have been reports that Israel will consider Gaza residents who choose not to evacuate but remain in the north as employees of terrorist organizations.
“The translation from Arabic, which has now spread across all platforms, is inaccurate,” the IDF said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The IDF reiterated that “for the safety of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” residents should be evacuated to the south of Wadi Gaza. “Anyone left is endangering themselves through Hamas’ terrorist activities in civilian areas.”
– Joanna Tan
3 hours ago
Israel did not attack Gaza hospital, Canada says
A view of the surrounding area of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after it was hit on October 18, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza.
Ali Jadallah | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Canada’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that Israel was not behind the Oct. 17 attack on Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
“An analysis independently conducted by the Canadian Armed Forces Intelligence Command shows with a high degree of certainty that Israel did not attack Al-Ahli Hospital on October 17, 2023,” it said in a statement.
The attack was more likely caused by a rocket fired from Gaza, the Defense Ministry said, based on an analysis of open source and classified reports.
Canada’s results are similar to the conclusions of France and the United States
—Portal
3 hours ago
Israel will step up its attacks on Hamas in northern Gaza: IDF spokesman
Israel will step up attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in the next phase of the war, an Israeli military spokesman said.
“We will step up attacks on Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters, according to a translation by NBC News.
“We will continue to attack targets that may pose a threat to our ground forces in subsequent phases of the war,” he added.
As of Saturday, more than 700,000 residents had been evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip and moved to the southern side of the Gaza River, he added.
– Joanna Tan
3 hours ago
“Not nearly enough”: UN organizations call for more humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip
Aerial photo shows humanitarian aid trucks arriving from Egypt after crossing the Rafah border crossing and arriving at a camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on October 21, 2023.
Belal Al Sabbagh | AFP | Getty Images
UN agencies welcomed the delivery of a convoy of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, but said it was “far from enough”.
The organizations called for a humanitarian ceasefire, “immediate, unfettered humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip,” and large-scale and sustained humanitarian assistance.
“We demand safe and sustained access to water, food, health – including sexual and reproductive health – and fuel necessary to enable essential services,” the statement said.
The health facilities are running on small amounts of fuel secured on site, which “are expected to run out in the next day or so,” they said. “Vulnerable people are most at risk and children are dying at alarming rates.”
“Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the recent hostilities. Now it is catastrophic. The world must do more,” the UN agencies said in a joint statement.
– Joanna Tan
3 hours ago
Netanyahu dismisses Hamas claims about the release of more hostages as “propaganda.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed as “propaganda” claims by Hamas that it had offered to release two more hostages.
According to media reports, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, claimed that he informed Qatar of the intention to release the other two hostages on the same day that Americans Judith and Natalie Ranaan were released .
In a later statement, Abu Ubaida claimed the militants were ready to release two more people on Sunday “using the same procedures” used to release the Ranaans, Portal reported.
“We will not respond to false propaganda from Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to do everything necessary to bring all prisoners and missing people home.”
“Hamas tried to present itself to the world as a humanitarian organization after the release of the two hostages,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Don’t fall into their trap,” the post said.
– Joanna Tan
6 hours ago
The US will deploy additional military assets and air defense systems in the Middle East
A view of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the “largest warship in the world.”
Andrew Matthews – Pa Pictures | Pa Pictures | Getty Images
The United States will deploy additional military assets to the Middle East amid escalating tensions between Iran and its proxy forces in the region, US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin announced late Saturday.
“Today I ordered a series of additional steps to further strengthen the Defense Department’s position in the region,” he said in a statement.
The U.S. will deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and additional Patriot anti-aircraft missile system battalions to locations throughout the Middle East. Additional forces are also on standby and ready to be deployed in case a rapid response is needed, Austin said.
“These steps will strengthen regional deterrence efforts, increase the protection of U.S. forces in the region and contribute to the defense of Israel.”
– Joanna Tan
14 hours ago
Doctors Without Borders warns of “totally inadequate” humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid enters the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing on October 21, 2023 in Rafah, Gaza.
Ahmad Hasaballah | Getty Images
Aid deliveries through the Rafah border crossing are “totally inadequate,” Doctors Without Borders warned in a statement.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” the group wrote after reports that the first 20 trucks carrying aid had arrived in Gaza.
“Food, water and medicine are still urgently needed. “It is critical that fuel enters Gaza as it is critical to life-saving hospital operations and the availability of clean water,” the group said, calling for sustained humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza.
– Amanda Macias
16 hours ago
Hezbollah official says his group is already ‘at the heart’ of the Israel-Hamas war
The deputy leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Kassem.
Aziz Taher | Portal
A senior Hezbollah official vowed that Israel would pay a heavy price whenever it launches a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, saying on Saturday that his Lebanon-based militant group was already “at the heart of the battle.”
The comments by Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem came as Israel bombed southern Lebanon and carried out drone strikes and Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel.
For Hezbollah, the heating of the Lebanese-Israeli border has a clear goal, said Kassem: “We are trying to weaken the Israeli enemy and let them know that we are ready.” Hamas officials said that Hezbollah is joining the fighting would follow if Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza.
There are concerns that Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has an arsenal consisting of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles as well as various types of drones, may seek to open a new front in the Israel-Hamas war on a large scale by attacking northern Israel.
Kassem said his Hamas-allied group had already influenced the course of the conflict by inflaming the Lebanese-Israeli border and holding three Israeli army divisions in the north instead of preparing to fight in Gaza.
“Do you think that other resistance fighters in the region will not act if you try to crush the Palestinian resistance?” Kassem said in a speech Saturday during the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter. “We are in the middle of a fight today. We achieve success through this fight.”
—Associated Press
3 hours ago