08:56
Gaza City, heavy fighting around Al-Quds Hospital
This morning there was heavy fighting in Gaza City, in the immediate vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital, in which some people were killed. Sources on the ground told ANSA. The sources added that Israeli forces bombed tall buildings near the hospital in the Tel el-Hawa neighborhood in southern Gaza City. According to sources, many displaced people who now fear for their lives have sought refuge in the hospital.
08:55
Gaza: Rafah opened, foreigners, binationalists and wounded come out
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will also open today to allow foreigners, dual nationals and injured Palestinians to leave the country. This was reported by local sources, who said over 600 people, with a high proportion of US dual citizens, are expected to leave the country. After Israel inspects the cargo, about 50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid are expected to enter Gaza.
08:45
Erdogan: “Crimes against humanity in Gaza for a month”
“Nothing can excuse what we have seen since October 7 and explain this brutality. Crimes against humanity have been committed in Gaza for exactly 28 days,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the occasion of the summit of Turkish states, Anadolu reported. Erdogan again called for a ceasefire and reiterated the proposal for an “international peace conference” to end the conflict in Israel and Palestine. The Turkish leader added that Ankara had so far sent ten planes carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
08:12
Israel: Hamas commander Mustafa Dalul killed
The Israeli army announced that it had killed Mustafa Dalul, the commander of the Sabra Tel al-Hawa battalion, which had played “a central role in organizing the battle with the troops in the Gaza Strip” since the start of the war. This was announced by the military spokesman, after which “Dalul has held a number of positions in the Hamas battalions and the Gaza City Brigade in recent years.”
08:10
Four Palestinians were killed by Israel in Jenin camp
Four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank last night. This was reported by the Wafa news agency, citing local medical sources. Secondly, there are also 4 injured, one of them seriously.
08:08
Media: Blinken has arrived in Israel
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel today for his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This was reported by a traveling correspondent from the AFP news agency.
This is Blinken’s third visit to Israel since the war in Gaza began on October 7. His visit – Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported – will only last four hours, during which the US Secretary of State will meet Netanyahu personally. Blinken will then attend a meeting of Israel’s Limited War Cabinet. Meetings are also planned with Head of State Isaac Herzog and the leader of the centrist opposition Yair Lapid. From official sources, the channel learned that the US is insisting that Israel accept a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting, which it believes could also benefit contacts for the release of hostages. The United States also intends to discuss with Israeli leaders the vision of the “day after” in Gaza once Hamas has been defeated on the ground. Blinken’s intention, the broadcaster said, was to experiment with Israeli leaders to understand what their intentions were.
07:33
Israel: 4 soldiers were killed last night, 23 in total
The Israeli army has announced the deaths of another four soldiers killed in ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip last night. There are also two other soldiers who were seriously injured. The total number of dead soldiers since the ground operation began is now 23.
07:25
Sources: US drones over Gaza looking for hostages
American drones flew over the Gaza Strip in search of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas and Palestinian groups. This is reported by the media, citing anonymous US sources, according to whom the drones are collecting information to help locate the hostages. According to one of these sources, the drones have been in use for over a week. The hostages also include US citizens with dual passports.
06:57
Hezbollah leader breaks silence, speaks today
Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will break weeks of silence since the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel today in a speech that could have repercussions for the region as the Gaza conflict rages. Cross-border attacks intensified yesterday as Israel responded with a “major attack” to Hezbollah attacks on 19 Israeli positions. The Lebanese arm of Hamas’s armed wing claimed rockets also hit the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, near the border. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that “the region is like a powder keg” and that “anything is possible” if Israel does not stop attacking Gaza. Nasrallah’s highly anticipated speech will be broadcast on Friday at 3pm (2pm in Italy) at an event to commemorate fighters killed in Israeli bombings in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. On the Lebanese side, according to an AFP tally, more than 70 people were killed – at least 50 of them Hezbollah fighters, but also other fighters and civilians, including a Portal journalist. According to the army, nine people died on the Israeli side: eight soldiers and one civilian.
06:57
Israeli army: “Heroic battle in Gaza, let us move forward”
“Heroic battle” during the night in the Gaza Strip between the Israeli army and the Palestinians, the Israel Defense Forces say. “They were killed and we continue our operation until victory,” they wrote on Telegram. Last night there were clashes between Israeli soldiers and “some terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.” Despite “heavy fire” from the “terrorists,” “the forces on the ground carried out airstrikes with aircraft and artillery. The terrorists were killed and the threat to the troops was eliminated,” the IDF writes.