09.17 GMT
Renewed fighting in Gaza extended into a second day on Saturday after talks to extend a week-long ceasefire with Hamas failed and mediators said Israeli bombings would complicate attempts to halt hostilities again.
The eastern areas of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip came under heavy bombardment as the ceasefire deadline expired shortly after dawn on Friday and columns of smoke rose into the sky, Portal reports.
Residents set out with belongings piled in carts and sought shelter further west.
Israel said its ground, air and naval forces struck more than 200 “terrorist targets” in Gaza. As of Friday evening, health officials in the coastal strip said Israeli strikes had killed 184 people, injured at least 589 others and hit more than 20 homes.
Rocket sirens wailed in Israeli communities outside the Gaza Strip early Saturday, but there were no reports of serious damage or casualties. Footage of Gaza taken in southern Israel included the sounds of explosions and showed smoke rising into the sky.
The warring sides blamed each other for the failure of a ceasefire in which Hamas militants released hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
The United Nations said the fighting was worsening an extreme humanitarian emergency. “Hell on earth has returned to Gaza,” said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian office in Geneva.
A pause that began on Nov. 24 had been extended twice, and Israel had said it could last as long as Hamas released 10 hostages a day. But after seven days of releasing women, children and foreign hostages, mediators have been unable to find a formula for releasing more people.
Israel accused Hamas of refusing to release all the women it was holding. A Palestinian official said the collapse occurred among female Israeli soldiers.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after an Oct. 7 rampage in which the militant group reportedly killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostage. Since then, Israeli attacks have devastated large parts of the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007. Palestinian health authorities, considered reliable by the United Nations, say more than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands are missing.
Updated at 09.25 GMT
08.20 GMT
Israeli airstrikes killed two Syrian pro-Hezbollah fighters early Saturday when they hit sites of the Iranian-backed group near Damascus. a war observer told AFP.
The attacks near Damascus came less than 24 hours after the end of a Gaza ceasefire between Hezbollah-allied Hamas and Israel.
“Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah sites near Sayyida Zeinab killed two Syrian Hezbollah fighters and injured seven other fighters from the group,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on its northern neighbor since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, mostly targeting Iranian-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, as well as Syrian army positions.
But attacks have increased since the war with Hamas began in October. Last year, Hamas said it had restored relations with the Syrian government.
The head of the British-based monitor, which has a network of sources in Syria, had previously told AFP that Israel had struck “Hezbollah targets” in the Sayyida Zeinab area, south of Damascus.
The Syrian Defense Ministry also announced that Israel had struck near the Syrian capital. An AFP journalist in Damascus reported loud bomb attacks.
“Today at about 1:35 a.m. (22:35 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an air strike from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points near the city of Damascus,” a Defense Ministry statement said.
Syrian state television reported “Israeli aggression near the capital.”
The Israeli army did not comment when contacted by AFP.
Updated at 08:54 GMT
07.57 GMT
The southern Gaza Strip is bombed as Israel renews its offensive
Israel struck targets in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, intensifying its renewed offensive after a week-long ceasefire and raising renewed concerns about civilian casualties.
The Associated Press reports that Saturday’s attacks were focused on the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, where the military had dropped leaflets the day before warning residents to leave the area.
However, there were no reports of large numbers of people leaving the country as of late Friday, according to the United Nations.
“There is nowhere to go,” he lamented Emad Hajarwho fled the northern city of Beit Lahia a month ago with his wife and three children to seek refuge in Khan Younis.
They drove us out of the North and now they are urging us to leave the South
About two million people – almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip – are crowded into the south of the territory, where Israel pushed people to relocate early in the war and has since vowed to expand its ground attacks.
Since they cannot reach northern Gaza or neighboring Egypt, their only means of escape is to move within the 220 square kilometer area.
The Hamas-run health ministry said nearly 200 people had been killed since the ceasefire ended early on Friday.
Updated at 08.06 GMT
07.36 GMT
Protests are expected in “around 13 districts” around the capital on Saturday after fighting resumed between Israel and Hamas, according to London police.
Nadeem Badshah says in his report that the Metropolitan Police say there are no plans for major demonstrations in central London, such as those that have taken place over the past two months, but a number of smaller events are planned.
Police had previously said 300,000 people took part in the pro-Palestine march in London on November 11, although organizers estimated the number of participants at more than 800,000.
The ManPalestine Action group in Manchester wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that they would also be holding a demonstration in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday.
In London, the Stop the War Coalition encouraged supporters to “join an action near you to demand a permanent ceasefire now”, with protests taking place in areas such as Camden, Redbridge, Newham, Enfield, Hounslow, Islington, Lewisham, Southwark etc Wimbledon is planned.
According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, further rallies were planned in Harrow, Kilburn and Tottenham.
You can find the whole story here:
Protests against the war between Israel and Hamas are expected in 13 London boroughs this weekend
Updated at 07:36 GMT
07.00 GMT
Gathering just the latest on humanitarian aid, the US says it expects Israel to begin flowing some aid to the area again after blocking aid on Friday following the end of the ceasefire.
The spokesman for the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said Israel blocked trucks from entering Gaza on Friday but will now allow some aid to enter at the request of the U.S. government, the Associated Press reports.
Kirby said the resumption would occur at a significantly reduced level compared to the hundreds of trucks per day that entered Gaza during the seven-day lull in fighting, saying it was “probably dozens of trucks versus hundreds of trucks.” “.
He said the U.S. would continue to push to increase aid supplies to Gaza at least to the level of goods imported during the pause.
Israel plays a role in the inspection process that allows aid from Egypt into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.
A Gaza-bound convoy carrying humanitarian aid parked outside Egypt’s Rafah border gate on Thursday, a day before the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended and fighting resumed. Photo: Khaled Elfiqi/EPA
Updated at 08:21 GMT
06.27 GMT
US Vice President Kamala Harris will lay out key American goals for ending the Israel-Hamas war on Saturday and emphasize that the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank should ultimately be reunited under one governing entity, Portal reports.
Harris will make a series of appearances at the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai following his appointment as US president Joe Biden to take his place at the table while he focuses on the war.
The White House said Harris would deliver a message about post-conflict Gaza as the region grapples with the fallout from a war that has upended the Middle East.
A White House official said of her comments:
She will emphasize that any post-conflict plan for Gaza must include a clear political horizon for the Palestinian people and ensure that Gaza and the West Bank are reunited under one entity.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority rules parts of the occupied West Bank. Hamas seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian president in 2007 Mahmoud Abbasis the mainstream Fatah party and has ruled the enclave ever since.
Updated at 06:27 GMT
06.00 GMT
Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed as Israeli attacks continue into a second day, according to the Gaza Ministry
Israel carried out deadly bombings in Gaza for the second time on Saturday after a week-long ceasefire with Hamas collapsed despite international calls for an extension.
Gray clouds of smoke from the attacks hung over Gaza, where the Hamas-run health ministry said nearly 200 people have been killed since the lull in fighting ended early Friday, Agence France-Prese reports.
Both sides blamed each other for breaking the ceasefire. Israel claimed Hamas attempted to fire a rocket before the end of the ceasefire and failed to provide a list of additional hostages for release.
“What we are doing now is to attack Hamas military targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said Jonathan Conricus said on Saturday.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: Atef Safadi/EPA
When hostilities resumed, Hamas’ armed wing “received orders to resume fighting” and “defend the Gaza Strip,” according to a source close to the group.
International leaders and humanitarian groups condemned the return to fighting.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on X, formerly Twitter:
I deeply regret that military operations have begun again in Gaza
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said:
According to reports, scores of people were killed and injured within a few hours today. Families were again told to evacuate. Hopes were dashed.
Fears of a wider regional conflict grew after the Syrian Defense Ministry said Israeli strikes hit Damascus on Saturday, and the militant group Hezbollah said one of its members was killed in an Israeli attack on Lebanon on Friday.
The US said it would work with regional partners to reach another ceasefire.
Updated at 06:22 GMT
05.44 GMT
Israel wants to create a “buffer zone” in the Gaza Strip, a report says
Israel has informed several Arab states that it wants to establish a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of the Gaza border to prevent future attacks. This is part of the proposals for the enclave after the end of the war, Egyptian and regional sources said in a Portal report.
According to three regional sources, Israel’s plans referred to its neighbors Egypt and Jordan, as well as the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
The sources also said Saudi Arabia, which has no ties with Israel and halted a U.S.-brokered normalization process after the Gaza war broke out on Oct. 7, had been informed.
According to the sources, non-Arab Turkey was also informed.
The initiative does not indicate an early end to the Israeli offensive, which resumed on Friday after a seven-day ceasefire. However, it shows that Israel is moving beyond established Arab mediators such as Egypt or Qatar in Gaza in its attempt to shape a post-war period.
The Portal report quoted a senior regional security official, one of three regional sources who asked not to be identified by nationality, as saying:
Israel wants a buffer zone between Gaza and Israel from north to south to prevent Hamas or other militants from infiltrating or attacking Israel
The governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jordanian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
A UAE official did not respond directly to a question about whether Abu Dhabi had been informed about the buffer zone, but said: “The UAE will support any future post-war arrangements agreed to by all parties concerned” to achieve stability and a Palestinian state .
When asked about plans for a buffer zone, Ophir Falk, foreign policy advisor to the Israeli prime minister, responded Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “The plan is more detailed. It is based on a three-stage process for the post-Hamas era.”
The three stages included the destruction of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza and the de-radicalization of the territory, he said.
Updated at 05:44 GMT
05.10 GMT
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our ongoing live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. This is Adam Fulton and I will be with you for the foreseeable future.
According to a Portal report, Israel has told several Arab states that it wants to establish a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of the Gaza border to prevent future attacks. This is part of proposals for the area after the war, Egyptian and regional sources say.
Three regional sources said Israel linked its plans to its neighbors Egypt and Jordan, as well as the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, the reports said. According to the sources, Saudi Arabia was also informed.
More on this story shortly. In other news, just before 7:15 a.m. in Gaza City and Tel Aviv:
Israel’s military bombed the Gaza Strip on Friday after the end of the ceasefire. Israel carried out more than 200 attacks throughout the day throughout the area, including in the densely populated south where many civilians have fled. According to reports from doctors and witnesses, the bombardment was most intense in the southern areas of Khan Younis and Rafah. According to health authorities in Gaza, the attacks killed 184 people and injured at least 589 others, with most of the dead being children and women. Israel has signaled that it is preparing a ground attack on the southern Gaza Strip, which would lead to a significant escalation of the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to brush aside U.S. calls for a more restrained military campaign when hostilities resumed. Netanyahu said his country’s armed forces would now “charge forward” and the plan was a total military victory.
Smoke over Gaza, seen from southern Israel, after Israeli airstrikes. Photo: Alexander Ermochenko/Portal
Three people were killed in an Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese state news agency reported, as the end of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas led to a resumption of hostilities on the border. The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, later said two of those killed were its fighters. It also said it had carried out several attacks on Israeli military positions on the border in support of Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli army said its artillery hit fire sources from Lebanon and air defenses intercepted two launches. The army also said it had attacked a “terror cell.”
The head of the UN Children’s Fund warns of a “humanitarian catastrophe” when the Israeli bombings in Gaza return to the intensity they reached before the ceasefire. Catherine Russell called on “all parties to ensure children are protected and supported” and called for a “permanent humanitarian ceasefire”.
Syrian air defenses repelled an Israeli missile attack on targets near Damascus Early Saturday, Syrian state media reported that the defense had shot down most of the rockets. There were no injuries and “only property damage” and the attacks came from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights.
The Israeli military has outlined its plan for the “next phase of the war”: dividing the Gaza Strip into dozens of numbered “evacuation areas.”, a central part of the military’s plan to gradually take control of the southern part of the strip. Under the plan, people in certain numbered districts of the Gaza Strip will be asked to evacuate before the bombardment begins. However, it is unclear how much time they will receive for this. In parts of Khan Younis, where Israel believes the Hamas leadership is based, leaflets were dropped urging citizens to evacuate further south to Rafah.
Humanitarian groups said Israeli warnings were insufficient as Gaza civilians ran out of places to evacuate. Palestinians face complete expulsion from the area, they said. Homes in Khan Younis were among the targets attacked on Friday just hours after the ceasefire expired, and residents were given little, if any, time to escape.
No humanitarian aid – including fuel – was allowed into the Gaza Strip on Friday, the head of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces had informed organizations operating at the Rafah crossing that the entry of aid trucks was prohibited “until further notice.”
Citing reports from Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Israel had agreed to allow truck shipments through again at the insistence of the USA. However, he said truck deliveries would likely be reduced to dozens per day, rather than the hundreds of trucks that entered Gaza daily during the lull in fighting.
The families of hostages held in Gaza have said they fear for the safety of their loved ones following the end of the ceasefire. Relatives of some of the remaining 126 Israeli hostages have said they are struggling with the joy of being freed while also worrying about the illness of their loved ones left behind.
The United Nations expressed deep regret at the resumption of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, describing the situation as “catastrophic.” She also said she was concerned about suggestions Israel might seek to expand its military offensive inside Palestinian territory. The UN human rights envoy Volker Türk called for redoubling efforts to bring about a ceasefire on humanitarian and human rights grounds.
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Monday – as seen from Ashkelon, Israel. Photo: Amir Cohen/Portal
Israel has said it will not extend the visa of a senior UN official who helps oversee humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. said a UN spokesman. The Israeli Foreign Ministry last month accused Lynn Hastings, the UN deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process and UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, of being impartial and objective.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the failure of the ceasefire “deeply disappointing” and reiterated calls for “sustained humanitarian pauses” in Gaza as he held talks with the Israeli president and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Jordan on the sidelines of the Cop28 summit on Friday.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) blamed the Israeli military for an alleged deliberate attack last month on a convoy evacuating people from Gaza City. In a report quoting several of the organization’s witnesses, Médecins Sans Frontières said “all elements point to the Israeli army’s responsibility for this attack.”
The Biden administration has informed Israel that Washington will impose visa bans in the next few weeks on Israeli extremist settlers who commit violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, a senior State Department official said, an early sign that the U.S. is ready to publicly distance itself from some Israeli government actions.
A protester carrying a Palestinian flag burned himself to death outside the Israeli consulate in the US city of Atlanta, Georgia, on FridayA security guard who tried to intervene was injured, the authorities said. The protester was reportedly in critical condition.
Updated at 08:21 GMT