5:40 p.m
Swiss Airline stops flights to Beirut
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) announces that it is suspending its flight connections between Switzerland and Beirut until October 28 “due to the situation in the Middle East and tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon,” the company writes in a statement Explanation.
Four SWISS flights will be canceled on October 17th, 19th, 24th and 26th. “Passengers affected by these cancellations will be informed and their flight tickets will be fully refunded,” she specifies.
5:08 p.m
London increases its humanitarian aid to the Palestinians by a third
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday an increase in the UK’s humanitarian aid to the Palestinians by a third, or an additional £10 million (11.5 million francs).
“We have to support the Palestinian people because they are also victims of Hamas,” said the conservative head of government.
He also announced a new toll of at least six Britons killed and 10 others missing in Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7.
16:04
The summit on the “Palestinian cause” will take place in Egypt on Saturday
The “regional and international summit on the future of the Palestinian cause” proposed by Egypt amid the war between Israel and Hamas will take place this Saturday. The authorities of Qatar and Kuwait announce that their leaders have received invitations to this conference.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is increasing his trips to the region. Many diplomatic heads have already replaced each other in Cairo and Israel. All are calling for an end to the conflict to avoid spillover into the region and the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors and passageways for aid to the Gaza Strip, which is being relentlessly bombed by Israel.
Egypt, which has the only terminal to and from Gaza not controlled by Israel, is on the front line and foreign aid has been piling up in its Sinai desert for days.
16:01
Rocket warning sirens can be heard in Jerusalem
Rocket warning sirens were heard in Jerusalem on the tenth day of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas. The first winter session of Israel’s parliament was suspended and MPs took refuge in shelters, according to images broadcast on Israeli television.
4:00 p.m
Without immediate help, Gaza faces a “real catastrophe” within 24 hours.
“Water, electricity and fuel are available in Gaza for 24 hours,” and if aid doesn’t arrive, doctors will only have to “create death certificates,” says Ahmed Al-Mandhari, regional chief of the World Health Organization (WHO). . Humanitarian and medical aid, particularly from the WHO, is currently blocked in Egypt’s Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip, due to the lack of an agreement between Israel and Egypt. In response to a deadly and unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7, the Gaza Strip is under constant Israeli bombardment.
15:22
Hundreds of Gazans gathered on the border with Egypt
Hundreds of Palestinians are gathering in southern Gaza in hopes of an opening of the Rafah crossing that would allow them to escape the war between Hamas and Israel. The belligerents denied reports of a ceasefire and the opening of the border crossing, the only one not controlled by Israel that separates Gaza from Egypt. But at the gates there are hundreds of Palestinians with foreign passports, many of them children, hoping to get through because they think they might be given priority.
“We have been at the border for three days,” explains Ahmad Al-Qassas, who has German citizenship. “More and more people are coming here for security reasons, but we still hear artillery fire around us. There is really no safe place in Gaza.” The Rafah border crossing has been attacked by the Israeli army several times since the start of the war, triggered by the bloody attack by Hamas commandos on Israeli soil on October 7th.
3:19 p.m
Vladimir Putin meets with leaders of Israel, Iran, Egypt, Syria and the Palestinian Authority
Vladimir Putin is expected to make phone calls to Egyptian President al-Sissi, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after calling Iranian leader Ebrahim Raïssi and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad during the day.
“President [russe] has already spoken to the Syrian and Iranian presidents,” Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. “There will continue to be telephone contact during the day […] al-Sissi and […] Abbas as well as with the Israeli Prime Minister,” he added.
3:16 p.m
Russia again calls for “immediate” ceasefire and talks
Russia again called on Israel and Hamas for an “immediate” ceasefire and talks on Monday, on the 10th day of a war that has left thousands dead and a million displaced in the Gaza Strip. “In this context, the main thing is to immediately stop firing and start a process of political solution,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
3:15 p.m
A ship evacuating Americans leaves Israel for Cyprus
A ship evacuating American nationals left Israel for Cyprus on Monday. The U.S. Embassy in Israel said Sunday that American authorities are assisting nationals “and their immediate family members who hold a valid travel document to depart by sea from Haifa to Cyprus on October 16, 2023.”
15:13
In the Philippines, thousands of demonstrators are calling for an end to the bombings
According to police, around 25,000 people demonstrated in a city in the southern Philippines to protest against bombings by the Israeli army in response to the bloody Hamas attack. The peaceful protest took place in a public garden in Cotabato City, where more than 200,000 Muslims live. It took about four hours.
Some demonstrators, their faces painted in Palestinian colors, prayed, shed tears and waved Palestinian flags, while speakers called for a halt to Israeli military operations and urged the United States and the United Nations to remain neutral in the face of this conflict. “Liberate Palestine!” and “Bangsamoro against injustice,” the signs proclaimed, referring to the Muslim autonomous region on the island of Mindanao.
Thousands of people gathered in the southern Philippines on October 16 to protest the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. — © FERDINANDH CABRERA / AFP
2:06 p.m
In France, 102 arrests for anti-Semitic acts or advocacy of terrorism
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Monday that 102 people have been arrested for anti-Semitic acts or promoting terrorism since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7. “This morning the DGSI (General Directorate of Internal Security, editor’s note) once again carried out two arrests, one in the east of France and the other in the southwest of France,” he added. Gerald Darmanin. According to the minister, 237 complaints were submitted to the courts via the Pharos online platform.
12:54
TikTok has deleted more than 500,000 videos
TikTok said it had removed more than 500,000 videos and shut down 8,000 livestreams related to the ongoing war, days after an EU warning reminded the company of its commitment to combat illegal content.
Since Oct. 7, “we have removed more than 500,000 videos and closed 8,000 live streams in the affected region for violating our rules,” TikTok said on its blog on Sunday. The social network says it has strengthened its moderation teams.
12:44
Berlin calls on Iran “not to add fuel to the fire”
Germany calls on Iran not to “add fuel to the fire” in the war between Hamas and Israel and warns of a “major regional escalation.” Anyone who pours fuel on the fire should really think carefully, because there is a possibility that we are dealing with a major regional conflict, explains Foreign Office spokesman Sebastian Fischer when asked at a briefing by the regular press in Berlin Iran’s foreign minister meets exiled Hamas leader on Sunday.
12:24
The UN humanitarian chief is visiting the Middle East on Tuesday to negotiate aid access to Gaza
Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ humanitarian emergency manager, announced in a video message on Monday that he would travel to the Middle East on Tuesday to “help negotiate” the delivery of aid to Gaza. “I hope to hear good news about the delivery of aid via Rafah this morning,” he said.
12:23
“Water, food and fuel are running out in Gaza”
Water, food and fuel supplies are running low in Gaza while a massive population movement is underway from the north to the south of the Palestinian enclave, according to the United Nations. Hospitals only have 24 hours of fuel for their generators. A failure would put thousands of patients “in imminent danger.” Israel cut off electricity, water and food supplies to the Gaza Strip last week in response to the Hamas-led terrorist attack.
Anticipating a ground invasion, Israel ordered the population of northern Gaza to leave the area toward the south of the enclave. More than 600,000 people have already fled. According to OCHA, Gazans currently have an average of only three liters of water per day for drinking, cooking and washing.
On Sunday, Israel restored water supplies to part of the town of Khan Younis, south of the Palestinian enclave. According to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) report released on Monday, the remaining resources in Gaza will be completely exhausted in less than a week. Many vulnerable families already no longer have access to food.
12:21
Eleven Palestinian journalists were killed
Eleven Palestinian journalists have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war between Israel and Hamas began, the Palestinian journalists’ union said on Monday. The latter, based in the occupied West Bank, also points out in a press release that “20 journalists were injured as a result of Israeli aggression” in the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas, which rules there, around 2,750 people have died in Israeli attacks on Palestinian territory.
11:32
Antony Blinken returns to Israel for crisis talks
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday as part of his crisis trip to the Middle East. In recent days he has visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar. He arrived in Tel Aviv and will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
11:10
Olaf Scholz will visit Israel tomorrow
Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Israel on Tuesday to express his solidarity with that country, say German and Israeli media. Citing government sources, the popular German newspaper Bild and German television channel n-tv announced the visit, which would be the first by a foreign head of state or government in the country since hostilities broke out 10 days ago.
Israeli newspapers such as Israel Hayom and Haaretz also report on it. When asked by AFP, neither the Chancellery nor the Israeli authorities wanted to confirm this. In a speech to the Bundestag last Thursday, the Chancellor reiterated Germany’s full support for Israel. “Germany’s only place is at the side of Israel,” he said, adding that the “historic responsibility arising from the Holocaust” imposes on the country the “enduring duty to defend Israel’s existence and security.”
10:37
According to Israel, 199 hostages were captured by Hamas
The Israeli army said 199 people were captured by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the bloody attack on October 7, according to an updated report.
An earlier report published on Sunday reported 155 hostages. “We have informed the families of 199 hostages,” Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said during a news conference.
10:08
“No ceasefire” at this time between Gaza and Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Monday that there is “no ceasefire” between Israel and Palestinian Hamas at this time, on the 10th day of a war that has left thousands dead. “There is no ceasefire and no entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in exchange for the departure of foreigners,” Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement after a ceasefire was reported.
09:31
“There are not enough body bags for the dead”
Around 2,750 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to an updated report released Monday by the health ministry of Hamas, the Islamist movement that holds power in the Palestinian territory. Israeli attacks on Gaza continue in retaliation for the bloody Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7th. According to the Hamas ministry, they also left “more than 9,700 injured.”
“The number of deaths is increasing. “There are not enough body bags for the dead in Gaza,” complained UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency for Palestine refugees in the Middle East, in a situation report published on Sunday.
09:02
Temporary halt to Israeli attacks on Gaza evacuation routes
The Israeli army announced on Monday that it would refrain from attacking the evacuation corridors connecting the north and south of the Gaza Strip in the morning as it prepares a ground offensive against Hamas, which is in power. The Israeli armed forces “will refrain from attacking demarcated axes from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Swiss time), an army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, stated on X (ex-Twitter).
For your safety, take advantage of this short time to move from the north and Gaza City to the south
, he added. In another statement, the army said it had identified two evacuation routes.
Israel has urged residents of the northern Gaza Strip – around 1.1 million people out of a total population of 2.4 million – to flee south and said it would attack the northern Gaza Strip to destroy the center of Israel’s operations there. Islamist movement Hamas. Israeli attacks continue in the Gaza Strip, including in the southern Palestinian territory, as the United Nations estimates that more than a million people have been displaced in a week of war between Israel and Hamas. Rocket fire from Gaza onto Israeli soil also continues.
05:49
A Muslim child was killed in the USA
A 71-year-old man has been charged with murder and hate crimes after stabbing a Muslim woman and a 6-year-old boy near Chicago. The child who suffered 26 stab wounds died in the hospital, but the 32-year-old woman believed to be his mother is expected to survive, according to a statement from the Will County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office, which called the attack “heinous.” . “Investigators were able to determine that the two victims of this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect because they are Muslims and because of ongoing conflict between Hamas and the Israelis in the Middle East,” the statement said.
US President Joe Biden condemned the killing, denouncing a “horrible act of hate” that “has no place in America and violates our core values.”
05:25
The heavy bombing continues
Time with agencies
Rafah, Sunday evening. — © SAID KHATIB / AFP
According to the Gaza Interior Ministry, the Israeli army carried out dozens of attacks against the Tal al-Hawa and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods, as well as airstrikes on buildings in Khan Younes, Rafah and Nuseirat camp. Gaza residents said that night’s strike campaign was “the largest since retaliatory attacks began last week,” according to Portal. According to the witnesses, shelling was particularly intense in Gaza City, with airstrikes targeting areas around two of the city’s main hospitals.
04:14
Hospitals in Gaza only have 24 hours of fuel left
At Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah in the Gaza Strip, this Sunday, October 15th. — © Adel Hana / keystone-sda.ch
The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says in a situation report that fuel reserves in hospitals in the Gaza Strip are expected to last for another 24 hours. “Shutting down the emergency generators would endanger the lives of thousands of patients,” the UN agency added.
03:30
An Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip would be “a serious mistake,” according to Joe Biden.
In an interview with the American broadcaster CBS, seen by Le Monde, the American president judges that the possible occupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel “would be a serious mistake.” According to him, “the extremist elements of Hamas do not represent the entire Palestinian people.” However, he believes the elimination of “extremists” is “necessary,” adding that “there must be a path to a Palestinian state.”
The American president also said he “does not consider it necessary” for American troops to take part in this war, adding that they would not be sent to Ukraine either.
03:13
For Antony Blinken, the expulsion of the Palestinians is doomed to failure
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken categorically rejects the possibility of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. “An idea that is doomed to fail and that is why we do not support it,” he said in an interview with Saudi television channel Al-Arabiya, believing that Gazans should be able to stay while Israel fights Hamas. “We believe that people should be able to stay in Gaza, their homeland. But we also want to make sure they are out of danger and get the help they need,” he said.