By Chris Jewers
Published: 08:29, October 16, 2023 | Updated: 09:52, October 16, 2023
Follow Web’s live coverage of the current conflict in Israel and Gaza here.
Dead Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qassem Soleimani planned the Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people, according to a report from a Washington-based think tank.
- Soleimani was killed in January 2020 in a US drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump.
- It is now alleged that the assassinated leader was the man behind the mass murder plot previously hinted at by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
- Hamas has been accused of being a proxy for the Ayatollah regime and fulfilling its wishes, an Israeli spokesman, Lior Haiat, told Fox News.
- There is speculation that Iran was involved in planning Hamas’ surprise attack – the so-called Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – since the fighting broke out.
- The report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) think tank noted a propaganda report by Khamenei.
- “The significance is that last year the leader [Khamenei] gave “the promise of impending conquest,” and this year he gave “the announcement of complete conquest,” and Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is part of this impending conquest, it said.
- The think tank claims the mass murder plan was hatched by Soleimani.
IDF warns Hezbollah of “lethal” response
The Israeli military has warned Lebanese terror group Hezbollah that it faces a “lethal” response if it continues to attack Israel.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the US gave Israel its full support for a counterstrike against the Iran-backed group allied with Hamas:
Hezbollah carried out a series of attacks yesterday to attempt to distract our operational efforts [away from the Gaza Strip], directed and supported by Iran, while endangering the state of Lebanon and its citizens. We have increased our forces on the northern border and are responding aggressively to any activity against us. If Hezbollah dares to test us, the response will be deadly. The United States gives us full support.
The IDF is evacuating civilians from 28 communities along the Lebanese border as attacks continue on both sides.
BREAKING: The IDF says 199 hostages are being held in Gaza, more than previous estimates
According to the Israeli military, 199 hostages are being held in Gaza – more than previously thought.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said the families had been notified.
He did not provide any information about whether this number included foreigners or who was detaining them. Most are believed to be held by the militant Hamas group, which rules Gaza.
“We have updated the families of 199 hostages,” Hagari said at a media briefing, revising the previous figure of 155 prisoners.
Several UN-flagged trucks were seen heading towards the border crossing
Several U.N.-flagged trucks were seen leaving the southern Gaza Strip toward a border point of the Palestinian enclave with Israel and Egypt, according to a Portal TV contributor.
The trucks initially appeared to be heading toward the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border, but their course later appeared to take them toward Kerem Shalom, an Israeli crossing near the Egyptian border.
The Chinese foreign minister meets his Russian counterpart in Beijing for talks about the conflict
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Beijing today.
The couple discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The urgent task is a ceasefire and establishing a channel for humanitarian aid, Wang said at the meeting.
He also called on China and Russia to deepen strategic mutual trust, his ministry said.
WATCH: Israeli Navy patrol boat eliminates Hamas terrorists on October 7
Footage has emerged of an Israeli navy patrol boat killing Hamas terrorists on October 7, as the group’s brutal attack unfolded.
You can watch the dramatic video below:
A Hamas official says reports of the crossing opening are untrue
Following our 8:32 a.m. update, an official from the Hamas terror group told Portal that there was no truth to the reports about the opening of the Rafah border crossing.
They also denied that there was a temporary ceasefire.
Egyptian security sources had previously told Portal that an agreement had been reached to open the border crossing (between Gaza and Egypt) to allow aid deliveries into the enclave from 0600 GMT.
Fears of all-out war are growing across the Middle East as Israel evacuates villages near Lebanon
IThe Israeli army is evacuating residents living on the northern border with Lebanon.
- An Israeli civilian and an army officer were killed in rocket attacks from Lebanon on Sunday, and the army carried out retaliatory strikes and attacked infrastructure belonging to the terror group Hezbollah.
- The group is allied with Hamas and supported by Iran.
- The Israeli army referred to “the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel living in the area up to two kilometers from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses” in a statement on Monday.
- The move affects thousands of people living in 28 communities, and many have already left the area after repeated cross-border fires.
- Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his country had “no interest in a war in the north, we do not want to escalate the situation”:
If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very high price. But if it holds back, we will respect the situation and leave things as they are.
Netanyahu’s office denied reports of a ceasefire that would allow aid to enter Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office this morning dismissed reports of a ceasefire in Gaza that would allow aid to enter and foreigners to flee to Egypt.
“There is currently no ceasefire in Gaza and no humanitarian assistance in exchange for the deportation of foreigners,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
- According to the World Health Organization, life-saving aid is waiting to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, which is on the southern border with Egypt.
- The border crossing was closed due to Israeli air strikes.
Good morning and welcome to Web’s live blog on the emerging conflict in Israel and Palestine on October 16, 2023.
More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion of the enclave to wipe out Hamas.
Israeli forces, supported by US warships, have positioned themselves along the border with the Gaza Strip and are awaiting orders to invade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told his armed forces that Israel is at their side as the “fateful hour” for an attack on the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air approaches.
A week of intense airstrikes – sparked by the terror group’s Oct. 7 attack – have destroyed neighborhoods but failed to stop Hamas’ rocket fire into Israel.
With more than 4,000 deaths for both sides, the war is the deadliest of five Gaza wars.
Here’s what you need to know this morning:
- The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians were killed and 9,600 injured.
- According to Israel, more than 1,400 Israelis were killed and at least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken to Gaza.
- UN shelters across the Gaza Strip have run out of water and doctors across the territory are struggling to care for patients. They fear many will die if the generators run out of fuel.
- The Israeli military said it would not target a specific route south for several hours and reiterated calls for Palestinians to leave the north en masse. The evacuation order was first issued by the IDF on Friday, urging the 1.1 million people in the northern Gaza Strip to flee south.
- The World Health Organization described this as a “death sentence” for thousands of Gazans being treated in hospitals.
- According to the WHO, life-saving aid, including health care for 300,000 patients, is waiting to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing, which lies on the southern border with Egypt. The crossing was closed due to air raids.
- The United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency said Gaza was being “strangled” and the number of people seeking shelter in its schools and facilities in the territory’s south was overwhelming
- Meanwhile, the Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of people in 28 communities near the Lebanese border.
- The order came after an increase in cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah – with the terror group announcing on Friday that it was ready to join the fighting on Hamas’s side.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Sunday that the Middle East was “on the brink of the abyss”.
