Israel-Hamas war highlights: Israel's Netanyahu says will give 'answers' on Hamas attacks lapses

In a recent development, Health Minister Uriel Busso has issued a letter to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, urgently requesting the deployment of armed defense teams at all hospitals in Israel. This request aims to fortify security measures and shield healthcare facilities from potential security threats, both domestic and international, Times of Israel reported.

Expressing his profound concerns, Busso emphasized the looming threats to medical institutions, including the spectre of missile attacks and terrorist incidents that could potentially harm medical professionals, patients, and visitors, thereby jeopardizing the smooth operation of these vital facilities.

“The mass call-up of military reservists has left health institutions with half the number of its usual armed security guards, leaving them vulnerable at this time when security should be stepped up,” Busso wrote.

“Israel's attacks on Gaza and supporting them amount to assassination, mental illness,” says Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, reports Reuters.

“Israel must stop attacks on Gaza; attacks on Israeli lands must stop too. Israel must stop ‘settlement’ in Ramallah and elsewhere.,” he added.

The Israel Air Force (IAF) has released video evidence of their Navy successfully thwarting an infiltration attempt by the Hamas terror group, who sought to deploy divers for an incursion into Israel via the sea.

The IAF confirmed the elimination of two terrorists during the operation, countering earlier unverified reports from Hebrew-language media that suggested different figures. The footage also captures an airstrike on the launching compound used by the Hamas divers and an additional strike on a weapons storage facility linked to Hamas's naval forces.

Florida's university system, in collaboration with Governor Ron DeSantis, has mandated the closure of a pro-Palestinian student organization, making it the first US state to outlaw the group, whose national leadership endorsed Hamas' attack on Israel.

The State University System of Florida has ordered the dismantling of chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) as part of a "crackdown" on campus demonstrations providing "harmful support for terrorist groups" in the Republican-led state.

"Based on the National SJP's support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated," stated the system's Chancellor, Ray Rodrigues, in a memo to university leaders.

Reuters

Egypt is playing a very positive role in de-escalating Gaza crisis, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said adding that it is important to ‘use capabilities wisely’. He added that it is very important to rely on a diplomatic solution for the Palestinian cause.

US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held discussion over figuring out ways to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from escalating.

According to the White House, both the leaders discussed ‘diplomatic and military efforts to deter state and non-state actors from widening the conflict’ and sought to pursue ‘broader diplomatic efforts to maintain stability across the region’.

In the middle of soaring tension over the Israel-Hamas war and reports of a possible ground incursion of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, chief of Lebanon-based Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday met Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala in Beirut. According to Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, the trio discussed their further moves to ‘achieve a real victory for the resistance’ in Gaza. Read more

Pope Francis renewed his call for the release of hostages Hamas held captive as well as for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip.

"I am always thinking about the grave situation in Palestine and Israel. I encourage the release of hostages and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza," he said.

Key negotiators from Qatar are pressing Hamas to quicken the process to release the remaining hostages include women and children held in Gaza, Reuters reported citing diplomatic sources. They have been urging the release without expecting Israeli concessions.

The war between Israel and Hamas is already battering the economies of nearby countries, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund tells a Saudi investor forum.

“You look at the neighboring countries -– Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan –- there the channels of impact are already visible,” Kristalina Georgieva says at the Future Investment Initiative in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Top officials in the Middle-East's Islamist groups met in Lebanon's Beirut. Pictures shared from the meeting show Hezbollah chief Hassan Narsallah received Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh.

The airstriked by Israel military on targets in Syria's Daara killed eight soldiers, according to state media. "Around 1:45 am (2245 GMT Tuesday), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the occupied Golan Heights," the report said.

The Hamas government said on Wednesday more than 80 people killed after an overnight airstrike by Israel on besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza. “more than 80 people were martyred and hundreds wounded in massacres committed by the occupation (Israel) raids,” said the Hamas official.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) released photographs on Tuesday, showcasing what it claims to be fuel tanks within the Gaza Strip. The IDF alleges that Hamas is storing significant quantities of fuel in the region, The Times of Israel reported.

The images were shared by the IDF's Arabic-language account on X, featuring a location near the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza.

In a statement, Avichay Adraee, the IDF's Arabic spokesperson, emphasised, "This is what over half a million litres of diesel looks like," while highlighting that "Hamas keeps claiming it does not have enough fuel to support hospitals and bakeries."

Hamas had decried a power outage at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza as a "crime against humanity." They called upon Arab and Muslim nations, as well as the United Nations, to take action to address the crisis.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas could hurt economies in the entire Middle East region, including oil producers, if not contained, according to the World Bank.

“It used to be that everyone talked about the West and China de-coupling,” Ajay Banga said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday. “Right now the much bigger issue is the Middle East and what is happening there.”

Violence between Hamas and Israel started early in October when the militant group launched an unprecedented attack that left 1,400 Israelis dead.

Israel has responded with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing thousands, and is threatening a major ground war to eradicate Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and the EU.

Israel Latest: Macron Warns Militants as Gaza Hospitals on Brink

If the war stays confined, “it will be less of a concern but if it spreads, then it has the ability to destabilize a rich, oil-producing part of the world and that would be a complete game changer,” Banga said.

Thousands of miles from home, Thai labourer Kamlue was on his way to harvest courgettes on an Israeli farm near the Gaza border on Oct. 7 when the truck he was riding on came under heavy fire.

"They launched a relentless barrage of gunfire from every direction," he said, asking not to use his full name as he recounted his escape from the Hamas attack.

The driver of the truck managed to steer it to a safe position, but Kamlue was among several workers who were wounded.

"I was shot in my right leg, and I'm still recovering from the injury," said the 41-year-old, who returned to Thailand on a repatriation flight organised by the Thai government but plans to return to Israel to work to help clear his debts once the security situation improves.

According to Thailand, at least 30 of its nationals - mostly farm workers - were killed, 16 wounded and 17 were among those taken hostage during the rampage by the Hamas militant group in Israeli towns that killed about 1,400 people, most of them civilians, earlier this month.

Four Filipino care workers were among those killed and two more are missing, officials said.

Israel has responded to the Hamas attack by pounding Gaza with air strikes, killing thousands, and has vowed to annihilate the Palestinian group.

Israel escalated airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, crushing families in the rubble of residential buildings, as health officials said hundreds of Palestinians were killed in the past day and medical facilities were shut down because of bomb damage and lack of power.

The soaring death toll from the bombardment is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It augurs an even greater loss of life in Gaza once Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery launch an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas militants.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has drawn a parallel between the terrorist attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai and Hamas in Israel, emphasising that all acts of terrorism are "unlawful and unjustifiable."

Speaking at the United States Security Council ministerial meeting regarding the situation in the Middle East, following the October 7 attack on Israel by Gaza-based Hamas, Blinken denounced member states that provide support, including arming, funding, and training, to terrorist groups.

"We must affirm the right of any nation to defend itself and to prevent such horror from repeating itself. No member of this Council, no nation in this entire body could or would tolerate the slaughter of its people," the US Secretary said.

In his statement, Blinken highlighted similarities between terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas against Israel and those by the Pakistan-based terror organization Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai.

"As this Council and the UN General Assembly have repeatedly affirmed, all acts of terrorism are unlawful and unjustifiable. They're unlawful and unjustifiable, whether they target people in Nairobi or Bali Istanbul or Mumbai, in New York or Kibbutz Be'eri," he said.

"They are unlawful and unjustifiable whether they're carried out by ISIS, by Boko Haram, by Al Shabaab, by Lashkar-e-Taiba or by Hamas. They are unlawful and unjustifiable whether victims are targeted for their faith, their ethnicity, their nationality or any other reason," Blinken said.

The Israeli Defence Force made a request from the civilians of Gaza however with a deterrence asking for a ‘humanitarian deed’ and share actionable information about the locations of hostages where the Hamas has kept them in captivity. The Israeli military, on X (formerly Twitter), offered money for giving information for them to carry out rescue operation. Read more

Israeli forces on an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank came under fire by a group of Palestinians whom the military then hit with a drone, the Israeli military said on Wednesday, and Palestinian officials said three people were killed.

The military said armed Palestinians "fired and hurled explosive devices" at its forces in Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank. The military then struck them with a drone, and "hits were identified", it added.

The drone fired at least two projectiles, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency WAFA reported, citing sources in the camp.

Australia said Wednesday it was sending troops and two military transport aircraft to the Middle East as concern grows for Australian citizens in the region.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said a "significant number" of troops was being sent but declined to give the number. Two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft had also been deployed.

Marles, who is also deputy prime minister, would not say where the aircraft and troops would be based.

The planes will add to a C-17A Globemaster heavy transport aircraft and a KC-30 air refueller already in the area.

"The point of this is to provide support to Australian populations who are in the Middle East if this gets worse," Marles told public broadcaster ABC.

The United States and Russia were among several nations pushing for a pause in fighting or a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip as Israel maintained its bombardment of the enclave.

Late on Tuesday eight trucks with water, food and medicine entered Gaza from Egypt.

Nearly three weeks after Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli towns in a rampage that killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians, world leaders sought to prevent the conflict from spreading across a region key to global energy supplies.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone on Tuesday and agreed on broader diplomacy "to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from expanding," the White House said.

Amid the exarcebating conflict in the Middle-East region, India expressed its deep concern over the detiorating security situation and large-scale loss of civilian lives. Top diplomat at the United Nations Security Council R Ravindra said, “Civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a matter of serious and continuing concern. All parties must protect civilians, especially women and children... India has sent 38 tons of humanitarian goods, including medicines and equipment, to the people of Palestine. India has always negotiated a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue, leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side in peace with Israel, taking into account the legitimate security concerns of Israel... We also continue to support the Palestinian people through our bilateral development partnership, which covers a wide range of sectors including health, education, women's empowerment, entrepreneurship and information technology...In these challenging times, India will continue to send humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine...Every effort must be made to create conducive conditions for the resumption of these talks.”

Amidst reports of an imminent ground invasion of Gaza by Israel, President Joe Biden has said that Israel can make its own decisions, as the US firmly backs its ally while urging caution.

The latest conflict was triggered by unprecedented attacks against Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive against the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007.

Biden made the comment on Tuesday in response to a question while posing for a picture with the visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“Are you urging Israel to delay its ground invasion?” Biden was asked, to which he replied, “The Israelis can make their own decisions.”

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had struck military infrastructure inside Syria in response to earlier launches towards Israel.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that its "fighter jets struck military infrastructure and mortar launchers belonging to the Syrian Army in response to the launches toward Israel yesterday (Tuesday)".

A military spokesperson told AFP the strikes were inside Syria.

Fears are growing that Israel's war with Hamas will create wider regional turmoil, and especially further inflame existing tensions with Syria and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon.