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Israel-Hamas war news Highlights: US Navy intercepts 3 missiles fired from Yemen
Israel-Hamas war news Highlights: United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday arrived in Israel to discuss the country's war with Hamas.
Israel-Hamas war news Highlights: The Russian foreign minister on Thursday said that they have sent 27 tons of humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip to be transported from Egypt. United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday arrived in Israel to discuss the country's war with Hamas. Sunak's visit comes a day after Biden visited Tel Aviv.
...Read MoreDuring his visit, Biden underscored the United States’ unwavering support for Israel in the face of Hamas’s terrorism. Biden also underlined that vast majority of Palestinians do not support Hamas and that the militant organisation was not their representative. He also announced a $100 million aid for humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank. The US president also announced that Egypt has agreed to open up the Rafah crossing to allow in up to 20 trucks of aid into Gaza. The development was confirmed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a statement.
The US president traveled to Tel Aviv on a rapid visit to offer his country's support in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israeli villages and military bases by Hamas gunmen who killed close to 1,400 people and took about 200 hostages.
Meanwhile, Israel has strongly denied any involvement in the blast at a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, which killed over 500 people. The Israel Defense Forces said the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian militant rocket. The White House has also backed Israel's claim saying that US intelligence shows that Tel Aviv was not to blame for the strike.
Here are some key points about the Israel- Hamas war:
- The war between Israel and the Hamas militants entered its 13th day on Thursday.
- Tel Aviv has stationed its forces along the Gaza border, carrying out drills for a possible ground invasion to pursue Hamas militants.
- The war has claimed over 4,000 lives since it began last Saturday. These include around 1,400 Israelis and 2,750 Palestinians.
- Israel has put the Gaza Strip under a total blockade and has pounded it with unprecedented air strikes.
- Concerns have been mounting globally about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip and fears that the war could metastasize into a broader regional conflict.
Israel-Hamas war, Day 13: Joe Biden to address nation after Tel Aviv trip
US President Joe Biden on Thursday will address the American public about the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House has said. Biden will address the nation at 8 pm (ET).
Malala Yousafzai donates $300k for Palestinians
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has announced that she is donating $300k to charities helping Palestinian people under attack.
“I’m horrified to see the bombing of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza and unequivocally condemn it. I urge the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and reiterate the call for a ceasefire,” she said.
Why Arab countries are unwilling to take refugees from Gaza
As desperate Palestinians in sealed-off Gaza try to find refuge under Israel’s relentless bombardment in retaliation for Hamas' brutal October 7 attack, some ask why neighboring Egypt and Jordan don’t take them in.
Their refusal is rooted in fear that Israel wants to force a permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries and nullify Palestinian demands for statehood. Read more.
Update from West Bank
Palestinian official news agency WAFA now reports that three Palestinians, including two teenagers, were killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank early on Thursday.
The West Bank is home to the Palestinian Authority (PA) which is dominated by Hamas rivals Fatah and 87-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
There has been no immediate comment from Israel on the development, according to Reuters.
Meet the Israeli woman who kept militants engaged till rescue arrived
When Hamas militants toting grenades appeared in her living room, Rachel Edri served them tea and Moroccan cookies until police stormed in and killed the attackers.
Edri's tale of quick-witted survival during the Israel-Hamas war has turned the 65-year old woman into an unlikely folk hero in Israel. Read more.
Drone attack at US bases in Iraq
As regional tensions flare following the explosion at a hospital in Gaza, a drone attack was reported at two US bases in Iraq. Minor injuries were reported.
Two drones targeted the al Asad airbase in western Iraq used by US forces and one drone targeted a base in northern Iraq, an American official told The Associated Press.
Israeli forces ‘storm’ West Bank areas, one killed
Israeli forces have stormed at least two cities in the West Bank and carried out arrests of suspected Hamas members, Al Jazeera reported. One Palestinian man was killed, according to Reuters.
The Israeli operation targeted Hamas members in the cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh.
US issues advisory for Lebanon
The United States Embassy in Lebanon is advising its citizen from travelling to the country.
“We recommend that US citizens in Lebanon make appropriate arrangements to leave the country; commercial options currently remain available,” the advisory says. “We recommend that US citizens who choose not to depart prepare contingency plans for emergency situations.”
Attack on Israel was even bigger than 9/11: Israeli envoy at UN
Labelling Hamas as a terror organisation like 'no other,' Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, has said that the attack carried out was “barbaric and a widescale terror attack in decades, even bigger than 9/11.”
He slammed the Security Council for not designating Hamas as a terrorist group for political reasons during today's session. Read further.
Israel-Hamas war: US vetoes UNSC resolution on 'humanitarian pauses'
A draft resolution asking for "humanitarian pauses" to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza was not adopted by the United Nations Security Council after the United States vetoed it.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said this was because the resolution did not mention Israel's right of self-defense.
Twelve members of the UN Security Council voted in favour of the Brazil-led resolution and two (Russia, and the United Kingdom) abstained.
US, Egypt agree on Gaza aid deal
Israel-Hamas war news LIVE: US President Joe Biden has announced that his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi agreed to allow an initial group of 20 trucks with humanitarian aid into Gaza by Friday.
However, if Hamas militants confiscate the aid, “it will end,” Biden said. Read on.
Israel-Hamas war: Rishi Sunak to visit Israel today
Israel-Hamas war news LIVE: United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be visiting Israel to discuss the country's war with Hamas today. He will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
"Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas' horrific act of terror," Sunak said in a statement ahead of his visit, according to Reuters.
