Israel-Hamas conflict highlights: Fresh barrage of rockets fired from Gaza

Weighing in on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, defence experts have said that Israel is a powerful country and its army is trained to deal with such attacks.

The experts were also of the opinion that Israel is capable of easily eliminating Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.

International Affairs and Defence Expert, Major General (Retd) Sanjay Soi told ANI that Hamas firing as many as 5,000 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip definitely must have taken Israel by surprise.

"This was an intelligence failure on Israel's part. The death toll has soared and Israel is witnessing such a situation after a long time. Israel has a very strong intelligence system. They take a productive stand, Israel does not leave its land and cannot ever bear casualties," Maj Gen (Retd) Soi added.

An eight-year-old child was moderately injured after a house in Southern Israel's Ashkelon hit by rockets launched from Gaza. The child has been taken to hospital, according to reports.

The spokesperson of Hamas' military wing claimed that fighting is still ongoing in several areas near the northern Gaza border, including Zikim, Sufa, and Mefalsim, and that terrorists managed to take a new group of Israeli hostages into the Gaza strip today.

The evacuation warning came shortly after dark. The Israeli military fired the shot just a short distance from Nasser Abu Quta’s home in the southern Gaza Strip, a precautionary measure meant to allow people to evacuate before airstrikes.

Abu Quta, 57, thought he and his extended family would be safe some hundred meters (yards) away from the house that was alerted to the pending strike. He huddled with his relatives on the ground floor of his four-story building, bracing for an impact in the area.

But the house of Abu Quta’s neighbor was never hit. In an instant, an explosion ripped through his own home, wiping out 19 members of his family, including his wife and cousins, he said. The airstrike also killed five of his neighbors who were standing outside in the jam-packed refugee camp, a jumble of buildings and alleyways.

The airstrike in Rafah, a southern town on the border with Egypt, came as Israeli forces intensified their bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip following a big, multi-front attack by Hamas militants Saturday that had killed over 700 people in Israel by Sunday night. Hamas also took dozens of Israelis hostage and fired thousands of rockets toward Israeli population centers, although most were intercepted by the country's Iron Dome defense system.

Fresh rockets have been fired from Gaza toward Ashkelon just minutes after an earlier barrage, including reports of direct impacts.

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday described attacks carried out by Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas against Israeli towns as a "serious and grave escalation."

The UAE foreign ministry in a statement also said it was "appalled" by reports Israeli civilians were taken as hostages from their homes.

"Civilians on both sides must always have full protection under international humanitarian law and must never be a target of conflict," the ministry added.

The UAE became the first Gulf country to normalise relations with Israel in 2020, breaking with decades of Arab policy toward the Palestinian cause.

European soccer's governing body UEFA has postponed all matches scheduled to take place in Israel over the next two weeks after Hamas' surprise attack.

“In light of the current security situation in Israel, UEFA has decided to postpone all matches scheduled in Israel in the next couple of weeks with new dates to be confirmed in due course," UEFA said in a statement on Sunday.

That includes Israel's match against Switzerland in 2024 European Championship qualifying, which had been scheduled for Thursday at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium.

“UEFA will continue to closely monitor the situation and will remain in contact with all teams involved before making decisions on new dates and on potential changes to other upcoming fixtures,” UEFA said.

Senior Hamas official says militant group is holding more than 100 people captive after assault on Israel.

At least three Americans have been killed following Hamas fighters' attack on Israel on Saturday, CNN reported on Sunday citing a U.S. memo.

The Israeli rescue service Zaka says its paramedics removed about 260 bodies from a music festival attended by thousands that came under attack by Hamas militants.

The total figure is expected to be higher as other paramedic teams were working in the area.

Video aired on social media and by Israeli news outlets showed dozens of festival goers running through an open field as gunshots rang out. Many hid in nearby fruit orchards or were gunned down as they fled.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that two Ukrainian nationals had died in unrest in Israel and that more than 100 citizens had contacted the country's embassy.

"Unfortunately, the deaths of two Ukrainian citizens have been confirmed," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Zelenskiy said he spoke on Sunday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed "solidarity with Israel, which is enduring a brazen, large-scale attack".

Two Mexicans, a man and a woman, are believed to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said Sunday.

She did not name them and gave no details about whether they are resident in Israel or were visiting the area.

On a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, Bárcena said that the Mexican government is in contact with their relatives and the Israeli authorities.

The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group says militants in Gaza are holding dozens of Israeli captives, including more than 30 held by his group.

Ziad Nakhaleh said in a televised speech Sunday night that the captives will not be released until all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are set free.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group took part in the operation that Hamas carried out Saturday in which hundreds of Israelis were killed.

“The prisoners that are being held are in the tens, and I can say that they are much more than that,” Nakhaleh, who usually lives in Beirut, said. He added that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has more than 30 captives.

Major airlines cancelled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv this weekend after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel.

American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates and Ryanair are among those pulling flights to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.

However, airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Israel's second international airport at Eilat, a tourist destination on the Red Sea.

And Israeli flag carrier El Al said Sunday that it was maintaining its Tel Aviv flights for now, though some flights operated by foreign partners had been cancelled.

El Al said it was operating "in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli security forces", with all flights now departing only from Terminal Three at Ben Gurion.

Like most other airlines, it said clients could change their tickets without charge.

In Athens, the foreign ministry said it was working to repatriate 149 Greek tourists from Israel, and 81 of them were due to arrive back late Sunday on an El Al flight.

After Saturday saw a list of major carriers cancelling flights Spain's AENA airports operator told AFP four of nine flights scheduled to Tel Aviv on Sunday had been cancelled, two from Madrid and two from Barcelona.

Another nine flights, from Tel Aviv to airports in Spain, have so far been unaffected, the operator said.

Spain's Air Europa said it had cancelled its two flights scheduled between Madrid and Tel Aviv, while Iberia Express, the low-cost arm of national carrier Iberia, went ahead with a Madrid-Tel Aviv flight after suspending two on Saturday.

Vueling, the Barcelona-based low-cost airline, said given the situation in Israel, "flights to/from Tel Aviv are affected and experiencing delays".

A spokesman for Germany's Lufthansa on Saturday cited "the current security situation" to say it was cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv "up until and including Monday".

Air France said it had halted Tel Aviv flights "until further notice", and the Air France-KLM group's low-cost carrier Transavia said it was cancelling all flights from Paris and Lyon to Tel Aviv up to and including Monday.

Italy's flag-carrier ITA airways cancelled its flight until Sunday morning at the earliest "to protect the safety of passengers and crew", while Polish carrier LOT scrapped its flights from the Polish capital on Saturday.

Other airlines suspending flights included Aegean, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Wizz Air and Air Canada. (AFP)

The Nepali embassy in Israel's Tel Aviv confirmed that 10 of its citizens are among those killed in the slew of attacks carried out by Hamas.

“Ten Nepalis have tragically died, due to an attack by the Palestinian Hamas group, in a place called Kibbutz Alumim,” the Nepali embassy said in a statement.

A line of Israelis snaked outside a central Israel police station to supply DNA samples and other means that could help identify missing family members. Israeli TV news aired a stream of accounts from relatives of captive or missing Israelis who wept and begged for assistance and information.

In northern Israel, a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group fanned fears that the fighting could expand into a wider regional war.

The United States is expected to send an aircraft carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel.

President Isaac Herzog delivered a speech to the nation, emphasizing the importance of national unity, Times of Israel reported on Sunday. He urged the people to maintain the spirit of heroism and togetherness, highlighting it as their most powerful weapon.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) called on Sunday for the creation of humanitarian corridors to bring food into Gaza as Israeli air strikes pounded the Palestinian enclave following deadly Hamas attacks.

"As the conflict intensifies, civilians, including vulnerable children and families, face mounting challenges in accessing essential food supplies," the Rome-based WFP said.

US President Joe Biden has ordered "additional support" for Israel after the attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas, the White House said Sunday, without giving details.

British parliamentarians from both houses on Sunday signed a statement condemning attacks by Hamas in Gaza and across Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said that it is carrying out a new wave of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, Times of Israel reported on Sunday.

The IDF said it is hitting targets belonging to the Hamas terror group.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with US Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday.

According to Herzog’s office, Harris sent her condolences to the Israeli people, and stressed Israel’s right to defend itself.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the UK's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday. Netanyahu said the leaders expressed their full support for Israel to defend itself "as much as it takes".