Israel-Hamas war highlights: Israeli threat of ground invasion 'doesn't scare us', says Hamas

Iran warned Monday of a possible "pre-emptive action" against Israel "in the coming hours", as Israel readies for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Tehran has repeatedly warned that a ground invasion of the long-blockaded Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts -- prompting fears of a wider conflict that could draw in other countries.

"The possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance axis is expected in the coming hours," Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a live broadcast to state TV, as he referred to his meeting with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday.

Earlier Monday, Iran's top diplomat and president, Ebrahim Raisi had said time was running out to reach a political solution and warned against the expansion of the Israel-Hamas war to other fronts.

Amir-Abdollahian said Monday that "the resistance leaders" will not allow Israel "to do whatever it wants in Gaza".

"If we don't defend Gaza today, tomorrow we have to defend against these (phosphorus) bombs in the children's hospital of our own country," he added.

(AFP)

Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu had a conversation with Russia's President Putin on Monday regarding the ongoing war with Hamas militant group. During the exchange, Netanyahu said to Putin that Israel would not cease its operations in Gaza until Hamas is dismantled, as stated in the Israeli statement.

(With Reuters inputs)

Israel has suspended security exports to Colombia in an escalating diplomatic spat over online messages by Colombia's president comparing Israel's siege of Gaza to the actions of Nazi Germany.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has doubled down on his criticism of Israel and suggested that his country may need to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel, while his foreign minister has suggested Israel's ambassador should leave the country.

In a statement published Sunday, Israel's foreign ministry said that Petro's recent statements on X, previously known as Twitter, “inflame antisemitism" and "threaten the safety of the Jewish community in Colombia." The Israeli government said it called Colombia's ambassador to a meeting in which she was informed that defense cooperation between the countries would be suspended.

(AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has on Monday called for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor in Gaza to provide essential aid to the enclave's 2.3 million residents. This appeal comes in the wake of diplomatic efforts failing to deliver aid to Gaza, as Israel imposed a total blockade and conducted extensive airstrikes in response to an attack by Hamas that resulted in over 1,300 casualties.

Trudeau further stressed about the urgent need for unimpeded humanitarian access, stating that it is imperative to deliver vital supplies such as food, fuel, and water to Gaza's civilians. While Canada supports Israel's right to self-defense within the bounds of international law, Trudeau stressed that even in times of conflict, rules must be observed.

"Terrorism is always indefensible, and nothing can justify Hamas' acts of terror. ... Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people nor their legitimate aspirations," he said.

(Reuters)

The threat of an Israeli ground invasion of the blockaded Gaza Strip “doesn't scare us and we are ready for it”, Abu Obeideh, the spokesman of Hamas group said Monday.

He further said that the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades have detained 200 individuals since a significant attack in southern Israel on October 7, with approximately 50 more being held by other 'resistance factions and in different locations.

(AFP)

The Hamas group spokesperson said on Monday that there are about 200 to 250 Israeli captives in Gaza and also emphasised on the custody of captives of other nationalities, describing them as guests who will be released when circumstances allow.

In related developments, former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal announced on Monday that the group's Israeli captives include high-ranking officers from the Gaza Division. Meshaal, who heads Hamas' diaspora office, also stated that the group is committed to using these captives as leverage to secure the release of 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, Reuters reported citing an interview with Meshaal on Hamas' telegram channel, as reported by AlAraby TV.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefly took shelter in a bunker when sirens signaled a rocket attack in Tel Aviv, underscoring the risks faced by the top US diplomat as he moves through the region to prevent a broader conflict in the Middle East.

Blinken and Netanyahu, along with senior Israeli officials, were in a meeting when the sirens blared near the prime minister's office, indicating a rocket threat. State Department personnel and journalists accompanying the delegation were also directed to a secure underground location until the sirens ceased and the shelter order was lifted.

"During the secretary's meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the war cabinet, the air raid sirens went off, and they sought shelter in a bunker for five minutes," said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller

(With Bloomberg inputs)

Normal life in Israel came to a standstill following the October 7th attack by Hamas. Presently, the nation is intensely focused on three primary objectives: mourning the loss of lives, combatting Gaza-based militants, and rescuing numerous hostages.

Schools throughout the country have been shut down, major streets are notably devoid of traffic, and many shops and businesses have closed their doors as workers have been called up for reserve duty.

This attack, which resulted in the tragic loss of over 1,400 Israeli lives in a single day, has left Israel in a state of turmoil, shattering confidence in the government's ability to protect its citizens and the perceived invincibility of the country's armed forces.

Even high-tech defenses crumbled within minutes when confronted by a force that Israelis had previously considered a disorganized group of terrorists. For the first time since the 1948 war that led to Israel's creation, hostile forces took control of Israeli territory, and they also abducted at least 199 civilians and took them into Gaza.

As residents in the southern part of the country huddled in their homes, it took the military hours to respond. Feelings of vulnerability and abandonment were exacerbated as families desperate to find their missing or captive loved ones found themselves without government officials to speak to for days.

(AP)

The European Union said on Monday it would launch a humanitarian air bridge operation consisting of "several flights" to Egypt aiming to bring supplies to humanitarian organisations on the ground in Gaza.

"The first two flights will take place this week, carrying humanitarian cargo from UNICEF including shelter items, medicines and hygiene kits," the EU said in a statement.

Diplomatic efforts to arrange a ceasefire to let aid reach the besieged Gaza Strip failed earlier, and Israel ordered the evacuation of villages in a strip of territory near its border with Lebanon, raising fears the war could spread to a new front.

"Palestinians in Gaza are in need of humanitarian help and aid, they cannot pay the prize of Hamas' barbarism," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a press conference in Tirana.

Egypt said on Monday that Israel was not cooperating with delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry it does not wholly control, leaving hundreds of tonnes of supplies stuck.

Cairo says the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for desperately-needed supplies into the Israeli-besieged Palestinian enclave, is not officially closed but was made inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side.

As Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza has intensified, the territory's 2.3 million residents have been left without power, pushing health and water services to the brink of collapse, with fuel for hospital generators running low.

"There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful.

Lebanese authorities should take all necessary measures to avert a war with Israel, France's foreign minister said in Beirut on Monday, following repeated exchanges of fire along the shared frontier.

"Lebanese officials have a responsibility... to do everything possible to prevent Lebanon from being dragged into a spiral," Catherine Colonna told a press conference, adding that, no group "should take advantage" of the situation.

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, Tal Heinrich, Spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) outlined that Israel's battle is against Hamas and not against the people of Palestine.

Heinrich emphasised the resilience of Israeli families and the importance of taking action against Hamas, saying, "Their resilience is our strength. The ones who are aching the most are the ones giving us the most strength."

"Today it is important to highlight what the families told the PM of Israel and what they told the entire nation of Israel, to hold our heads high and to do what must be done against Hamas," she said addressing a virtual press conference on Monday.

Heinrich also revealed that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has discovered evidence of a Hamas-produced kidnapper's guide. "The IDF found evidence of Hamas-produced kidnapper's guide. Now the guide explains in gruesome detail how Hamas terrorists should capture and torture kidnapped civilians," added Heinrich.

Israel's ambassador to United Nations Gilad Erdan said that his country is not thinking about who will replace Hamas to govern the Gaza Strip after it topples the Islamist group.

“There are many, many questions regarding the future, [and] we will have time to discuss them… but for now, the only focus should be how to release the hostages, how to secure our future by obliterating Hamas capabilities,” Erdan told CNN.

Head of Israel's intelligence agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar on Monday took responsibility for unable to provide enough warning against the Hamas attack on October 7.

"Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately on Saturday we were unable to generate a sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted. As the one who heads the organization, the responsibility for this is mine,” Bar said in a missive to the agency members.

Hamas on Monday claimed that a total of 2,808 Palestinians have been killed so far during the war, injuring 10,850.

The Health Ministry in Israel on Monday rebuked World Health Organisation (WHO) for its statement on the ongoing war, which has included strongly worded criticism of Israel’s strikes on Gaza and its call for civilians in northern Gaza to flee south ahead of a ground operation.

“As Hamas rampaged through Israeli towns murdering infants, raping women and taking the sick and elderly hostage, including Holocaust survivors, the World Health Organization was largely focused on cessation of hostilities,” the Health Ministry says in a statement. “Israel’s efforts to save lives by evacuating civilians from the conflict zone in northern Gaza has been perversely twisted and maligned in service of Hamas’s efforts to continue their use of Gaza’s civilians as human shields,” the ministry was quoted as saying by Times of Israel.

Iran on Monday said time was running short to reach a political solution in the Israel-Gaza conflict, warning of the "possibility of expanding the scope of war and conflict to other fronts".

Israel declared war on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas a day after waves of its fighters broke through Gaza's heavily militarised border with Israel on October 7 and shot, stabbed and burned to death over 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Israel has responded by pummelling the Gaza Strip with non-stop air and artillery strikes that have flattened neighbourhoods and killed at least 2,750 people in Gaza, mostly civilians.

Iran celebrated the Hamas assault but insisted it was not involved.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday held phone calls with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, during which he "warned against the continuation of crimes by the Zionist regime", the president's political deputy, Mohammad Jamshidi, said on X, formerly Twitter.

The Israel Defence Force on Monday named eight more soldiers who were killed during the war which began last weekend. The latest number surged the toll of slain soldiers to 299.

Israel President Isaac Herzog on Monday lauds the unity among its citizen and thanked the United States for its public support and military aid. He said that war on terror groups in the Gaza Strip is not ‘morally complex’ but a part of the international struggle to maintain free societies.

“Everyone talks about complexity, but this moment is not a complex moment. There is absolute good here and there is absolute evil here. There is light here and there is darkness here,” Herzog was quoted as saying by Times of Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke last night with United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. The two leaders discussed regional developments in wake of Hamas's murderous assault against the citizens of Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized that Israel is determined to destroy Hamas's military and governing capabilities, and is making every effort to prevent harming non-combatants. The two leaders agreed to keep in contact.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it targeted five Israeli positions in northern Israel on Monday, as a security source in Lebanon and Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported Israeli shelling into northern Lebanon.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israeli frontier for days, in violence touched off by the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President Dennis Francis on Monday called for the release of hostages taken from Israel and providing uninterrupted access of civilians to humanitarian aid in Gaza.

In a post on X, Francis has echoed the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' appeal for the "immediate release" of hostages from Israel.

"I join the @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres in his appeal for the immediate release of all hostages taken from Israel & for the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in line with international law," posted the UNGA President on X.

"Civilians have been suffering the horrific consequences of violence since the attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7. I join the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his appeal for the immediate release of all hostages taken from Israel and for the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in line with international law," the post added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday updated Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his quick visit to Arab nations in an effort to form coalition against Hamas.

Blinken ‘underlined his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas’s terrorism and reaffirmed US determination to provide the Israeli government with what it needs to protect its citizens’, White House said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin entered the fevered diplomatic fray of the Middle East on Monday, speaking to five of the major players including Iran and leading Arab powers in an attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Russia, which has relationships with Iran, Hamas, major Arab powers as well as with the Palestinians and with Israel, has repeatedly said the United States and the West have ignored the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders.

Putin spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by telephone, the Kremlin said. He also plans to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it said.

Rocket alert sirens blared Monday in Jerusalem and several blasts were heard in the city, AFP correspondents said, amid the war raging with Hamas militants in Gaza.

The army confirmed "sirens sounding in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem", Israel's biggest cities, while a parliament meeting starting the legislative winter session was interrupted by the rocket alarm.