Israel-Hamas war highlights: Hamas calls for protest in East Jerusalem, West Bank

Speaking to AlJazeera, Hamas said that it is in talks with Egypt, Qatar and the UN to open a humanitarian corridor from Gaza.

Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, said, “We are in contact with the Egyptians, Qataris, and with the United Nations representatives. We are working together about opening a [humanitarian] corridor. But as of now, nothing has been done on the ground. I hope the international community opens its eyes to the situation in Gaza”

UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says 12 colleagues have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, UNRWA said, “We are devastated to confirm that 12 @UNRWA colleagues have been killed since 7 October in the 📍#GazaStrip We mourn this loss and are grieving with our colleagues and the families. @UN staff and civilians must be protected at all times.”

Israel is targeting Hamas’ political leaders in Gaza as well as military ones as it seeks to crush the Palestinian group that launched a brutal attack on its civilians last weekend, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht said. Hamas’s elite Nukhba forces led the Saturday assault and the military’s focus is to hit that group’s command centers in Gaza, Hecht told reporters on Thursday.

He said a widely anticipated ground invasion has not yet been decided upon by the new emergency unity government announced last night, in which an opposition leader, Benny Gantz, joins Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition for the duration of the war.

The military is nonetheless preparing for such a move, he said, should it be ordered.

Bloomberg

Amid the ongoing conflict initiated by a Hamas attack, the Israeli government is preparing to name a new health minister. The Shas party is putting forward MK Uriel Buso as the candidate for this role, replacing Moshe Arbel, who had been overseeing both the health and interior ministries since the removal of Shas leader Aryeh Deri from the cabinet. Arbel will retain his position as interior minister, as confirmed by his spokesperson.

Since Saturday morning, a total of 3,297 injured individuals have been admitted to hospitals across the country, Israel's Health Ministry said as of 9 am.

Among these cases, 28 are classified as critical, 335 as serious, 581 as moderate, and 1,805 as in good condition. Additionally, 115 individuals are currently undergoing medical evaluation, and 142 people sought medical attention due to psychological shock.

At present, there are still 423 injured individuals receiving hospital care, with 111 in serious condition, 189 in moderate condition, and 113 with minor injuries.

International Committee of Red Cross said on Thursday that three out of five water plants in Gaza were out of service due to bombings and lack of fuel.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), has confirmed that the military has already informed the families of 97 individuals who are currently being held as hostages by terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad assert that they are holding 130 hostages, although certain reports suggest that the actual number of hostages in the Gaza Strip could be as high as 200 or more, Times of Israel reports.

According to medical personnel, two individuals have sustained severe injuries in the most recent rocket strike originating from the Gaza Strip, targeting the southern city of Sderot. The Magen David Adom ambulance service has reported that their paramedics are currently transporting a woman in her twenties and a man in his thirties to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Both victims suffered critical injuries from rocket shrapnel, Times of Israel reported.

Amid the escalating war between Israel and Hamas militants, the Israeli ministry on Thursday said that they are “destroying Hamas' ability to govern Gaza.”

Three Chinese nationals have been killed in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Thursday. China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also said that two other nationals are uncontactable and several others are injured.

Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-founder of Biz2Credit and Biz2X on the impact on global oil prices due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War

“The instability in the region has always had the potential to influence oil prices, creating uncertainties in the market. Such volatility not only affects energy and trade but indirectly impacts consumer behaviours and investment strategies.”

Germany will ban the pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday, adding that its members were celebrating Islamist Hamas "terror" in Israel on German streets.

"Our law governing associations is a sharp sword. And we, as a strong constitutional state, will draw this sword," Scholz said in an address to parliament in Berlin.

The group, which identifies as a Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, posted photos on Instagram on Sunday of pro-Palestinian activists distributing sweets in Berlin in celebration of Saturday's Hamas attack in Israel.

The group has been organising pro-Palestinian protests and is now monitored by Berlin's domestic intelligence agency, according to German magazine Der Spiegel.

Elon Musk’s X said it scrubbed or labelled tens of thousands of posts including “illegal” content since the Israel-Hamas war erupted, responding to warnings to stem the spread of fake news around the conflict.

Dig deeper: Elon Musk's X response to Israel-Hamas War

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday as part of a wider Middle East tour to display Washington's solidarity with Israel

Amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Berlin will allow Israel to use two Heron drones the German air force has in use in the country, defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday.

The Israeli military on Thursday declined to publish the number of interceptions of Palestinian rockets that it has carried out in the Gaza war. "I'm not going to tell the enemy the number of our intercepts," spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht told the media, reported Reuters.

Previously, Israeli officials were reportedly planning for possible strains on their supplies of anti-rocket interception missiles in the event of especially heavy fighting.

The Hamas militant group on Thursday said that rockets have been fired at Tel Aviv after Israel's air strikes on Gaza late Wednesday.

The Israeli military on Thursday said while no specific decision has been made yet, they are preparing for ground incursion into Gaza.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in contact with Hamas and Israel to try to negotiate the release of hostages taken into Gaza, the group said on Thursday. "As a neutral intermediary we stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits; facilitate communication between hostages and family members; and to facilitate any eventual release," Fabrizio Carboni, the ICRC's regional director for the Near and Middle East, said in a statement, reported Reuters.

Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson Lieutenant Col. Jonathan Conricus on Thursday confirmed reports of Hamas beheading babies in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza, saying that it looked a “scene out of a Zombie movie”.

“It's a war zone…There were babies that have been beheaded...it was hard to believe that even Hamas could perform such barbaric act,” the IDF spokesperson said.

Highlighting the atrocities done to the civilians, he added, “There were bodies scattered everywhere, mutilated, women and children that were handcuffed and shot, executed, houses torched and burned, and people who were either burnt inside or suffocated.”

The Egyptian government has rejected any proposal to establish corridors out of Gaza for Palestinians fleeing Israel’s bombardment in Gaza, a senior Egyptian official said on Thursday. According to the official, they were talking with Israel and the United States about establishing safe corridors inside Gaza and the allowance of humanitarian aid to besieged Palestinians, reported AP.

Hamas media on Thursday said that 15 Palestinians have been killed, while several others have been wounded in Israeli air strikes in Gaza. On Wednesday night, Israel, in a retaliatory bombing, carried out air strikes across Gaza that has reportedly killed over 900 people.

The Indian diaspora in Israel has extended solidarity to the people of the country, saying the attack by Hamas militants against innocent civilians in the country is a “crime against humanity.” “We stand in solidarity with the people of Israel and condemn these unprovoked and barbaric attacks…Hamas’ and Jihadi terrorists' goal is to destroy Israel, and its attacks on innocent civilians are a crime against humanity,” said Khanderao Kand, director of the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS).

Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over what he described as a lack of preparation for a weekend attack by the Hamas militants. “He was not prepared. He was not prepared and Israel was not prepared. And under Trump, they wouldn't have had to be prepared,” Trump said as quoted by Reuters citing Fox News.

Taiwan has set up a task force to draw lessons from the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Thursday.