Israel-Hamas War News Live Updates: Israel to step up Gaza strikes, says military spokesman
THE TIMES OF INDIA | Oct 21, 2023, 23:29:58 IST
Share

Israel-Hamas War News Live Updates: Israel to step up Gaza strikes, says military spokesman

Israel Hamas War Live Updates: Aid deliveries have begun moving into the besieged Gaza Strip, two weeks after the militant group Hamas rampaged through southern Israel and Israel responded with airstrikes.

Israel says Hamas has freed two American hostages who had been held in Gaza since the war began. Israeli airstrikes continued to hit southern Gaza, an area swollen by civilians who fled there from the north on Israeli instructions.

The war, which is in its 15th day on Saturday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 4,385 people were killed in Gaza and 84 in the occupied West Bank since October 7.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel. In addition, 203 people were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza

Stay with TOI for latest updates.
09:07 (IST) Oct 21
Hope Palestine, Israel will return to negotiating table soon: Russian FM
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that he hopes Israel and Palestine will soon be able to resume negotiations. "I hope that everyone comes to reason and sits down at the negotiating table," Lavrov said, adding that it would then be necessary to coordinate all practical actions with the decisions of the UN Security Council, and also take into account the new realities, and how the situation has developed since 1967.
06:16 (IST) Oct 21
White House said that Joe Biden did not hear the question about Israel delaying ground invasion; he thought that the question was whether he would like to see more hostages released
06:09 (IST) Oct 21
Joe Biden, in a post on X, said that he would not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win.
05:31 (IST) Oct 21
President Joe Biden and European Union leaders delivered a message of unity Friday on the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine wars, despite worries that political paralysis in Washington could hamper US aid for its allies.
05:27 (IST) Oct 21
Canadian PM Trudeau spoke on Friday to the Saudi crown prince about the situation in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza: PM's office
"The two leaders expressed their deep concerns with the humanitarian impact of the conflict in Gaza and stressed the importance that all parties protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access to the affected areas," Trudeau's office said.
05:20 (IST) Oct 21
Hollywood celebrities including Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix, Ramy Youssef and Andrew Garfield penned a letter to US President Joe Biden on Friday, urging him to call for a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas.
05:14 (IST) Oct 21
The French military intelligence directorate (DRM) said on Friday that the blast at a Gaza hospital was not the result of an Israeli missile strike, but likely caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket.
03:31 (IST) Oct 21
Israel Hamas War News: Saudi crown prince stresses rejection of targeting civilians in any way and importance of adhering to international humanitarian law: SPA
01:57 (IST) Oct 21
Israel Hamas War News: Israel warned humanitarian groups in the Gaza Strip on Friday to evacuate a major hospital and five schools ahead of a potential strike, aid agencies said.
The Al-Quds Hospital is in northern Gaza, which has borne the brunt of Israeli air raids since Hamas staged their biggest ever attacks on Israel on October 7. (AFP)
00:50 (IST) Oct 21
Israel Hamas War News: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office named two American hostages freed by Hamas as Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan.
They were abducted in the Hamas cross-border attacks on October 7 and taken to Gaza. Hamas earlier announced their release. (AFP)
23:27 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas War News: Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules Gaza, relentlessly pounding the strip with air strikes, putting the enclave's 2.3 million people under a total siege and banning shipments of food, fuel and medical supplies.
22:45 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas War News: Lufthansa extends flight stop to Israel until October 31
Lufthansa and all its airlines have extended the suspension of flights to Israel to Oct. 31 due to security concerns in the region, the company said on Friday. The suspension includes all flights to and from Tel Aviv as well as Beirut, the company, which also include Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines, said.
22:15 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Gaza War News: US Republican senators ask tech firms about content moderation in Israel-Hamas war
US Senate panel's Republican lawmakers sent a letter on Friday to tech companies Meta Platforms, Google, TikTok and X, formerly called Twitter, seeking information on their content moderation policies in the Israel-Hamas war, the senators said. The Republican lawmakers of the US Senate Commerce Committee said they asked the companies "to commit to fully preserving a documentary history of Hamas's atrocities." Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mainly civilians. Since then Israel has bombed Gaza with air strikes. At least 4,137 Palestinians have been killed, including hundreds of children, in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Gaza, a 45 km-long (25-mile) enclave home to 2.3 million people, has been ruled since 2006 by Hamas. Gaza has been cut off from much of the outside world for 16 years since Israel imposed a blockade.
22:04 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Palestine War News: US veto at UN to shield Israel could weaken its Ukraine rallying cry
US credibility rallying support for issues like Ukraine may have been compromised, some diplomats said, after Washington this week blocked United Nations action to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza from the war between Israel and Hamas. The US veto in the UN. Security Council bolstered long-held criticisms of the West by Russia, China and some developing countries and could once again hinder Washington's immediate ability to win backing for issues tied to human rights and humanitarian law.
21:47 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Palestine War News: Israel says it doesn't plan long-term control of the Gaza Strip after its war with Hamas
Israel said Friday it does not plan to take long-term control over the Gaza Strip after an expected ground offensive to root out Hamas militants that rule the territory. The Israeli military punished Gaza with airstrikes, authorities inched closer to bringing aid to desperate families and hospitals, and Muslims around the world protested in solidarity with Palestinians.
21:24 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Gaza War News: Turkey's Erdogan calls on Israel to stop attacks on Gaza 'amounting to genocide'
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, which he said amounted to genocide, and urged the international community to work for a humanitarian ceasefire in the region. In a post on social messaging platform X, Erdogan also said Israel was provoking non-regional actors instead of turning back from its mistakes in Gaza, adding that the region needed saving from the "frenzy of madness" supported by Western powers and media.
21:02 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Gaza War News: Israel army orders evacuation of northern city after Lebanon clashes
The Israeli military announced plans to evacuate the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday, after days of clashes with Hezbollah fighters along the border with Lebanon.Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions have traded cross-border fire with Israel for days, after Hamas gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7.
20:32 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas War News: Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group launched a shock raid from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians shot, mutilated or burned to death, according to Israeli officials.
20:12 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Palestine War News: Gazans await 'life and death' aid, Israel readies invasion
Thousands of tonnes of "life and death" aid for Gaza should be delivered soon, the United Nations said Friday, to relieve a "beyond catastrophic" situation after unrelenting Israeli bombing in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack. Some 175 lorries stuffed with vital medicines, food, and water stretched into the distance at the Rafah crossing with Egypt, which has removed concrete roadblocks and is scrambling to repair the route into besieged Gaza -- the only one not controlled by Israel.
20:02 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas War News: White House details $105 billion plan for Ukraine, Israel, border and more
White House has detailed $105 billion plan for Ukraine, Israel, border and more and sought swift action despite House chaos.
19:39 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas War News: On Friday, the Israeli army announced plans to evacuate its northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday, after days of clashes with Hezbollah fighters along the border with Lebanon.
19:22 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas War News: Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack.
18:52 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas War News: Russia advises against travel to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestinian territories.
18:27 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas War News: Gaza is running short of fuel, food, water and medicine but the Egyptian-controlled border has remained shut while various parties wrangle over terms for allowing aid to flow in.
18:23 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas War News: About 1,400 Israelis were killed in the initial Hamas assault, the bloodiest single day in the state's 75-year history. At least 3,800 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli strikes. Most of the dead on both sides were civilians.
17:21 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Palestine War News: At least 4,137 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes since October 7, says health ministry
At least 4,137 Palestinians have been killed and 13,000 wounded in Gaza in Israeli strikes since Oct.7, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday in a statement.
16:47 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Gaza War News: 'Majority' of hostages in Gaza are alive: Israel army
The majority of some 200 people kidnapped in Israel by Hamas militants and taken to the Gaza Strip are still alive, the Israeli military said Friday. "The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken... to the Gaza Strip," an army statement said.
16:02 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas War News: Israel pounds Gaza, evacuates town near Lebanon ahead of expected ground offensive against Hamas
Israel bombarded Gaza early Friday, hitting areas in the south where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable Israeli town in the north near the Lebanese border, the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil. On Thursday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza “from the inside,” hinting at a ground offensive aimed at crushing Gaza's militant Hamas rulers nearly two weeks after their bloody incursion into Israel. Officials have given no timetable for such an operation.
15:55 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas War News: We have made clear that aid needs to go to innocent civilians and not Hamas: US
The United States has made clear that the aid in Gaza must reach civilians and not Gaza, adding that it will monitor "very carefully" how the aid is delivered in the region, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday (local time). While addressing a press briefing, Miller said that the Israeli government has concerns that the aid that goes into Gaza will be diverted as there is no presence of Israeli military force and United Nations peacekeeping force in Gaza.
15:25 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: First aid delivery due in Gaza in 'the next day or so', says UN
The first aid delivery into the besieged Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt should take place "in the next day or so", the United Nations said Friday. "We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation in Gaza starts as quickly as possible... a first delivery is due to start in the next day or so," the UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said, quoted by his spokesman Jens Laerke in Geneva
15:20 (IST) Oct 20
Israel Hamas war news: 29 Nobel Laureates, including Satyarthi, appeal for compassion for all children
Amid ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, with other nobel laureates has appealed for compassion for all children in the war reminding the world that all the children in Israel and Gaza are “our children” and need protection and immediate humanitarian aid. In a joint statement, in a rare initiative, 29 Nobel Laureates joined Indian Nobel Laureate Satyarthi in signing a statement today reminding the world that all the children in Israel and Gaza are “our children” and need protection and immediate humanitarian aid. The Nobel Laureates from all the six Nobel fields called for urgent release of the kidnapped children and a safe passage for all the children away from the conflict.
14:30 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Israel, 21 other countries call for immediate release of hostages
Israel's minister of foreign affairs Eli Cohen and 22 ambassadors and diplomats from countries whose citizens have been abducted have called for the immediate release of the abductees and to permit visits by the International Red Cross. Cohen said the release of the abductees is Israel's "foremost priority." The Israeli military said on Thursday that nearly 30 of some 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are children. More than 10 are over the age of 60, a statement by the Israeli military said adding that authorities have no information about the location of more than 100 missing Israelis.
13:40 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: War enters 14th day
Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant has ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza “from the inside,” hinting at a ground offensive aimed at crushing Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. Aid shipments badly needed in Gaza are positioned to enter through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. The war that was in its 14th day Friday is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 12,500 wounded.
13:17 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: China says over 1,000 of its nationals have left Israel amid conflict
Over 1,000 Chinese nationals have left Israel amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday. According to preliminary statistics, the Chinese nationals who have left have either returned to China or gone to a third country, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press briefing.
12:24 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: 13 killed in clashes with Israeli forces in West Bank
The Palestinian health ministry said on Friday that 13 people were killed, including five children, after Israeli forces raided and carried out an air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. The raid was conducted on the Nur Shams refugee camp, adjacent to the city of Tulkarm near the territory's border with Israel.
12:12 (IST) Oct 20
The Israeli army announced plans to evacuate the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday, after days of clashes with Hezbollah fighters along the border with Lebanon. "A short while ago, the Northern Command informed the mayor of the city of the decision. The plan will be managed by the local authority, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Defence," it said. Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions have traded cross-border fire with Israel for days, after Hamas gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7.
11:01 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Sunak to visit Egypt to hold talks on Israel-Hamas conflict
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to Egypt on Friday as he urges leaders in the Middle East to avoid regional escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Sunak will have further meetings with counterparts from the region, his office said in an emailed statement Friday, without specifying. On Thursday, he visited Israel where he told premier Benjamin Netanyahu: “We want you to win.”
10:59 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Senior female Hamas member killed in Israeli strike
A senior female member of the Hamas militant group was killed by an Israeli airstrike which targeted her house in Gaza, Palestinian security sources said. In a statement late Thursday, the Hamas said that Jameela Shanti, the only female member of the group's political bureau which is the highest-ranking body, was killed earlier in the day. According to reports, she was a member of Hamas and was the founder of the group's women's organisation.
10:53 (IST) Oct 20
The Hamas-controlled interior ministry said several displaced people sheltering at a church compound in Gaza were killed and injured after an Israeli strike late Thursday. The strike left a "large number of martyrs and injured" at the compound of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City, the ministry said. Witnesses said the strike appeared to have been aimed at a target close to the place of worship where many Gaza residents had taken refuge as the war raged in the Palestinian enclave.
10:25 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Israel announces evacuation plan
Israel has announced an evacuation plan for Kiryat Shimona City near Lebanese border, the country's defence ministry said on Friday.
10:09 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: White House deletes Biden picture with US troops in Israel after citicism
The White House post of US President Joe Biden engaging with US frontline soldiers deployed in war-torn Israel got criticised for revealing the identity of troops, Fox News reported on Thursday. However, the White House account deleted the photo soon after it was shared on social media platforms. Users slammed Biden's team for the dangerous mistake, accusing the administration of "compromising" the troops' faces while they were in Israel in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack.
09:39 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Hamas tunnels in Gaza would become 'world’s biggest cemetery', Israel minister says
An Israeli security cabinet member told ABC News that the Israeli military has been given approval to enter Gaza whenever they deem it necessary. Economy minister Nir Barakat said that the destruction of Hamas takes precedence over hostages and civilian casualties, even if the operation extends for a year. He acknowledged the extensive network of tunnels built by Hamas under Gaza, but added that they’d become the "world’s biggest cemetery." While efforts will be made to rescue the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, Barakat emphasized that the primary and ultimate goal is the eradication of Hamas
09:11 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Biden says 'angry politics' must not derail US global duty
President Joe Biden on Thursday urged Americans to set aside "angry politics" and unite behind military support for Israel and Ukraine as a civic duty to the world. "We can't let petty partisan angry politics get in the way of our responsibility as a great nation. We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win. I refuse to let that happen," Biden said in a televised address to the nation.
08:57 (IST) Oct 20
US president Joe Biden has called for a massive new aid package for Israel and Ukraine and at the same time, has strongly denounced a rise in anti-semitism and Islamophobia in the US. Biden addressed the nation in prime time on Thursday (local time), fresh off a wartime visit to Israel. Speaking from the Oval Office, Biden made the case to Americans that it's vital to both global and US national security to assist Israel as it responds to terror attacks by Hamas as well as to continue help for Ukraine as it fends off Russian invaders.
08:35 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Biden lays out stakes for America as he seeks $100 billion aid for Israel, Ukraine, and others
The US president is seeking 100 billion dollars in new spending from Congress, with 60 billion dollars allocated for Ukraine,14 billion dollars for Israel, 10 billion dollars for humanitarian aid, 14 billion dollars for border security, and 7 billion dollars for the Indo-Pacific region. Approximately half of the 60 billion dollars for Ukraine would be used to replace and modernize US weapon stockpiles.
08:22 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: Biden lays out stakes for America as he seeks aid for Israel, Ukraine
President Joe Biden called on Americans on Thursday to stand behind Israel and Ukraine, making the case in a prime-time address that providing military and economic aid to the countries is in the interest of global stability and national security. The 15-minute speech, only his second delivered from the Oval Office, shifted between two very different global conflicts as the president sought to connect the dots for Americans who are watching wars unfold half a world away. Ukraine and Israel, he said, both face threats of annihilation by tyrants and terrorists.
08:06 (IST) Oct 20
Israel-Hamas war news: As Israel readies troops for ground assault, Gaza awaits urgently needed aid from Egypt
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, as the Israeli defense minister ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza “from the inside”, though he didn't indicate when the ground assault would begin. Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out ebbing medical supplies and fuel for generators, as authorities worked out logistics for a desperately needed aid delivery from Egypt. Doctors in darkened wards across Gaza performed surgeries by the light of mobile phones and used vinegar to treat infected wounds.
29 More Updates