Israel entered a brand new part of its warfare on Hamas on Saturday, increasing its floor assaults after blacking out practically all communication within the Gaza Strip with elevated bombardment and artillery fireplace. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu known as it a warfare for Israel’s existence, and mentioned “’By no means once more’ is now.”
Gaza residents described the huge bombardment from the land, air and sea as probably the most intense of the 3-week-old Israel-Hamas warfare. Different nations and support companies say 2.3 million lives are in peril with Gazans reduce off from the skin world and worldwide assist blocked on the border.
The Palestinian dying toll handed 7,700, most of them girls and kids, in line with the Well being Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Within the occupied West Financial institution, greater than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.
Greater than 1,400 individuals have been slain in Israel throughout a shock incursion by Hamas militants, together with at the very least 310 troopers, in line with the Israeli authorities. At the least 229 hostages have been taken into Gaza, and 4 hostages have been launched.
At present:
1. Spider net of Hamas tunnels raises dangers for Israeli floor offensive in Gaza Strip
2. Horror, hopelessness take maintain with Palestinians reduce off from exterior world.
3. Mass graves, unclaimed our bodies and overcrowded cemeteries change funeral rites
4. AP Images: Scenes of sorrow and despair on either side of Israel-Gaza border on week 3 of warfare
5. U.S. Republican presidential candidates unbridled in assist of Israel.
6. Discover extra of AP’s protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Right here’s what is occurring within the newest Israel-Hamas warfare:
RED CRESCENT SAYS BLACKOUT KEEPING AID OUTSIDE GAZA
JERUSALEM — No worldwide support entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday, because the communications blackout created by Israel continued.
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Crimson Crescent, informed The Related Press that no support vehicles entered Gaza on Saturday as a result of communication was unattainable and groups inside Gaza couldn’t join with Egyptian Crimson Crescent or United Nations personnel.
Earlier than Saturday, a complete of 84 support vehicles have been let into Gaza, a tiny quantity for a inhabitants of two.3 million individuals in want of energy, meals, medical provides and clear ingesting water.
2nd US AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUP MOVES INTO MEDITERRANEAN
WASHINGTON — The usDwight D. Eisenhower plane service and its strike group has moved via the Strait of Gibraltar, placing two American carriers within the Mediterranean Sea, a uncommon sight lately.
The usGerald R. Ford Provider Strike Group is already within the japanese Mediterranean, a part of a buildup of forces because the U.S. helps Israel in its warfare towards Hamas.
The Eisenhower sailed into the Mediterranean on Saturday and is slated to maneuver via the Suez Canal to the U.S. Central Command area because the American forces develop their presence within the Center East to discourage Iran and its proxy militant teams from making an attempt to widen the warfare.
COMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT HAS PALESTINIANS PANICKING
Now that Israeli bombs have reduce off mobile and web service for many of the 2.3 million individuals within the Gaza Strip, it has fallen to a uncommon few Palestinians with worldwide SIM playing cards or powered-up satellite tv for pc telephones to get the information out.
They described scenes of panic and confusion as Israel’s navy assaults from the air, land and sea in probably the most intense bombing but within the three week warfare. With out social media to share their plight with the world, many appear consumed with concern and hopelessness.
Reached by WhatsApp, freelance photojournalist Ashraf Abu Amra in northern Gaza mentioned the worldwide neighborhood should intervene to save lots of the individuals of Gaza from rapid dying. Palestinian journalist Hind al-Khoudary reported that some 50,000 individuals have converged on Gaza’s largest hospital, the place medical doctors are exhausted from working on affected person after affected person utilizing dwindling gas and medical provides.
GOP CANDIDATES OFFER UNBRIDLED SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL
LAS VEGAS — Republican presidential candidates are professing unbridled assist for Israel in speeches to an influential GOP Jewish group in Las Vegas. The marketing campaign cease got here as Israel entered a brand new part of its warfare on Hamas within the Gaza Strip.
Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his marketing campaign and used his final speech as a candidate to known as on Democratic President Joe Biden to unconditionally assist Israel’s response to a Hamas assault that killed greater than 1,000 Israelis.
Candidates Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy additionally mentioned Israel’s proper to defend itself is unequivocal. Nikki Haley famous that former President Donald Trump had lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Hamas assault and referred to the militant group Hezbollah as “very sensible.” Trump, the frontrunner, known as himself “the very best good friend Israel ever had.”
ISRAEL CALLS HAMAS PRISONER SWAP OFFER ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR’
JERUSALEM — Hamas’s prime chief in Gaza Yehia Sinwar mentioned the Palestinian militant teams are able to launch Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s jails.
“We’re prepared instantly to have an change deal that features releasing all prisoners within the prisons of the Zionist occupation enemy in return for the discharge of all prisoners held by the resistance,” he mentioned in a remark posted Saturday night on Hamas media teams.
The Israeli navy spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, dismissed the supply as “psychological terror” andsaid Israel is engaged on a number of channels to free the hostages.
ISRAEL SAYS ITS WARPLANES HIT 150 UNDERGROUND TARGETS
JERUSALEM — Israel’s navy mentioned Saturday that its warplanes struck 150 underground Hamas targets in northern Gaza, together with tunnels, fight areas and different infrastructure. However the intensive labyrinth of tunnels constructed by Hamas is believed to stretch for lots of of miles (kilometers), hiding fighters, an arsenal of rockets and now greater than 200 Israeli hostages.
Clearing and collapsing these tunnels is essential to dismantling Hamas. However Israeli’s navy might be at a severe drawback underground. City warfare specialists say the militants could be hiding in hundreds of thousands of locations, selecting when and the place to ambush their enemies.
Former Israeli soldier Ariel Bernstein described city fight in northern Gaza as a mixture of ambushes, traps, hideouts and snipers in tunnels so disorienting that it was like he was preventing ghosts.
ISRAELI PM SAYS GAZA WAR IS EXISTENTIAL, ‘NEVER AGAIN IS NOW’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the warfare towards Hamas might be “lengthy and troublesome,” calling it a battle of excellent versus evil and a wrestle for Israel’s existence.
Netanyahu informed the nation in a televised information convention Saturday evening that Israel has opened a “new part” within the warfare – by sending floor forces into Gaza and increasing assaults from the bottom, air and sea. He mentioned these actions would solely improve as Israel prepares for a broad floor invasion.
The objective, he mentioned, is the whole destruction of Hamas.
“We all the time mentioned, ‘By no means once more,’” he mentioned. “’By no means once more’ is now.”
ROCKETS, AIR STRIKES AND ANOTHER HOSPITAL HIT
A Palestinian militant group in Gaza mentioned it fired barrage of rockets Saturday night on Tel Aviv and on Ashkelon and Ashdod in southern Israel. The rockets by Al-Quds Brigades, the navy arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was the newest in a collection of rocket assaults on Israel on Saturday.
Israeli forces continued a relentless bombardment. One Israeli airstrike late Saturday afternoon broken the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, in line with freelance journalist Anas al-Sharif, one of many few journalists in Gaza in a position to connect with the skin world. He shared photographs of the hospital’s broken roof.
The Israeli strikes reduce off telecommunications and web entry for Gaza’s 2.3 million individuals, disrupting ambulances and support teams and enabling Israel to regulate the narrative within the new stage of preventing.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli movies confirmed columns of armored autos transferring slowly inside Gaza, the primary visible affirmation of floor troops.
PROTESTS SPREAD, CALLING ON ISRAEL TO STOP GAZA WAR
PARIS — Police encircled lots of of people that defied a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration Saturday in central Paris. The officers tried to comprise the protest however fired tear gasoline when tensions rose as a breakaway group tried to march.
The protest collective generally known as Urgence Palestine known as for a cease-fire within the more and more intense warfare between Israel and Hamas. Different pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been held in Marseille and Strasbourg within the east.
Demonstrations additionally happened Saturday in Turkey, London, Indonesia, Pakistan, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and New York, the place protesters marched throughout the Brooklyn Bridge a day after filling Grand Central Station, many sporting black T-shirts saying “Jews say cease-fire now” and “Not in our identify.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed a rally of lots of of hundreds that Western nations are accountable and that “Israel, we’ll proclaim you as a warfare legal to the world.”
ISRAEL DISMISSES CALLS FOR CEASE-FIRE AND HOSTAGE-SWAP
JERUSALEM — As Israeli airstrikes and an intensified floor assault pounded northern Gaza on Saturday, a consultant for the households of the hostages held by Hamas informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu they assist a prisoner swap.
“So far as the households are involved, a deal of a return of our relations instantly within the framework of “all for all” is possible, and there might be extensive nationwide assist for this,” mentioned MeIrav Gonen, the consultant. Her daughter, RoMi, is likely one of the hostages.
Israel’s authorities has not but commented on Hamas’s supply to free all of the hostages in change for Israel releasing all Palestinians held in Israeli jails. It was unclear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the potential of a prisoner swap through the assembly with the households, or if he specified any navy or diplomatic plan to realize the discharge of hostages.
Israel’s navy has mentioned it is going to be in a position to proceed its devastating marketing campaign on Gaza whereas rescuing the hostages, and has dismissed the potential of a Hamas-proposed cease-fire deal in change for his or her launch. Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari mentioned Saturday that by proposing the cease-fire, Hamas was engaged in a “cynical exploitation” of their famililes’ anxieties.
NETANYAHU MEETS FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES AS TUNNELS ARE BOMBED
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned he informed representatives of the households of hostages that Israel will exhaust each chance to carry them house.
The Israeli navy says Hamas militants kidnapped greater than 200 individuals on Oct. 7 and took them right into a community of tunnels contained in the densely populated Gaza Strip. Within the evening from Friday to Saturday, Israeli warfare planes bombed Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers in dozens of strikes, heightening the considerations of kinfolk of hostages over the destiny of their family members.
Netanyahu and his spouse Sara informed the households in Tel Aviv that getting abductees launched is likely one of the targets of the warfare and that the better the strain, the better the possibilities for bringing them house.
Tons of of relations had demonstrated in Tel Aviv earlier Saturday, expressing fears that navy leaders are being cavalier with the lives of the hostages. “The households really feel like they’re they’re left behind and nobody is de facto caring about them,” mentioned Miki Haimovitz, a former lawmaker.
UN LEADER RENEWS CEASE-FIRE PLEA: ‘HISTORY WILL JUDGE US ALL’
CAIRO — U.N. Secretary-Basic António Guterres has reiterated his enchantment for an instantaneous humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, the unconditional launch of hostages and a supply of humanitarian support the strip’s 2.3 million individuals.
“This case have to be reversed,” he mentioned Saturday in a press release following his assembly in Doha with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. “That is the second of reality. Everybody should assume their tasks. Historical past will decide us all.”
He warned that the continuing escalation, together with relentless Israeli bombardment and a communication blackout, would have devastating impacts and undermine “the referred humanitarian goals.”
OMAN ACCUSES ISRAEL OF WAR CRIMES, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
CAIRO — Oman’s Overseas Ministry says Israel’s siege and bombardment of Gaza quantity to warfare crimes and crimes towards humanity.
The Omani ministry mentioned in a press release {that a} wide-scale Israeli floor invasion of Gaza would have “severe catastrophic penalties on the area and the world, and the prospects of reaching peace and stability.”
Oman has an extended file of serving as a key dealer between Iran and the West when regional tensions flare.
The ministry known as for the worldwide neighborhood to right away intervene to cease the Israel-Hamas warfare and to hurry humanitarian support deliveries to Gaza.
HAMAS REPORTS FIRING ROCKETS AT ISRAELI CITY OF DIMONA
BEIRUT — A prime Hamas official mentioned Saturday that by shutting down most communications, Israel goals to stop “the reality” about what is occurring within the Gaza Strip from reaching the world.
Chatting with reporters in Beirut, Ghazi Hamad mentioned Israel has made “baseless claims and lies” about Hamas militants hiding in tunnels below the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza “to justify the concentrating on of the hospital.”
He mentioned that Israel has compelled Palestinians south with plans to attempt to push them to maneuver to Egypt.
“We strongly reject that and say that our Palestinians will keep of their land,” Hamad mentioned.
However he known as on the worldwide neighborhood to permit humanitarian support to achieve Gaza from Egypt, particularly medical tools and gas.
In the meantime, Hamas’ navy arm, Qassam Brigades, mentioned Saturday afternoon it fired a barrage of rockets on Dimona, a southern Israeli metropolis on the sting of the Negev Desert.
ISRAEL REPORTS STRIKING HEZBOLLAH SITES IN LEBANON
JERUSALEM — Israel’s navy says it’s placing Hezbollah navy infrastructure in Lebanon after “a number of anti-tank missile and mortar shell launches have been recognized from Lebanese territory towards Israel,” together with Israeli navy posts alongside the Israel-Lebanon border.
Lebanon’s state-run Nationwide Information Company mentioned a shell fired by Israeli troops hit the wall surrounding the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping pressure within the Lebanese coastal border city of Naqoura.
Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping pressure generally known as UNIFIL, confirmed that the shell solely induced some injury and no accidents.
There was concern that the Israel-Hamas warfare may develop into Lebanon and northern Israel if Hezbollah decides to hitch the battle.
GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY: ISRAELIS KILLED 377 SINCE FRIDAY NIGHT
BEIRUT — The Hamas-run Well being Ministry in Gaza mentioned 377 individuals have been killed since Israel expanded its massive floor offensive on Friday night.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra informed reporters Saturday that Israel “completely paralyzed” the well being community in Gaza by reducing off web and mobile service.
“Israel has turned Gaza into items of fireplace,” al-Qedra mentioned, including that the bombardment is probably the most intense since Hamas’ lethal incursion in southern Israel three weeks in the past.
Al-Qedra mentioned the 377 individuals killed up to now day raises the dying complete within the Gaza to 7,703 individuals, together with 3,195 youngsters and 1,863 girls.
He known as on individuals in Gaza to donate blood, requested supply of all blood sorts from the Worldwide committee of the Crimson Cross and urged the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to permit medical provides and gas to enter and the evacuation of critically wounded individuals.
