Israel-Hamas war: Israel bombs Syria; EU triples aid for Gaza | Top updates

It has been a week since Hamas militants launched a brutal attack on Israel which took the country and world by surprise. On Saturday (Oct 14), Israeli officials said that over 1,300 civilians and security forces have been killed since the attack began. Hamas officials, on the other hand, said that relentless Israeli air strikes on the blockaded Palestinian enclave have killed upwards of 2,200 including at least 600 children.

Around a million people in Gaza have fled their homes in the past week including hundreds of thousands headed south from northern Gaza ahead of an expected Israeli ground assault. Israel gave Gazans until Saturday morning to move south. It later said it would guarantee the safety of Palestinians fleeing on two main roads until 4 pm (13.00 GMT).

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Theattack on Israel has plunged the country into deep grief and galvanised it for war, with hundreds of thousands of reservists mobilised within days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government's week-old retaliation for the Hamas assault from Gaza was "only the beginning," though he did not elaborate on what might follow or for how long.

>Israel shelled Syria on Saturday after air raid sirens sounded in settlements on the annexed Golan Heights, the army said, amid its war on Hamas in Gaza. "Following the initial report regarding sirens sounded in the communities of Avnei Eitan and Alma, IDF (Israeli) artillery is currently striking the origin of the shooting in Syria," an army statement said.

>President Emmanuel Macron urged Israel and Egypt to open a humanitarian corridor out of the besieged Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing for French nationals, his office said on Saturday.

> A senior Israeli official on Saturday admitted mistakes in intelligence assessments ahead of the brutal Hamas attack last week. "It's my mistake, and it reflects the mistakes of all those making (intelligence) assessments," National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told a press briefing when he was asked about his recent remarks predicting no Hamas aggression.

> The European Union said that it was tripling its current humanitarian assistance for Gaza to $78.8 million and would work with United Nations (UN) agencies to ensure the aid reaches those in need. This comes a day after the UN Humanitarian Office (OCHA) appealed for nearly $294 million to help some 1.3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank.

> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday visited Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Kfar Azza — two of the worst hit areas in last week's assault launched by Hamas militants. In a post on X, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "With our fighters in the Gaza Strip, on the front line. We are all ready."

> Israeli families with their loved ones held captive by Hamas have demanded an urgent arrangement to enable the transfer of medicines. Ronen Tzur, who heads the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, told reporters, "We expect that tonight, by midnight (2100 GMT), there will be an agreement to transfer medicine to the missing people and hostages."

> Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh addressed a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres where he accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza. In the letter, Haniyeh condemned the "barbaric Israeli siege" in which "the Israeli occupation is banning entry of humanitarian aid and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip."

> Pro-Palestinian protests were held in the Middle East and European countries against Israeli action in Gaza. In London, a scuffle broke out between the police and pro-Palestinian protesters.

> Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that his country stands with Egypt in rejecting the exile of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in the face of Israel's war with Hamas.

> “First of all, loss of civilian lives – no matter from which side – must be prevented. We see that some states try to justify Israel's indiscriminate attacks on Gaza as if they are justifiable acts. Such a contradictory and inhumane approach will only lead to more violence and the deaths of more innocent people, Foreign Minister Fidan said during a meeting with his Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

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