Israel-Hamas war: Gaza's Hamas says two US hostages released

A pair of Israeli hostages, a mother and her daughter, were handed over to the International Red Cross in Gaza ahead of their transfer to Israel through Egypt, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he believed the first trucks carrying aid to Gaza would come through the Rafah crossing from Egypt within the next two days.

"I believe in the next 24 to 48 hours the first 20 trucks will come across the border," Biden said as he met European Union chiefs at the white house.

Biden said that he had a commitment from Israel and from Egypt's president to let the aid through but the "highway had to be repaved, and it was in very bad shape."

Gaza's Hamas released a statement saying it has released two American hostages out of the 200 captives abducted in attacks.

"In response to Qatari efforts, (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons," Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram.

Germany's interior minister said that those who are backing Hamas must be deported from the country. "If we are able to deport Hamas supporters, we must do this," Nancy Faeser said adding, "Our security authorities have currently placed an even stronger focus on the Islamist scene." 

At least 16 people have been killed in an air strike on a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza, as per Palestinian officials quoted by Reuters. However, there is no confirmation from the church yet. 

Dozens of Palestinians with foreign passports are awaiting the opening of Gaza’s border with Egypt. They are gathered at a cafeteria of the Rafah border crossing, which has been hit multiple times since October 7, as per reports. 

US President Joe Biden requested a $105 billion security package Friday (Oct 20), including $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. 

"The world is watching and the American people rightly expect their leaders to come together and deliver on these priorities," White House Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young reportedly said in a letter to Congress.
 

Israel’s defense minister said on Friday (Oct 20) that his country's military aimed to 'destroy' the Hamas militant group and reach a “complete freedom of action" so that "there is no threat from within the Gaza Strip.”

He said this while speaking with members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Tel Aviv. 

Tens of thousands rally for Gaza across Egypt, including Cairo's Tahrir Square, AFP reported. 

Russia on Friday advised its citizens against travel to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestinian territories amid the intensifying war between Israel and Hamas.

The Russian foreign ministry said, "The situation in the Middle East is heating up. The number of casualties and injuries is rising. Mass protests are taking place around the world."

"We strongly recommend that Russian citizens refrain from travelling to the region, especially to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories," the ministry added. 

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that aid trucks waiting to cross from Egypt into Gaza are a lifeline for the war-torn Palestinian enclave. 

"These trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza," Secretary General Guterres said as he paid a visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. 

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across Egypt on Friday in support of war-torn Gaza, with large crowds flooding into Cairo's Tahrir Square, the news agency AFP reported.

The European Union (EU) said on Friday that two flights carrying 54 tonnes of aid for Gaza had landed in Egypt and were ready for delivery to Gaza once access was possible.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking about Israel's war plan and objectives in the Gaza, in what may be the first time an Israeli leader discussed its long-term plans for the Palestinian enclave.

During a parliament meeting in Tel Aviv said after the country destroys the Hamas they the army does not plan to control "life in the Gaza Strip". 

He also told lawmakers that the war will have three main phases and they are currently in the first one which involves "a military campaign" with airstrikes and later a ground maneuver for "destroying operatives and damaging infrastructure in order to defeat and destroy Hamas". 

The second phase will be continued fighting but at a lower intensity as the military personnel will work to "eliminate pockets of resistance."

"The third step will be the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel and the residents of the (area surrounding Gaza)," said Gallant, as quoted by Times of Israel. 

The Israeli military said that the struck three Hezbollah terrorists who were identified by forces in southern Lebanon calling it a drone strike against a "Hezbollah cell." 

Separately, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also said that they opened at gunmen who were identified near a different part of Israel's security barrier with Lebanon. 

The majority of around 200 people kidnapped from Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip are still alive, said the Israeli army, in a statement on Friday. 

"The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken... to the Gaza Strip."

This comes after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had previously said that more than 20 of the hostages are under the age of 18, while 10-20 of them are over the age of 60.

Over 1,000 Chinese nationals have left Israel amid the ongoing war, said the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a press briefing.

According to preliminary statistics, the Chinese nationals who have left have either returned to China or gone to a third country, said Mao. 

She also said 280 Chinese nationals had been stranded in the southern Israeli city of Sderot when the the conflict first broke out but all have been evacuated.

Speaking at the Rafah border crossing, UN chief said, "What we need is to make the move to other side of the wall as quickly as possible and as many as possible." 

He added, "We are actively engaging with all the parties to limit the restrictions and enable these trucks moving where they are needed." 

We have two million people here are suffering tremendously. There is no water, no food, no medicine, no fuel. Gaza needs everything to survive," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. 

He also stressed that the trucks carrying humanitarian aid are a "lifeline. They are the difference between life or death for so many people."

More than 4,000 people, including 1,661 children have been killed since October 7, according to the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza. 

Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said that 13,162 others have been injured. "Operations are being done on the floor, on the ground, in the corridors of the hospital," said Al-Qidra. 

This comes after UN agency had warned that the hospitals in Gaza are on the brink of collapse due to shortages of power, medicine, equipment and personnel. 

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited Gaza's border crossing with Egypt after Israel has agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza via the Rafah crossing. 

"We don't want to punish the Gaza people twice," said the  UN chief at the border. He also thanked Egypt and called it a "hope that is on that side of the border". 

This comes after the UN said 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". 

"We are actively engaging with all the parties in order to clarify these restrictions so we can have these trucks moving towards there are needed. We need these trucks moving as soon as possible," said Guterres, as quoted by Al Jazeera. 

A report by Al Jazeera citing the Gaza government's media office said 18 Christian Palestinians have been killed after airstrike on the Greek Orthodox church.

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, his spokesman told reporters in Geneva.

In the midst of the growing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, global financial markets are challenged with uncertainty fuelled with concerns regarding inflation and geopolitical risks.  

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The White House faced criticism after it shared an image of President Joe Biden meeting with US troops in Israel as the photo revealed the identities of the soldiers who were helping in the hostage situation. 

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The death toll from a raid by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank rose to 13, Palestinian health officials said Friday. At least 81 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank since the Gaza conflict erupted on October 7, according to figures from the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah. 

One member of the Israeli security forces has also been killed in the territory.

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed its “strongest condemnation” over the ongoing Israel-Hamas over. They accused Israel forces of committing a “war crime” after the church compound in Gaza was hit in an airstrike, which killed many displaced people sheltering there.

Hamas-controlled interior ministry of Gaza said that the strike left a “large number of martyrs and injured” at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius church's compound in Gaza city.

“Targeting churches and their institutions, along with the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who have lost their homes due to Israeli airstrikes on residential areas over the past 13 days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored,” said the patriarchate, in a statement.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, thirteen people, which included five children, were killed in an Israeli operation in the Nour Shams refugee camp in the West Bank. 

“The Israeli occupation army committed a massacre in Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem during its aggression on the camp yesterday, where the total martyrs have reached to 13 martyrs including 5 children,” said the ministry, in a statement.

The bodies of eight Thai nationals, who lost their lives in the Hamas attack over Israel, reached back to Thailand through an Israeli commercial flight. 

A ceremont was held by the government officials which marked the return of the slain Thai citizens. It was also attended by the Israeli ambassador.

The remains of the Thai nationals will be sent back to their respective local provinces, primarily in Thailand's northeastern region, for holding their local funeral ceremonies.

China's Special Envoy on the Middle East issue Zhai Jun, while speaking to his Russian counterpart, said that China and Russia "share the same position on the question of Palestine."

“China and Russia share the same position on the question of Palestine, and China is ready to maintain communication and coordination with the Russian Federation in order to cool down the situation as soon as possible,” said Zhai, as per the Chinese state media CCTV.

The conflict was blamed by China on the “fact that the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people have not been guaranteed,” Zhai was quoted as saying China. 

He also stated that China is ready to work with Russia “to play a positive role” in resuming the peace talks between Israel and Palestine, adding that Beijing is “heartbroken by the large number of civilian casualties” in the conflict.

“The Russian Federation is ready to work with China to promote an early ceasefire and halt the fighting between the Palestinians and Israelis and to create conditions for an early return to the right track on the Palestinian issue,” said his Russian counterpart Mikhail Bogdanov, according to CCTV.

Zhai also met with Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed Al-Khulaifi on Thursday in Doha and discussed the “critical” Israel-Hamas conflict, CCTV reported.

Beijing is “heartbroken” by the “sharp deterioration of the humanitarian situation caused by the conflict," Zhai said, calling on “all parties concerned to remain calm and exercise restraint,” as per the CCTV.

Taking to X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that they targetted more than 100 Hamas targets overnight. 

“During the night, fighter jets attacked over a hundred operational targets of the terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip, destroying tunnel shafts, munitions warehouses and dozens of operational headquarters. During the attacks, the IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated a terrorist who was in the naval force of the terrorist organisation Hamas, the terrorist took part in the murderous terrorist operations in the Gaza Strip," the IDF said. 

It added that “a terrorist squad associated with the terrorist organisation’s air force that planned to launch missiles at an aircraft was foiled”.

Multiple Israeli tanks have gather near the border between Israel and Gaza.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the troops to gather near the Gaza border, adding that they will soon witness the Palestinian enclave "from inside", which hinted at an expected ground invasion by Israel with the aim of annihilating Hamas.

Israel released footage of strikes carried out on targets which it claimed to belong to different militant outfits, which included Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in a post on Telegram, stated that they had carried out strikes on targets which belonged to Hezbollah operatives and included an observation point facing the sea.

They added that the strikes were in response to “shooting attacks” which took place on Wednesday (October 18). 

President Joe Biden said Palestinian militant group Hamas had to "learn how to shoot straight", following a blast at a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds.

Speaking to reporters, during a refuelling stop for Air Force One at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on his way back to the US from Tel Aviv, Biden said the US Department of Defense had informed him it was unlikely the blast at the Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital was triggered by Israeli forces.

"Our defence department says it’s highly unlikely that it was Israelis. It would have been a different footprint. And they’ve intercepted some. Anyway, so that’s why if you noticed I didn’t say it first, I wanted to make sure that I knew."

"And look, and I’m not suggesting that Hamas deliberately did it either. It’s that old thing, got to learn how to shoot straight," said Biden.

Israel has ordered the evacuation of residents of Kiryat Shmona, a northern town close to the Lebanese border, said the Israeli defence ministry, as reported by Reuters.

Kiryat Shmona has a population of more that 20,000 and is some 2 km (1 mile) from the border fence.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a statement to news agency AFP acknowledged that its strike damaged the Church. It said its fighter jets had hit a command-and-control centre involved in launching rockets and mortars toward Israel.

"As a result of the IDF strike, a wall of a church in the area was damaged," said IDF, adding "we are aware of reports on casualties. The incident is under review".  

The Hamas-controlled interior ministry in a statement 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, it said.

Talking to AFP, 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.

China's special envoy for Middle East issues Zhai Jun has pinned the cause of the Israel-Gaza crisis on the lack of guarantees for Palestinian rights. The envoy urged greater coordination with Moscow in a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Bogdanov, in Qatar.

Zhai Jun, who is in Qatar for the first leg of his tour in the region, reaffirmed Beijing's alignment with Moscow in their efforts to help de-escalate the Gaza crisis.

"The fundamental reason for the current situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people have not been guaranteed," he said.

Intel and Siemens declared they are boycotting Web Summit, the biggest technology conference in Europe, after its leader criticised Western support to Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 assault by Hamas.

Siemens, the German engineering and manufacturing company, was listed as one of the top sponsors of the summit scheduled for next month in Lisbon.

Israeli raids are currently ongoing in West Bank, where some individuals, including two journalists, were arrested for suspected links to Hamas. 

More than 850 arrests have been carried out by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory since the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, reported Al Jazeera.

US President Joe Biden in his Oval Office address Thursday made a strong case for wartime aid to both Israel and Ukraine.

He argued that “this is one of those moments,” making a direct appeal to the American people as he sought to build support for US funding for wars abroad that could face a challenging path in Congress.

“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy, completely annihilate it,” Biden said.

“We can’t let petty partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation. We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win. I refuse to let that happen,” he added.”

As per Russian embassy in Israel, at least 19 Russians have been killed so far in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. All of them were killed during Hamas' Oct 7 assault on Israel. Also, at least two Russians are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

At least six Chinese warships have been stationed in the West Asian region amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. 

"The 44th naval escort task force has been involved in routine operations in the area since May and last week spent several days on a visit to Oman, including a joint exercise with the country’s navy," said a statement from Chinese defense ministry.

The task force is from the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre, and it includes the Zibo, a Type 052D guided-missile destroyer, the frigate Jingzhou and the integrated supply ship Qiandaohu.

As Israel continues to pound Gaza in retaliation to Oct 7 terrorist attacks, Gaza's hospitals have been overwhelmed amid a shortage of medical supplies and fuel. Authorities are struggling to get much required aid from Egypt.

US President Joe Biden, in his address from the Oval Office, slammed 'terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin' and hailed the US as a 'beacon to the world', despite a chequered American interventionist record abroad that has left a trail of anarchy-fueled terrorism in West Asia and Afghanistan during the formative decades of twenty-first century.

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US President Joe Biden is delivering a crucial address following his wartime Israel visit. 

Biden said that he spoke with President Abbas of Palestine Authority and intensely engaged with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

"As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace," Biden said.

Biden said he cautioned Israel "not to be blinded by rage", while referring to the disastrous wartime blunders committed by the US (invasion in Iraq at a falsified premise) in the wake of 9/11 attacks.

European Council President Charles Michel is set to visit Egypt on Saturday (Oct 21) and will call for support for a country that may have to take in tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing war-torn Gaza, he said on Thursday (Oct 19).

"Egypt needs support, so let's support Egypt," said Michel, who is in Washington to attend a summit with US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday.

In addition, Michel will attend at al-Sisi's invitation a "conference on the current developments in the Middle East, Palestine and the Peace Process," said his spokesperson, Ecaterina Casinge.

Von der Leyen announced earlier in the week in Tirana that the European Union would open a humanitarian air corridor to the Gaza Strip.

Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said that while the United States cannot say for certain what the missiles launched from Yemen were targeting, "but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel."

"Our defensive response was one that we would have taken for any similar threat in the region where we're able to do so," Ryder said. "Any country or any group, thinking about trying to take advantage of the situation in Israel to try to widen the conflict should think twice and not doubt the resolve of the United States," he added.

An explosion was reported at a building on the premises of the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church campus in Gaza City on Thursday (Oct 19) night. The church is one of the oldest in the world. 

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Lebanon's army blamed blamed Israel for killing a member of a "journalist team" covering cross-border tensions in the country's south amid ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

On October 19, "a journalist team of seven people covering news... near the Israeli enemy’s al-Abad site outside the town of Hula, was targeted with machine guns by enemy (Israeli) members, killing one and injuring another," the Lebanese army said in a statement.

Earlier, peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that one person had been killed after civilians were caught in cross-border fire in Lebanon's south.

"Tragically, one person lost his life during this incident and the others were successfully rescued," UNIFIL said. They asked the Israeli forces to suspend fire "to facilitate the rescue operation" and they complied, the statement added.

The death toll from Gaza hospital explosion, an event of mass casualty that was deemed as the deadliest of all during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, may have been vastly exaggerated, western intelligence agencies said. 

European Union Intelligence and Situation Centre told AFP that the death toll from the Gaza hospital is between 10 and 50, not "hundreds" as Hamas claimed.

Meanwhile, Reuters report said that a US intelligence report estimates the death toll from the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital explosion to likely be between 100 to 300 people.

Hamas claimed that over 500 people died in an airstrike by Israel, a claim swiftly refuted by Israel as well as the United States during subsequent hours.

The United States government has been urging Israel privately to not launch a military offensive against Lebanon's Hezbollah, in an effort to prevent the war from spreading beyond Gaza, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday citing two officials.

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A US Navy warship near Yemen intercepted multiple missile, a US official was cited as saying by Reuters.

The missiles, according to Israeli media citing the Pentagon, were launched at Israel.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were no injuries and a number of projectiles, including drones, were brought down near the destroyer USS Carney.

Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions soar during the Israel-Hamas war.