Hamas war highlights: Israel to step up Gaza strikes, says military spokesperson

Israel is to immediately step up its strikes in Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas, a military spokesman told a press conference on Saturday.

"We have to enter the next phase of the war in the best conditions, not according to what anyone tells us. From today, we are increasing the strikes and minimising the danger," spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari told a press conference.

The Commander of the Israeli Air Force, General Tomer Bar held a briefing in Tel Aviv on Saturday for the commanders of the squadrons and units in the Air Force, ahead of the next phase of the war. "I would not want to be in any of the enemy's shoes and meet a brigade or division of the Israel Defense Forces," he said, adding that the IDF "will move in (to Gaza) with all the power and hit it as if it was day one of fighting."

Ambulances and vehicles brought injured people to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after a strike in the city. Journalists heard the explosion and immediately afterward ambulances and vehicles started bringing injured people, including children, to the hospital. Thousands of people moved to Khan Younis after being evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip. 

Gazans who have been displaced due to the war have said that emergency aids are not enough. 

Earlier on Sunday, trucks carrying aid crossed into Gaza the first convoy of humanitarian supplies since the October 7 conflict

Israeli aircraft dropped new leaflets north of the Gaza Valley demanding residents  leave for the south.

The United States on Sunday welcomed the arrival of aid trucks from Egypt in the Gaza Strip. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged "all parties to keep the Rafah crossing open to enable the continued movement of aid that is imperative to the welfare of the people of Gaza," a statement said. 

Jordan's King Abdullah said in his opening speech at the Cairo Peace Summit on Saturday (October 21) that the forced or internal displacement of Palestinians would be a war crime. The summit is being held as Israel prepares a ground assault on Gaza following Hamas' attack that killed 1,400 people. More than 4,100 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's counteroffensive, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, amid a growing humanitarian crisis.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the opening of the Cairo Peace Summit said that the conflict in Middle East must not escalate. 

At least 4,385 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the Palestinian enclave, including 1,756 children, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Saturday. 

The ministry said another 13,561 people had been wounded in the Israeli strikes, which began on October 7.

"Egypt affirms and reiterates its complete rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians and their exodus to the Egyptian territories in Sinai" says Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during the International Peace Summit in Cairo.

Just hours after first convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza through Rafah crossing, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed for a 'humanitarian ceasefire' in Israel-Hamas war and global action "to end this godawful nightmare".

The Palestinians need "a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed", he told regional leaders at Cairo's "Summit for Peace".

The Israel-Hamas war has till now left thousands dead and has displaced about a million Palestinians.

Palestinian National Authority (PNA) president Mahmoud Abbas appeared assertive at the Cairo Peace Summit as he struck a defiant tone but also appealed for both sides to release hostages.

"We will never depart and leave our land," said Abbas.

He also called on the international community to support the two-state resolution to solve the Israel-Palestine issue. He appealed United National Security Council to recognise Palestine as a sovereign independent state.

During his speech, he accused Israel of not allowing aid into the besieged Gaza enclave

While Abbas stressed that he was against killing of innocent people on both sides, he sought to assert that Palestinians 'will stand tall' on their land.

Abbas accused Israeli forces of violating "every possible humanitarian law" by targeting schools, hospitals and shelters.

“We have asked from day one for a halt to this brutal aggression and the opening of humanitarian corridors,” the Palestinian president said.

“We are against violence and are for adopting all the peaceful and legal avenues to achieve our national goals.”

Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said that an agreement has been reached with the US top operate the Rafah crossing "continuously" under supervision of the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Sisi was making his speech at the opening of the Cairo Peace Summit.

“Egypt didn’t close the Rafah crossing at any moment,” el-Sisi said.
 

Jordan's King Abdullah has denounced the bombing of Gaza in his address at the Cairo Summit.

“The relentless bombing of Gaza is cruel on every level," he said.

“It is collective punishment of a besieged and helpless people."

“It is a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law, it is a war crime, yet the deeper crisis cuts of cruelty the less the world seems to care.

“Anywhere else attacking civilian infrastructure and deliberately starving an entire population of food, water, electricity and basic necessities would be condemned, accountability would be enforced immediately, unequivocally. It has been done before, recently, in another conflict, but not in Gaza.”
 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed satisfaction at arrival of humanitarian aid trucks in besieged Gaza.

"It is good and important news that the first humanitarian aid is now being delivered to the people in Gaza," Scholz said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that Germany would work "through all channels to alleviate the suffering in this conflict."

In the wake of first humanitarian aid convoy reaching Gaza, the UN humanitarian chief has said that this should not be last such convoy and more help should trickle into Gaza.

"I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies... to the people of Gaza," said Martin Griffith, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

 "This first convoy must not be the last," he said.

Israel has continued deployment of tanks and troops along Lebanese border. The crossfire across the border has persisted.

Humanitarian aid has begun entering Gaza from Egypt. AFP has reported that twenty trucks with humanitarian aid have entered the Egyptian terminal at the Rafah border crossing.

In addition to this 36, empty trailers entered the terminal to go to Egypt in order to get loaded.

Two UN vehicles along with four ambulances and two Red Cross vehicles were also seen to be heading to the terminal.

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Israel has called on its citizens in Egypt and Jordan and has asked them to leave the countries immediately.

"Israel's National Security Council raises its travel warnings for Egypt (including Sinai) and Jordan to level 4 (high threat): recommendation not to travel to these countries and for those staying there to leave... as soon as possible," said Israel's national security council.

The United Nations Relief and Works agency for Palestinian refugees has said that at least 17 of its staff have been killed till now in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. It said that the death toll may rise.

"To date, 17 of our colleagues have been confirmed killed in this vicious war. Very sadly, the actual numbers are likely to be higher," UNRWA said in a statement.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees stated that they have lost 17 staffs so far in the Israel-Hamas war.

"To date, 17 of our colleagues have been confirmed killed in this vicious war. Very sadly, the actual numbers are likely to be higher," said UNRWA, in a statement. 

Israel has appealed its citizens to immediately move out of Egypt and Jordan, said the national security council on Saturday, as regional tensions contiinued to increase over the war in Gaza.  

"Israel's National Security Council raises its travel warnings for Egypt (including Sinai) and Jordan to level 4 (high threat): recommendation not to travel to these countries and for those staying there to leave... as soon as possible," said the council, in a statement.

An Egypt official stated that two aid-packed trucks got entry into the Rafah border crossing, however, they have not passed into the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, Israel had stated aid would be allowed entry into Gaza from Egypt via the Rafah crossing, however, the border of the territory has remained closed. 

The US embassy in Israel stated that the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border may open on Saturday, adding that such a move will help foreigners from escaping the besieged Palestinian enclave, reported Reuters. 

The embassy, in a social media post, stated that it had “received info” that the Rafah crossing will open at 10am (0700GMT).

“We do not know how long it will remain open for foreign citizens to depart Gaza,” the embassy stated.

The United States has stated that it will continue to free all Americans who have been taken hostage by Hamas, as Israel plans a ground assault on Gaza. This came after first two hostages were released by Hamas and reunited with family.

Thousands participated in a pro-Palestinian march held in Sydney, Australia after getting last-minute approval amid concerns after anti-Jewish slogans were chanted by some protesters at an earlier rally.

Around 15,000 people attended the march in Sydney on Saturday, said organiser Palestine Action Group, with protesters chanting "Palestine will never die" and waving Palestine flags. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani departed from Baghdad for Cairo where he will be attending the peace conference over the Israeli-Hamas war, the prime minister’s media office was quoted by Reuters as saying.
 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the hospitals are "on the brink of collapse" in Gaza and said that number of patients receiveing treatment or waiting for it is at 150 per cent of the capacity of the hospitals.

"Only eight (out of 22) of UNRWA health centers in Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah governorates are providing primary health care services to critical outpatients and patients in need of treatment for non-communicable diseases," the statement read.

They added that the situation of water in Gaza is also dire. "Water production from municipal groundwater sources is at less than 5% of the pre-hostilities level. The three seawater desalination plants, which, prior to the hostilities produced seven per cent of Gaza’s water supply, are currently not operational. Water trucking operations came to a halt in most areas due to the lack of fuel, insecurity and roads blocked by debris,” OCHA stated.

“Bottled water is largely unavailable, and its price has made it unaffordable for most families. Private vendors, who operate small water desalination and purification plants, which are mostly run by solar energy, became the main suppliers of clean drinking water," the statement added.

Israeli PM Netanyahu has vowed to continue bombarding in Gaza as Hamas releases two US hostages. He hinted that the decision by Hamas won't have any impact on the IDF's strategy. "Two of our abductees are at home. We are not giving up on the effort to return all abducted and missing people," the PM said in a statement released late Friday night.

"At the same time, we'll continue to fight until victory," Netanyahu added.

President Biden of the US has claimed that the prime objective of the Hamas' assault on Israel was to derail the ongoing peace talks between the Jewish nation and Saudi Arabia."One of the reasons why they acted like they did ... why Hamas moved on Israel ... (was) because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis," Biden told guests at a campaign fundraiser. "The Saudis wanted to recognise Israel... unite the Middle East," he said. 

It is believed that the peace talks were on between the two West Asian nations, being brokered by the US.

The US and European governments have been putting pressure on Israel to delay its ground assault in Gaza to buy time for Qatar-brokered talks under way for the release of hostages held by Hamas, according to Bloomberg.

The negotiations with Hamas via Qatar may fail, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the efforts.

The visuals of two Israeli-American women being brought into Israel, nearly two weeks after they were being held as captives by Hamas, has stoked reactions of hope for more of such releases. So far, the total number of individuals held hostage by Hamas is numbered up to 203, with the final number likely to rise, according to Israel's Defense Forces (IDF).

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Using satellite imagery, The Economist has released an estimate that at least 4.3 per cent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed since October 7 and that 'at least 92,000 people will have no home to return to when the fighting stops'.
 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday (Oct 20) said that Qatar played a significant role in the release of first set of hostages released by Hamas since its attack against Israel on October 7.

"This is a very good outcome obtained by the negotiators, in which Qatar played a very important role," Macron told a group of reporters.

Macron said France wanted similar operations to continue in the next "hours and days" to continue "allowing hostages, in particular our hostages, to get out."

"The discussions we are having...through various contacts and Qatar in particular, give us hope that we will be able to find solutions to get as many hostages out as possible."

"We are confident: the channels we have are the right ones and are useful," he added.

A total of seven French citizens have been declared missing since the unprecedented assault was launched against by Hamas on October 7. 

But only one of these hostages is confirmed to be held hostages.

"For the other six others there an assumption they are being held hostage but no certainty," he said.

A total of 30 French citizens are confirmed by Paris to have been killed in the attack by Hamas, according to its latest toll Friday.

After the release of two American hostages, Hamas said that it was working with Qatari and Egyptian mediators to release "civilian" hostages taken during their October 7 attacks on Israel.

Gaza's Islamist rulers said they were "working with all mediators to implement the movement’s decision to close the civilian (hostage) file if appropriate security conditions allow."

Hamas, designated as terrorist group by the United States and the United Kingdom, said that Americans Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan were freed following efforts by Qatar and Egypt.
 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said that Hamas still holds up to 10 other US citizens among approximately 200 people held captive since October 7.

"There are still 10 additional Americans who remain unaccounted for in this conflict. We know that some of them are being held hostage by Hamas, along with an estimated 200 other hostages held in Gaza," Blinken told reporters, adding that all "should be released immediately and unconditionally."
 

Palestinian militant group Hamas, on Friday (Oct 20), released a statement saying that it had released two American hostages out of the 200 captives it kidnapped following an unprecedented attack against Israel.

"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.

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