By Chris Jewers and Rachael Bunyan
Published: 03:05 EDT, 12 October 2023 | Updated: 05:08 EDT, 12 October 2023
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Here, follow MailOnline’s liveblog for all the updates on the crisis between Israel and Palestine today.
UN experts say Israel’s strikes on Gaza amount to ‘collective punishment’
A group of independent United Nations experts on Thursday condemned violence against civilians in Israel and deplored the ‘collective punishment’ of reprisal strikes against Gaza.
While condemning the ‘horrific crimes committed by Hamas’, the group said that Israel had resorted to ‘indiscriminate military attacks against the already exhausted Palestinian people of Gaza’.
‘They have lived under unlawful blockade for 16 years, and already gone through five major brutal wars, which remain unaccounted for,’ the group, which includes several U.N. special rapporteurs, said in a statement.
‘This amounts to collective punishment. There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime.’
The group said that taking hostages in the context of hostilities also constituted a war crime.
‘The civilians taken by Hamas must be immediately released, pending which their fate and whereabouts must be disclosed,’ the experts said.
The Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300 people since Saturday. Most were civilians gunned down by Hamas in their homes, on the streets or at a dance party.
Scores of Israeli and foreign hostages were taken back to Gaza.
Israel said on Thursday there would be no humanitarian break to its siege of the Gaza Strip until all its hostages were freed.
Beijing confirms three Chinese nationals killed in Gaza war
Three Chinese nationals have been confirmed dead in the latest Israel-Palestinian war,’ Beijing has said today.
Two others are missing and several have been injured, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
He urged authorities to make every effort to search for and rescue the missing.
The Chinese Embassy in Israel reported earlier in the week that a young woman of Israeli and Chinese heritage was among the scores of hostages taken by Hamas fighters.
Breaking: Hamas holding at least 97 people hostage in Gaza, Israel says
Israel’s military spokesperson has said that Israel has been able to confirm the identities of 97 people taken hostage into Gaza during the attack by Hamas.
Israel had earlier said up to 150 people had been kidnapped and taken across the border on Saturday, suggesting more people are yet to be identified.
Hamas says it has hidden the hostages in ‘safe places and tunnels’ within Gaza, but has threatened to execute one every time Israel strikes civilian targets in the enclave without warning.
The offensive Israel launched on the blockaded Palestinian enclave since was meant to eliminate the ability of the Islamist militant movement to govern, Daniel Hagari said in a televised press briefing.
‘The military is preparing for the next stage of the war,’ he said, adding that 222 soldiers had been killed since Saturday.
Israel today warned it wouldn’t let any food, medicine or electricity reach the Palestinians stranded in the Gaza Strip until Hamas terrorists release the 150 Israeli hostages they captured.
‘Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,’ Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz vowed in a sinister threat.
‘Humanitarian for humanitarian. And no one will preach us morals,’ Katz added.
The stark warning comes as Israeli airstrikes continued to obliterate entire neighbourhoods and the IDF encircled Gaza with 300,000 troops ahead of an expected ground offensive that will see fighting in the streets.
But the airstrikes, which have killed 1,200 civilians in Gaza, and the total siege of the enclave has prompted the US to warn Israel to ‘uphold the laws of war’.
Blinken to hold talks with Palestinian and Jordanian leaders
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with the Palestinian and Jordanian leaders in Amman, a US official has said.
Blinken arrived for a solidarity visit to Israel on Thursday.
‘Tomorrow (Friday) in Amman, Secretary Blinken will have meetings with Palestinian president (Mahmud) Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II,’ the official told an AFP correspondent travelling with Blinken.
Head of Australia’s intelligence agency warns of violence ahead of another planned pro-Palestinian protest
The head of Australia’s domestic intelligence agency has today warned about the potential for opportunistic violence and called for calm as tensions rise ahead of another planned pro-Palestinian protest in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
In rare public statement, Mike Burgess, who is head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), said protests and rallies following the attacks by Hamas are likely to continue.
He said he remained concerned about the potential for opportunistic violence.
‘In this context, it is important that all parties consider the implications for social cohesion when making public statements,’ Burgess said. ‘Words matter. ASIO has seen direct connections between inflamed language and inflamed community tensions.’
Organisers said those filmed were a fringe group of ‘vile’ antisemites who had been told to leave.
Leaders across the political spectrum have denounced the comments and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the protest should never have gone ahead.
Red Cross pleads for fuel to prevent Gaza hospitals from ‘turning into morgues’
The Red Cross has pleaded for fuel to be allowed into the besieged Gaza Strip to prevent overwhelmed hospitals from ‘turning into morgues’.
The sole electric power station in the enclave switched off yesterday after it ran out of fuel, and hospitals are running out of fuel for emergency generators.
‘The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians,’ Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in a statement on Thursday.
‘As Gaza loses power, hospitals lose power, putting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays can’t be taken. Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues.’
The organisation has said it is in contact with Hamas and Israel to try and negotiate the release of hostages. Israel has said it will not lift the siege on Gaza until they are freed, while Hamas has said they will not be released until the bombardment stops.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have said five of its members have been killed in the conflict.
Saudi Arabia’s MBS speaks to Iranian leader by phone to discuss Israel-Hamas war
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and Iran’s president spoke by phone about the war between Israel and Hamas, Saudi state media said this morning, their first call since a surprise rapprochement in March.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call on Wednesday from the Iranian leader, Ebrahim Raisi, during which they discussed ‘the current military situation in Gaza and its environs’, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
Prince Mohammed told Raisi that Riyadh is ‘communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation’, SPA said. He also stressed ‘the kingdom’s firm position towards supporting the Palestinian cause’, it said.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today condemned ‘all acts of terrorism and brutality’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today condemned ‘all acts of terrorism and brutality’ following the Hamas attack on Israel.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex added that they were ‘supporting our partners and organisations on the frontlines in Israel to provide the urgent aid needed’.
In a message posted on their Archewell website under the title ‘with heavy hearts’, the couple said: ‘At The Archewell Foundation, with Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, we stand against all acts of terrorism and brutality.
‘We are supporting our partners and organisations on the frontlines in Israel to provide the urgent aid needed, and to help all innocent victims of this unconscionable level of human suffering.’
Israel ‘targeting tunnels in Gaza with airstrikes’
Israel is targeting an underground system of tunnels in Gaza with its airstrikes, according to Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman.
The network was built and populated by Hamas, enabling them to hide from Israeli forces in the event of an attack.
‘What Hamas has done since they took control almost 20 years ago was to build a network of tunnels from Gaza City and under Gaza City all the way down to Khan Yunis and Rafah,’ Conricus said, according to the BBC.
He explained that the Gaza Strip needs to be thought of in two layers – one for civilians at ground level, and a subterranean level underneath. ‘What we are trying to do now is get to that second layer that Hamas has built,’ he said.
His comments come…
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