Hamas health ministry says death toll passes 7,000 in Gaza war
Hamas health ministry says death toll passes 7,000 in Gaza war
The Hamas-run health ministry said Thursday that at least 7,028 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes since the militant group's October 7 attacks on Israel.
Some 2,913 children and 1,709 women are among the dead -- marking the highest number of war fatalities in Gaza since Israel unilaterally withdrew from the territory in 2005.
Israel says years needed to rehabilitate south after Gaza attack
Israeli efforts to rehabilitate southern communities ravaged by the October 7 Hamas onslaught will take years and go beyond a planned ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet said on Thursday.
Benny Gantz, an ex-general who joined Netanyahu from the opposition in an emergency government, signalled to enemies of Israel other than Hamas that they too risked being destroyed.
"The battle against Gazan terror will continue within the strip's territory - going deep, anywhere and at any time required to ensure security for the communities that will be restored and will rebuild the region," he said in a speech.
Gaza needs a full ceasefire for aid to get in: Palestinian minister
Israel needs to agree to a full ceasefire in Gaza in order enable urgently needed humanitarian aid to be brought in, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Thursday in The Hague.
EU leaders are poised to call on Thursday for pauses in bombardments into and out of Gaza to enable access for aid, but al-Maliki said this proposal was unacceptable, as it would not ensure aid could come in and water and electricity supplies be reinstated.
UN says 'nowhere is safe' in Gaza amid Israel bombing
The United Nations issued a stark warning Thursday that "nowhere is safe" in Gaza amid stepped up Israeli air raids in preparation for a widely expected ground offensive.
With Israel retaliating after Hamas's shock October 7 attacks with strikes on nearly every part of the Palestinian enclave, "people are left with nothing but impossible choices. Nowhere is safe in Gaza," Lynne Hastings, UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement.
UK to hold emergency response meeting on Israel-Gaza strategy
Britain will convene a meeting of the government's COBRA emergency response committee on Thursday to consider its strategy and approach towards Gaza and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told Times Radio.
Britain is pushing for a humanitarian pause to the conflict, for Britons in Gaza to be able to leave safely, and for the release of British hostages.
Israel conducts overnight 'targeted raid' with tanks in Gaza: army
The Israeli army carried out a "targeted raid" overnight in northern Gaza with tanks and infantry, it said in a statement Thursday, as it prepared its forces for a ground invasion.
"Overnight, the IDF conducted a targeted raid using tanks in the northern Gaza Strip, as part of preparations for the next stages of combat," the army said in a statement.
"The soldiers exited the area at the end of the activity."
Family of Al Jazeera journalist killed in Israeli strike, network says
Al Jazeera said the wife, son and daughter of one of its correspondents in Gaza were killed on Wednesday night in an Israeli air strike that the Hamas-run enclave's health ministry said killed at least 25 people.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike, which Al Jazeera said hit an area in Gaza's central Nuseirat refugee camp.
Al Jazeera said the correspondent, Wael al-Dahdouh, had moved his family to Nuseirat from their home in northern Gaza after Israel warned residents to move south ahead of an expected Israeli ground assault against Hamas militants.
Other members of Dahdouh's family were killed in the strike, Al Jazeera said. The network did not accuse Israel of targeting his family.
Al Jazeera broadcast live footage of Dahdouh crying as he saw his family members laying lifeless in hospital.
Israel bombards Gaza, prepares invasion
Israel bombarded Hamas targets as it prepared for a ground invasion, with Russia warning the conflict could spread beyond the Middle East, and as world powers failed to secure plans to deliver critical humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
US President Joe Biden, in remarks looking beyond the war that began with an October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants, said on Wednesday that the future should include Israeli and Palestinian states side by side.
"Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity and in peace," Biden said at a joint press conference in Washington with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
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