Day 9 of Israel-Hamas war: Rafah crossing remains closed; Blinken meets Saudi crown prince

Updates on Day 9 of the Israel-Hamas war include the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza remaining closed on Sunday morning amid Egyptian authorities' continuing negotiations with Israel. Convoys of humanitarian aid have been waiting near the crossing point for delivery to Gaza, they said.

Jerusalem : Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war. The Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza remained closed on Sunday morning, as Egyptian authorities continued negotiations with Israel, the US and Palestinian militant groups over allowing aid to flow into the besieged strip and letting Americans and other foreigners and wounded Palestinians cross into Egypt, two Egyptian officials said.

Convoys of humanitarian aid, including shipments from Turkey and Jordan, have been waiting near the crossing point for delivery to Gaza, they said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief media.

BLINKEN MEETS WITH SAUDI CROWN PRINCE

Riyadh: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh as the Biden administration scrambles to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from becoming a broader regional conflict.

Blinken and the crown prince spoke Sunday for a little less than an hour at his private farm outside the capital, US officials said. Asked how the meeting went, Blinken replied very productive, but there were no other immediate details. The meeting, which had been expected late Saturday night but never materialised, was closed to media.

The talks came just hours after the Israeli military warned that a full-scale assault on Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip would begin soon amid increasingly dire warnings that the expected ground invasion will have devastating consequences for Palestinian civilians. State Department said, "The Secretary highlighted the United States' unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading. The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond."

Prince Mohammed is the sixth Arab leader Blinken has seen in person since he arrived in the Middle East on Thursday, stopping first in Israel to reaffirm the Biden administration's pledge to stand with and support Israel. From Israel, Blinken has travelled throughout the region meeting the leaders of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. He plans to visit Egypt later Sunday.

PALESTINIAN DEATHS SOAR PAST 2,300

Gaza Strip: The Gaza Health Ministry says 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the latest fighting erupted, making this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for Palestinians. The death toll on Sunday surpassed that of the third war between Israel and Hamas, in the summer of 2014, when 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians, were killed, according to UN figures.

That war lasted six weeks, and 74 people were killed on the Israeli side, including six civilians. The current war erupted a week ago when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel in a shocking surprise attack. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed in the initial, wide-ranging assault and in rocket attacks from Gaza. The overwhelming majority were civilians. For Israel, this is the deadliest war since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria.

INDONESIANS RALLY TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIANS

Jakarta: More than 2,000 Muslims rallied in Indonesia's capital on Sunday to show solidarity with Palestinians and called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war.
Waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags and signs that read Save Palestinians, they gathered outside Al Azhar Grand Mosque in southern Jakarta. Let's pray for an end to the war, which is full of tears and blood of the martyrs, a speaker told the crowd with a loudspeaker. Victory will at the end be in the hands of the Palestinian people."

The rally ended peacefully and the community raised money for humanitarian aid in Gaza. Similar rallies were held Saturday in other major cities across the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, including in Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo and Medan.

US DEFENCE SECRETARY SAYS 2ND CARRIER IS PART OF EFFORT TO PREVENT WIDENING OF WAR

Washington: The Biden administration is sending the USS Dwight D Eisenhower carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the additional carrier was being sent as part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas's attack on Israel.

The Eisenhower will join the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group, which is already sailing near Israel, to bolster US presence there with a host of destroyers, fighter aircraft and cruisers. The Eisenhower deployed from its homeport of Norfolk, Va, Friday. Having two carriers in the region can provide a host of options.

US TO SEND A SECOND CARRIER STRIKE GROUP TO SUPPORT ISRAEL

Washington: The Biden administration is sending the USS Dwight D Eisenhower carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, two defence officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the move ahead of its announcement. The Eisenhower will join the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group, which is already sailing near Israel, to bolster US presence there with a host of destroyers, fighter aircraft and cruisers.

HAMAS SAYS THREE KILLED AFTER CROSSING BORDER BETWEEN LEBANON AND ISRAEL

Beirut: Hamas announced early Sunday that three of its members from Lebanon had been killed after crossing the border from Lebanon into Israel and clashing with Israeli forces. The group said in a statement that its militants had inflicted losses before being targeted by Israeli airstrikes. Since the outbreak of the latest Hamas-Israel war on Oct 7, there have been sporadic border clashes between Israeli forces and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, and with Palestinian armed groups in Lebanon including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

MONITOR SAYS ISRAEL ATTACKS AIRPORT IN NORTHERN SYRIA

Beirut: A Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet say Israel's military has attacked the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo, putting it out of service. Al-Watan daily said the Saturday night strike hit the runway of Aleppo airport - putting it out of service just hours after it was fixed following a similar Israeli strike on Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that the strike also hit the runway at Aleppo airport.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION SENDS SUPPLIES FOR GAZA

New York: A planeload of World Health Organisation supplies has landed at Egypt's el-Arish airport and is destined for Gaza when humanitarian access across the border is possible, the UN said Saturday. The cache includes enough basic essentials for 300,000 people and enough trauma medicines and materials for 1,200 wounded, the UN said in a release. It called for opening the Rafah border crossing immediately to humanitarian deliveries.
The critically injured, the sick and the vulnerable cannot wait, the world body said.

ISRAEL SAYS IT IS STRIKING MILITARY TARGETS IN SYRIA

Tel Aviv: The Israeli military says it is striking targets in Syria after air raid sirens went off in two villages in northern Israel and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. In a statement, the military did not say what set off the sirens. It said it was firing artillery to strike back. The incident is the latest in a continued flare-up along Israel's northern border with Lebanon and Syria after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli communities set off a war with Israel.

FAMILIES OF ISRAELI HOSTAGES SAY SOME OF THEIR LOVED ONES NEED MEDICINE

Tel Aviv: The relatives of Israelis taken captive by Hamas are demanding Saturday that the militant group allow in medicine to hostages who require it, saying their loved ones are suffering. Every day without her medication is torture. She's being tortured, said Yifat Zailer, who said her kidnapped 63-year-old aunt has Parkinson's disease. She was taken along with several other family members, Zailer said.