Gaza (Palestine): Israel intensified airstrikes in Gaza including near its largest hospital while thousands of people desperate for food and basic items broke into aid warehouses in the besieged enclave.
Internet and phone connectivity were restored for many people on Sunday after Israeli strikes had knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday called the 3-week-old Israel-Hamas war a fight for Israel’s existence and said “‘Never again’ is now.” He announced a “second stage” in the war and said Israel is determined to bring back 229 hostages taken by Hamas during its bloody Oct. 7 rampage.
The Palestinian death toll passed 8,000, most of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.
More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during a surprise incursion by Hamas militants, including at least 310 soldiers, according to the Israeli government. Four of the 229 hostages have been released.
Here’s what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
- Number of children killed in war soars, Save the Children shares figures
The number of children killed in the blockaded Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Palestine war earlier this month has exceeded the number of children killed in armed conflict every year globally since 2019, international charity Save the Children said Sunday.
In a statement, the charity cited numbers from the Gaza Health Ministry of at least 3,195 children killed in the war that was sparked following a surprising Hamas attack on Oct. 7. It also mentioned the deaths of 33 children in the occupied West Bank and 29 children killed in Israel.
“The numbers are harrowing and with violence not only continuing but expanding in Gaza right now, many more children remain at grave risk,” Save the Children Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territory Jason Lee said in a statement. “One child’s death is one too many, but these are grave violations of epic proportions. A cease-fire is the only way to ensure their safety.”
- Israel says it killed Hamas militants near Erez Crossing
Israel’s military said Sunday that ground forces killed a number of Hamas militants as they were exiting a tunnel near the Erez crossing, which used to be the sole pedestrian passageway out of the coastal enclave into Israel before it was destroyed in the fighting. It was unclear how many militants were killed by Israeli forces.
Videos of the ground operation released by the military showed tanks traversing small, sandy hills and bulldozers clearing mountains of debris. Hamas has a sprawling network of tunnels underneath Gaza where it is believed to be stockpiling weapons, food, and other supplies.
- ICC Chief Prosecutor visits Egypt-Gaza border
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, visited the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza on Sunday, a senior Egyptian official said. The official said Khan inspected the crossing and briefed on the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian side. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
Khan’s office has opened an investigation into potential war crimes by Israel in Gaza in the 2014 war. He is scheduled to talk about his trip to the Egyptian border with Gaza in a news conference in Cairo on Sunday evening.
- Death toll crosses 8,000, says Gaza Health Ministry
The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza says over 8,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out on Oct. 7. It said Sunday that the toll has risen to 8,005 Palestinians, including more than 3,300 minors and over 2,000 women.
The Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but includes doctors and veteran civil servants who are not affiliated with the group. Its tolls from previous wars have held up to U.N. scrutiny, independent investigations and even Israel’s tallies. The ministry released detailed records last week showing the names, ages and ID numbers of most of the deaths it has recorded, saying some bodies have not yet been identified.
More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side, the vast majority of civilians killed by Hamas in its bloody Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.
- Norway PM slams Israel
Norway’s prime minister says Israel’s reaction to Hamas’ attack exceeds the rules of international law on proportionality. “It says in international law that (reaction to such an attack) must be proportionate,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told public broadcaster NRK in an interview on Sunday.
“Civilians must be taken into account, and humanitarian law is fully aware of that. I believe that the line has now been far exceeded” by Israel, he said, adding that his primary concern is that emergency aid is not getting into the Gaza Strip. Norway on Friday voted in favour of the United Nations resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” leading to a cessation of hostilities in Gaza.
“It’s a catastrophic situation, and I believe it is clearly in violation of what we call the rules of war or humanitarian law,” he said. “Many fear that the escalation we are now seeing could ignite a much bigger conflict in the region, and obviously a much more lasting conflict.”
- UN Chief reiterates appeal for humanitarian ceasefire
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has reiterated his appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and called for an unconditional release of all hostages and the delivery of sustained relief to the people in the territory. Guterres, who is on an official visit to Nepal, condemned the “appalling attacks perpetrated by Hamas” and said “there is no justification, ever, for the killing, injuring and abduction of civilians.” He also said he regretted Israel’s move to intensify its military operations in Gaza.
He also reminded Israel and Hamas about their obligations under international humanitarian law. “I have always been consistent in my call for strict compliance of the well-established principles and rules of international humanitarian law. The protection of civilians is paramount,” he said.
“The laws of war establish clear rules to protect human life and respect humanitarian concerns. Those laws cannot be contorted for the sake of expediency. The world is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe taking place before our eyes,” he added.
- WHO restores contact with team in Gaza
The head of the World Health Organization says they managed to communicate with the agency’s team in Gaza after internet and phone connectivity in the enclave were gradually restored. “They said the last two nights were extremely tense with a lot of airstrikes - without fuel, water, electricity, connectivity and safe shelter to evacuate to,” Tedros Adhanom wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
He added that the WHO team, like others in Gaza, remain unsafe and called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the agency has 30 employees in Gaza.
- UN says thousands break into Gaza warehouses to take food
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says thousands of people broke into its Gaza aid warehouses to take food and other “basic survival items.” Thomas White, the agency’s director in Gaza, said Sunday that the break-in was “a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down” after three weeks of war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
The agency, known as UNRWA, provides basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza. Its schools across the territory have been transformed into packed shelters housing Palestinians displaced by the conflict.
- Israeli airstrikes hit areas near Gaza's largest hospital
Israeli airstrikes have hit areas around Gaza’s largest hospital, residents say, destroying roads leading to the facility, which is a major shelter for Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombardment. The Israeli military has renewed longstanding allegations in recent days that top Hamas leaders and operatives have built underground bunkers below Shifa hospital and accused the militant group of using civilians as human shields. Israel has not presented evidence, and Hamas denies the claims.
“Reaching the hospital has become increasingly difficult,” Mahmoud al-Sawah, who was sheltering in the hospital, said over the phone on Sunday. “It seems they want to cut off the area.” Another Gaza resident, Abdallah Sayed, described the Israeli air and land attacks in the past two days as “the most violent and intense” since the war started.
- UN Security Council schedules emergency meeting on Monday
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza on Monday afternoon at the request of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council.
- Internet, telephone connectivity restored for many in Gaza
Internet and telephone connectivity was restored Sunday morning for many people in Gaza, according to the telecoms company Paltel, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.
For more than 24 hours, people in the besieged Gaza Strip were not able to communicate with each other or seek help amid a relentless Israeli bombardment. The narrow coastal area had suffered a total communication blackout since late Friday, adding to the misery of more than 2.3 million people living there. Many residents, especially in the northern half of the strip, were not able to call ambulances to transfer injured people to hospitals or to seek help for those trapped under the rubble of bombed houses.
“The aggressive bombardment was horrible,” said Raed Sharif, a volunteer helping transport wounded people to hospitals in Gaza city. “There were striking everywhere.” Doctors Without Borders medical group said the communication blackout had further isolated the population suffering under siege and bombardment. The blackout also limited the group's ability to coordinate and provide medical assistance, it said.
- Red Crescent says blackout keeping aid outside Gaza
No international aid entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as the communications blackout created by Israel continued. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, told The Associated Press that no aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday because communication was impossible and teams inside Gaza couldn't connect with Egyptian Red Crescent or United Nations personnel.
Before Saturday, a total of 84 aid trucks were let into Gaza, a tiny amount for a population of 2.3 million people in need of power, food, medical supplies and clean drinking water.
- 2nd US Aircraft Carrier group moves into Mediterranean
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its strike group has moved through the Strait of Gibraltar, putting two American carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, a rare sight in recent years. The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is already in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a buildup of forces as the U.S. supports Israel in its war against Hamas.
The Eisenhower sailed into the Mediterranean on Saturday and is slated to move through the Suez Canal to the U.S. Central Command region as the American forces expand their presence in the Middle East to deter Iran and its proxy militant groups from trying to widen the war.
- Israel calls Hamas prisoner swap offer 'psychological terror'
Hamas’s top leader in Gaza Yehia Sinwar said the Palestinian militant groups are ready to release Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s jails. “We are ready immediately to have an exchange deal that includes releasing all prisoners in the prisons of the Zionist occupation enemy in return for the release of all prisoners held by the resistance,” he said in a comment posted Saturday evening on Hamas media groups.
The Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, dismissed the offer as “psychological terror” and said Israel is working on multiple channels to free the hostages.
- Israel says its warplanes hit 150 underground targets
Israel’s military said Saturday that its warplanes struck 150 underground Hamas targets in northern Gaza, including tunnels, combat spaces and other infrastructure. But the extensive labyrinth of tunnels built by Hamas is believed to stretch for hundreds of miles, hiding fighters, an arsenal of rockets and now more than 200 Israeli hostages.
Clearing and collapsing those tunnels is crucial to dismantling Hamas. But Israel’s military could be at a serious disadvantage underground. Urban warfare experts say the militants can be hiding in millions of places, choosing when and where to ambush their enemies. Former Israeli soldier Ariel Bernstein described urban combat in northern Gaza as a mix of ambushes, traps, hideouts and snipers in tunnels so disorienting that it was like he was fighting ghosts.
- Israeli PM says Gaza war is existential, ‘Never again is now’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war against Hamas will be “long and difficult,” calling it a battle of good versus evil and a struggle for Israel’s existence. Netanyahu told the nation in a televised news conference Saturday night that Israel has opened a “new phase” in the war – by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea. He said these activities would only increase as Israel prepares for a broad ground invasion.
The goal, he said, is the complete destruction of Hamas. “We always said, ‘Never again,’” he said. “'Never again' is now.”
- Rocket, air strikes and another hospital hit
A Palestinian militant group in Gaza said it fired barrage of rockets Saturday evening on Tel Aviv and on Ashkelon and Ashdod in southern Israel. The rockets by Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was the latest in a series of rocket attacks on Israel on Saturday.
Israeli forces continued a relentless bombardment. One Israeli airstrike late Saturday afternoon damaged the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, according to freelance journalist Anas al-Sharif, one of the few journalists in Gaza able to connect to the outside world. He shared images of the hospital's damaged roof.
The Israeli strikes cut off telecommunications and internet access for Gaza's 2.3 million people, disrupting ambulances and aid groups and enabling Israel to control the narrative in the new stage of fighting. Earlier Saturday, Israeli videos showed columns of armoured vehicles moving slowly inside Gaza, the first visual confirmation of ground troops.
- Protests spread across the globe, calling on Israel to stop Gaza war
Police encircled hundreds of people who defied a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration Saturday in central Paris. The officers tried to contain the protest but fired tear gas when tensions rose as a breakaway group tried to march. The protest collective known as Urgence Palestine called for a cease-fire in the increasingly intense war between Israel and Hamas. Other pro-Palestinian demonstrations were held in Marseille and Strasbourg in the east.
Demonstrations also took place Saturday in Turkey, London, Indonesia, Pakistan, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and New York, where protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge a day after filling Grand Central Station, many wearing black T-shirts saying “Jews say cease-fire now” and “Not in our name.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a rally of hundreds of thousands that Western nations are responsible and that “Israel, we will proclaim you as a war criminal to the world." (With AP inputs)
More on Israel-Palestine war:
Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries; War robs Gaza of funeral rites
