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Brit in Gaza describes desperate scene at Rafah crossing
Gaza has been hit by an unprecedented level of airstrikes this evening as the Israeli military said it was conducting a “significant attack” only hours after announcing it had severed the enclave into two having reached the Mediterranean coastline.
Footage on Telegram shows what is reportedly the northwest part of the Gaza Strip being hit by several Israeli airstrikes consecutively in a matter of seconds.
Addressing the attacks, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “We attack with great force. Tonight and every day, tonight there is now a significant attack.”
Earlier, he announced that Israeli forces had encircled Gaza City and would proceed into the northern city in the next 48 hours.
It comes as Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman earlier on Saturday and emphasized the importance of working towards a ceasefire in Gaza and stopping Israeli aggression in southern Lebanon, the state news agency reported.
Israeli PM Bejamin Netanyahu rejected those calls on Sunday, saying hostages would be rescued from Gaza above all else.
Hezbollah says Israel will 'pay price' after strike kills 3 children in Lebanon
An Israeli strike on a car in south Lebanon killed three children and their grandmother on Sunday, a Hezbollah lawmaker from the area has said, calling the attack a "dangerous development" for which Israel would pay a price.
Lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the mother of the three children - girls aged between 8 and 14 - was wounded in the attack which struck the car as it drove between the villages of Aynata and Aitaroun near the Israeli border.
"The enemy will pay the price for its crimes against civilians," Fadlallah told Reuters in a statement.
Asked about earlier reports from security sources in Lebanon that an Israeli strike had killed three people in a car near Aynata, an Israeli army spokesperson said the army would be a releasing a statement later on Sunday about a strike in Lebanon.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 17:21
CIA chief arrives in Israel, officials claim
CIA chief William Burns has arrived in Israel ahead of talks with officials and regional visits to Qatar, according to two senior politicians who spoke to Axios.
He is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Mossad chief David Barnea and other senior defense and intelligence officials, the Israeli officials said.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 23:10
Four dozen UN installations damaged in Gaza since 7 October
Four dozen United Nations installations in Gaza used by civilians have been damaged by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October, the Palestinian UN gorup has reported.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 22:40
Israel military says it is looking into report civilians were in struck vehicle in Lebanon
Israel‘s military said its troops engaged a vehicle “identified as a suspected transport for terrorists” in Lebanon on Sunday, and it was looking into reports there were civilians inside.
Lebanese authorities earlier said an Israeli strike on a car in the south of the country killed three children and their grandmother.
You can find more information on those claims earlier in this blog.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 22:10
Six people charged by police after pro-Palestinian protest in London
Six people have been charged following instances of public disorder and anti-social behaviour during a pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday, the police have said.
A police statement said “the vast majority of people demonstrated peacefully” but there were multiple reports of criminal behaviour.
The Metropolitan Police said they arrested 29 people throughout the day, as well as one further person on Sunday morning, and have since charged six people.
You can read the full report below.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 21:40
More information on top US diplomat Anthony Blinken’s West Bank visit today
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought his diplomatic push on the Israel-Hamas war to the occupied West Bank on Sunday, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of an intensifying Biden administration drive to reduce the suffering of Gaza’s civilians under Israeli bombardment and to start to sketch out a post-conflict scenario for the territory.
Mr Blinken later flew to Baghdad for talks with Iraqi Prime Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as American forces in the region face a surge of attacks by Iranian-allied militias in Iraq and elsewhere.
US forces shot down another one-way attack drone Sunday that was targeting American and coalition troops near their base in neighboring Syria, a US official said.
President Joe Biden’s top envoy traveled through the West Bank city of Ramallah in an armored motorcade and under tight security.
It was the third day of shuttle diplomacy aimed at trying to limit the destabilizing regional fallout from the war and overcome what has been the Israeli government’s refusal to consider intermittent pauses in its attack on Hamas long enough to rush vital aid to Gaza’s civilians.
“This is a process,” Mr Blinken told reporters. “Israel has raised important questions about how humanitarian pauses would work. We’ve got to answer those questions,” including how pauses would affect some 240 foreign hostages being held by Hamas. “We’re working on exactly that.”
Tom Watling5 November 2023 21:10
New US ambassador to Israel says bond between two nations is ‘unshakeable’
The new US ambassador to Israel has described the bond between the two nations as “unshakeable”.
You can watch his address in Israel below.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 20:40
Gaza suffers third communications outage since last week
Gaza came under its third total communications outage since the start of the war late Sunday, while Israel‘s military announced it had encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two.
“Today there is north Gaza and south Gaza,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters, calling it a “significant stage” in Israel‘s war against the Hamas militant group.
Israeli media reported that troops are expected to enter Gaza City within 48 hours.But the “new collapse in connectivity” across Gaza reported by internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmed by Palestinian telecom company Paltel made it even more complicated to share details on the new stage of the military offensive.
“We have lost communication with the vast majority of the UNRWA team members,” UN Palestinian refugee agency spokesperson Juliette Touma told The Associated Press.
The first Gaza outage lasted 36 hours and the second one for a few hours, complicating efforts to share events on the ground.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 20:10
IDF northern command says Israel ‘ready to attack’ Lebanon
The chief of staff of the Israeli Defence Forces’ northern command has said they are “ready to attack” Lebanon.
The comments were made during a situation assessment on Sunday.
It comes as Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in control of southern Lebanon, claimed Israeli airstrikes had killed three children and a grandmother.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 19:40
US top diplomat visits West Bank in bid for future peace as airstrikes kill dozens in Gaza
US secretary of state Antony Blinken visited the West Bank on Sunday as he claimed the ruling Palestinian Authority (PA) should play a central role in the future of the Gaza Strip.
As Israel continued a campaign of air strikes that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 9,700 Palestinians, Mr Blinken rebuffed calls for a ceasefire from Arab officials on Saturday after appealing, unsuccessfully, to Israel for more limited pauses to the fighting a day earlier.
You can read the full wrap-up from today below.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 19:05