Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli forces ‘determined to advance’ including in southern Gaza, says IDF

It’s just past 2am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• At least 12,000 Palestinians, including 5,000 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to Hamas officials on Friday.

• Israeli troops will advance to anywhere Hamas exists, including the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said. It comes amid mounting concerns about Israeli plans to expand military operations in parts of the south where people have sought refuge from fighting. Civilians in parts of south-east Gaza have been told in leaflets dropped by Israeli aircraft to move into a smaller “safe zone” in the coastal town of Mawasi, which covers just 14 sq km (5.4 sq miles), prompting warnings from the heads of 18 UN agencies and international aid groups.

• Israel’s national security adviser has said the country’s war cabinet had agreed to allow two tanker trucks of fuel to enter the Gaza Strip each day – a quantity he described as “very minimal”. Tzachi Hanegbi said the fuel would be allowed for Gaza’s communications system and water and sewage services. An Israeli official later said there would be “no limitation” on aid requested for Gaza by the UN, an apparent concession to international pressure and warnings that its iron grip on the war-torn Palestinian territory will lead to starvation and disease.

• Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it has been trying to evacuate some of its staff and their families currently trapped inside the organisation’s facilities near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Since last Saturday, MSF staff and families – 137 people, 65 of them children – have not been able to go outside because of ongoing fighting, it said.

• Gaza’s main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal have confirmed the “partial restoration” of telecom services in various parts of Gaza. The partial restoration comes after a limited quantity of fuel was provided through the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), they said.

• A UN human rights official has urged Israel to stop using water as a “weapon of war” and allow clean water and fuel into Gaza to restart the water supply network. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, UN special rapporteur on water and sanitation, reminded Israel that consciously preventing supplies of safe water from entering Gaza “violates both international humanitarian and human rights law”. The UN has warned that Gaza’s civilians face the “immediate possibility” of starvation, and that overcrowding and lack of clean water are speeding the spread of diseases as winter approaches.

• At least five Palestinians were killed and two others injured in a blast at a building in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said early on Saturday. Meanwhile, Israeli security forces mounted a major hours-long raid in the city of Jenin beginning on Thursday night, destroying roads and killing between three and five Hamas militants in the latest instance of surging violence across the occupied West Bank. Hamas said three of its fighters had died in the raid. Israeli military officials said their forces had killed at least five militants.

• An Israeli police investigation into the Hamas attacks at a music festival on 7 October has updated the death toll to 364, according to Israeli media reports. Earlier counts had placed the death count from the attack at Supernova music festival in Kibbutz Re’im at 270.

• The Israeli military has said it has retrieved the body of a soldier, Noa Marciano, who had been held captive by Hamas in a building near Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital. It comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday they had found the body of Yehudit Weiss, one of about 240 hostages taken on 7 October, in a building near the hospital.

• Bahrain’s crown prince says a “hostage trade” between Hamas and Israel could achieve a break in hostilities he believes might end the conflict in Gaza. Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa also said security in the region would not realised without a two-state solution, in which he described the US as “indispensable” in achieving.

• The deputy head of Israel’s legislature has criticised the decision to allow a limited amount of fuel into Gaza for humanitarian needs. Nissim Vaturi, deputy speaker of the Knesset and a member of the ruling Likud party, said Israel is being “too humane” and that it should “burn Gaza now”.

• Five countries have submitted a referral to the international criminal court (ICC) for an investigation of “the situation in the state of Palestine”, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said. Khan confirmed his office was already conducting an investigation into the situation in the state of Palestine which began in March 2021.

• The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis will meet next week with relatives of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza. The pope will separately meet with a delegation of Palestinians with family members in Gaza, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said.

At least five Palestinians were killed in a blast at a building in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service has said.

Two others were injured in the incident, it said.

The Israeli military did not immediately provide comment on the incident.

An Israeli police investigation into the Hamas attacks at a music festival on 7 October have updated the death toll to 364, according to Israeli media reports.

That figure would make up nearly one-third of all of those killed during the onslaught in Israel on 7 October, the Times of Israel reported, citing Channel 12.

Earlier counts had placed the death count from the attack at Supernova music festival in Kibbutz Re’im at 270.

The Israeli police reportedly believe that Hamas did not know about the festival before carrying out the attacks.

Israeli troops will advance to anywhere Hamas exists, including the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said.

Hagari, in his regular briefing on Friday, said:

We are determined to advance our operation. It will happen wherever Hamas exists, including in the south of the strip.

It will happen at the time, place and conditions that are best for the military.

The IDF spokesperson’s comments come amid mounting concerns about Israeli plans to expand military operations in parts of the south where people have sought refuge from fighting.

Civilians in parts of south-east Gaza have been told in leaflets dropped by Israeli aircraft to move into a smaller “safe zone” in the coastal town of Mawasi, which covers just 14 sq km (5.4 sq miles).

Gaza’s main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal have confirmed the “partial restoration” of telecom services in various parts of Gaza.

The firms announced a complete blackout of their services yesterday due to a lack of fuel. The partial restoration comes after a limited quantity of fuel was provided through the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), they said.

Rowena Mason

The UK education secretary has expressed “deep concern” that some children are missing lessons to join protests backing a ceasefire in Gaza, with hundreds estimated to have joined school strikes on Friday.

Gillian Keegan said schools should treat the wave of absences “with the utmost seriousness”, despite strike organisers circulating messages suggesting parents would not be fined if children missed school for short or one-off instances.

The school strikes have been called by the Stop the War Coalition, which tweeted pictures saying hundreds of children had joined protests outside town halls in Glasgow, and in the London boroughs of Redbridge and Newham.

Using the hashtag SchoolStrikeForPalestine, students also staged walkouts in Manchester, Luton, Bristol, and the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Harrow.

More school strikes are expected next week, and the weekly national marches in London have this weekend been changed to local action by protesters supporting Palestine and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it has been trying to evacuate some of its staff and their families currently trapped inside the organisation’s facilities near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Since last Saturday, MSF staff and families – 137 people, 65 of them children – have not been able to go outside because of ongoing fighting, it said in a statement on Friday.

The charity said bullets were fired into its guesthouse on Tuesday, and the office building was hit by shrapnel and the guesthouse’s water tank was shelled on Thursday.

Staff have reported high-intensity fighting “getting very close to them”, it said, adding that thousands of civilians trapped in hospitals and other places in Gaza City “suffer the same fate” and are “at risk of dying in the coming days, if not hours”.

Ann Taylor, MSF’s head of mission in Palestine, said:

Our colleagues hear the constant sounds of gunfire, shelling, and drones. We can hear it when we speak with them on the phone. The evacuation route to southern Gaza remains unsafe. They are terrified, they ran out of food several days ago, and children have now started getting sick from drinking salty water. They must be evacuated now.