Politics

Israel-Hamas war live: Netanyahu says Israel’s siege ‘just getting started’; Hamas threatens hostage executions


‘We are just getting started’: Netanyahu says Israel response will ‘change Middle East’

Israel’s response to the hostilities initiated by Hamas will “change the Middle East”, its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said earlier today.

Netanyahu, speaking to local mayors on Israel’s southern border, was quoted by his office as saying:

What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible; we are already in the campaign and we are just getting started … The state will leave no stone unturned to help all of you. I ask that you stand steadfast because we are going to change the Middle East.

Key events

Here is a video of that interview with a senior Hamas official, in which he said the organisation is prepared for the ‘scenario of long war’:

Hamas official: attack was known by only ‘a handful’ of commanders – video

Gaza’s health ministry us appealing for the “opening of a safe corridor to ensure the entry of urgent medical aid into the Strip’s hospitals”, following what it said were targeted attacks on ambulances and “Gaza Strip hospitals’ urgent need for medical supplies necessary to provide health care to those wounded in the aggression.”

In a statement posted to the ministry’s website, it said, “Health facilities in the Gaza Strip suffer from a severe shortage in the basic list of medicines and medical consumables, as the shortage in medicines is approximately 44%, while the shortage in consumables is approximately 32% of the basic list.”

Here is the Guardian’s Full Story podcast on the Israel-Hamas war:

UN believes number of internally displaced persons in Gaza is highest since 2014

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that 187,518 people have fled their homes in Gaza, with 137,427 currently sheltering in UNRWA schools.

In a “flash update”, the UN office writes:

By [Monday] afternoon, over 187,518 people in Gaza are believed to have fled their homes, with UNRWA hosting 137,427 in 83 schools, some of which operated as emergency shelters. The number of IDPs represents the highest number of people displaced since the 50-day escalation of hostilities in 2014, which was the deadliest escalation recorded in Gaza since 1967. Additionally, it is estimated that over 41,000 IDPs, whose homes have been destroyed or damaged, are hosted by relatives and neighbours. During the night of 9 October, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders to Palestinian communities in the Middle Area of Gaza and in Khan Yunis, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of people who have been told to relocate into the centre of Gaza city amid ongoing hostilities.

Israeli airstrikes and land shelling continued overnight and throughout the day for the third consecutive day. Destruction of infrastructure and streets has hindered the movement of civil defense and medical teams to reach victims.

Palestinian health ministry says four ambulances targeted by Israeli forces

Palestine’s health ministry has released a statement claiming Israeli defence forces “targeted” ambulances in southern Gaza. Four ambulances have been “put out of service” the ministry claims:

The Israeli occupation forces targeted 4 ambulances in the Abasan area, east of Khan Yunis. The Ministry said that this aggressive targeting caused damage and put these cars out of service.

The Ministry indicated that these aggressive actions threaten the lives of citizens and hinder the work of medical teams in providing necessary health care to the injured. It appealed to the international community to intervene immediately to stop these aggressive attacks and protect health facilities.

Meanwhile Reuters, in an analysis piece, writes that the war is “will put [Biden and Netanyahu’s]uneasy relationship to a further test”.

US relations with Israel, Washington’s main Middle East ally, have frayed in recent months with the White House echoing Israeli critics who have organized protests opposing the far-right Netanyahu government’s plan to curb Supreme Court powers.

But the two leaders’ differences go much deeper.

As president, Biden has frequently stressed support for independent Israeli and Palestinian states. Administration officials say he has raised it in every conversation with Netanyahu, while asking him to halt the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Biden has posted a photograph of the White House lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag to X with the caption, “Tonight, America says clearly to the Israeli people, to the world, and to terrorists everywhere that we stand with Israel. That will never change.”

Tonight, America says clearly to the Israeli people, to the world, and to terrorists everywhere that we stand with Israel.

That will never change. pic.twitter.com/uFhvmXf7bO

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 10, 2023

Hamas official says organisation prepared for ‘scenario of long war’

Now from that Associated Press interview with exiled senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh.

Barakeh said Hamas is ready to fight a long war with Israel, saying it has an arsenal of rockets that will last a long time. He also said that the hostages taken by Hamas will be used to secure the release of Arabs detained in Israeli jails and Palestinians in US jails.

“We have prepared well for this war and to deal with all scenarios, even the scenario of the long war,” Barakeh told the AP. “We will bring life to a stop in the Zionist entity if the aggression does not stop on Gaza.”

Barakeh, who was Hamas’ representative in Lebanon for years and is now in charge of coordinating with other Palestinian factions, said his group will use the scores of Israelis it captured in the raid to secure the release of all Arabs detained in Israeli jails and even some Palestinians imprisoned in the United States on charges of funding Hamas.

“There are Palestinians held in America. We will ask for their release,” he said, without specifying who he was referring to.

In 2009, a court in Dallas sentenced two founding members of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the largest US Muslim charity, to 65 years in prison for funneling millions of dollars to Hamas. Three other men were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 20 years for conspiracy.

Janine Israel

Janine Israel

Meanwhile U2 have paid tribute to the hundreds of “beautiful kids” killed at the Supernova music festival in Israel by altering the lyrics to one of their biggest hits at a concert in Las Vegas on Sunday.

During their performance at Sphere, where the Irish rock band are in the midst of a 25-show residency, frontman Bono reworded the lyrics to U2’s 1984 breakthrough song Pride (In the Name of Love), referring to those killed by Hamas fighters as “stars of David”.

Before launching into Pride (In the Name of Love), Bono said: “In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even laughable, but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence.

“But our hearts and our anger, you know where that’s pointed. So sing with us … and those beautiful kids at that music festival.”

Hamas official: attack was planned by ‘handful of Hamas commanders’

The Associated Press has interviewed a senior Hamas official who said only a small number of top commanders inside Gaza knew about the wide-ranging incursion launched into Israel, but that allies like Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah “will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation.”

Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas’ exiled leadership, spoke to The Associated Press in his Beirut office as Israel bombarded Gaza and vowed a total blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.

Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas’ exiled leadership, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, 9 October 2023.
Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas’ exiled leadership, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, 9 October 2023. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

Barakeh said the attack was planned by around a half dozen top Hamas commanders in Gaza and that even the group’s closest allies were not informed in advance about the timing. He denied reports that Iranian security officials helped plan the attack or gave the go-ahead at a meeting last week in Beirut.

“Only a handful of Hamas commanders knew about the zero hour,” Barakeh said, adding that no one from the central command or the political bureau of Hamas was in the Lebanese capital last week.

He said even Hamas was shocked by the extent of the operation, dubbed “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm,” saying it had expected Israel to prevent or limit the attack.

“We were surprised by this great collapse,” Barakeh said. “We were planning to make some gains and take prisoners to exchange them. This army was a paper tiger.”

“His claim that Hamas has only planned a small operation is belied by the fact that an estimated 1,000 fighters took part in the incursion, attacking by land, sea and even motorised paragliders,” the Associated Press reports.

Here are some recent images from Gaza:

Palestinians look at the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, 9 October 2023.
Palestinians look at the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, 9 October 2023. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA
Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, on 9 October 2023.
Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, on 9 October 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA
Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, 9 October 2023.
Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, 9 October 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

As dawn approaches in Gaza, Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst reports that heavy Israeli strikes on Gaza are ongoing. It is currently 4:30 am local time.

In a televised address on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We have only started striking Hamas,” and that, “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”

According to the most recent tolls, 687 Palestinians have been killed in the last three days.

Heavy Israeli strikes continue against Gaza. Fighter jets roar overhead in southern Israel.

— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 10, 2023

A statement released by the Palestinian Health Ministry late Monday said, citing figures as of 7 October:

On the third day of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health expressed its deep concern about the continuation of the Israeli escalation and the direct attacks on medical facilities and innocent civilians.

The Ministry of Health emergency plan has been deployed. All health facilities are functioning to respond to those who are injured by Israeli aggression.

According to the Palestinian Health Information Center (PHIC) as of 7 October there have been 687 killed, including 140 children, and 105 women, while 3726 were injured, 10% of the injuries were children.

The toll is expected to rise amid continuing attacks and as more recent figures are released.





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