UK ministers to discuss Israel-Gaza strategy in emergency meeting
From CNN's Amy Cassidy in London
British government ministers will convene for an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss London’s approach toward Israel's war with Hamas, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said.
Dowden told Sky News that ministers would consider the situation of hostages held by Hamas and the broader situation in the Middle East amid fears of a wider regional conflict.
Also on the agenda will be securing a “humanitarian pause” to enable more aid to enter Gaza, though the United Kingdom would not call for a ceasefire, he said.
“I don’t think it’s a reasonable position to say when Hamas has attacked Israel […] to say we can have a complete cessation of hostilities," he said. "Israel has to take action to remove this threat against its civilians."
As the humanitarian crisis reaches a critical point in Gaza, with daily airstrikes, life-saving fuel on the verge of running out and health services crippled, pressure is building on the international community to get Israel to allow desperately needed aid into the enclave.
When asked, however, Dowden stopped short of calling the situation a humanitarian crisis.
"There is a very serious situation in Gaza," he told Sky News.
16 min ago
Israeli tanks raid northern Gaza ahead of "next stages of combat"
From CNN’s Amir Tal in Jerusalem
Israeli armored vehicles take part in an operation at a location given as northern Gaza in this still image taken from handout video released on October 26. Israel Defense Forces/Reuters
Israeli troops carried out a "targeted raid" with tanks in northern Gaza on Thursday before withdrawing from the enclave, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Video published by the IDF showed tanks and armored vehicles, including a bulldozer, moving on a road near a fence. The tanks fired artillery, and some destruction could be seen nearby.
The IDF said the raid was "part of preparations for the next stages of combat."
“The soldiers exited the area at the end of the activity,” the statement said.
IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner described the raid as large but limited in scope, saying it was “a clear and sweep operation intended to create better terms for ground operations if and when that comes in.”
“We actually engaged the enemy, killing terrorists who were planning to conduct attacks against us with anti-tank guided missiles,” he told CNN.
IDF preparations:Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, in response to its October 7 deadly terror attacks and kidnap rampage in which 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.
In a televised address Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israeli is "preparing for a ground incursion," into Gaza following nearly three weeks of airstrikes on the coastal strip.
The Israeli strikes have killed more than 6,400 people, and injured a further 17,000, according to information from Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza and published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
Limited skirmishes between Israel and Hamas militants have already taken place on the ground in Gaza. An Israeli soldier killed in a clash with Hamas on Sunday is the first publicly announced Israeli military death inside the enclave since October 7, the IDF said Tuesday.
21 min ago
IDF confirms airstrike in part of Gaza where journalist's relatives were killed
From CNN's Oliver Darcy
People carry a body pulled from rubble as civil defense teams and civilians conduct search and rescue operations after Israeli attacks at Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir al Balah, Gaza, on October 25. Doaa Albaz/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed it carried out an airstrike targeting "Hamas terrorist infrastructure" in an area of Gaza where 12 members of an Al Jazeera journalist's family were killed on Wednesday.
The strike hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where relatives of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh were taking shelter after being displaced, according to the Qatar-based news network.
Al-Dahdouh's wife, son, daughter and grandson were among those killed.
“Strikes on military targets are subject to relevant provisions of international law, including the taking of feasible precautions to mitigate civilian casualties," the IDF said in a statement to CNN on Thursday. "Regarding this specific case, the IDF targeted Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the area."
1 hr 29 min ago
Australia announces $15 million more in aid to Gaza
From CNN’s Dhruv Tikekar and Akanksha Sharma
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during an official welcoming ceremony at the White House on October 25. Celal Gunes/Anadolu/Getty Images
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday announced an additional $15 million in humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, bringing the total assistance promised by the country to $25 million.
“This adds to the $10 million Australia has already committed and will help deliver life-saving assistance such as emergency water and medical services,” Albanese said during a joint news conference with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
Albanese also condemned “the terrorism of Hamas” and said “we grieve for the loss of every innocent life, whether that be Israeli or Palestinian.”
On Wednesday, Australia called for “humanitarian pauses on hostilities” in Gaza to allow supplies to get in and safe passage for civilians, according to a statement from Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
3 hr 31 min ago
Analysis: Why Israel's allies fear it could be walking into a trap in Gaza
Analysis from CNN Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley in London
As they watch airstrikes and hot-barreled howitzers pound targets in Gaza, check and recheck their personal weapons, communications and webbing, there can be very few among the thousands of Israeli soldiers poised for combat who don’t quietly wonder: “Is this a trap?”
Hamas, and its backers in Tehran, would have certainly planned to meet a fierce Israeli ground offensive after the terrorizing infiltration of Israel.
It’s possible — even probable — that the singular horrors inflicted on so many civilians were intended by Hamas to guarantee a massive Israeli response, no matter the cost to civilians in Gaza.
Israel’s next moves will determine the shape of things to come — perhaps for decades. It all comes down to Gaza.
Hamas has riddled the Strip with networks of tunnels. It will have laced the landscape above ground with booby traps, and will have plans to meet the IDF with anything from swarms of suicide bombers to snatch teams to take soldiers hostage.
It took Iraq’s military — backed by American, British and other special forces along with relentless airstrikes — nine months to drive ISIS out of Mosul in 2017.
The northern Iraqi city was largely emptied of civilians but fighting was house to house. ISIS used tunnel systems it had built to ambush government troops who painfully took Mosul brick by bloody brick.
The bomb-making skills of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and close ally of Hamas, have metastasized across the Middle East. In Gaza, Israeli troops will know they face improvised explosive devices built with charges that can cripple a tank. They’ll know that Hezbollah’s abilities to destroy armor will have been further refined since Israel last did serious battle in Lebanon in 2006 and was shocked by the sophistication of the militia.
UN says it has identified Israeli commander likely responsible for 2022 killing of reporter
From CNN's Andrew Carey and Hande Atay Alam
Shireen Abu Akleh died after being shot while covering an IDF raid in the West Bank in May 2022. Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance/Getty Images
A United Nations commission says it has identified the Israeli commander and military unit it believes is likely responsible for the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank last year.
Abu Akleh, an experienced and highly respected Al Jazeera journalist, was shot while covering an early morning raid by Israeli forces targeting militants in the city of Jenin in May 2022.
Navi Pillay, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, said Tuesday that an investigation had concluded Israeli security forces "used lethal force without justification under international human rights law, and intentionally or recklessly violated Shireen Abu Akleh’s right to life."
Following forensic analysis and expert testimony, the commission believed the fatal shot was likely fired by a solider belonging to the Israel Defense Forces' Duvdevan unit, she said.
"We didn't name the commander, but we have that information," she added.
In May, the IDF apologized for Abu Akleh's death, after conceding last year there was a “high possibility” she was shot by an Israeli soldier.
West Bank findings: Pillay said the commission’s investigation had observed an increase in operations by Israeli forces targeting armed Palestinian groups in the occupied West Bank, with some operations “appearing to involve the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force.”
She also said Israel treated large raids as military rather than law enforcement operations, “resulting in the application of far more permissible rules of engagement in violation of international law.”
Israel insists it is targeting terrorist groups in the West Bank that have carried out, or are planning to carry out, attacks on Israelis, and says it always acts within international law.
2 hr 8 min ago
Calls for "humanitarian pause" as Gaza crisis deepens. Here's what to know
From CNN staff
Buildings lie in ruins following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Youssef Alzanoun/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
A United Nations humanitarian agency is warning it may have to halt its services in Gaza if no fuel is delivered — saying time is running out. Israel is continuing its fierce bombardment and complete blockage of the Palestinian enclave.
Several countries have now called for "humanitarian pauses" to allow for more aid to come into Gaza.
Talks are underway with world leaders in an effort to free more hostages, sources say. More than 100 hostages have foreign passports, the Israeli government estimated.
Here are the key things to know:
Humanitarian agency in crisis: Vital fuel supplies are on the verge of running out, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said. It runs the “largest humanitarian operation in Gaza,” the agency's director said, but it might all come to an end within hours. Without fuel supplies, the agency said it would no longer be able to operate desalination stations, hospital services or deliver food supplies — essentially severing its humanitarian services in Gaza.
Attempts to get aid in and people out: The presence of Hamas at the Rafah border crossing has made the situation "extremely difficult," US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. Sometimes Hamas militants are actively at the crossing with guns "preventing people from approaching the crossing." On Tuesday, eight out of the scheduled 20 trucks were able to cross into Gaza, the UNRWA said.
The latest on hostages: Qatar, which is helping to mediate with Egypt, is hopeful for a breakthrough soon on negotiations to release hostages held by Hamas, the prime minister and foreign minister said. Four hostages — two American and two Israeli — have been freed so far. Talks to secure the release of a large number of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza are ongoing, two sources familiar with the matter and one Western diplomat familiar with the discussions told CNN.
Hostages from other countries: There are 135 hostages with foreign passports from 25 countries being held in the Gaza Strip, according to a new estimate released by the Israeli Government Press Office Wednesday. There are 54 Thai nationals, 25 Argentines, 12 Germans and 12 from the United States, it said. Separately, 259 foreign nationals were murdered in the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel said.
Calls for a pause or ceasefire: A UN Security Council resolution put forward by the US calls for "humanitarian pauses" — not a ceasefire — to allow desperately needed aid to reach Gaza. The European Union may also lean toward calling for a "short humanitarian pause" in Gaza after leaders meet on Thursday, a senior diplomat said. Several leaders have already voiced some version of this, including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the foreign ministers of Ireland and Slovenia. Separately, the United Kingdom government is discussing “humanitarian pauses” but rejects a “wholesale ceasefire,” a spokesperson for the prime minister said.
Amping up of military equipment: The US has agreed to send two Iron Dome batteries from the US to Israel, a defense official and US official said. The batteries from US stocks are in addition to Iron Dome interceptors the US provided from stocks already in Israel. More generally, the Australian government also said it is deploying more personnel and aircraft to the Middle East region, the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
3 hr 16 min ago
Satellite images show scale of destruction in Gaza
From CNN staff
New satellite images released by Maxar show significant damage to sites across Gaza following Israeli airstrikes in response Hamas' surprise attacks on October 7.
These before and after images of Atatra, northwest Gaza, show nearly an entire neighborhood reduced to rubble following Israel's bombardment.
Israel and Hezbollah trade fire across border, IDF says
From CNN’s Tamar Michaelis and Mitchell McCluskey
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military compound and an observation post in southern Lebanon Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, the IDF reported that militants fired an anti-tank missile at IDF soldiers operating in the area of Avivim in northern Israel.
The IDF said their forces returned fire.
Hezbollah-owned media outlet Al Manar TV reported that Hamas had struck an IDF tank in Avivim.
Al Manar also reported that the IDF struck the outskirts of the villages of Maroun al-Ras and Blida in southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday a ground incursion into Gaza will take placeand airstrikes were "just the beginning," as new satellite images revealed the devastation wrought by Israel's bombs in the besieged enclave.
Pressure is building on the international community to get Israel to allow desperately needed aid into Gaza, with more countries advocating for a "humanitarian pause" in fighting. US military advisers are urging Israel to avoid an all-out ground assault, while the US House of Representatives passed a resolution in support of Israel.
The UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza said Wednesday it will have to halt aid operations within a day if fuel is not delivered, saying it would mark the end of a "lifeline" for civilians.
Amid a diplomatic spat with Israel, UN Secretary-General António Guterres restated his condemnation of Hamas' October 7 attacks and said his remarks that they "did not happen in a vacuum" had been mischaracterized.
British government ministers will convene for an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss London’s approach toward Israel's war with Hamas, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said.
Dowden told Sky News that ministers would consider the situation of hostages held by Hamas and the broader situation in the Middle East amid fears of a wider regional conflict.
Also on the agenda will be securing a “humanitarian pause” to enable more aid to enter Gaza, though the United Kingdom would not call for a ceasefire, he said.
“I don’t think it’s a reasonable position to say when Hamas has attacked Israel […] to say we can have a complete cessation of hostilities," he said. "Israel has to take action to remove this threat against its civilians."
As the humanitarian crisis reaches a critical point in Gaza, with daily airstrikes, life-saving fuel on the verge of running out and health services crippled, pressure is building on the international community to get Israel to allow desperately needed aid into the enclave.
When asked, however, Dowden stopped short of calling the situation a humanitarian crisis.
"There is a very serious situation in Gaza," he told Sky News.
Israeli armored vehicles take part in an operation at a location given as northern Gaza in this still image taken from handout video released on October 26. Israel Defense Forces/Reuters
Israeli troops carried out a "targeted raid" with tanks in northern Gaza on Thursday before withdrawing from the enclave, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Video published by the IDF showed tanks and armored vehicles, including a bulldozer, moving on a road near a fence. The tanks fired artillery, and some destruction could be seen nearby.
The IDF said the raid was "part of preparations for the next stages of combat."
“The soldiers exited the area at the end of the activity,” the statement said.
IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner described the raid as large but limited in scope, saying it was “a clear and sweep operation intended to create better terms for ground operations if and when that comes in.”
“We actually engaged the enemy, killing terrorists who were planning to conduct attacks against us with anti-tank guided missiles,” he told CNN.
IDF preparations:Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, in response to its October 7 deadly terror attacks and kidnap rampage in which 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.
In a televised address Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israeli is "preparing for a ground incursion," into Gaza following nearly three weeks of airstrikes on the coastal strip.
The Israeli strikes have killed more than 6,400 people, and injured a further 17,000, according to information from Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza and published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
Limited skirmishes between Israel and Hamas militants have already taken place on the ground in Gaza. An Israeli soldier killed in a clash with Hamas on Sunday is the first publicly announced Israeli military death inside the enclave since October 7, the IDF said Tuesday.
People carry a body pulled from rubble as civil defense teams and civilians conduct search and rescue operations after Israeli attacks at Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir al Balah, Gaza, on October 25. Doaa Albaz/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed it carried out an airstrike targeting "Hamas terrorist infrastructure" in an area of Gaza where 12 members of an Al Jazeera journalist's family were killed on Wednesday.
The strike hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where relatives of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh were taking shelter after being displaced, according to the Qatar-based news network.
Al-Dahdouh's wife, son, daughter and grandson were among those killed.
“Strikes on military targets are subject to relevant provisions of international law, including the taking of feasible precautions to mitigate civilian casualties," the IDF said in a statement to CNN on Thursday. "Regarding this specific case, the IDF targeted Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the area."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during an official welcoming ceremony at the White House on October 25. Celal Gunes/Anadolu/Getty Images
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday announced an additional $15 million in humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, bringing the total assistance promised by the country to $25 million.
“This adds to the $10 million Australia has already committed and will help deliver life-saving assistance such as emergency water and medical services,” Albanese said during a joint news conference with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
Albanese also condemned “the terrorism of Hamas” and said “we grieve for the loss of every innocent life, whether that be Israeli or Palestinian.”
On Wednesday, Australia called for “humanitarian pauses on hostilities” in Gaza to allow supplies to get in and safe passage for civilians, according to a statement from Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
As they watch airstrikes and hot-barreled howitzers pound targets in Gaza, check and recheck their personal weapons, communications and webbing, there can be very few among the thousands of Israeli soldiers poised for combat who don’t quietly wonder: “Is this a trap?”
Hamas, and its backers in Tehran, would have certainly planned to meet a fierce Israeli ground offensive after the terrorizing infiltration of Israel.
It’s possible — even probable — that the singular horrors inflicted on so many civilians were intended by Hamas to guarantee a massive Israeli response, no matter the cost to civilians in Gaza.
Israel’s next moves will determine the shape of things to come — perhaps for decades. It all comes down to Gaza.
Hamas has riddled the Strip with networks of tunnels. It will have laced the landscape above ground with booby traps, and will have plans to meet the IDF with anything from swarms of suicide bombers to snatch teams to take soldiers hostage.
It took Iraq’s military — backed by American, British and other special forces along with relentless airstrikes — nine months to drive ISIS out of Mosul in 2017.
The northern Iraqi city was largely emptied of civilians but fighting was house to house. ISIS used tunnel systems it had built to ambush government troops who painfully took Mosul brick by bloody brick.
The bomb-making skills of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and close ally of Hamas, have metastasized across the Middle East. In Gaza, Israeli troops will know they face improvised explosive devices built with charges that can cripple a tank. They’ll know that Hezbollah’s abilities to destroy armor will have been further refined since Israel last did serious battle in Lebanon in 2006 and was shocked by the sophistication of the militia.
Shireen Abu Akleh died after being shot while covering an IDF raid in the West Bank in May 2022. Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance/Getty Images
A United Nations commission says it has identified the Israeli commander and military unit it believes is likely responsible for the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank last year.
Abu Akleh, an experienced and highly respected Al Jazeera journalist, was shot while covering an early morning raid by Israeli forces targeting militants in the city of Jenin in May 2022.
Navi Pillay, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, said Tuesday that an investigation had concluded Israeli security forces "used lethal force without justification under international human rights law, and intentionally or recklessly violated Shireen Abu Akleh’s right to life."
Following forensic analysis and expert testimony, the commission believed the fatal shot was likely fired by a solider belonging to the Israel Defense Forces' Duvdevan unit, she said.
"We didn't name the commander, but we have that information," she added.
In May, the IDF apologized for Abu Akleh's death, after conceding last year there was a “high possibility” she was shot by an Israeli soldier.
West Bank findings: Pillay said the commission’s investigation had observed an increase in operations by Israeli forces targeting armed Palestinian groups in the occupied West Bank, with some operations “appearing to involve the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force.”
She also said Israel treated large raids as military rather than law enforcement operations, “resulting in the application of far more permissible rules of engagement in violation of international law.”
Israel insists it is targeting terrorist groups in the West Bank that have carried out, or are planning to carry out, attacks on Israelis, and says it always acts within international law.
Buildings lie in ruins following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Youssef Alzanoun/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
A United Nations humanitarian agency is warning it may have to halt its services in Gaza if no fuel is delivered — saying time is running out. Israel is continuing its fierce bombardment and complete blockage of the Palestinian enclave.
Several countries have now called for "humanitarian pauses" to allow for more aid to come into Gaza.
Talks are underway with world leaders in an effort to free more hostages, sources say. More than 100 hostages have foreign passports, the Israeli government estimated.
Here are the key things to know:
Humanitarian agency in crisis: Vital fuel supplies are on the verge of running out, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said. It runs the “largest humanitarian operation in Gaza,” the agency's director said, but it might all come to an end within hours. Without fuel supplies, the agency said it would no longer be able to operate desalination stations, hospital services or deliver food supplies — essentially severing its humanitarian services in Gaza.
Attempts to get aid in and people out: The presence of Hamas at the Rafah border crossing has made the situation "extremely difficult," US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. Sometimes Hamas militants are actively at the crossing with guns "preventing people from approaching the crossing." On Tuesday, eight out of the scheduled 20 trucks were able to cross into Gaza, the UNRWA said.
The latest on hostages: Qatar, which is helping to mediate with Egypt, is hopeful for a breakthrough soon on negotiations to release hostages held by Hamas, the prime minister and foreign minister said. Four hostages — two American and two Israeli — have been freed so far. Talks to secure the release of a large number of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza are ongoing, two sources familiar with the matter and one Western diplomat familiar with the discussions told CNN.
Hostages from other countries: There are 135 hostages with foreign passports from 25 countries being held in the Gaza Strip, according to a new estimate released by the Israeli Government Press Office Wednesday. There are 54 Thai nationals, 25 Argentines, 12 Germans and 12 from the United States, it said. Separately, 259 foreign nationals were murdered in the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel said.
Calls for a pause or ceasefire: A UN Security Council resolution put forward by the US calls for "humanitarian pauses" — not a ceasefire — to allow desperately needed aid to reach Gaza. The European Union may also lean toward calling for a "short humanitarian pause" in Gaza after leaders meet on Thursday, a senior diplomat said. Several leaders have already voiced some version of this, including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the foreign ministers of Ireland and Slovenia. Separately, the United Kingdom government is discussing “humanitarian pauses” but rejects a “wholesale ceasefire,” a spokesperson for the prime minister said.
Amping up of military equipment: The US has agreed to send two Iron Dome batteries from the US to Israel, a defense official and US official said. The batteries from US stocks are in addition to Iron Dome interceptors the US provided from stocks already in Israel. More generally, the Australian government also said it is deploying more personnel and aircraft to the Middle East region, the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
New satellite images released by Maxar show significant damage to sites across Gaza following Israeli airstrikes in response Hamas' surprise attacks on October 7.
These before and after images of Atatra, northwest Gaza, show nearly an entire neighborhood reduced to rubble following Israel's bombardment.
