Israel Palestine war RECAP: Rishi Sunak joins France and America in condemning Hamas as terrorists in rare joint statement after visiting Synagogue while thousands of Palestine protesters march through London with three arrests

Three people were arrested in London on Monday night who were involved in demonstrations following Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Three arrests have been made for assault on an emergency worker, racially-motivated criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon, the Metropolitan Police said.

The police said it has gathered evidence and active enquiries are under way to identity, locate and arrest those suspected of being involved in criminal damage of a building during the protests in Kensington High Street.

The Deputy Commander of the Israeli Defense Forces 300th Brigade was killed in a battle with militants who crossed the border from Lebanon on Monday afternoon, the IDF has said.

Lt. Col. Elim Abdullah, 40, was a resident of the Druze city of Yanuh-Jat in northern Israel.

The IDF says it ‘shares in the family’s grief and will continue to accompany it.’

In a joint statement, Rishi Sunak, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promised their ‘steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism’.

They said: ‘We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism.

‘In recent days, the world has watched in horror as Hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes, slaughtered over 200 young people enjoying a music festival, and kidnapped elderly women, children, and entire families, who are now being held as hostages.’

They warned that ‘this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage’.

The leaders said they recognised the ‘legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people’, but ‘Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed’.

Taking to X, former US President Barack Obama said: ‘All Americans should be horrified and outraged by the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians.’

‘We grieve for those who died, pray for the safe return of those who’ve been held hostage, and stand squarely alongside our ally, Israel, as it dismantles Hamas.

‘As we support Israel’s right to defend itself against terror, we must keep striving for a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.’

Lebanese terror group Hezbollah should not make the ‘wrong decision’ of opening a second front against Israel as it battles attacks by Hamas, a senior US defense official warns.

‘We are deeply concerned about Hezbollah making the wrong decision and choosing to open a second front to this conflict,’ the official tells journalists.

Five members of the terror group were killed in strikes by Israel after cross-border fire and an infiltration attempt on the Lebanon border.

The attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel that left hundreds dead was ‘ISIS-level savagery,’ a senior US defense official has said.

They added that Washington was surging support to Israel, including air defense and munitions.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has addressed a vigil for the victims of Hamas attacks on Israel at Finchley United Synagogue.

In it, he said: ‘The people who support Hamas are fully responsible for this appalling attack.

‘They are not militants. They are not freedom fighters, they are terrorists.’

Mr Sunak went on to say that his first duty is to protect the UK’s Jewish community, telling those gathered that he ‘will stop at nothing’ to do so.

He further said in his speech: ‘I wanted to come here tonight to stand with you, to stand with you in this hour of grief as we mourn the victims of an utterly abhorrent act of terror, to stand with you in this hour of prayer, as we think of those held hostage and your friends and loved ones taking refuge in bomb shelters, or risking their lives on the frontline.

‘And perhaps above all, I wanted to come here tonight to stand with you in solidarity in Israel’s hour of need.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been hailed as a ‘great and wonderful friend’ of Israel and the Jewish people.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis told a congregation at Finchley United Synagogue in north London that Mr Sunak had ‘turned your diary upside down in order to be here’.

Mr Sunak was among a large crowd gathered for an evening of prayer in solidarity with the people of Israel on Monday.

Sir Ephraim said: ‘Good friends are able to differentiate between the forces of darkness and the forces of light, between true and false, between right and wrong,

‘And Prime Minister, you are a great and wonderful friend of our Jewish community and of the State of Israel.’

This was met with loud applause.

Iran is complicit even though the United States has no intelligence or evidence that points to its direct participation in attacks in Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, a White House spokesperson said on Monday.

‘Iran has long supported Hamas and other terrorist networks throughout the region with resources capabilities training,’ White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on MSNBC.

‘And so in that regard, clearly, Iran is complicit here, but in terms of specific evidence on this, these sorts of attacks, no, we don’t have anything,’ he said.

During its nightly update, the IDF’s spokesman said that some 2,300 Israelis are confirmed wounded and more than 700 dead.

This total includes civilian and military casualties.

‘But unfortunately, for the first time in Israeli history the majority of those casualties are civilian’, said Jonathan Conricus, IDF reservist and spokesman.

He went on: ‘Why was it mostly civilians? Because the attack that Hamas did was focused on butchering, executing and massacring civilians in Israel.

‘They struck the military as well and we have military casualties but that wasn’t the focus, the focus was our civilians.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is attending a vigil for Israeli victims of the Hamas attacks at Finchley United Synagogue.

He is there with the Chief Rabbi for a prayer service this evening.

Turkey is ready to act as a mediator to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine if the two parties make such a proposition, including hostage swaps, President Tayyip Erdogan has said.

‘We believe that there will be no peace in the region without an independent, sovereign Palestine,’ he said in a press conference following a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Turkey is making necessary preparations to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, he added.

Erdogan urged Israel to stop bombing Palestinian lands and Palestine to stop harassing Israeli civilian settlements.

The European Union late on Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc was ‘immediately’ suspending aid for Palestinian authorities.

Instead it said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Israel by Hamas.

‘There will be no suspension of payments’ at the moment, a European Commission statement said late on Monday.

The announcement came five hours after EU commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had said that all payments from the development programme for Palestinians would be ‘immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals… postponed until further notice’.

No immediate explanation for the reversal was given.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has ‘only started’ a fierce offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ unprecedented attack on his country.

Mr Netanyahu delivered the pronouncement in a nationally televised address as Israel pressed ahead with a third day of heavy airstrikes in Gaza.

‘We have only started striking Hamas,’ he said. ‘What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.’

The Chief Rabbi has said British Jews are ‘at one’ with Israelis suffering after the violent assault by Hamas.

‘We stand shoulder to shoulder with you at this time,’ Sir Ephraim Mirvis told mourners gathered outside Downing Street.

A firework was shot at the Israeli embassy in London as pro-Palestine protesters filled the streets outside.

A Palestinian flag was also draped over a lamp post opposite the building.

As a demonstration occurred outside the building’s entrance, a protester climbed about 30 feet to attach the red, white, black and green flag to cheers from the hundreds below.

The Israeli military said it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, in a sign it may be planning a ground assault in response to the devastating weekend attack by Hamas gunmen.

Police chiefs have been urged to step up patrols to prevent anti-Jewish disorder following the renewed violence between Hamas and Israel.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has written to forces in England and Wales telling them to ‘use all available powers to prevent disorder and distress to our communities’.

She said officers should ‘act immediately to crack down on criminality, both in our streets and online’.

Her intervention came as pro-Palestinian graffiti was daubed on bridges in an area of London with a prominent Jewish population.

Hamas’ armed wing said it will begin executing an Israeli civilian captive in return for any new Israeli bombing of civilian houses without pre-warning.

Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Obaida said they have been acting in accordance with Islamic instructions by keeping the Israeli captives safe and sound, blaming the intended move on Israel’s stepped-up bombing and killing of civilians inside their homes in air strikes without warning them.

Among those attending today’s COBRA meeting chaired by PM Rishi Sunak were Foreign Scretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat and Transport Secretary Mark Harper were also in attendance.

Lynne Owens, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, was also seen leaving the Cabinet Office following the meeting.

The chief of the Israel Defense Forces told troops near the Gaza border today that the army will retaliate with full force after Hamas militants’ surprise attack on Saturday.

‘After a rough start, we are shaping the line of engagement. We hit a lot of terrorists – whoever gets close, they are killed,’ IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said during the meeting earlier today, according to the military.

‘We will finish purging the area, so that we do not have terrorists here, and, at the same time, we are already on the offensive.

‘We have many more tasks. We need to be strong. It started badly, and will end very badly on the other side.’

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK will ‘continue to support Israel’ after Tel Aviv announced a ‘complete siege’ on the Gaza strip following Hamas’ attack.

Speaking after an emergency Cobra meeting chaired by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss the situation in Israel, Mr Cleverly said Hamas fighters were ‘shielding themselves among the Palestinian people’.

A Palestinian militant group claims it sent four gunmen across Lebanon’s border into Israel as part of the Hamas-led attack that started over the weekend.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement that seven Israeli soldiers were wounded in Monday’s cross-border operation.

The Israeli Defence Forces reported earlier that its troops shot and killed several gunmen who crossed into the country from Lebanon. Israel also intensified shelling of southern Lebanon in response to the incident.

The Lebanese military called on residents of border towns to ‘take the utmost precautions’.

Families in several towns in southern Lebanon started fleeing north as the Israeli shelling continued.

Israel earlier told residents of 28 towns near the northern border with Lebanon to take cover out of fear of rocket attacks.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he is due to hold talks later today with the leaders of France, Britain, and the United States, on the crisis triggered by Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel.

‘The United States, Britain, France, and Germany are united,’ he said alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, who was visiting the German city of Hamburg for talks,’ he said.

The conflict ‘must not be allowed to become a conflagration in the region,’ he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Israel against ‘indiscriminately’ attacking civilians in its war with Hamas militants in Gaza.

Erdogan told Israeli President Isaac Herzog by phone that ‘harming the people of Gaza collectively and indiscriminately would further increase the suffering and the spiral of violence in the region,’ the Turkish leader’s office said in a statement.

The Turkish leader this evening spoke with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, by phone about the ongoing conflict.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that the UK did not want to see the conflict spread into other regions in the Middle East.

He was asked by broadcasters about concerns that Hezbollah could get involved, following the attack by Hamas.

‘We should recognise that Hamas are a terrorist organisation. They are not acting on behalf of the entirety of the Palestinian people, or indeed the other countries in the region.

‘Israel has told us they are very focused on dealing with this specific terrorist threat from Hamas.

‘I have spoken with representatives and governments around the region and we are all agreed that nobody wants this to spill out into other parts of the region.

‘Israel are very focused on dealing with a specific terrorist threat from Hamas emanating from Gaza. That remains their focus.’

The Foreign Secretary said that the UK would be ‘reviewing’ its support for Israel, and for British citizens in the country, as the conflict continues.

He told broadcasters: ‘This afternoon the Prime Minister chaired a Cobra meeting where we assessed the situation on the ground.

‘We reaffirmed our support to Israel in its self defence against this terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas against unarmed civilians in many instances. I’ve been speaking with foreign ministers from around the region and beyond. The Prime Minister has engaged with the Israeli prime minister and will be engaging with our allies.

‘This is an ongoing situation. And of course, we will be reviewing our support to Israel and of course British nationals in Israel as the situation progresses.’

Arab League foreign ministers will meet Wednesday to discuss ‘Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip’ following a surprise assault by Hamas on Israel, the regional bloc announced.

The ‘extraordinary meeting’ in Cairo will seek to find ‘avenues of political action at the Arab and international level’, as Israel keeps pounding targets in Gaza following Saturday’s attack, Arab League deputy chief Hossam Zaki said in a statement.

A security source in Lebanon and a source in Lebanon’s border area said a group of men had approached the border, with one firing at an Israeli observation post.

Israel’s Army Radio gave the location as being near Adamit, across from the Lebanese border towns of Aalma El Chaeb and Zahajra.

A spokesperson for the U.N.’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said the force was aware of an incident at the southern border but did not have further details.

Lebanon’s army had no immediate comment.

Gabi Hage, a father of three with a house near the border described heavy shelling close to him.

‘Our house is really close to the border, so we’re leaving and going down to the village. All my neighbours are doing the same thing,’ he said.

800 Israelis have now been killed by Hamas militants since a surprise attack on Saturday, according to Kan TV.

Previous reports confirmed fighters from the Islamist group killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens in Saturday’s attacks, the deadliest such incursion in decades.

While airlines across the world cancelled flights Israel’s national carrier El Al was the exception, adding more flights to bring reservists back from around the world to assist in the country’s biggest mobilization in history.

Fighters from the Islamist group killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens in Saturday’s attacks, the deadliest such incursion in decades, prompting Israel to retaliate by pounding the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

Israel’s tourism sector, driven by beach- and party-goers in Tel Aviv and historical tours to sites like Jerusalem, is set to take a major hit as flight cancellations pile up. Tourism makes up 3.6% of total employment, according to OECD data.

Tourism bookings were 18% below pre-pandemic levels and had been rising earlier this year, according to travel data firm ForwardKeys, but took a hit on the back of political turmoil, particularly with American tourists.

Regulators including the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Israel’s aviation authority urged airlines to use caution in the region’s airspace, but stopped short of suspending flights.

Israel’s civil aviation authority asked airlines to “review current security and threat information” amid the conflict, and changed some air traffic routes. It noted that delays were expected and advised airlines to carry extra fuel.

Britain’s easyJet halted flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, and said it would adjust the timings of flights over the next few days.

Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.

Virgin Atlantic said it would continue to run some flights but that customers could rebook or request a refund until Oct. 15.

A cabinet member from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party said on Monday that it was working to set up a broad coalition government with opposition leaders ‘in the coming hours’.

The remarks by Culture Minister Miki Zohar to Israel’s Army Radio followed offers by the centre-left opposition to join Netanyahu in government as part of the country’s closing of ranks as it battles Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is not open to negotiating a prisoner exchange with Israel during hostilities, a member of the militants’ political office in Doha said Monday.

‘The military operation is still continuing… therefore there is currently no chance for negotiation on the issue of prisoners or anything else,’ Hossam Badran, a Hamas official, told AFP from Doha.

Rishi Sunak is holding a Cobra meeting to discuss the situation in Israel after days of escalating violence following the attack by Hamas.

Around 50,000 to 60,000 British nationals are believed to be in either Israel and Gaza, the Government estimates, amid concerns for their safety following the latest upsurge in violence in the region.

At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel and more than 400 have been killed in Gaza, over two days after Hamas launched its unprecedented attack.

The Times has reported that more than 10 Britons are feared dead or missing.

Among the dead is 20-year-old Nathanel Young, a Briton serving in the Israeli Defence Services who died at the Gaza border on Saturday.

Two other UK nationals – 26-year-old Jake Marlowe, who went to the same London school as Mr Young, and photographer Dan Darlington – are believed to be missing.

The Government is helping the families of several individuals in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement denied any involvement after Israeli soldiers claimed to have ‘killed a number of armed suspects’ who crossed the border from Lebanon.

‘There is no truth to information circulating about clashes between resistance elements and the Israeli enemy or any infiltration,’ a spokesperson for the group said in a statement.

A local Lebanese official, Abdullah al-Gharib, told AFP Israel was shelling the southern border area.

‘Fields on the outskirts of the village (of Dhayra) were subjected to intense Israeli artillery shelling, preceded by intermittent gunfire,’ said Gharib, the village mayor.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said: ‘Israeli occupation forces bombed the Dhayra border area… with artillery’.

Heavy gunfire was heard in the village, with explosions also heard ‘in various southern regions’, it added.

The incident comes a day after Hezbollah said it fired artillery shells and guided missiles at Israel, ‘in solidarity’ with attacks launched from Gaza by its ally Hamas.

Israel’s army said it hit back on Sunday with artillery into southern Lebanon.

In 2006 Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war that left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers. The two countries remain technically at war.

Israel has warned Hezbollah against involvement in the war with Gaza.

Scotland’s First Minister has said his parents in-law are ‘trapped’ in Gaza after visiting family, leaving him worried if they will “make it through the night”.

The parents of Humza Yousaf’s wife, Nadia El-Nakla, were in Gaza visiting family when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel this weekend, killing hundreds, according to reports.

Mr Yousaf said: ‘As many will know, my wife is Palestinian, her mum and dad, my in-laws, who live in Dundee, live in Scotland, they’ve been in Gaza and are currently trapped in Gaza, I’m afraid.’

The couple went to visit the 92-year-old mother of Mr Yousaf’s father-in-law when the Hamas attack took place.

They have been told by Israeli authorities to leave because ‘Gaza will effectively be obliterated’, the First Minister said.

‘Despite the best efforts of the British Foreign Office, nobody, nobody can guarantee them safe passage anywhere,’ Mr Yousaf said.

‘So I’m in a situation where, frankly, night by night, day by day, we don’t know whether or not my mother-in-law and father-in-law – who have nothing to do, as most Gazans don’t, with Hamas or with any terror attack – whether they will make it through the night or not.’

Mr Yousaf also issued an ‘unequivocal condemnation’ of the Hamas attack.

He said: ‘We cannot sleep – we are constantly watching our phones.

‘When our messages do get through, we’re waiting for a reply.’

He added: ‘I’m worried about my family – there will be many people, including in Scotland’s Jewish community for example, who will be really worried about their family in Israel that have come to harm.

‘My thoughts go out to everybody, because innocent civilians have nothing to do with the conflict, they have nothing to do with Hamas terror, have nothing to do with the loss of life and they’re the ones often – innocent people – who are paying the price.’

He said he does not know how many Scots have been caught up in the fighting in Israel and Gaza.

The First Minister praised communications with the Foreign Office as “good”, but said it was not yet clear who was in the region and how they have been impacted.

He said: ‘I’m afraid not yet. I’ve asked both for the situations in terms of any Scottish Israelis that might be affected and impacted and any Scots in Gaza that might be impacted.

‘I’ve not got numbers yet but liaison with the Foreign Office, I should say, is good, they’ve been helpful in providing information but once I have that I’m sure we’ll be able to furnish you with the details.’

Israel has praised its citizens after a three-hour queue developed in Jerusalem as residents rushed to donate blood.

2,382 Israelis have now been injured, the country confirmed – including 22 critically and 345 severely.

Israel is drawing on its huge military might – including thousands of tanks, warplanes and troops – to obliterate Hamas after the terrorists launched a surprise assault that has so far killed 700 Israelis.

Israeli forces have already used its fleet of 600 planes and 300 rocket launchers to relentlessly pound the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes and artillery obliterating 1,000 targets belonging to Hamas.

And the annihilation isn’t stopping there, with Israel’s 173,000 soldiers, including 8,000 of its fearsome elite commandos, vying for the opportunity to kill Hamas terrorists who have killed more than 700 Israelis so far.

They are now preparing to launch a massive co-ordinated ground assault within the ‘next 48 hours’ to destroy the Hamas fighters and infrastructure in Gaza that will see fierce fighting erupt in the streets.

The EU has halted development aid payments to the Palestinians and is placing 691 million euros (nearly £630 million) of support ‘under review’ after the Hamas assault on Israel, an EU commissioner said Monday.

‘All payments immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals, including for 2023 postponed until further notice.

‘Comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio,’ European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi posted on social media.

Israeli soldiers backed by helicopters killed at least two gunmen who crossed the border from Lebanon on Monday, the military said, in a sign of a possible new front opening as Israel’s forces battled Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

Artillery shelling and gunfire were heard at Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, a correspondent for Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said in a post on social media.

In a statement, the Israeli military said its soldiers ‘killed a number of armed suspects that infiltrated into Israeli territory from Lebanese territory’. It did not elaborate on the number.

Military helicopters ‘are currently striking in the area,’ the statement added.

Israel’s Army Radio gave the location as being near Adamit, across from the Lebanese border towns of Aalma El Chaeb and Zahajra.

Israel shelled the south Lebanon border area on Monday, a local official said, while Hezbollah denied involvement.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in a statement denied any “clashes between resistance members and the Israeli enemy or any infiltration attempt” into Israel.

Pro-Palestinian graffiti has been daubed on bridges in an area of London with a prominent Jewish population amid the renewed violence between Hamas and Israel.

Free Palestine has been written on the structures in Golders Green, north-west London, in what has been called ‘a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Jewish community’.

The graffiti is being investigated as a potential hate crime by British Transport Police (BTP).

Dave Rich from Jewish safety charity the Community Security Trust said: ‘This graffiti is a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Jewish community.

‘It is disgraceful and should be roundly condemned by all sides. We expect the police to fully investigate because this cannot be allowed to continue.’

BTP said officers were called to the line near Golders Green underground station at around 8.45am on Monday to reports of graffiti.

The force said in a statement: ‘Preventing and tackling hate crime is a BTP priority – no one should be subjected to violence or harassment because of who they are.

‘If you see or experience hate crime on the rail network, please report it as soon as possible via the Railway Guardian app, by texting 61016, or calling 0800 40 50 40. In an emergency always call 999.’

A kosher restaurant in Golders Green also had its window smashed and cash register stolen, but this is not being treated as a hate crime.

The Metropolitan Police has said more officers will be on the streets across London to provide reassurance and that it has an ‘appropriate’ plan in place to deal with a pro-Palestine rally outside the Israeli embassy on Monday.

Earlier communities minister Lee Rowley stressed that protesters should not attempt to glorify the attack by Hamas on Israel on Saturday that sparked the latest bout of violence in the region.

He told Sky News: ‘You cannot support proscribed organisations like Hamas within the United Kingdom, and if that’s the case then I would expect police to take action accordingly.

‘I would encourage people not to go out and to protest in a way that they can. But, ultimately, there is a right to protest, but there is not a right … to glorify terrorism.

‘People shouldn’t break the law. People should also have the decency to recognise that over 1,000 people have died over the weekend in a completely unprovoked attack, and I would be very cautious about what people are doing.’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has condemned the attack, saying: ‘There is no tolerance for hate in our city. I remain in close contact with the Met Police.

‘Whoever did this will face the full force of the law.

‘I stand with Jewish Londoners, today and always.’

The United States on Monday confirmed the death of at least nine Americans in Israel during the violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

‘We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected, and wish those injured a speedy recovery,’ a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement.

‘We continue to monitor the situation closely and remain in touch with our Israeli partners, particularly the local authorities.’

The State Department says an undetermined number of American citizens remain missing and unaccounted for. On Sunday, an official said that number was fluid and had ranged from between six to 12. It is not clear whether the missing had been taken hostage, were killed or are in hiding.

The State Department is in touch with families “and providing all appropriate consular assistance,” said spokesman Matthew Miller.

More than 10 Britons are feared dead or missing in Israel, the BBC reported on Monday, citing an official source.

Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment on the report.

Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more in a surprise attack on Saturday.

A London-born man who was serving in the Israeli army died on Saturday on the Gaza border, his family said, and another British man was missing, Israel’s embassy in London said on Sunday.

Israel’s response to the unprecedented multi-pronged attack by Palestinian gunmen from the Gaza Strip will ‘change the Middle East’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

He was speaking to mayors of southern border towns hit by the surprise assault that began on Saturday, a statement from his office said. It did not elaborate on his prediction.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) during a situation assessment meeting in Tel Aviv

Israel’s military said it has deployed troops against a suspected infiltration from Lebanon, which a local radio station said appeared to have taken place in the central part of the countries’ border.

Tensions in Israel’s north have surged as it battles Palestinian Hamas gunmen who staged a mass-infiltration from the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

‘A report was received regarding the infiltration of a number of suspects into Israeli territory from Lebanese territory. IDF soldiers are deployed in the area,’ the military said in a statement.

Israel’s Army Radio gave the location as near Adamit, across from the Lebanese border towns of Aalma El Chaeb and Zahajra.

Pictured: Israeli army soldiers are positioned with their armoured vehicles near the border with the Gaza Strip

The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 560 on Monday, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said, as Israel pounded Hamas targets for the third consecutive day.

The Hamas-controlled ministry said ‘570 people were killed and another 2,900 injured’ in the fighting that began on Saturday after Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets in Israel in a surprise dawn assault.

A paramedic holds a little girl with her face full of blood and dirt from the effects of the bombing of Israeli planes Gaza

A paramedic holds a girl crying after being pulled from the scene after a bombing of the Ahmed Yassin Mosque

A plume of smoke rises in the sky of Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike

A British family hid inside a smoke-filled safe room for nine hours with their newborn baby while Hamas set fire to their home and tore down their village, it was reported.

Aimee and Uriel Labban, UK-Israeli citizens, were asleep in their Nirwin home near the Gaza strip with their 10-day-old son Kai when they were awoken to rocket fire at 6am on Saturday.

Hamas murderers killed their dog, torched their car and forced the family to flee to the safe room where they had to hold their baby up to the window for fresh air due to the smoke, the family said.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly visited the Israeli embassy on Monday as he stressed UK support in the wake of the attack by Hamas.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: ‘We will not stay silent as innocent Israelis are murdered by Hamas.

‘Terrorism will not prevail.

‘Earlier today I visited the Israeli embassy in London to express this government’s support for Israel.’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan condemned the Hamas attacks and said it was important they did not ‘spill over’ into increased hate crime in London.

He said: ‘Hamas is a proscribed organisation. What they have done in the last 24 hours in Israel, causing the death and injury of hundreds, is unacceptable and it’s got to be condemned and I do condemn that.

‘We’ve also got to recognise the history of disturbances in the Middle East, it often spills over into an increase in hate crime in our city.

‘I’ve been in regular contact with the police over the last 24 hours, and communities in London who are feeling scared and vulnerable and frightened, and there are increased officers present across London to reassure communities.’

Asked whether he condemned Londoners waving flags in support of Hamas, he added: ‘Waving the flag of Hamas is against the law. Hamas is proscribed and the police are making sure that they enforce the law.

‘There’s obviously a distinction with the right to freedom of protest and so forth, but nobody likes to see people scared as a consequence of the actions of others.’

Britain does not plan to redeploy military assets to the Middle East following events in Israel, No 10 has said.

It comes after the US announced it would be sending a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to support Tel Aviv.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘There are no plans to redeploy UK military assets to Israel.

‘We do have assets already in the region. HMS Duncan is deployed in the Mediterranean under Nato command.

‘Obviously we have our permanent maritime presence in the Gulf and a base at Akrotiri (Cyprus) as well.

‘But we do have a broad defence and security relationship, and obviously we stand ready to offer humanitarian support as well.’

Qatari mediators have held urgent calls with Hamas officials to try to negotiate freedom for Israeli women and children seized by the militant group and held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israel’s prisons, a source told Reuters.

The negotiations, which Qatar has been conducting in coordination with the United States since Saturday night, are ‘moving positively’ said the source, who has been briefed on the talks. But there are no signs of breakthroughs as both sides dig in.

Qatar has been in touch with Hamas officials in Doha and Gaza, the source said.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman, asked whether Rishi Sunak was worried about a potential rise in antisemitism following the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestine, said: ‘We take any threat to the Jewish community extremely seriously.

‘It would obviously be utterly despicable for this weekend’s attacks to be used as some kind of pretext to threaten or to attack communities in the UK.

‘The Home Secretary has already held a meeting with the Community Security Trust to ensure we have taken all steps necessary to ensure our Jewish community feels safe and secure.

‘I believe that includes surging police patrols where necessary.

‘We want the police to use every available aspect of the law against displays of support for Hamas, other proscribed terrorists groups or attempts to intimidate British Jews.’

The UK should ‘not turn a blind eye’ to the ‘huge injustices committed against the Palestinian people for many years’, Labour’s shadow minister for the Middle East and North Africa has said.

Wayne David told a Labour conference fringe event on Palestinian rights: ‘Our hearts at this moment especially have to go to all people of Israel and Gaza who are suffering in this terrible, terrible conflict.

‘I believe that the people of Palestine should not be equated with Hamas.’

He said Israeli settlers have also been guilty of ‘terrorist activity’ and that Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack ‘must be proportionate’.

Mr David also called for more UK aid to go to Palestinians.

It all started with an ominous voice ordering hundreds of Hamas terrorists over the border to launch a bloodthirsty assault on Israel that has seen more than 700 Israelis massacred so far.

That sinister voice, broadcast to fighters across Gaza, belonged to one-eyed terror boss Mohammed Deif, 58, who has for years been the thorn in Israel’s side despite several assassination attempts.

This fearsome figure has made his way up the ranks of Hamas and somehow survived five assassination attempts that saw both of his legs and arm blown off and his wife and two children killed.

Thailand is working with Jordan, Egypt and Malaysia to secure the release of its citizens taken hostage during unrest in Israel, as over 1,000 Thai migrant workers caught in the conflict look to return home, a deputy foreign minister said on Monday.

A dozen Thai nationals were killed, nine wounded and 11 more kidnapped, Thailand’s government said, when Hamas militants burst across the fence from Gaza on a rampage that killed at least 700 Israelis. Dozens of people have been taken hostage.

‘We are coordinating with countries that have links to the country that have taken our nationals hostage to negotiate for their release,’ Jakkapong Sangmanee, told a press briefing.

Negotiations towards securing the release of the Thai hostages was ‘very positive’, Jakkapong said, without elaborating.

Some 1,400 Thais have signed up to be evacuated, he said, adding the first group to return home would be those injured.

Around 30,000 Thai nationals work in Israel, making up one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country, where fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas gunmen are still ongoing in several locations.

More than 400 people have been killed in Gaza after retaliatory Israeli air strikes hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials.

Thailand’s air force has two aircraft on standby for evacuation flights, along with medics, and the country’s national carrier may also be pressed into service, government officials said.

Holed up inside a bunker in southern Israel with over 30 other Thai migrant workers, Udomporn Jampahom said he is desperate to return home.

‘I don’t feel safe at all,’ the 37-year-old agricultural worker told Reuters. ‘We keep hearing blasts and bullets. We can’t go outside.’

Udomporn, who has two children back in Thailand, said he was working at a farm when he first heard rockets and then gunfire, before fleeing to a workers’ camp.

Two days after the attack began, Udomporn said he could hear bursts of gunfire from the bunker, where he and other Thai workers are waiting to be evacuated.

Many are resting on cardboard strips laid on the bare floor, next to their belongings packed into suitcases, videos shared by Udomporn showed.

But Udomporn said wasn’t sure about when and how exactly the group would be able to leave Israel.

‘I can’t stay here,’ he said, ‘I want to go back to Thailand.’

The UK supports Israel taking ‘proportionate action’ in response to the attack by Hamas, Downing Street has said.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman, asked whether the UK supported an Israeli ground operation in Gaza, said: ‘We support Israel exercising its right to self-defence and to taking proportionate action to bring an end to the violence and these terrible scenes we are seeing.

‘Beyond that, I’m not going to get into specific tactics or the approach used.’

Asked to expand on what was meant by ‘proportionate’, he said Israel could act ‘within international norms’.

The No 10 official added: ‘First and foremost, the UK stands unequivocally in support of Israel following these horrific attacks.’

The Israeli infrastructure minister said on Monday he had ordered an immediate cut-off of the country’s water supplies to the Gaza Strip, as fighting with Palestinian militants surged.

‘What was in the past, will no longer be in the future,’ Israel Katz said in a social-media post announcing the cut-off.

Egypt has been in close contact with Israel and Hamas to try to prevent further escalation in fighting between them and ensure the protection of Israelis taken hostage by Palestinian militants, two Egyptian security sources said on Monday.

Egypt had urged Israel to exercise restraint and Hamas to hold its captives in good condition to keep open the possibility of de-escalation soon, although successive Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip made mediation difficult, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Palestinian fighters took dozens of hostages in an attack launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, including soldiers and civilians, children and the elderly. A second Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, said it was holding more than 30 of the captives.

Israeli fighter jets, helicopters and artillery have been pounding the Gaza Strip as Israel battled to clear out Palestinian fighters who crossed from Gaza.

Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula shares a border with the Gaza Strip and with Israel, and Cairo has acted as a mediator between Israel and Palestinian groups in previous conflicts.

Some 7,000 Israeli tourists have returned from Sinai to Israel since the fighting erupted, the Egyptian security sources said. The Red Crescent has also delivered some medical aid to Gaza from Sinai through the Rafah crossing, they added.

On Sunday, two Israeli tourists and an Egyptian guide were shot dead at an archaeological site in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria.

The Egyptian policeman accused of carrying out the killing has been referred to a military court, one of the security sources said.

EgyptAir flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv have been suspended indefinitely, while flights from South Sinai’s Sharm el-Shiekh to Tel Aviv were continuing to operate on Monday, allowing Israeli tourists to return home, Egyptian airport sources said.

Wizz Air and Virgin Atlantic have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv as a result of the intense ongoing conflict in Israel.

British Airways has also made changes to its flight schedule as airliners try to grapple with the violent situation in the country.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all but essential travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: ‘Due to the situation in Israel, we have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.

‘We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and are in touch with the relevant authorities.

‘The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our number one priority and all affected passengers will be contacted via email or text.’

Virgin Atlantic said its VS453 service from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv had been cancelled on Monday and Tuesday, whilst the return VS454 flight would also not fly on both days or Wednesday.

It added some other flights to and from Tel Aviv may face delays or cancellations, and those booked who do not wish to travel can rebook for another travel date with no additional fees until Sunday or receive a full refund.

British Airways said it was continuing to monitor the situation in Israel ‘very closely’ and had also introduced a flexible booking policy for customers, whilst flights over the coming days will operate with ‘adjusted departure times’.

A spokesperson from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) said: ‘The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Israel and if you are due to travel imminently you should discuss your options with your travel agent or tour operator.

‘If you’re travelling on a package and your holiday has been cancelled due to the advice change, you can either defer your date of travel, travel to an alternative destination or receive a full refund.

‘If you’re travelling independently you will need to discuss your options with your airline and accommodation providers.’

easyJet halted flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, and said it would adjust the timings of flights over the next few days.

Labour’s shadow chancellor has said a ‘terrorist attack’ caused the Israel-Hamas conflict as she pushed back against suggestions Israel’s “occupation” of Gaza was to blame.

Rachel Reeves said she had ‘no time’ for people cheering for the Palestinian cause in Liverpool.

She said Israel has ‘every right to defend itself’ after Hamas’s deadly surprise assault, which provoked a furious response from Israel, leaving more than 1,100 dead on both sides.

The senior Labour figure insisted the party was standing by the people of Israel as she faced questions about the appearance of the top Palestinian diplomat in the UK at the conference.

Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, told CNN that ‘Israel knew that this was coming their way… It’s a consequence’.

The Daily Telegraph reported Mr Zomlot is set to attend a reception at the conference on Tuesday night alongside shadow foreign secretary David Lammy.

Asked about his comment, shadow chancellor Ms Reeves told Sky News on Monday: ‘I’m very upset about those remarks. Israel, and the attacks on civilians, the festival goers, the children who have been taken hostage, it is completely unacceptable.

‘And Keir (Starmer), David, myself, the whole of the Labour Party stand by the people of Israel at this moment.’

At least eight French nationals were missing, confirmed dead or taken hostage after Hamas’s weekend attack on Israel, a lawmaker said Monday.

Paris ‘should hold Hamas directly responsible for (hostages’) safety and use every means to secure their release,’ conservative MP Meyer Habib, who represents French people living abroad in a swathe of Mediterranean countries including Israel, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Habib added that he had spoken to the father of 26-year-old Avidan T. from Bordeaux, who lives in Israel.

The father ‘confirmed to me that, as we feared, this young Frenchman… has indeed been taken hostage,’ he wrote.

Habib had posted Sunday that Avidan was one of the revellers at a desert rave in southern Israel hit in a Hamas attack that killed as many as 250 people.

France’s foreign ministry said late Sunday that one Frenchwoman had been killed in the Hamas attack on Israel, adding that it had been unable to locate several more nationals.

Israel’s defence minister has ordered a ‘complete siege’ on Gaza, three days after Hamas militants began attacking Israeli citizens up and down the country.

Minister Yoav Gallant added that authorities will cut electricity to the bordered area and will block the entry of food and fuel to the region.

The announcement comes as Israel’s military scoured the country’s south for Hamas fighters and guarded breaches in its border fence with tanks, while it relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip in the early hours of this morning, with air strikes and artillery hitting more than 1,000 targets belonging to Hamas overnight.

Gaza’s health ministry said there were dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp today.

At least 493 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli bombardments on the blockaded enclave since Saturday, according to a ministry death toll published earlier on Monday.

Palestinians gather at the site of Israeli strikes in Jabalia refugee camp

Palestinian rescuers work at the site of Israeli strikes, in Jabalia refugee camp

Cyprus is maintaining its air links with Israel despite an attack by Hamas militants, the island’s transport minister said on Monday.

Alexis Vafeades said it was critical for the country to ensure ‘connectivity’ with its neighbour, which lies just 155 miles away, during the attacks.

‘All Cypriots in Israel and all residents of Israel who want to go to Israel can do so’ through commercial flights, he said.

On Monday there were 11 flights between Cyprus and Israel’s Ben Gurion Aiport, Vafeades said, adding that officials would ‘stay on alert’ and were ‘monitoring connectivity’.

The two countries have developed close relations, linked to cooperation around energy resources in the Mediterranean, and Cyprus has a sizeable Israeli community.

Germany said Monday it was temporarily halting development aid to the Palestinian territories as it carries out a thorough review of the financial help after Hamas militants’ surprise attack on Israel.

‘It is being examined, that is, temporarily suspended,’ said a spokeswoman from the ministry for economic cooperation and development.

The aid included help for desalination projects, food security and job creation, and amounted to 125 million euros (£108 million).

Hamas said on Monday that four Israeli captives and their Hamas captors had been killed in strikes by the Jewish nation on the Palestinian enclave since Sunday.

‘The bombardment overnight and today on the Gaza Strip led to the killing of four of the enemy’s captives and their captors,’ said Abu Ubaida, spokesman of the Hamas armed wing.

Moscow and the Arab League will work to ‘stop the bloodshed’ in Israel and Gaza, Russian foreign minister said as he met the group’s chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Russia.

‘I am sure that Russia and the Arab League (will cooperate) above all else to stop the bloodshed,’ Lavrov said. Aboul Gheit said the Arab League ‘condemns violence, but from all sides.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would not speculate on the suggestion that Iran may be linked to attacks in Israel.

Speaking on a visit to a business in Nottinghamshire, Mr Sunak was asked if he now supports proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Mr Sunak said: ‘With regard to Iran, I’m not going to speculate on the origins of all of this. There will be time for that in due course.

‘I have said previously that Iran and its actions poses a real threat to the security and safety of all of you, the British people, and that’s why we’ve already taken quite strong action against the Iranian regime, not least sanctioning over 300 people, including the IRGC in its entirety.’

He added: ‘With regards to the proscription, it’s not something that routinely governments have ever commented on. But I can remind you that Hamas, who is claiming responsibility for the attacks in Israel, is a proscribed terrorist organisation under UK law.’

He went on: ‘We will stand steadfast with Israel in supporting them to defend themselves against these appalling acts of terrorism.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, when asked if any British citizens have been killed or taken hostage in Israel, said the situation is ‘complex’ and the UK is working with Israeli authorities to establish the status of any British nationals who may be affected.

Speaking on a visit to a business in Nottinghamshire and asked if any British citizens have been killed or taken hostage in Israel, Mr Sunak said: ‘I know it will be an anxious time for many families who have loved ones in the region.

‘It’s a quite complex situation on the ground, so we are working very closely with our Israeli counterparts to establish the status of any British nationals on the ground.

‘That work is under way as we speak.’

He said people should follow the advice of the Foreign Office and the ‘Israeli home command on the ground in particular area’, and that anyone concerned should contact the Foreign Office.

Iran has rejected allegations it had a role in the massive assault on Israel as unfounded.

‘The accusations linked to an Iranian role… are based on political reasons,’ foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told reporters.

The Islamic republic, he said, does not intervene ‘in the decision-making of other countries, including Palestine’.

Iran, which does not recognise Israel and has made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was one of the first countries to hail the Hamas assault.

The Palestinians had ‘the necessary capacity and will to defend their nation and recover their rights’ without any help from Tehran, Kanani said.

‘Talking about an Iranian role aims at turning public opinion (away from the facts) and at justifying the potential future actions’ of Israel, the spokesman added.

Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations also denied allegations the Islamic republic had any role in the Hamas attack, in a statement issued overnight.

It came after the Wall Street Journal reported that ‘ranian security officials helped plan Hamas’s Saturday surprise attack on Israel and gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in Beirut last Monday’, citing senior members of Hamas and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

On Sunday President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran supported the Palestinians’ right to self-defence and warned Israel must be held accountable for endangering the region.

Raisi – who has spoken with the leaders of Hamas and the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad group since the Hamas attack – also urged Muslim governments to ‘support the Palestinian nation’.

A US official said Sunday it was too soon to say if Iran was ‘directly’ involved in the Hamas attack, adding however that there was little doubt that Hamas was ‘financed, equipped and armed’ by countries including Iran.

Israel’s failure to prepare for Hamas’ attack was a ‘colossal collapse’ of information gathering, an associate fellow at Chatham House has said.

Professor Yossi Mekelberg said: ‘This is a colossal collapse, not only of information gathering, but the concepts of when Hamas would attack, and with what motivations or capabilities.

‘How were they able to train despite the blockade, how did they train paragliders?’

He said that questions would have to be asked about how Hamas’ fighters were able to enter Israel.

‘Despite (Israel) investing billions and billions of dollars on blocking tunnels and building a sophisticated fence, (Hamas) still managed in a matter of hours to enter into Israel.’

He added that Israel’s intelligence ‘definitely wasn’t good enough’.

Israel is escalating measures against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to a ‘total blockade’ including a ban on admitting food and fuel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday, describing this as part of a battle against ‘beastly people’.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said Labour would ‘not surrender the hope of two states living side-by-side in peace’ as he warned both Israelis and Palestinians are paying a ‘terrible price’ after Hamas’s ‘indiscriminate’ attacks.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Lammy said: ‘Labour utterly condemns Hamas’s appalling attack on Israel.

‘There is never a justification for terrorism. Labour stands firmly in support of Israel’s right to defend itself, rescue hostages and protect its citizens.

‘The hostages so cruelly taken, including children, should be released immediately and Hamas’s indiscriminate attacks set back the cause of peace – both Israelis and Palestinians paying a terrible price.

‘There will not be a just and lasting peace until Israel is secure, Palestine is a sovereign state and both Israelis and Palestinians enjoy security, dignity and human rights.”

He added: ‘Though it may never have felt more distant, we will not surrender the hope of two states living side-by-side in peace.’

Rishi Sunak said that he will hold a Cobra meeting later today, amid ongoing clashes between Israel and Hamas.

Speaking to businesses in Nottinghamshire, the Prime Minister said: ‘We already have a very longstanding relationship with Israel, we’re one of their strongest allies.

‘We’ve provided in the past the kinds of equipment that they’ve used to defend themselves over the past couple of days.

‘And as I said to the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu), we will continue to provide – whether that’s diplomatic, intelligence or security support – as they need.

‘I’m chairing a Cobra with my ministerial colleagues this afternoon, when we’ll continue to discuss the situation, but we’re in close dialogue with our Israeli counterparts.’

Israel continued to relentlessly pound the Gaza Strip in the early hours of this morning, with air strikes and artillery hitting more than 1,000 targets belonging to Hamas overnight.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and buildings were reduced to rubble after Israel began its deadly revenge attack in response to Hamas launching a surprise assault that has so far killed more than 700 Israelis and injured 1,200.

The Israeli airstrikes have so far flattened much of the town of Beit Hanoun in the Palestinian enclave’s north-east corner, which Hamas terrorists had been using as a staging ground for their attacks.

A left-wing journalist has sparked fury by praising Hamas’ invasion of Israel – which has seen 700 people killed and dozens of civilians kidnapped before some were paraded semi-naked through the streets of Gaza.

Rivkah Brown, commissioning editor at Novara Media, wrote on X to call the first day of the bloody rampage ‘a day of celebration’.

She said: ‘Today should be a day of celebration for supporters of democracy and human rights worldwide, as Gazans break out of their open-air prison and Hamas fighters cross into their colonisers’ territory. The struggle for freedom is rarely bloodless and we shouldn’t apologise for it.’

The Kremlin said on Monday its embassy had no information yet on how many Russian citizens in Israel might have been hurt or killed there after Hamas gunmen burst across the fence from Gaza on a deadly weekend rampage.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking at a regular news briefing, said Moscow’s was extremely concerned about the situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, adding that events there posed a ‘great danger’ to the wider region.

Israel has drafted a record 300,000 reservists in its response to a multi-front Hamas attack from Gaza and is ‘going on the offensive,’ the chief military spokesperson has confirmed.

Since Saturday’s surprise assault, Israeli aircraft have been pounding Gaza targets while its ground forces have battled to retake control of border villages and towns overrun by Palestinian gunmen.

Chief military spokesperson Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said control of those communities had been re-established but that isolated clashes continued as some gunmen remained active.

‘We are now carrying out searches in all of the communities and clearing the area,’ he said in a televised briefing.

Military officials had previously said that their focus was on securing Israel’s side of the border before carrying out any major escalation of the counter-offensive in Gaza.

Hagari said 300,000 reservists have been called up by the military since Saturday, a number suggesting preparations for a possible invasion – though any such plans have not been officially confirmed.

‘We have never drafted so many reservists on such a scale,’ he said. ‘We are going on the offensive.’

Hagari confirmed media reports that 700 people had been killed on Israel’s side of the border, including 73 confirmed members of the security forces. He said Israel’s military had killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen.

Israeli army reinforcements take position outside the southern city of Sderot near the border with Gaza

The United Arab Emirates is ‘appalled’ that Israeli civilians were taken hostage in the Hamas assault near the Gaza Strip, a foreign ministry statement said.

‘The ministry is appalled by reports that Israeli civilians have been abducted as hostages from their homes,’ said the Arab Muslim country, which established relations with Israel in 2020.

Young children and elderly grandparents were among the more than 100 hostages being held as human shields by Hamas last night.

Families have described the horror of only discovering their loved ones had been snatched by viewing chilling videos posted on social media by their gloating kidnappers.

In footage that has horrified the world, one student was filmed screaming ‘don’t kill me’ as she was dragged away on a motorcyle by Hamas thugs.

The Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories.

They have asked British Nationals in Israel to register their presence and follow the instructions of Israeli Home Front Command.

On the foreign travel advice page, they say: ‘The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.’

They add: ‘Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

‘Attacks could be indiscriminate, including places visited by foreigners including the Old City in Jerusalem, on public transport, and in busy public spaces.’

Israel has called up 300,000 reservists in the biggest draft in the country’s history, Israeli TV has reported quoting the military.

Earlier today an Israeli military spokesperson said that the army had called up around 100,000 reservists, and said in a statement that Israel would aim to end Hamas’ rule of Gaza.

‘Our task is to make sure that Hamas will no longer have any military capabilities to threaten Israel with this,’ said spokesperson Jonathan Conricus in a video tweeted by Israel’s military.

‘And in addition to that, we will make sure that Hamas is no longer able to govern the Gaza Strip.’

Hungary is currently evacuating 110 more people from Israel, bringing the total number of people it has brought out of the country to 325 including 46 children, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a Facebook post on Monday.

He said that 15 of the 325 evacuees were foreign citizens, among them Israeli, Swedish, Austrian, German, British and Portuguese nationals.

Szijjarto said the latest flight, the third it has organised, was currently en route to Budapest

A missing Brit has been pictured having fun shortly before he vanished during the Hamas massacre – as friends of his partner say they have been told she is dead.

British photographer Danny Darlington, who lived in Berlin, and his German girlfriend Carolin Bohl have not been heard from since hiding out in a bunker in Nir Or, a kibbutz in Southern Israel, according to Ms Bohl’s brother-in law Sam Pasquesi.

Mr Pasquesi said his family learned late on Sunday from a man working at the kibbutz that the bodies of the two had been identified.

Jeremy Corbyn has risked fresh fury by suggesting Israel’s ‘occupation’ is the root cause of the Hamas attacks.

The former Labour leader refused to single out the terrorist group for condemnation, saying he was against ‘all violence’.

In a bad-tempered exchange with journalists on the fringes of the party’s conference in Liverpool, Mr Corbyn said the way to end the ‘terrible situation’ was to ‘end the occupation of Palestine by Israel’.

Israel has re-established control of communities near Gaza, the Jewish nation’s military has confirmed.

But some Hamas militants remain on Israeli soil and fighting continues within seven civilian communities.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said that there is no fighting in the north but troops are ‘ready for any scenario’, Sky News reported.

Virgin Atlantic said its flights between London Heathrow and from Tel Aviv could face delays or cancellations due to the evolving situation in Israel.

Virgin said it had cancelled flights VS453 and VS454 on Monday and Tuesday, but planned to continue to operate VS457 and VS458.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday told NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly that now is not the time to withdraw from the international arena and called for Western unity in the face of global events.

‘This is not the time to withdraw from the international arena into internal disputes. This is not the time to isolate ourselves. This is not the time to remain silent or pretend that the terror on one continent does not affect global affairs,’ Zelenskiy told the assembly via video link.

The former British ambassador to the US and Israel has suggested the UK will be one of many nations ‘working very hard’ to stop the conflict in Israel and Gaza from spreading.

Sir David Manning told Sky News: ‘It will be the top priority of the Arab world now to try and find some kind of ceasefire. It’s going to be very difficult to negotiate.

‘The Americans have got the same interest, as have the Europeans, there will be differences of view but the question is now what happens on the ground in Gaza, and is it possible to contain this violence or this war going to spread?

‘It’s in nobody’s interest that it should be spread, and that is what I certainly would expect the Gulf Arabs and the Americans and Europeans to be working very hard to try to achieve.’

Every Jewish family in the UK has been affected ‘in one way or another’ by the events in Israel, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth said.

Sir Ephraim Mirvis told Sky News: ‘The first question we are asking people when giving them a call in the UK is ‘how is everyone in your family?’

‘Because there certainly isn’t a Jewish family in the UK which hasn’t been affected in one way or another by this.

‘And also, I have been inundated with so many messages of support and solidarity from so many people throughout Britain, and I sense that there is no civilised person who can be unmoved, who can’t be deeply shocked by these scenes, by seeing what has transpired.

‘I know that there are many, many people who are with those who are suffering in Israel right now.’

Sir Ephraim Mirvis pictured at the rededication of Belgium’s largest synagogue in Antwerp

The United States will send multiple military ships and aircraft closer to Israel as a show of support, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

It comes as Washington believes Hamas’ latest attack may have been motivated to disrupt a potential normalizing of Israel-Saudi Arabia ties.

Austin also added the United States will provide munitions to Israel, and that its security assistance will begin moving on Sunday.

The Pentagon will be adding fighter jets to the region as well, he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces was on its way to Israel and more would follow in the coming days, the White House said after their call.

Austria is suspending its aid to Palestinians, totalling around 19 million euros (£16 million) for a handful of projects, in response to Islamist group Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Monday.

Neutral Austria’s ruling conservatives have adopted one of the most pro-Israel stances in the European Union in recent years. The Israeli flag has been hoisted above the chancellor’s office and the Foreign Ministry after the shock Hamas assault launched from the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

“The extent of the terror is so horrific … that we cannot go back to business as usual. We will therefore put all payments from Austrian development cooperation on ice for the time being,” Schallenberg told ORF radio in comments confirmed by a spokeswoman, adding the estimate of funds and projects affected.

Schallenberg did not distinguish between Gaza, a Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, and the much larger West Bank, run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement is a rival to Hamas.

On Sunday, neighbouring Germany debated whether it should stop aid to Palestinians following the Hamas attack, with Development Minister Svenja Schulze of the ruling Social Democrats saying the government had always been careful to check that the money was only used for peaceful ends.

Schallenberg said Austria would assess its projects before deciding how to proceed in consultation with partners within and outside the EU.

Hamas wants to ‘liberate all Palestinian prisoners’ from Israel and end Israeli provocations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, particularly at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a spokesman for the militant group said Monday.

Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told The Associated Press over the phone that Hamas militants were still fighting Israeli forces and had captured more Israelis on Monday morning.

‘We are in an open battle to defend our people and the Al-Aqsa Mosque,’ he said. ‘This battle is linked to the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners and the cessation of this fascist government’s activities in Jerusalem.’

He said the group has captured ‘a large number of Israelis’ in Gaza, without giving a specific figure. He said Hamas’ military wing, al-Qassam, would announce the figures later.

370 people have been killed and more than 2,200 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza strip, the country’s health ministry have revealed.

At least 10 people were killed in that strike, which destroyed four houses. Rescuers were still trying to find survivors in the rubble on Sunday.

Nearly 2,400 Israelis have now been injured, the Jewish nation’s ministry of defence have confirmed.

This includes 22 who have been critically injured and a further 345 who are in a severe condition.

A further 462 have recieved medium injuries while 1,175 have light injuries.

A spokesperson said: ‘Please pray for the wounded.’

Wizz Air has cancelled all routes to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: ‘Due to the situation in Israel, we have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.

‘We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and are in touch with the relevant authorities.

‘The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our number one priority and all affected passengers will be contacted via email or text.’

Volunteers searching for bodies at a festival massacre that has left some 260 civilians dead have been forced to flee after coming ‘under fire’ from militants.

The team of 25 have so far recovered 162 bodies from the site, commander in the Zaka volunteer group Yossi Landau told the BBC Today programme.

‘We work under fire, so we had to evacuate that place,’ he told the broadcaster.

British intelligence will help Israel bring to justice terrorists who have killed at least 700 people and taken more than 100 hostage, Rishi Sunak declared last night as he pledged ‘steadfast support’ for Benjamin Netanyahu.

In an unprecedented show of support, the Prime Minister indicated that MI6 would help Israel track down the Hamas killers who unleashed the bloodiest attack on the country in 50 years.

Mr Sunak said he had spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Mr Netanyahu, and offered to send ‘diplomatic or security support’, vowing that ‘terrorism will not prevail’.

The commander of a crack team of Israeli troops known as the Ghost unit was killed fighting Hamas when the militants first struck in southern Israel, it has emerged.

Colonel Roy Levy, 44, was the leader of the Multidimensional Unit – a secretive group of commandos established to tackle Hamas using drones and other modern warfare techniques.

He was killed as his forces battled Hamas fighters in the community of Re’im, near the border with Gaza where as many as 260 festivalgoers were killed when violence erupted on Saturday.

The Israeli Defense Force said Levy ‘led his team bravely, engaged [the terrorists], and entered the battle first in Kibbutz Re’im, in order to save citizens who were besieged in their homes.’

Pro-Palestinian protesters took over New York City‘s Times Square on Sunday – just one day after terrorist organization Hamas callously attacked Israel, leaving hundreds of civilians dead.

Irate counter-protesters waving Israeli flags clashed with 300 seething placard-clad demonstrators – one of which was spotted on the front line holding up a swastika.

New York is the city with the largest Jewish population in the world – and the swastika was the symbol used by Adolf Hitler when he murdered 6million Jews during the Holocaust.

The clamorous group in Manhattan’s Midtown chanted ‘free Palestine‘ while others in the Israeli kettle yelled back: ‘How can you support this! F***ing murderers!’

Dramatic video footage caught the moment the Islamic National Bank in Gaza was hit during an Israeli air strike on Sunday.

Footage captured the second the bank in the Rimal district of Gaza city was struck, sending a huge a cloud of smoke and dust into the air, tearing through the neighbourhood and destroying several nearby buildings.

Terrifying footage shows party goers at an Israeli festival screaming as shots are fired while police are seen trying to help people evacuate.

Some are heard shouting, ‘go, go, go!’ as they clasped hands and sprinted away from the oncoming trucks who followed behind and sprayed bullets.

Meanwhile, survivors of the attack, who posted videos of the ordeal to social media, explained how they were forced to hide under bushes as they watched victims get killed one by one, until they heard the sound of people rescuers speaking in Hebrew some five hours later.

Confirming the horror, the Israeli rescue service Zaka said it had recovered at least 260 bodies in the aftermath of the attack. 

Corpses of young revellers were seen piled up on top of each other in makeshift tents last night as emergency workers tried to identify their remains.

Chilling video has emerged of the moment terrified Israeli festival goers were forced to hide in the undergrowth to avoid a hail of bullets from Hamas militants in a massacre that has left some 260 civilians dead.

The Palestinian militant group stormed the Supernova Festival that had been taking place near Kibbutz Re’im, close to the Gaza Strip, as part of its surprise assault launched on Saturday.

Music at the deadly rave, which survivors said initially had ‘good vibes’, played all night until around 6.30am, when a siren began blaring warning of rockets.

Festival goers knew there was a risk of rocket attacks. What they didn’t expect was truckloads of armed gunmen cutting power to the festival and storming the site, firing indiscriminately into the crowd.

A mother is still missing after her two children that she was kidnapped with were found at the border.

Adi Vital-Kaplon, 33, was snatched by militants from her home near Gaza on Saturday with four-year-old Negev and Eshel, six months.

But the children were left at the border at night where they were found by a family friend Avital, 38.

Their grandfather Yondav Kaplon said: ‘From what we understand [Avital] was kidnapped, or escaped or was released, but she recognised them last night on the fence and took them back to Israel.’

Adi Vital-Kaplon, 33, (pictured) was snatched by militants from her home near Gaza on Saturday with four-year-old Negev and Eshel, six months

A student was filmed screaming ‘don’t kill me’ as she was dragged away on a motorcyle by Hamas thugs.

Noa Argamani, 25, was kidnapped with her boyfriend Avi Nathan during an attack on a music festival close to the Gaza border. Her tearful father Yaacov Argamani said yesterday: ‘I tried to contact her from the second we heard the rocket sirens.

‘While on the phone, her roommate contacted us and said there was a video of her on a motorcycle and she was kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

‘She was so scared, so frightened. I always protected her, and at this very moment I couldn’t.’

Pictured: Noa Argamani, 25, who was kidnapped with her boyfriend Avi Nathan during an attack on a music festival close to the Gaza border

Young children and elderly grandparents were among the more than 100 hostages being held as human shields by Hamas last night.

Families have described the horror of only discovering their loved ones had been snatched by viewing chilling videos posted on social media by their gloating kidnappers.

Footage showed sobbing children and their helpless mothers being dragged from their homes and loaded into vehicles by heavily armed men before being taken to Gaza.

It is feared two Britons could be among those being held after the terrorist group launched its bloody multi-pronged surprise attack.

A group of 31 Harvard organizations, including the Ivy League institution’s affiliate of Amnesty International, has placed the blame on Israel for Hamas’ brutal, surprise attack that has killed at least 700 Israelis.

The organizations released a letter to the public as a ‘Joint Statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine’ on Sunday to condemn Israel in the wake of the violence.

They claim that Hamas’ attacks, which are still ongoing, ‘did not happen in a vacuum’ and the Israeli government has forced Palestinians to live in ‘an open-air prison for over two decades.’

Music at the deadly rave, which survivors said initially had ‘good vibes’, played all night until round 6.30am when a siren began blaring warning of rockets. Hamas terrorists then cut the electricity as rockets flew overhead and jeeps filled with gunmen ran onto the site.

Terrifying footage shows partygoers screaming as shots are fired while police are seen trying to help people evacuate. Some are seen holding hands as they run away while others shout ‘go, go, go’.

Survivors of the attack said they were forced to hide under bushes as they watched victims get killed one by one, until they heard the sound of people rescuers speaking in Hebrew. According to Israeli media, it took five hours for military to arrive.

Meanwhile distraught relatives, hoping to find their loved ones, were asked to bring personal items such as combs and toothbrushes belonging to their missing children to help emergency services begin the grim task of matching DNA to bodies found.

The Hamas leader behind the deadliest attack on Israel watched and celebrated the invasion from the safety of his Qatar office.

Ismail Haniyeh was spotted with other Hamas officials cheering for joy before they prostrated themselves on the floor and praised God.

It came as the terrorist group launched the single deadliest attack ever launched against Israel – which the Jewish state has claimed is ‘our 9/11‘.

Israeli media said at least 700 people were killed and 2,000 wounded in Saturday’s attack.

Hamas’ surprise attack on Saturday morning came just one day after the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War, which saw Israel battle existential threats from hostile neighbors led by Egypt and Syria.

Israeli soldiers and civilians fought Hamas militants on the streets of southern Israel following a barrage of 2,000 rockets sent over the border by the Palestinian terrorists, in addition to a savage ground assault.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 413 people, including 78 children and 41 women, were killed in the territory.

About 2,000 people have been wounded on each side. An Israeli official said security forces have killed 400 militants and captured dozens more.

Spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces Jonathan Conricus also confirmed that Americans, British and French people were involved in the carnage.

He said that children, babies, elderly people and disabled people were among those kidnapped.

Iran was branded a ‘terrorist state’ last night as the spiralling violence threatened to spill into a major conflict in the Middle East.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a ‘mighty vengeance’, promising to reduce parts of Gaza run by Hamas ‘into rubble’.

Forces in the north also exchanged rocket and artillery fire with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

Senior members of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed that Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that killed at least 700 people was given the green light by Iranian security officials.

The official go-ahead for the attack was allegedly given at a Monday meeting in Beirut.

A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces said they want to completely strip Hamas of its power to govern in Palestine after Israel’s ‘worst day in history’ – and warned the death toll of 700 is likely to rise much higher.

Bodies of young revellers were seen piled up on top of each other in makeshift tents last night as emergency workers tried to identify the 260 festival-goers killed at an Israeli music festival by Hamas terrorists in a shock attack.

The distressing image, shared in a pixelated form on the Israeli government’s official Twitter page, showed scores of victims placed in body bags at the site of the ‘beautiful party’ that turned into a horrific massacre.

Footage from the aftermath shows empty festival tents and abandoned cars strewn frantically across the road leading to the Supernova Festival, that had been taking place near Kibbutz Re’im, close to the Gaza Strip.