Israel Palestine news LIVE: Israeli defence minister tells troops they will soon see Gaza ‘from the inside’ amid fears ground invasion is imminent

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian territory ‘from the inside’.

According to his office Gallant said: ‘You see Gaza from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come.’

His comments suggest a ground invasion is imminent.

US President Joe Biden is set to deliver a rare Oval Office speech today urging Americans to back Israel and Ukraine at what he says is a perilous moment for democracy around the globe.

Fresh from a trip to Israel the Democratic president’s primetime address will pitch the case for a global US role to war-weary voters and isolationist Republicans.

The 80-year-old, who is seeking a second term in 2024, is preparing to ask the US Congress for a massive $100 billion joint package that includes funding for Israel and for Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s invasion.

But his speech is expected to be less about money and more about painting a broader picture to voters, in which the expensive business of defending allies an ocean away is vital for the United States itself.

‘You’ll hear tonight the president describe this perilous moment that we are in globally, when it comes to our national security and when it comes to international stability,’ US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer told MSNBC.

‘This will also very much be a message to the American people, how those conflicts connect to our lives back here, how support from the American people and the Congress is frankly essential.’

This will only be Biden’s second speech from behind the historic Resolute Desk, which presidents have reserved for moments of key national significance.

More than one million Palestinians, roughly half of Gaza’s population, have fled homes in the north and Gaza City after Israel told them to evacuate.

The airstrikes early Thursday continued across the entire territory, including in areas in the south that Israel had declared as ‘safe zones’.

The U.S. State Department on Thursday issued a ‘worldwide caution security alert’ for overseas American citizens, citing increased tensions in various locations around the world and the potential for extremist attacks and violence against Americans.

The alert did not single out any specific global event or war but comes amid an ongoing conflict in the Middle East after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel subsequently pounded Gaza with air strikes with thousands left dead.

• Nine Britons are confirmed dead while seven are missing, feared kidnapped or killed, No 10 said.
• Rishi Sunak has landed in Saudi Arabia ahead of a meeting with its crown prince.
• The Gaza health ministry says 3,785 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes since October 7, the majority being women and children.
• Israel’s Defence Minister has suggested an IDF ground offensive in Gaza may be imminent, telling troops on the border they will soon see the enclave ‘from the inside’.
• Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it fired rockets at an Israeli position, drawing retaliatory attacks from the IDF.
• Families of children missing after Hamas terrorists October 7 invasion have described the ‘torture’ of not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

‘Gaza needs aid at scale and on a sustained basis,’ Guterres said during a press conference in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

He called on Hamas to release the hostages it seized on Oct. 7, and on Israel to give unrestricted access for aid.

Scotland’s First Minister has urged the Foreign Secretary to demand a ceasefire and the reopening of the Rafah crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, responding to a tweet from James Cleverly, Humza Yousaf said his lack of mention of UK citizens in Gaza was ‘shameful’.

Mr Yousaf’s mother and father-in-law are currently stuck in the territory.

‘Shameful that UK citizens trapped in Gaza don’t even get a mention,’ he said.

‘Might be helpful if you give them at least a passing mention in your discussions.

‘They’re trapped in a warzone & need you, Foreign Secretary, to demand a ceasefire, and the Rafah crossing opened to let them out.’

The IDF’s Southern Commander, Major General Yaron Finkelman, said: ‘This war was imposed upon us by a merciless enemy that dealt us a significant blow.

‘We have halted and blocked them. We are striking them with tough blows, and the battle is shifting to their territory. We are determined to prevail on their own turf.’

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told infantry troops gathered at the Gaza border on Thursday that they will soon see the Palestinian enclave ‘from inside,’ his office said, suggesting a ground invasion could be nearing.

‘You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come,’ he said according to the statement.

Lebanese group Hezbollah said it fired rockets at an Israeli position in the village of Manara, drawing an Israeli artillery barrage in response.

At least nine British nationals are confirmed to have died following an attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, with a further seven missing, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday.

‘We can now confirm that at least nine British nationals were tragically killed,’ the spokesperson told reporters.

‘A further seven British nationals are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead or kidnapped.’

Five trucks of medical supplies are ready at the border between Gaza and Egypt, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, welcoming Israel’s announcement that it will not block the entry of aid into the Palestinian territory.

‘Our trucks are loaded and ready to go,’ WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference on Wednesday. He said he hoped the supplies would be delivered as soon as the crossing opened, “hopefully tomorrow”.

Ohad Munder, nine, was due to have his birthday party this weekend before he went missing following Hamas’s bloody invasion on October 7.

‘Unfortunately he won’t be able to celebrate his birthday,’ Merav Raviv said, adding his mother had already sent out the invitations.

She paid tribute to the missing boy who she described as ‘talented’ and ‘sporty’ at a press conference today.

Scores of foreigners were killed, wounded or taken hostage after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

The worst attack in Israel’s 75-year history killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, inside the country, according to Israeli officials.

According to a count by French news agency AFP, around 200 foreigners have been confirmed dead by their national authorities, with many also holding Israeli nationality.

Israeli Minister Benny Gantz addressed Gaza Strip residents today as he condemned the continued abuse of Palestinians by the leaders of Hamas.

‘Yahya Sinwar and Mohamad Deif have brought disaster upon you, turning your lives into hell for their murderous ideology,’ he said.

‘If you value life, move south. Don’t become a human shield for these human beasts.’

Speaking at a press conference with other families who lost loved ones in Hamas’s raid on Nir Oz Kibbutz, a relative was unable to hold back the tears as she recounted seeing a video of her cousin being taken by Hamas.

The woman, who said she was called Efrat, is related to Shiri Bibas Silverman.

Video of Shiri holding her two redheaded sons, Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir, as they were taken away from their home went viral following the terrorists’ bloody invasion on October 7.

Efrat said the video showed the family is ‘surrounded by terrorists’ and ‘covered in blood, not their own’.

‘This is the only sign of life that we have from them,’ she said through sobs.

The British and US embassies in Beirut are advising citizens to leave Lebanon while flights ‘remain available’ as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over Israel’s war with Hamas.

Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon.

Families whose children are missing after Hamas terrorists stormed their village on October 7 are urging the international community to help get them back as they speak at a press conference.

A woman from Kibbutz Nir Oz who has lost five members of her family to Hamas terrorists described the attack as a ‘pogrom’.

Her mother, 80, niece, boy Eres, 12, daughter Sara 16, and her ex-husband are all missing and feared dead or taken hostage.

She described what happened in her community, on the Gaza border, as an ‘Awful massacre, pogrom, hell’.

‘They burned most of our houses, we don’t have a home to go back to.

‘I don’t care about my home… I care for one thing, we have to release the children and the elderly people immediately.

‘I am a simple woman, not a political woman, but they must make a solution… to release them immediately. Time is critical.’

No matches organised by UEFA will be played in Israel ‘until further notice’ due to the ‘current safety and security situation’ in the country, European football’s governing body has said.

‘After a thorough evaluation of the current safety and security situation in the whole territory of Israel, the UEFA executive committee decided that no UEFA competition matches shall be played in Israel until further notice,’ read the statement.

A UN representative has called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza ‘catastrophic’, saying families are being forced to drink seawater and from unhygienic wells.

The officer for the Middle East and Africa, Saleem Oweis, said the dire situation is putting people at risk of ‘diseases, dehydration and eventually death for children’.

‘This is a lifeline. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is really catastrophic and it cannot wait any more. We need this now,’ he said.

A British-Palestinian man has revealed how his family of 16 is trapped in Rafah, southern Gaza.

While they are struggling with just tinned food and some water, just over the border in Egypt trucks carrying piles of supplies are waiting to get the go-ahead to distribute aid to the war-torn enclave.

Mohammed told BBC Radio 4: ‘We have no water, no electricity, very patchy internet. We hear bombing, it’s far away, but we can hear it. The children are scared.’

CONTENT WARNING: The pictures in this post include graphic content.

Some 700 people, including Turkish, Palestinian, and northern Cypriot citizens, have applied to Turkey to be evacuated from Gaza, Deputy Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz said.

Humanitarian group Action Against Hunger is warning that overcrowded toilets at displacement shelters in Gaza mean refugees are having to ‘openly defecate’.

Hamas has perpetrated an absolutely barbaric act of terrorism. I’m sure many people would have seen seen the videos, they are horrific. They chill you – they have certainly done that to me – and everyone can see that they represent pure evil.

In a bid to ensure top-flight grounds are not used by supporters of either side of the escalating Middle East conflict to voice their protests, the Star of David flag and the flag of Palestine will be banned.

While the Government has expressed its steadfast support of Israel, the Football Association opted not to light up the Wembley arch with the colours of the Israel flag for England’s friendly against Australia last Friday.

The top US general overseeing American troops in the Middle East made an unannounced trip to Egypt for talks on Thursday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that focused on the Israel-Hamas war and how to get aid to the Gaza Strip.

A statement from Sisi’s office said the talks with U.S. Army General Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, head of US Central Command, included in particular ‘the developments in the Gaza Strip’.

Gaza’s health ministry says that of the 3,785 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes since October 7, a staggering 1,524 are children.

Among the hundreds dead were also 1,000 women and 44 health workers, they said.

At least 12,493 people have been wounded, ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra told a press conference.

King Abdullah II of Jordan will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to discuss the conflict.

The two countries have peace agreements with neighboring Israel and are dealing with anger from their populations over the hospital blast.

• Rishi Sunak told Benjamin Netanyahu that the UK would stand by its ‘friend’ Israel in its ‘darkest hour’ at a joint press conference.
• Israeli air strikes have killed a senior Hamas leader and his family members, the terror group claims.
• At least 3,785 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the enclave’s health ministry said.
• Rescue workers say they found ‘children’s bone fragments’ as they sifted through rubble at the Be’eri Kibbutz nursery, which was attacked by Hamas.
• Mr Sunak is set to fly to Saudi Arabia to meet its crown prince this afternoon.

The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt is the sole route for aid to enter Gaza directly from outside Israel and the only exit that does not lead to Israeli territory.

WHERE IS THE RAFAH CROSSING AND WHO CONTROLS IT?

The crossing is at the south of the Gaza Strip, a narrow slither of land that is home to 2.3 million people between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. It is controlled by Egypt.

WHAT HAS BEEN AGREED ON AID PASSAGE?

US President Joe Biden told reporters that about 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid would be allowed into the enclave. Before the current violence erupted, about 100 trucks carrying aid would enter each day, according to the United Nations.

WHY IS THE RAFAH CROSSING SO IMPORTANT IN THIS CONFLICT?

Israel has imposed a total blockade of Gaza, cutting off electricity and stopping supplies of food and fuel, meaning the only likely route for humanitarian aid to enter is via Rafah from Egypt’s Sinai region. It is also the only exit point for Gaza residents seeking to flee.

WHY IS ACCESS ACROSS RAFAH RESTRICTED?

Egypt is wary of insecurity near the border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai after it faced an Islamist insurgency. Since Hamas took control in Gaza in 2007, Egypt has helped enforce a blockade of the enclave and heavily restricted the flow of people and goods.

DOES EGYPT ALLOW PEOPLE TO CROSS FROM GAZA?

Restrictions have sometimes been eased but not lifted, and travellers need security clearance and lengthy checks to pass. Egypt has shown no sign so far that its approach will change even as Israel bombards Gaza.

WILL PEOPLE BE ALLOWED OUT?

Foreign passport holders, including Americans, have headed to the vicinity hoping to be allowed out under any deal, although Cairo has said aid must be delivered first.

WHY ARE ARAB STATES SO RELUCTANT TO TAKE IN PALESTINIANS?

Arab countries fear that Israel’s war with Hamas could spark a new wave of permanent displacement from land where Palestinians hope to build a state. President Sisi has said it is vital that Palestinians ‘remain steadfast and present on their land’ and that ‘what is happening now in Gaza is an attempt to force civilian residents to take refugee and migrate to Egypt, which should not be accepted.’

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will head to Saudi Arabia later today to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his spokesperson said.

Describing Saudi Arabia as an important regional partner, the spokesperson said: ‘Later this afternoon, he’s going to fly to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.’

At least 3,785 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in Israeli strikes since Oct.7, the health ministry in Gaza has said.

• Hamas terrorist group is ‘the new Nazis’, as suggested by German Chancellor Scholz
• World War Two was Britain’s ‘darkest hour’ and the world stood with it – now it must stand with Israel
• The war will be a long one and UK must stand steadfastly with Israel
• Military support is welcome

• Britain will continue to stand by Israel in ‘its darkest hour’
• The decision to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza is a welcome one
• Israel is ‘taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians in direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas’

During his press conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said: ‘I am proud to stand here with you in your darkest hour as your friend, we will stand here in solidarity with you, with your people and we also want you to win.’

Benjamin Netanyahu referenced Britain’s allies coming together to fight the Nazis in the Second World War when he said: ‘The world stood with you in your darkest hour.

‘This is our darkest hour, this is the world’s darkest hour. We must win together… this is a long war and we will need your continuous support.

‘The people of Israel are united… but we need that unity across the board and continuous support as we prosecute and win this just war against modern barbarians, the worst monsters on the planet.’

The EU has announced probes into Facebook owner Meta and TikTok, seeking more details on the measures they have taken to stop the spread of ‘illegal content and disinformation’ around the Hamas-Israel conflict.

The commission said it had sent formal requests for information to Meta and TikTok in what is a first procedure launched under the EU’s new law on digital content.

There was a similar probe launched into X, formerly known as Twitter, last week.

President Xi Jinping has urged the visiting Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly to open a humanitarian corridor for civilians fleeing the fighting in Gaza.

Xi also reiterated China’s backing of the formation of a Palestinian state as solution to the ongoing violence.

CONTENT WARNING: This post contains graphic images

An Israeli strike killed the head of the Hamas-led national security forces, Jehad Mheisen, and members of his family in their house, a Hamas-aligned news agency has announced.

Fighters in Lebanon fired at least two anti-armour missiles into Israel on Thursday, striking the border village of Manara without causing casualties, the Israeli military said.

It said Israeli artillery was shelling the launch area in retaliation.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Benjamin Netanyahu are currently meeting in Jerusalem.

Sunak embraced his Israeli counterpart as before the two men went for the one-on-one discussion.

Netanyahu and his aides were dressed down in black shirts rather than suits, reflecting the less formal attire worn by his fellow wartime premier, Ukraine’s President Zelensky.

During his meeting with British PM Rishi Sunak, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog slammed the BBC for what he said was it’s ‘distortion of the facts’ – as the corportation continues to refuse to call Hamas terrorists.

We feel that the way the BBC characterizes Hamas is a distortion of the facts. We are dealing with one of the worst terror organizations in the world, and I know that in modern democracies such as yours and ours, you cannot intervene per se, but because the BBC has a certain linkage and it is known as Britain as such all over the world, there has to be an outcry so that there will be a correction, and Hamas will be defined as a terror organization… What else do they need to see to understand that this is an atrocious terror organization?

Rishi Sunak told Israeli president Isaac Herzog his country has the ‘right to self-defence in line with international law’ during their meeting on Thursday.

A Downing Street spokesman shared a readout of the meeting:

• The Prime Minister ‘expressed his personal condolences for the horrific loss of life in Israel as a result of Hamas’s terrorism’.
• Sunak ‘reiterated that the UK stands in solidarity with Israel’ and belief in Israel’s right to self defence.
• The two men ‘agreed on the importance of getting urgent humanitarian support to ordinary Palestinians in Gaza who are also suffering.’
• Sunak welcomed yesterday’s announcement that Israel would not stop aid from entering Gaza.
• He expressed hope that more progress could be made on delivering crucial food, water and medicine.
• He conveyed gratitude to the President for his country’s support to British nationals caught up in the attacks.
• Herzog expressed thanks to Sunak for his ‘support, decisions and leadership’.

Thousands of tonnes of aid bound for Gaza remained on the Egyptian side of the border Thursday, after US President Joe Biden struck a deal with Egypt and Israel to allow relief in.

Biden said Wednesday that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had agreed to ‘let up to 20 trucks through to begin with’ to the heavily-bombarded Gaza Strip, starting Friday, giving authorities time to repair roads.

US officials told their Turkish counterparts that aircraft carriers moved closer to Israel in the eastern Mediterranean were sent there for the possible evacuation of civilians, a Turkish defence ministry official said today.

The US has deployed two aircraft carriers – and their support ships – to the eastern Mediterranean since a surprise attack by Hamas militants on Israel this month.

Sixty-five police officers were injured at overnight protests in Berlin against Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, authorities said, as demonstrators defied bans on such gatherings.

The officers were ‘wounded by stones, flammable liquid and acts of resistance,’ Berlin police said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

A police spokeswoman said 174 people were arrested, including 65 who will be facing investigations.

Hundreds of writers and artists, including Normal People author Sally Rooney, have condemned Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza.

• Criticised what they call Israel’s current and previous ‘crimes against humanity’ and an ‘outrage against the sanctity of human life’.
• Called for an ‘immediate ceasefire in Gaza and said they are ‘speaking out to demand an end to the violence and destruction in Palestine’
• Said ‘the deliberate killing of civilians is always an atrocity’.
• Warned that Israel’s activity in Gaza is ‘a violation of international law’.
• Contested that Israel’s ‘allies, our own governments, are complicit in these crimes’.

A major Gaza hospital has run out of fuel, a British surgeon has told Sky News.

The shortage at al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City would mean ventilators and other life-saving equipment would be unable to run.

Dr Nick Maynard, a surgeon who has worked in the territory for 15 years, said that resources are ‘virtually non-existent’ and that the healthcare system is ‘on the verge of collapse’.

CONTENT WARNING: The following video shows wounded children receiving treatment.

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf has shared a harrowing video of young children being treated by his brother-in-law, a doctor in Gaza.

He said on X that the video was posted with the family’s permission.

My brother-in-law, a doctor in Gaza, is spending his seventh consecutive day in hospital. Nadia spoke to him & said he should go home to rest, his response “I can’t leave my people when they need me.” Health workers in Gaza are heroes.

Israeli airstrikes have continued to pound the Gaza Strip today, heightening fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe.

• It is now nearly two weeks since Israel began retaliatory airstrikes following Hamas terrorist attacks on its civilians.
• The strip of land is smaller than London and one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
• It is home to some 2.3million people, around half of whom are children.
• Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north and head to what it called ‘safe zones’ in the south, strikes continued across the entire territory.
• Pictures show rescuers sifting through rubble to find people trapped under their homes and families mourning the loss of their loved ones across the enclave.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius landed in Beirut on Thursday for an impromptu visit to the Middle East, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported.

The first and only female politician in Hamas’s political bureau, Jamila al-Shanti, has been killed in an Israeli air strike, according to Palestinian media.

She was the widow of Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi and was elected to the terror group’s decision-making body in 2021.

The Prime Minister has been meeting with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog this morning in Jerusalem.

Later, he will hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and meet with family members of those kidnapped by terror group Hamas.

Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British-Palestinian doctor who was working in the al-Ahli hospital when it was hit by a blast on Tuesday, said 4 in 10 patients there were children.

Dr Abu-Sittah, who has a plastic surgery clinic in Harley Street, said 40 per cent of all cases of injured patients he sees are ‘children and all of them… have lost one or two parents and unfortunately these kids have a long recovery road in front of them.’

He was working on a patient in the operating theatre when he said a ‘missile struck’ the health facility.

Read more of his harrowing testimony here.

• Rishi Sunak has touched down in Israel and will soon hold talks with PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
• As he arrived, the British PM said he ‘stands with’ and ‘grieves with’ Israel.
• Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is also on a visit to the region and has begun talks in Egypt on Thursday. He will also visit Qatar and Turkey.
• Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their attack on Israel, a video and weapons seized by Israel show.
• The number of Israeli hostages confirmed to be held by Hamas has risen to 203, from a previous estimate of 199.
• Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has accused Palestinian authorities of lying over the death toll of the hospital blast, which Gaza’s health ministry said killed hundreds.

You can read the full story here.

Read the full story here:

Two US military bases in Syria have come under attack, Lebanon’s Iran-aligned Al Mayadeen TV reported on Thursday.

There was no official confirmation of the attacks.

Al Mayadeen reported a drone attack on the Al-Tanf base near Syria’s borders with Iraq and Jordan, and a missile attack on the Conoco base in the countryside of the northern Deir al-Zor region. It gave no further information

Security minister Tom Tugendhat said the terror threat level is kept ‘under constant review’.

Asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain whether there might be plans to raise the alert, he said: ‘It’s not a plan, because we don’t plan for the alert to change. We change the alert according to information that we get.

‘And it’s not done by politicians, quite correctly, it’s done by experts, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre.’

He added: ‘I’m not going to be able to tell you much more than that, other than that we keep it under constant review.’

Mr Tugendhat alluded to the King’s speech on Wednesday about the need for ‘mutual understanding’, saying the level of ‘division’ in society plays a part in how safe the UK is.

‘We are safer when we stand together, when we are careful of our language and when we are measured in how we talk about really emotive subjects like the incidents in the Middle East in the last few days,’ he said.

A boy and a woman who were among the scores of people killed by Hamas gunmen in an Israeli border village have been located and identified, 11 days after the cross-border attack from Gaza, the medical assistance and casualty recovery group Zaka said.

Remains of the two newly discovered victims were found during searches of a house that had been burned down in Beeri, a kibbutz, or communal farm, Zaka said late on Wednesday.

‘Their bodies were incinerated after they were murdered,’ it said in a statement, without providing names for the two or elaborating on any possible relationship between them.

Israeli officials had previously given a death toll of at least 108 for Beeri – around 10% of its population. At least a dozen other Israeli communities were also overrun by the gunmen.

Israeli officials say the numbers keep slowly rising as forensics enable identification of especially ravaged corpses.

An Israeli Harry Potter fan whose plight was highlighted by author JK Rowling has been found dead, the country has announced.

Noya Dan, a 12-year-old autistic child, and her 80-year-old grandmother Carmela, were among those who went missing when Hamas terrorists attacked on October 7.

Since then, their family have been clinging to the hope that they were kidnapped rather than killed, and would be found and returned by Israeli forces who are preparing to launch a ground assault attack against Hamas and to rescue hostages.

However, on Wednesday, the Dan family confirmed in a tragic post on Facebook that the bodies of both Noya and Carmela had been identified.

Read the full story here:

The Israeli military has said the number of people being held hostage by Hamas is at least 203, rising from the previous confirmed number of 199.

The terrorist group has claimed that it has 250 people hostage.

European Union interior ministers met Thursday to discuss how to manage the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas on the bloc, after a firebomb assault on a Berlin synagogue and killings in Belgium and France by suspected Islamist extremists.

Sweden hosted a meeting of ministers from eight countries, among them Germany, Belgium and France, focused on how to handle incidents where people burn the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

Protester Salwan Momika previously kicked and stomped on the holy book before setting it on fire outside the parliament in Stockholm and Iraqi Embassy.

Ayman Safadi told NBC that ‘no one… in this part of the world’ is buying Israel’s claim that Palestinian terrprists accidentally bombed Gaza’s al-Ahli Hospital.

‘The only way people would entertain a different narrative is if there was an independent international inquiry into the tragedy with impeccable evidence that it was not Israel,’ he added.

Meta, which owns Facebook, said it has brought in temporary measures to limit ‘potentially unwelcome or unwanted comments’ on posts about the Israel-Hamas war.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat rejected an argument made by the Government’s independent adviser on extremism that Britain has become a ‘permissive environment’ for antisemitism.

Asked whether he agreed with the comments, he said: ‘No, I don’t agree with that. I think that the United Kingdom is a country and an environemnt in which we take all threats to any communities extremely seriously.

‘You just have to look at the response over the last 10 days – the way the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and I and many others have been reaching out to the Jewish community, making sure policing is appropriate… to give reassurance.

‘The way in which we’ve been engaging as well with the Muslim community, some of whom are feeling also vulnerable at this time, feeling stigmatised.’

Mr Tugendhat said it was a ‘perfectly legitimate’ to march in support of Palestine as some people are, but that others are ‘championing a death cult’.

Egypt has agreed to reopen its northern border with Gaza to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the war-torn enclave — but there are growing fears Hamas will steal it for themselves or use it as cover to bring in more weapons.

More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tonnes of aid are now positioned at the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, to deliver food, water and medicine to the millions of civilians trapped there amid withering Israeli airstrikes.

But under the deal agreed by Egypt after intense talks with President Joe Biden yesterday, only 20 trucks with humanitarian aid will be allowed into the enclave from Friday at the earliest amid fears that Hamas will confiscate the supplies.

Read the full story here:

Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their attack on Israel, a militant video and weapons seized by Israel show, despite Pyongyang’s denials that it sells arms to the militant group.

The video was analysed by two experts on North Korean arms.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat said ‘irresponsible speculation’ over the al Ahli hospital blast led to Arab leaders calling off talks with US President Joe Biden.

He told Times Radio: ‘The reason we’re going to be so careful about this is that the premature speculation comes at a cost. Let’s be clear that the reality is there were beginning of talks promised between President Biden and some Arab leaders, and irresponsible speculation led to some of those leaders walking away as they thought that it would be unacceptable to discuss such matters after Israel had been accused of this attack.’

He added: ‘It now appears that that was at best speculation and at worst propaganda by a terrorist organisation.’

Mr Tugendhat said he would not ‘name names’ over who in particular was responsible for the speculation but pointed to commentary on social media platforms.

Of the 3,478 Palestinians killed and 12,065 injured in Israeli air strikes, 70 per cent were elderly people, women and children, Gaza’s health ministry has said this morning.

Joe Biden gave Israel’s leaders U.S. approval to launch a ground invasion of Gaza, according to a report.

The U.S. president told Netanyahu he was ‘fully in support’ of Israel’s plans to invade Gaza to ‘eradicate Hamas‘, according to The Times.

Read the full story here:

Nestle says it has ‘temporarily shut down’ one of its production plants in Israel as a ‘precaution’, becoming the first consumer products giant to announce a response to the conflict there.

Several global companies have temporarily shut some operations in Israel and asked their employees to work from home after the country came under a surprise attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas earlier this month.

‘Our focus is on keeping our colleagues and employees safe. I have no comment on the development of the business,’ Nestle Chief Executive Mark Schneider said on an earnings call with journalists. ‘We’ve taken necessary precautions.’

Other multinational packaged goods companies have so far remained silent on the conflict, even as retail, healthcare and oil companies have rushed to voice their positions.

The silence follows criticism of the packaged goods industry for choosing to keep one foot in Russia while continuing to sell ‘essential’

Rishi Sunak arrived in Israel today as he appeals to all sides to avoid ‘further dangerous escalation’ of the conflict.

After disembarking from his plane, Mr Sunak said the UK ‘stand with’ the people of Israel over the ‘unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism’ by Hamas.

Read the full story here:

Here is what you need to know this morning:

• Rishi Sunak arrives in the Jewish state to hold talks with PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
• Biden says the U.S. will provide $100 million in humanitarian assistance for Palestinians affected by conflict in Gaza and the West Bank.
• Egypt and other Arab countries typically don’t want to take in Palestinian refugees.
• Relatives of people taken hostage by Hamas militants tell their stories as they hope for their safe return.
• The U.S. has vetoed a proposed U.N. resolution to condemn violence against civilians in the Israel-Hamas war.
• Rage at the Gaza hospital blast carnage spread throughout the Middle East.