Israel-Hamas war RECAP: UN expresses ‘deep concern’ over Israel sending Palestinian workers BACK to besieged Gaza – as Blinken meets Netanyahu to call for humanitarian pause

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters today staged a demonstration at London‘s King’s Cross Station to call for a ceasefire.

It comes amid a devastating bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas.

British Transport Police tonight confirmed two arrests have been made for ‘failure to comply with a Section 14 notice’ – prohibiting the planned protest.

The Transport Secretary cited a risk to train services in the decision to ban the event and said all in attendance would be subject to arrest.

Video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, appeared to show police arresting protesters congregating in the station on Friday night.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu today warned Hezbollah against ‘testing’ Israel and ruled out a temporary ceasefire in Gaza until hostages are released, following a rant from Hezbollah’s leader threatening escalation.

Netanyahu said resolutely: ‘I tell our enemies in the north, don’t test us, you will pay dearly.’

It came as Hezbollah’s chief warned of a further escalation on Israel’s border with Lebanon and said Hamas’s war with the Jewish state is ‘now on more than one front’.

A formidable military force backed by Iran, Hezbollah has been engaging Israeli forces along the Lebanon-Israel border in the deadliest escalation since it fought a war with Israel in 2006.

Hezbollah has in recent years emerged as a potent force in the Middle East, boasting a multifaceted arsenal and diverse military capabilities that pose a considerable threat to Israel.

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Hamas has claimed scores of Palestinians have been killed and injured after an Israeli missile strike hit an ambulance convoy.

Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV quoted the Gaza health ministry as saying that many were killed on Friday as the vehicles carried critically wounded people in Gaza.

The health ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, earlier said they would send critically injured Palestinians who needed to be urgently transferred for treatment in Egypt from Gaza city and the north to the south.

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Israeli airstrikes have continued throughout Friday.

Missiles hit northern Gaza, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting at least 15 deaths in Gaza City’s Zeitun neighbourhood and seven in the Jabalia refugee camp.

Israeli forces have urged Gazans to head south from Gaza City towards the southern end of the territory to escape the worst of the fighting.

However, the Gaza health ministry said that 14 fleeing Palestinians, including women and children, had been killed making this journey.

Witnesses said the strike hit Gaza’s coastal road, which the Israeli military has previously told civilians to take to travel south.

Late on Thursday, the army said troops had encircled Gaza City, drawing a warning from Hamas’s armed wing that they would go home ‘in black bags’.

On Friday morning, Hamas said its forces were engaged in close combat with troops northwest of Beit Lahia and had fired missiles at Israeli military vehicles.

Israel, meanwhile, continues to mourn the loss of more than 1,400 in the October 7 Hamas terror attack, and hopes for the return of hostages.

Today marks the fourth Friday – or Shabbat (Sabbath) – since the attack.

Shabbat is the Jewish day of a rest, an important day for many Jews in Israel and worldwide, marking the seventh day of the week in the Jewish calendar.

On its official X (Twitter) account, Irseal urged followers to ‘say a special prayer for the Israeli hostages who are spending their fourth Shabbat in Gaza without their families.’ Around 240 are believed to still be in Gaza.

‘May our prayers reach them wherever they are,’ the message read.

Director-General of the World Health Organization has celebrated the birth of a baby in Gaza while calling for a ceasefire to the on-going war.

‘Welcome to the world, baby Adam,’ he wrote. ‘We need to ensure Adam and all babies in Gaza can come into this world safely with the care and assistance they and their parents need.’

Health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave say Israel’s bombardment since October 7 has killed 9,227 people including 3,826 children.

Rishi Sunak today slammed ‘provocative and disrespectful’ plans for a pro-Palestinian protest in central London on Armistice Day, MailOnline’s Political Editor James Tapsfield reports.

The PM warned that there is a ‘clear and present risk’ that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be ‘desecrated’ during marches.

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The United States is conducting unarmed drone flights over Gaza to aid efforts to free more than 240 hostages seized by the Hamas militant group when it attacked Israel, the Pentagon has revealed.

‘In support of hostage recovery efforts, the US is conducting unarmed UAV flights over Gaza, as well as providing advice and assistance to support our Israeli partner as they work on their hostage recovery efforts,’ Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah told the United States in his speech today that halting attacks on Gaza would prevent a regional war.

Nasrallah also said his Iran-backed group was ready to face America’s warships – two of which are stationed off the coast in the Mediterranean

‘Your fleet in the Mediterranean do not scare us… We are ready to face the fleet you threaten us with,’ Nasrallah said, addressing the United States. ‘Whoever wants to prevent a regional war must quickly stop the aggression on Gaza,’ he added.

Nasrallah also said his militia army is not deterred by US warnings to stay out of the Israel-Hamas war, and that Hezbollah is prepared for all options.

The Hamas-run government in Gaza has claimed an Israeli strike hit a convoy of ambulances in the territory, killing scores of Palestinians.

The health ministry said killed multiple people near the territory’s largest hospital.

A government statement said Israeli forces targeted ‘a convoy of ambulances which was transporting the wounded’, while the health ministry said several people were killed in the strike near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

MailOnline could not immediately verify the claim. An AFP news agency journalist at the scene saw multiple bodies beside a damaged ambulance. Reuters news agency said could not immediately verify the Health Ministry’s report.

Israel’s military said it was looking into the report.

Merkava tanks have been filmed leading Israeli attacks into Gaza.

Video uploaded by the IDF showed tanks blasting terrorist targets and rolling into cities topped with cages to prevent drone attacks.

Soldiers are also shown clearing hideouts used by Hamas, and opening fire on fighters hiding in the rubble of ruined buildings.

Israeli ground troops are currently moving into Gaza City. At the northern end of the strip, on a mission to wipe out Hamas.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that Israel will only gain security through the creation of a Palestinian state.

‘Two states for two peoples. Again, that is the only way to ensure lasting security for a Jewish and democratic Israel,’ Blinken said after meeting Israeli leaders.

Israel will not agree to any temporary ceasefire with Hamas until the more than 240 hostages seized by the Islamist movement during its attack on October 7 are released, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

‘Israel refuses a temporary ceasefire that does not include the return of our hostages,’ he told viewers, vowing to press on in Gaza.

His comments came during a visit to Irseal by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is pushing for a ‘pause’ in the conflict to allow for humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza.

Hezbollah’s leader has said the Israel-Hamas ‘battle’ has ‘extended to more than one front’ in his first speech since the October 7 attack, raising fears the Lebanese terror group is set to enter the conflict and spark a wider conflict in the region.

The powerful terror group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah praised the Alaqsa Flood – a name used by Hamas for its vicious attack last month – and said the ‘glorious jihadi operation’ led to an ‘ earthquake ‘ in the Jewish state, revealed the weakness of Israel and its army, and established a new historical phase in the battle.

The 63-year-old addressed thousands in Beirut from an unknown location. Celebratory gunshots rang out as people waving Hezbollah’s yellow flag packed into a square in the city’s suburbs to watch the televised speech.

In his wide ranging address, he said there were two goals: to stop aggression against Gaza and to ensure victory for Hamas. Nasrallah also claimed that his terror group had ‘entered the battled on October 8’ – the day after Hamas’s attack.

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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is currently in Israel, has said a mechanism to enable fuel to reach Gaza hospitals has been identified.

Hospitals in the territory have been dangerously low on fuel, with some running out completely, making it almost impossible to treat patients.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said Hamas’s decision to launch the October 7 attack was ‘100 percent Palestinian’ and that those responsible had kept it secret from everyone.

He said the decision to keep it a secret did not upset anyone in what he called the ‘axis of resistance’.

He added that the on-going conflict was purely a Palestinian issue, and has no relation to any regional issue.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has begun his address in Lebanon.

His speech breaks weeks of silence since war broke out between Hamas and Israel, and is being keenly watched amid fears that it could signal the terror group’s intention to wade deeper into the ongoing conflict.

The terror group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah said the Alaqsa Flood – a name used by Hamas for its attack – has extended to more than one front.

He also thanked the ‘Iraqi, Yemeni hands that joined this battle’ and celebrated pro-Palestinian protests that have been seen around the world.

‘We must salute all those who took to the street in support and solidarity with the Palestinians, from all over the world,’ he said.

Speaking to a crowd of thousands, Nasrallah also tanked ‘martyrs’ killed along the border that Lebanon shares with Israel which has seen clashes in recent weeks.

‘Those fallen martyrs are alive in God’s paradise.’

Meanwhile, Britain’s opposition Labour party leader Sir Kier Starmer has rejected suggestions there is ‘great division’ in his ranks over the party position on the conflict in Gaza.

Asked how frustrated he was that his appearance at the North East Chamber of Commerce was overshadowed by calls for him to back a ceasefire, he said: ‘Whether people are asking for a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause, it comes from the same place…

‘This is not unique to the Labour Party. Across the country, people desperately want to see an alleviation of the situation – that is a human emotion to what we’re seeing on our televisions and images and reports every single day.

‘I am not surprised that people are trying to go for any option that they see would alleviate the awful situation. I don’t think that should be taken as great divison.’

He added that he was ‘frustrated’ that more trucks with more aid are not getting into Gaza, saying: ‘I think there is a responsibility for that to change very fast. But I know that that’s what the US are trying to push on the ground as we speak.’

Earlier, Labour council leaders demanded that Starmer quit over his Gaza stance.

In the UK, London’s Metropolitan Police has vowed to use ‘all its powers’ to stop pro-Palestine protesters disrupting Armistice Day commemorations – as senior Tories called on Sadiq Khan to get a grip on the ‘tense’ situation.

Protesters calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza are planning to take to the streets of London on Armistice Day on Saturday November 11. Marches involving tens of thousands of people will also take place in cities across the UK tomorrow.

There are fears marchers could disrupt the two-minute silence commemorating the war dead as well as the daytime and evening Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. The latter is usually attended by members of the Royal Family.

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Supporters of the Hezbollah terror group have gathered in the hours before a much-anticipated speech by leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Nasrallah’s speech comes as low-level clashes have increased between Hezbollah and Palestinian armed groups on one side and Israeli forces on the other.

Supporters were seen waving the terror group’s yellow flag and holding pictures of Nasrallah, amid fears his speech could signal an escalation in the on-going Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran.

Also in the build up, Lebanon’s state news agency reported Israeli shelling on the outskirts of several towns along the Lebanese border.

More on Anthony Blinken’s meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu and his diplomatic visit to Tel Aviv now. The pair met for around an hour, before both met with members of Israel’s emergency cabinet formed in the wake of the attacks.

Afterwards, ahead of a meeting with President Isaac Herzog, Blinken reiterated that Israel has a right to ‘do everything possible to ensure that this October 7 (attack) can never happen again.’

‘At the same time let’s just make clear, how Israel does this matters,’ he said.

‘It is very important when comes to protection of civilians who are caught in the crossfire of Hamas’s making, that everything be done to protect them and to bring assistance to those who so desperately need it, who are not in any way responsible for what happened on October 7.’

A couple arrested for daubing Stars of David across Paris have claimed they were ‘under instructions from Russia’.

The twist in the investigation comes following the arrest of a Moldavian couple who have admitted producing the stencil used earlier this week.

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Further to our update at 10:57, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has confirmed that his in-laws have been able to leave Gaza.

Blinken has said Israel has a ‘right’ and ‘obligation’ to defend itself against Hamas as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, the US Secretary of State urged Israel to do everything it could to protect civilians caught in the crossfire.

Blinkens visit came after a group of UN-mandated human rights experts said ‘time is running out to prevent genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza’.

Israel called the comments Hamas ‘propaganda’.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called for an immediate ceasefire, saying ‘crimes against humanity’ were being committed in Gaza, and that Ankara was pushing for an international peace conference.

Blinken also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog (pictured together below).

The UN has voiced deep concern as Israel began sending thousands of Palestinian workers back to Gaza today.

They had been stuck in Israel since the start of hostilities.

‘They are being sent back, we don’t know exactly to where,’ and whether they ‘even have a home to go to’, and ‘we are deeply concerned about that’, UN human rights office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell told a press conference.

Israeli shelling has repeatedly struck cars carrying people fleeing from north Gaza along the two main roads to the south, the Associated Press reports.

Because the Gaza Strip’s main road, Salah al-Din, and the coastal highway are so dangerous, medics say it’s virtually impossible to recover bodies or save the wounded without being targeted.

Israeli shelling struck a convoy of mostly women and children who had tried to escape bombardment in the north on Friday, killing about 10-15 people, according to a freelance journalist who traveled with emergency workers to the site.

The local journalist, Fuad Abu Khamad, said he saw the bloodied bodies sprawled on the road with the few belongings they managed to take with them – mostly just bread and some canned food.

Israeli forces resumed shelling before the medics had time to determine who was alive or dead, he said.

Rescuers grabbed two survivors and rushed to Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in central Gaza, south of the Israeli military’s evacuation zone.

‘It was a painful scene, women with their heads blown off, dead children who had just wanted to flee,’ he said.

The IDF has released footage claiming to show Israeli forces destroying a Hamas tunnel network inside Gaza.

The black and white clip opens by showing open fields, before two explosions erupt from the ground, sending out shockwaves, smoke and debris.

Hamas has an extensive network of tunnels underneath Gaza which its terrorist fighters use to move around unseen and as shelter from air strikes.

Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Israel’s response to the October 7 attack by Hamas ‘resembles something more approaching revenge.’

‘I strongly believe, like any state, Israel has a right to defend itself, has the right to go after Hamas, so they can not do this again,’ Varadkar told reporters in Seoul.

‘But what I am seeing unfolding at the moment isn’t just self-defence, it resembles something more approaching revenge and that’s not where we should be and I don’t think it is how Israel will guarantee its future freedom and security.’

Ireland’s stance on the conflict has sometimes been at odds with its Western allies, with Varadkar one of the first EU leaders to call on Israel to ensure its response to Hamas’s attack was ‘proportionate’.

Varadkar said he believes that ‘Israel listens to countries it considers to be friends and allies, like the US’. But he added that he is ‘not sure they listen very closely to what we have to say, quite frankly’.

‘It is a state we have relations with, but I don’t think we are as close as we might have been or perhaps could be, because we do take a different position than most Western countries on Palestine and what’s happening at the moment,’ he said.

Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians and arrested scores more In large-scale raids in the West Bank overnight, IDF and Palestinian health officials have said, the Associated Press has reported.

Israeli forces killed three in Jenin, two in Hebron, one in Nablus and one in Qalandiya, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The military said the attack in Jenin included an airstrike – a once rare but now increasingly common form of attack in the territory.

It said Israeli forces killed Hamas terrorists after they threw explosives at the soldiers.

Forces also found explosives buried under the roads of the Jenin refugee camp, as well as an underground space with ammunition.

In Nablus, Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian militant whom they accused of carrying out a shooting attack in the town of Huwara earlier this year, killing two Israelis.

• Across the West Bank, the military arrested 37 Palestinians, identifying 17 of them as Hamas militants.
• Israel has stepped its raids on Palestinian towns and cities in the West Bank since the start of the war, leaving at least 141 Palestinians dead in what U.N. monitors say is the deadliest period in the territory on record.

At least 9,227 Palestinians were killed, including 3,826 children, in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Friday.

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf’s in-laws are among 92 British citizens who will be allowed out of Gaza today, it has been reported.

Elizabeth El-Nakla and her husband Maged – the parents of Mr Yousaf’s wife Nadia – have been trapped in Gaza since Israel laid siege to the territory.

Since then, there have been serious concerns for their safety, with Mr Yousaf last week taking to social media to say they had lost contact with them amid a telecommunications blackout, leaving them with no information on their well being.

But his family will be revealed today with the news that nearly 100 British citizens are set to be permitted to leave Gaza for Egypt today through the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza, with Elizabeth and Maged expected to be among them.

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The families of nine Israeli victims of last month’s Hamas attacks have lodged a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for suspected war crimes, their lawyer said today according to AFP news agency.

The families also want Hamas prosecuted for genocide, and the ICC to issue an international arrest warrant for its leaders, lawyer Francois Zimeray said.

‘The complaint concerns victims who were all civilians,’ Zimeray said, adding that several of them were at the ‘Tribe of Nova’ rave party – a music festival.

‘The complaint states that the Hamas terrorists do not deny the crimes committed, which they have amply documented and broadcast, and that the… facts cannot therefore be disputed,’ he said.

British nationals desperate to escape Gaza were left in despair yesterday after learning their wait to enter Egypt would continue.

A second tranche of foreign nationals were permitted out of the region through the heavily fortified Rafah Crossing, but many British names were not on the list.

Up to 200 British passport holders are thought to still be in the Palestinian territory which has been pummelled by Israeli air strikes for three weeks.

Israeli and Egyptian authorities have a list of British nationals and their dependants, yet other nations have been prioritised in the two days since the border opened.

For some British families, the situation is becoming increasingly precarious.

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This video released by the IDF shows fighters continuing to battle against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Using combat planes and helicopters they attacked a number of military compounds of the Hamas organisation.

The Israeli forces also attacked buildings captured by Hamas using a naval missile ship. During the firefight, approximately 130 terrorists were eliminated.

The UN has launched an emergency aid appeal seeking $1.2 billion to help some 2.7 million people in Gaza and the West Bank.

‘The cost of meeting the needs of 2.7 million people – that is the entire population of Gaza and 500,000 people in the occupied West Bank – is estimated to be $1.2 billion,’ the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

OCHA had originally sought $294 million in aid to support nearly 1.3 million people in an appeal on October 12.

‘The situation has grown increasingly desperate since then,’ it said.

Pictures have been released showing US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.

We will bring you more on this shortly.

Israel’s judicial system is considering setting up special courts to try the Hamas terrorists who were captured during the October 7 massacre.

The country’s attorney general, the State Attorney’s Office, the Courts Administration, and the State Prosecutor’s Office are understood to believe trying the cases in a normal court would not be the correct approach.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Justice Ministry is examining legislation that would authorise a special court to try the terrorists.

It is not clear how many Hamas gunmen were captured by Israeli forces. Israel has said 3,000 Hamas fighters entered Israel on October 7 when they carried out the massacre, killing more than 1,400 people. At least 1,000 terrorists are thought to have been killed, and several fled back to Gaza.

The Jerusalem Post points out that the trial being considered by the country’s Justice Ministry could replicate that of Nazi official Adolf Eichmann.

Eichmann, a German-Austrian, was sentenced to death and hanged in Israel for his involvement in the Nazi Holocaust during the Second World War.

We have pictures coming through from the Gaza border region, offering a glimpse of Israel’s military activities.

Photographs show artillery units in position near the territory, and tanks moving through the hills.

Israel said earlier that it now has Gaza City, the territory’s largest city, completely surrounded, as it continues its operation to eliminate Hamas.

Satellite images of Gaza have shown Israeli forces infiltrating deep into the territory as they continue to intensify their operations to eliminate the Hamas terror group.

While Israel has so far stopped short of the rapid, overwhelming all-out ground assault on Gaza that many expected and feared, the satellite images still demonstrate a significant ground force.

Israeli troops appear to be advancing on three main routes, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US research group that analyses conflicts.

One thrust came from Gaza’s northeast corner. Another, south of Gaza City, cut across the territory, reaching the main north-south highway. The third, from Gaza’s northwest corner, has moved about 3 miles down the Mediterranean coast, reaching the outskirts of the Shati and Jabaliya refugee camps.

It is the result of the first and third thrust that we can see in these satellite images.

Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian workers who said they had been held in an Israeli-run jail since the war broke out October 7.

The workers were dropped off by buses early Friday near Gaza and walked into the southern edge of the besieged territory through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

The workers were among what Israeli rights groups believe are thousands of laborers marooned in Israel since the outbreak of the war. They say some of the workers were detained by Israel without charge or due process.

The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Thursday night: ‘Those workers from Gaza who were in Israel on the day of the outbreak of the war will be returned to Gaza.’

The United States has intelligence that Russia’s Wagner mercenary group plans to provide Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militia, an air defence system, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified U.S. officials.

The Journal said Wagner plans to supply the Pantsir-S1 system, known by NATO as the SA-22, which uses anti-aircraft missiles and air-defence guns to intercept aircraft.

Wagner Group, which was funded by the Russian state and has been brought firmly under Kremlin control since an aborted mutiny by its former leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in June, did not reply to a request for comment from Reuters.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Israel for urgent talks with Israeli officials about their escalating war with Hamas in Gaza.

Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Friday for his third trip to Israel since the war began with Hamas’ incursion into Israel on October 7.

He will also visit Jordan and may make additional stops in the region before traveling to Asia early next week.

America’s top diplomat will again stress Israel’s right to defend itself but will also be making the case for Israel to respect the rules of war as well as consider postwar scenarios for how the territory can be run if and when it succeeds in eradicating Hamas, which has ruled over Gaza since 2006.

For the past week, the US administration has been pushing a two-state resolution to establish a durable and lasting peace.

Blinken will also urge Israeli authorities to rein in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank by Jewish settlers, amid fears of a wide conflict.

Israel today said it has surrounded Gaza City, the focus of its drive to annihilate Hamas. Read our full story by following the link below…

Fears are growing today that Hezbollah is set to declare war with Israel and light the touch paper for a larger conflict in the Middle East.

The terror group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah will break weeks of silence since war broke out between Hamas and Israel in a speech today, that some fear could signal Hezbollah’s intention to wade deeper into the on-going conflict.

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Good morning, and welcome to MailOnline’s live blog covering the Israel-Hamas war that today entered its 28th day.

Gaza health authorities say at least 9,061 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its assault on the enclave of 2.3 million people in retaliation for deadly attacks by Hamas militants on southern Israel.

Israel says Hamas killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages in the attacks on October 7.

With the conflict at the end of its fourth-week, here’s what you need to know:

• The United States’ top diplomat Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Friday to push for humanitarian pauses in the fighting
• Blinken, on his second trip to Israel in a month, is due to discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders
• His arrival comes as Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is set to break weeks of silence since the war began with a speech that some fear could signal Hezbollah’s intention to wade deeper into the on-going conflict
• Meanwhile, Israel says it has surrounded the Palestinian enclave’s biggest city and the focus of its drive to annihilate Hamas
• Food, fuel, water and medicine are growing more scarce
• Mounting casualties among Palestinian civilians, along with acute shortages of basic supplies, have intensified calls by global leaders for a pause in fighting
• Israel has dismissed these calls, saying it targets Hamas fighters whom it accuses of intentionally hiding among the population and civilian buildings
• A group of independent United Nations human rights experts warned that Palestinians in Gaza are at ‘grave risk of genocide’
• Israel has said it has lost 18 soldiers in the offensive into Gaza
• Hamas and allied Islamic Jihad fighters were emerging from tunnels to fire at tanks, then disappearing back into the network, witnesses say
• The Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt is due to open for a third day
• According to border officials, more than 700 foreign citizens left for Egypt via Rafah on the two previous days