Region

Rafah crossing is main gateway to outside world for GazansEgypt concerned Israeli assault will drive displacementSisi calls Gaza escalation 'highly dangerous'Egypt is moving to prevent a mass exodus from the Gaza Strip into its Sinai Peninsula, as Israeli bombardment halted crossings at the main exit point from the Palestinian enclave on Tuesday, Gaza officials and Egyptian security sources said.Israel's assault on Gaza has caused alarm in Egypt, which has urged Israel to provide safe passage for civilians from the enclave rather than encouraging them to flee southwest towards Sinai, two Egyptian security sources said.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Tuesday that the escalation in Gaza was "highly dangerous" and that Egypt was pursuing a negotiated solution to the violence with regional and international partners.Egypt would not allow the issue to be settled at the expense of others, Sisi said in comments reported by state news agency MENA, an apparent reference to the risk that Palestinians could be pushed into Sinai.Egypt's military had taken up new positions close to the border and was running patrols to monitor the area, said Ahmed Salem of the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights.Rafah is the sole possible crossing point into Sinai for Gaza's 2.3 million residents. The rest of the densely populated strip is surrounded by the sea, and by Israel, which has announced a total siege of Gaza and could launch a ground offensive.The passage of people and goods in and out of Gaza is strictly controlled under a blockade enforced by Egypt and Israel since 2007.Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military revised a recommendation by one of its spokespeople that Palestinians fleeing its air strikes in Gaza head to Egypt.Israel has been pounding Gaza with the fiercest strikes in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians since Hamas launched a deadly incursion into Israel on Saturday.Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, has mediated between Israel and Palestinian factions during previous conflicts in Gaza and has pressed to prevent further escalation in the current fighting.Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said bombardments on both Monday and Tuesday had hit an entry gate on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. The crossing was also closed from the Egyptian side and Palestinians planning to travel to Gaza retreated to north Sinai's main city of Al Arish, Egyptian sources said.The latest strike follows a similar incident on Monday that partially disrupted operations at the border, though Egyptian security sources said access for registered travellers and humanitarian activity had been restored by Tuesday morning.On Monday, about 800 people left Gaza through the Rafah crossing and about 500 people entered, though the crossing was closed for the movement of goods, according to the United Nations humanitarian office.North Sinai's governor met local authorities on Monday to plan for any crises resulting from events in Gaza, his office said. So far, there has been no sign of mass gatherings of Palestinians at the Rafah crossing, with only scheduled departures proceeding until Tuesday.In 2008, tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Sinai after Hamas blasted holes in a border wall.Security in the area around Rafah is also of concern to Egypt because Sinai has been the site of an insurgency that flared a decade ago.Egypt's military has since largely asserted its control over northern Sinai, facing sporadic attacks there. Israeli tourism in southern Sinai had surged after security on the peninsula improved, but thousands of Israeli tourists returned home after the fighting around Gaza started.

Five more Palestinians were killed Tuesday after the Israeli occupation warplanes bombed a house in Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, south of Gaza Strip.Medical sources said that among the dead were an infant and a woman, and two others who were pulled out from under the rubble in the Al-Atatra area in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.In Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, warplanes targeted locations near the Beit Hanoun crossing.The occupation warplanes also bombed a five-storey residential building in the Al-Qasaib neighborhood, west of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, leaving a number of casualties.Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the West Bank, resulted in the arrest of 40 Palestinians, including released prisoners.The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Monday that the toll from the massive Israeli occupation aggression on Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank climbed to 704 and nearly 3,900 wounded.

Several countries around the world, on Monday, called for clam and resumption of the negotiations between the Palestine and Israel considering the continuation of the occupation's aggression on Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including the massacres perpetrated against the Palestinians.The Presidency of Russia (Kremlin) asserted that the situation in the Palestinian territories must be oriented to a peaceful track as soon as possible, giving heads-up that such a cycle of violence is fraught with further escalation and danger in the region.In a press statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, voiced his concern over the unfolding developments and stressed the importance of returning the situation to its normal status and avoid everything that aggravates the situation.Concerning the Chinese position on the developments in Gaza and the Palestinian territories in general, Beijing explained its grave concern over the escalation in the conflict between Palestine and Israel recently, regretting over the substantial number of dead and wounded people.Spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, affirmed that China opposes and condemns acts that would inflict damage upon civilians, stressing that the only exit from the Palestinian-Israeli cycle of violence lies in the resumption of peace talks, implementation of the two-state solution and achievement of a comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian cause at the earliest.The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Beijing will relentlessly continue to work with the international community to achieve that objective.Meanwhile, the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, James Cleverly, held phone calls with several officials in the Middle East, including the Palestinian PM, Mohammad Shtayyeh, and the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, and discussed with them latest escalation developments in the occupied Palestinian territories.The UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs underscored the significance of acting to avoid escalation in the region.For his part, Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, called for ending the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in accordance with the international rules-based order. In his phone call with his UK counterpart, Al Busaidi stressed the importance of achieving the two-state solution through the resumption of the peace process.In the context of the UK diplomatic efforts, UK Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Tariq Ahmad, underscored, during a phone call with the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki, the significance of cooperation and communication to de-escalate the situation in the entire region.For the third consecutive day, Gaza Strip is still exposed to a heavy Israeli shelling that has hitherto resulted in 500 Palestinian martyrs and 2900 wounded, along with major physical damages based on latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 687 Monday, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said, as Israel pounded Hamas targets for the third consecutive day.The Hamas-controlled ministry said hospitals in Gaza had "received 687 martyrs and another 3,727 injured" since Israel unleashed a wave of air strikes after a surprise attack on Israel launched by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Saturday morning.Palestinians in Gaza are preparing for an Israeli offensive of unprecedented scale, with more than 130,000 fleeing their homes and stockpiling supplies.Amid an intensified Israeli siege cutting off water, food and power, conditions look worse than at any point since Palestinian refugees flocked there during the 1948 fighting when Israel was founded.Israeli military phone messages have warned people to leave some areas, indicating a new ground attack that could eclipse previous bouts of destructive warfare in the dense concrete townships that grew up in Gaza's original tented refugee camps."Where should we go? Where should we go?" asked 55-year-old Mohammad Brais.The surprise Hamas attack on Saturday caused Israel its bloodiest day, as fighters smashed through border defences and marauded through towns, killing more than 800 people and dragging more than 100 into captivity in Gaza.Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets onto northern Israel yesterday in response to at least four of its members killed in Israeli shelling on Lebanon.The exchange of fire marks a significant expansion of the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants to the Israeli-Lebanese border further north.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.Inside Israel, Palestinian fighters were still holed up in several locations, two days after they killed hundreds of Israelis and seized dozens of hostages in a raid that shattered Israel's reputation of invincibility.Israeli TV channels said the death toll from the Hamas attack had climbed to 900.Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida said the group had been acting in accordance with Islam by keeping the Israeli captives safe.Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Israel against "indiscriminately" attacking civilians in its war with Hamas militants in Gaza.Erdogan urged both sides to respect the "ethics" of war. He has fervently backed the Palestinian cause and supported a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said he was "deeply distressed" by the country's imposition of a total siege on the Gaza Strip."The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities," Guterres told reporters. "Now it will only deteriorate exponentially."Earlier in the day, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country would impose a "complete siege" on the long blockaded enclave and stressed what this meant for its 2.3 million people: "No electricity, no food, no water, no gas -- it's all closed."Palestinians in the impoverished coastal territory braced for what many feared will be a massive Israeli ground attack aiming to defeat Hamas and liberate hostages."This most recent violence does not come in a vacuum," Guterres stressed. "The reality is that it grows out of a long-standing conflict, with a 56-year long occupation and no political end in sight.""While I recognise Israel's legitimate security concerns, I also remind Israel that military operations must be conducted in strict accordance with international humanitarian law," Guterres said.Following Hamas' unprecedented ground, air and sea attacks, Israel has counted over 700 dead and launched a withering barrage of strikes on Gaza that have raised the death toll there to 560 people.Israel, which has long prided itself on a high-tech military and intelligence edge in its many conflicts, has been shaken to the core by Hamas' surprise attack.The militant group surged into Israeli towns on Saturday, storming military bases, spraying gunfire at civilians and dragging off about 100 hostages.The conflict has only escalated since then, prompting Israel's promise Monday to cut off supplies to the region."I am deeply distressed by today's announcement that Israel will initiate a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, nothing allowed in -- no electricity, food, or fuel," Guterres said.The UN will continue efforts to provide aid to respond to needs in Gaza, Guterres said."Israel must see its legitimate needs for security materialized -- and Palestinians must see a clear perspective for the establishment of their own state realised," Guterres added.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health warned that the mounting Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip aggravates the health situation as hospitals are facing a major shortage of electricity, medicines, and fuel due to the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip.Most areas in Gaza are off the grid because the Israeli entity has stopped supplying Gaza with energy after imposing a full blockade, with the national supplier being unable to supply the strip with electricity needs which is obviously less than 20 percent.The persistent crisis of electricity poses a challenge for the health system and a risk for hundreds of wounded people and patients in the sensitive sections, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.It added that technical and engineering crews are operating around the clock to ensure the operation of electric generators that require 40,000 liters of diesel per day in case of a power blackout for 12 hours.The ministry has called on the international community and all relevant entities to ramp up pressure on the Israeli occupation to recommission the power grids because any lack of electricity will pose a danger to the health and humanitarian system and called for urgent action on the part of all entities to provide these essentials.Meanwhile, the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) pointed out that the occupation's fighter jets are directly targeting ambulance vehicles and have so far targeted an ambulance vehicle carrying wounded people and destroyed it with the medical crew being injured, stressing that since the onset of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the occupation has been intentionally targeting civil and ambulance vehicles carrying injured people.For the third day, the Israeli warplanes continued launching hundreds of airstrikes on Gaza targeting residential towers and critical infrastructures.

Minister of the Royal Office in the Sultanate of Oman Gen. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Numani discussed on Monday with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell and his accompanying delegation ways of cooperation in common interests between the Sultanate of Oman and the European Union.During the meeting, a number of matters of common interest were discussed. (QNA)

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the shelling that targeted an UNRWA school sheltering hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including children, women and elderly.In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that what happened was a crime in every sense of the word, especially since this shelling hit a school affiliated with the United Nations.Furthermore, the Foreign Ministry condemned the ongoing massacres committed by the occupation forces against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip. These massacres have affected dozens of families. The Ministry also condemned the continuous destruction of homes and civilian institutions, which has led to the deaths and injuries of thousands of Palestinians, with the numbers continuing to rise, and forced thousands of Palestinian citizens to be displaced from their homes.The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on countries and relevant international bodies to observe the crimes committed by the occupation and the massacres carried out under the guise of "self-defense," which have been given the green light by the international community. (QNA)

Israel, reeling from the deadliest attack in half a century, formally declared war on Hamas yesterday as the conflict’s death toll surged above 1,000 after the Palestinian group launched a massive surprise assault from Gaza.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu steeled the shocked and grieving nation for a “long and difficult” war after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Israel on Saturday and sent a wave of fighters who gunned down civilians and took at least 100 hostages.The bloody escalation sharply heightened Middle East tensions and killed more than 600 people on the Israeli side, the country’s worst losses since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war when it came under attack from a coalition led by Egypt and Syria.“Israel was caught flat-footed by the unprecedented attack,” said Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. “I’ve heard multiple comparisons to 9/11, and many Israelis are struggling to understand how this could have happened.”In Gaza — which was hammered by Israeli air strikes on 800 targets ahead of what many feared may be a looming ground invasion — officials reported at least 413 deaths, with thousands more wounded across the war zone.US President Joe Biden ordered “additional support for Israel in the face of this unprecedented assault by Hamas,” the White House said.US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington “will be rapidly providing the Israel Defence Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions”.Austin also said he had directed the USS Gerald R Ford, an aircraft carrier, and its accompanying warships to the eastern Mediterranean, and that Washington was augmenting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.Several foreign countries have reported nationals killed, abducted or missing in the fighting, among them Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand, Ukraine and the US.Tens of thousands of Israeli forces were deployed to battle holdout Hamas fighters in the south, where the bodies of civilians had been found strewn on roads and in town centres.“The enemy is still on the ground,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari as a second night fell after the attack, adding that Israel was reinforcing its military strength near the Gaza Strip.Gun battles raged as the Israeli army sought to secure desert regions near the coastal enclave, rescue Israeli hostages and evacuate all areas near Gaza.“We’ll reach each and every community until we kill every fighter in Israel,” vowed Hagari, a day after Hamas fighters launched their shock offensive and surged into Israel using vehicles, boats and motorised paragliders.Shock and dismay gripped Israel after at least 100 citizens were captured by Hamas and abducted into Gaza, with images circulating on social media of bloodied hostages, and distraught relatives pleading for the state to rescue them.Yifat Zailer, 37, said she was horrified to see online video footage from Gaza that showed her female cousin and the woman’s children, aged nine months and three years.“That’s the only confirmation we have,” she said, her voicing breaking with emotion, and adding there was no information on her cousin’s husband and her elderly parents.“After the army took control of the kibbutz, they weren’t at home,” she said. “We assume they were kidnapped... We want to know what their condition is, we want them to return safe. They’re innocent civilians.” Israel also came under attack from the north when Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched guided missiles and artillery shells yesterday “in solidarity” with the unprecedented Hamas offensive, without causing any casualties.Israel responded with artillery strikes across the UN-patrolled border. “We recommend Hezbollah not to come into this,” said army spokesman Richard Hecht. “If they come, we are ready.” Israel was stunned when Hamas launched their multi-pronged offensive on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, raining down at least 3,000 rockets as fighters infiltrated towns and kibbutz communities and stormed an outdoor rave party.Panicked Israeli residents phoned media outlets as they hid in their homes from fighters going door to door and shooting civilians or dragging them away.Global concern has mounted, with Western capitals condemning the attack by Hamas.Israel’s foes have praised the assault, including Iran whose President Ebrahim Raisi voiced support when he spoke with Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders.Anti-Israel protests have flared in Iraq, Pakistan and some other majority Muslim countries, while Germany and France were among nations stepping up security around Jewish temples and schools.TOURISTS KILLEDIn the Egyptian city of Alexandria a police officer opened fire “at random” on Israeli tourists yesterday, killing two of them and their Egyptian guide before he was arrested.Netanyahu — who leads a hard-right coalition government but has received pledges of support from political opponents during Israel’s national emergency — has vowed to turn Hamas hideouts “to rubble” and urged Palestinians there to flee.Schools were closed nationwide and many flights were cancelled to Ben Gurion airport amid the fighting.Hamas has labelled its attack “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” and called on “resistance fighters in the West Bank” and “Arab and Islamic nations” to join the battle.Its attack came half a century after the outbreak of the 1973 conflict called the Yom Kippur war in Israel, sparking bitter recriminations on what was widely seen as an enormous intelligence failure. “There was a very bad failure here,” said Sderot resident Yaakov Shoshani, 70. “The Yom Kippur War was small compared to it, and I was a soldier in the Yom Kippur War.”

The death toll after the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip has risen to 370 and 2200 people are injured.Several bodies were retrieved, including children, due to the shelling carried out by the Israeli warplanes in multiple areas in Gaza, Palestinian medical sources reported on Sunday.The occupation's fighter jets bombarded lands between the towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia with dozens of rockets and concussion bombs, north of Gaza.Palestinian sources reported that sounds of major explosions were heard with smoke and flames rising over north of Gaza due to the airstrikes carried out by the Israeli military aircraft which inflicted major devastation upon citizens' property and their close houses.Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Education decided to suspend the operation of schools on Monday and resort to remote education instead, adding that such decision comes due to the field circumstances witnessed by the Palestinian territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.In addition, several Palestinians suffocated in Bethlehem during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces, with security and local sources reporting that the confrontations were focused on the northern entry of the city, during which the occupation forces fired stun grenades and poison gas leading to many wounds among inhabitants of Al 'Aza camp who were suffocated and subsequently treated in the field.

The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has called on the international community to immediately intervene and compel the Israeli occupation authorities to uphold their legal responsibility, as an occupier, and act to provide emergency relief to the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip who are suffering from the ravages of blockade and bombardment.Abbas held the Israeli occupation government responsible for cutting the essential supplies from Palestinian people in Gaza, such as water, electricity, and food items, urging the Palestinian government and relevant entities to act immediately and provide the available potential to aid Palestinians.Palestinian people are being exposed to an all-out aggression, assault and murders perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces triggering the essential provision of everything that would alleviate their suffering whether at the levels of public, private or level of civil and charitable institutions through operating relief convoys urgently to mitigate their trauma, he added, pointing out that Gaza won't stand alone in confronting this aggression like other Palestinian territories.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced Sunday that over 20,300 Palestinians have sought refuge in UNRWA-run schools across the Gaza Strip since Saturday.UNRWA Media Advisor Adnan Abu Hasna stated that 44 UNRWA schools, including 28 equipped for housing, have received displaced families from various provinces in Gaza, with the exception of Khan Yunis.He noted that the displaced population have primarily concentrated in northern Gaza, the eastern border, and southern Gaza, with expectations of an increase in their numbers in the coming hours.The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced in a brief statement on Sunday that 313 have died as a result of the ongoing Israeli occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Palestine called for holding an emergency meeting of the Arab League's Council of Arab Foreign Ministers at the earliest possible date to discuss ways to mobilize a political action at the Arab and international levels in order to halt the ongoing Israeli aggression and hold its perpetrators accountable, provide international protection for the Palestinian people, and achieve peace and security based on international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative.In statements to Palestinian news agency (WAFA) on Sunday, Palestines Permanent Representative to the Arab League Ambassador Mohannad Aklouk said the urgent meeting comes in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, including the escalation of incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by thousands of settlers and Israeli officials over the past days. This has been followed by an unprecedented escalation in Gaza Strip, with Israeli attacks targeting the killing and terrorizing of civilians, the destruction of residential towers and infrastructure. (QNA)

Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale attack against Israel yesterday, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza and sending fighters to kill or abduct citizens as Israel retaliated with devastating air strikes.Gun battles raged into the night as at least 70 people were reported killed in Israel, while Gaza authorities released a death toll of 232 in the conflict’s bloodiest escalation in years which also left many hundreds wounded on both sides.“We are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the stunned nation as the airforce pounded targets in the blockaded coastal enclave, including several residential tower blocks that were completely destroyed.“The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” the veteran premier vowed after Hamas had launched its first such combined ground, air and sea offensive, half a century after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.The army said in the evening its forces were still engaged in live gun battles in 22 locations, in an ongoing operation labelled “Swords of Iron”, as reservists were being called up.“There are still 22 locations where we are engaging with fighters that came into Israel, from the sea, from the land and from the air,” said army spokesman Richard Hecht, adding that the Hamas attack included a “robust ground invasion”.He said there was a “severe hostage situation in Beeri and also in Ofakim”, two communities in the Negev desert east of Gaza.Hamas earlier released images of several Israelis taken captive, and another Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, confirmed that “there are kidnapped soldiers and civilians.“I can’t give figures about them at the moment. It’s a war crime committed by Hamas and they will pay the price.” The group started the multi-pronged attack around 6:30am (0330 GMT) with thousands of rockets aimed as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some bypassing the Iron Dome defence system and hitting buildings.Hamas fighters — travelling in vehicles, boats and motorised paragliders — breached Gaza’s security barrier and attacked nearby Israeli towns and military posts, opening fire on residents and passersby.“Send help, please!” one Israeli woman sheltering with her two-year-old child pleaded as fighters outside opened fire and tried to break into their safe room, Israeli media reported.AFP journalists witnessed attackers gather around a burning Israeli tank, and others driving a seized Israeli military Humvee back into Gaza, where they were met by cheering crowds.Bodies were seen lying on the streets of Sderot near Gaza and inside cars, their windscreens shattered by bullets.“I saw many bodies, of fighters and civilians,” one man who gave his name as Shlomi said, standing beside covered corpses on a road near Gevim Kibbutz in southern Israel.“So many bodies, so many bodies.”Israeli army Major General Ghasan Alyan warned that Hamas had “opened the gates of hell”.An AFP journalist in Gaza saw smoke billowing from the remains of a residential tower which Gaza’s interior ministry said contained 100 apartments and was completely destroyed.Israel’s military said it had warned residents to evacuate before targeting the multi-storey buildings used by Hamas.The aid group Doctors without Borders said one strike had hit the enclave’s Indonesian hospital and an ambulance outside Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, causing multiple deaths.As night fell, Israel’s state-run electricity company cut the power supply to Gaza.The escalation follows months of rising violence, mostly in the occupied West Bank, and tensions around Gaza’s border and at contested holy sites in Jerusalem.Hamas labelled its attack “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” and called on “resistance fighters in the West Bank” as well as in “Arab and Islamic nations” to join the battle.“We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel),” said its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, claiming to have fired more than 5,000 rockets.Hecht said Israel had counted more than 3,000 incoming rockets through the day.Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh claimed the group was on the “verge of a great victory and a clear conquest on the Gaza front”. “Enough is enough,” he said in a televised address. “The cycle of intifadas (uprisings) and revolutions in the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons must be completed.”Air raid sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, as well as in Jerusalem, where multiple incoming rockets were intercepted by air defence systems.In Tel Aviv, a gaping hole was ripped into a building, with residents boarding a bus to seek safety in a hotel.Rocket impacts left cars burning beneath residential buildings in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, north of Gaza.Among the dead was the president of a regional council for Israeli communities northeast of Gaza, who was killed in a gun battle.Schools will remain closed today, the start of the week in Israel.The conflict sparked major disruption at Tel Aviv airport, with American Airlines, Emirates and Ryanair among carriers with cancelled flights.Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, leading to Israel’s crippling blockade of the enclave of 2.3mn people.Israel and Hamas have since fought several wars. The last major military exchange, in May, killed 34 Palestinians and one Israeli.In northern Gaza yesterday, hundreds of people fled their homes, carrying food and blankets, an AFP correspondent said.Across the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, three Palestinians were killed and around 80 wounded in clashes with Israeli forces and settlers, the Palestinian health ministry and Red Crescent Society said.In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, some Palestinian residents cheered and blew their car horns as sirens blared.Western capitals condemned the attacks by Hamas. But Hamas drew support from other foes of Israel, with Iran’s supreme leader declaring he was “proud” and Lebanese group Hezbollah praising the “heroic operation”.The US condemned the attacks by “Hamas fighters” and vowed to ensure the key US ally has the means to defend itself.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attack.UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland warned of “a dangerous precipice” and called on all sides to “pull back from the brink”.

At least 200 Israelis killed and 1,100 wounded; more than 230 killed in Gaza Fighting ongoing at 22 locations inside IsraelGunmen from the Palestinian group Hamas rampaged through Israeli towns Saturday killing and capturing scores of civilians and soldiers in a surprise assault, met by Israel with massive retaliatory air strikes that killed scores in the Gaza Strip.The worst attack on Israel for decades unleashed a war that both sides vowed to escalate. At least 200 Israelis were reported killed and 1,100 wounded by gun battles raging in more than 20 locations inside Israel.In Gaza, health officials reported more than 230 people killed and 1,600 wounded."Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "We are in a war and we will win it".Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem."This was the morning of defeat and humiliation upon our enemy, its soldiers and its settlers," he said in a speech.In Sderot, in southern Israel near Gaza, bodies of Israeli civilians lay strewn across a highway, surrounded by broken glass.Fighting between Israeli troops and hundreds of Palestinian militants was ongoing at "22 locations' inside Israel, an army spokesman said.He said there was a "severe hostage situation in Beeri and also in Ofakim", two Israeli communities near the Gaza border.In Gaza, black smoke and orange flames billowed into the evening sky from a high rise tower hit by an Israeli retaliatory strike. Crowds of mourners carried the bodies of freshly killed militants through the streets, wrapped in green Hamas flags.Gaza's dead and wounded were carried into crumbling and overcrowded hospitals with severe shortages of medical supplies and equipment. The health ministry said 232 people had been killed.By nightfall in southern Israel, residents had yet to be given the all-clear to leave the shelters where they had hidden from the gunmen since the early hours.Hamas said it fired a volley of 150 rockets towards Tel Aviv Saturday evening.Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera that the group was holding a big number of Israeli captives, including senior officials. He said Hamas had enough captives to make Israel free all Palestinians in its jails.The Israeli military confirmed Israelis were being held in Gaza. A military spokesman said Israel could mobilise up to hundreds of thousands of reservists and was also prepared for war on its northern front against Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas underlined the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves in facing the terrorism posed by settlers and the Israeli occupation forces.This came during an emergency leadership meeting he chaired on Saturday that included several Palestinian civilian and security officials.The Palestinian President stressed, during the meeting, the importance of providing the protection for Palestinian people and directed them to provide everything essential to enhance their resilience and steadfastness in the face of the crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces and the settlers' gangs.The meeting came following the persistent Israel's bombing of Gaza since Saturday morning, which resulted in the martyrdom of four Palestinians in the Strip.Meanwhile, Israeli media indicated that dozens of Israelis were killed and hundreds were injured as a result of successive and intensive missile barrages fired by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip since early morning towards settlements and Israeli military sites concurrently with the implementation of amphibious military operation in settlements in Gaza and armed clashes with the occupation's naval forces.A spokesman of the Israeli army stated that the Iron Dome air defense system was activated over the Gaza Strip with sirens following the bombing that targeted a large number of towns south of Tel Aviv to north of the Gaza border.The sirens are still operating in more than 160 areas with the persistent launch of rockets from Gaza towards Israeli settlements.

The Arab League has held the international community responsible for the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territories amid the lack of any real reaction to the provocative policies pursued by the Israeli right wing against Islamic sanctities.In a statement on Saturday, the Arab League added that such policies are entirely against the two-state solution and an attempt to abort the endeavors of establishing the independent Palestinian State on the 1967 borders, calling for stopping the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip immediately.Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, noted that he has so far warned that the persistent enforcement of extreme and violent policies by Israel is a time bomb that deprives the region of any serious opportunity for stability in the long term, pointing out that the cycle of armed confrontation drags the region away from any real opportunity to achieve stability and peace in the near future.

Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike Saturday on a residential building in the Al-Nasr neighborhood in Gaza City, destroying the entire building, according to reports from the ground. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Israeli strike, according to Palestinian News Agency (WAFA).The Israeli warplanes fired multiple missiles at a five-story residential building located near the Al-Quds Open University in the Al-Nasr neighborhood, resulting in the complete destruction of the building.The attack on the residential building is the latest in a series of airstrikes that have targeted civilian infrastructure in the enclave, with at least five Palestinians reported killed and many more injured since early Saturday morning.The death toll of the Palestinian martyrs who fell on Saturday in Gaza and the West Bank rose to 11 martyrs, as 10 Palestinians were martyred due to the persistent Israeli shelling since Saturday morning.A Palestinian young man was martyred when the Israeli occupation forces fired live rounds in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.In occupied Jerusalem, several Palestinian citizens were injured while others suffocated during confrontations with the occupation forces at many camps in north Jerusalem. The occupation forces also fired live rounds towards a young man and seriously injured him in his chest while dozens of Palestinians suffocated.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Saturday that 161 Palestinians were killed while nearly 1,000 persons have been injured since the onset of the Israeli air strikes on Gaza Saturday morning.According to a statement of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll of the Palestinians and the number of injured who have been hospitalised is as follows: in Gaza City alone 35 deaths and approximately 160 injuries, in Khan Yunis 45 killed and approximately 180 injured, in the north 40 deaths and approximately 200 injuries, and in the central region of the Strip 29 killed, .The statement added that there were approximately 311 injuries, while in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, there were 12 martyrs and approximately 80 injuries.The total number of injuries in all Gaza governorates reached 931, while the number of martyrs in all governorates reached 161 until this moment, the statement outlined.This comes on the heels of the persistent Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning, followed by the Israeli escalation of assaults on Palestinians in various areas in the West Bank with the security measures being entirely enforced in the occupied Jerusalem and the perimeter of Al Aqsa Mosque, as well as military barricades in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that dozens of Israeli people were killed and hundreds were injured as a result of intensive and persistent rocket barrages launched by the Palestinian resistance towards Israeli settlements military sites.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has declared a state of emergency in all Palestinian hospitals to cope with the repercussions of the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza on Saturday morning. Palestine's Minister of Health, Mai Al Kaila, issued a statement on Saturday instructing the ministry's warehouses and blood banks to supply hospitals with the necessary medical supplies, medications, and blood units.The statement also added that all hospitals in the West Bank are ready to receive the injured from Gaza due to the current Israeli aggression.This comes following the continuous Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since this morning, resulting in the martyrdom of four Palestinians. Israeli media reported the death of dozens of Israelis and the injury of hundreds in successive and intensive rocket attacks launched by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza towards Israeli settlements and military sites, simultaneously with ground landings into settlements near the Gaza border and armed confrontations with the Israeli navy. (QNA)