The Israeli prime minister insisted last night that he was pressing ahead with an invasion of Gaza despite reports that he had been told by President Biden to delay it.
The US has publicly said that the timing of any ground attack against Hamas is solely a matter for Binyamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet. However, in private Biden’s administration has been pressing hard for a postponement while it moves more air-defence systems to the Middle East in case the war spreads.
In a television address, Netanyahu said that a special war cabinet was responsible for deciding the timing of the “ground incursion”, adding: “I won’t specify when, how, how many.” The timing “was determined unanimously by the war cabinet and the chief of staff”, he said, adding: “We will extract the full price from those murderers, those perpetrators of atrocities.”
• Israel-Hamas war live: latest news on the conflict
There are increasing fears that the rhetoric of Hezbollah and Iran in recent days means an escalation of the conflict is inevitable. The US is particularly concerned about the safety of its troops stationed in Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; bases in Iraq and Syria have already come under rocket and drone fire.
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Washington also fears that despite the Israelis’ superior firepower, Hamas will have an advantage in the miles of tunnels they have spent years constructing in Gaza and in street-to-street fighting across terrain it knows well.
The US has been at pains to say that it will not back calls from elsewhere for a ceasefire, but has said that Israel must abide by the laws of armed conflict.
Oxford students chant for intifada
Oxford students chanted “from Oxford to Gaza, long live the intifada” during a pro-Palestinian protest on Tuesday evening (Emma Yeomans writes).
Baroness Deech, former principal of Anne’s College Oxford and former independent adjudicator for higher education, said: “It is distressing to see students attacking in a racist and antisemitic way the efforts of Israel to rescue its hostages, and to see them turning against their fellow Jewish students and all those who believe in peace.”
Boruch Epstein, president of the university’s Israel Society, described it as a “dark day” for Oxford, adding: “That the chant would include the line from ‘Oxford to Gaza’ makes this a call for violence in the UK.”
I will be held accountable for October 7, Netanyahu pledges
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Binyamin Netanyahu said he would be held accountable for the bloody October 7 massacre by Hamas militants, but only after Israel’s war against the Islamic militant group (David Harding writes).
In a nationally televised address, the Israeli prime minister said a ground invasion of Gaza would go ahead, though he refused to say when. Under domestic pressure to explain how the terror attack by Hamas happened, Netanyahu expressed sorrow about the killing of over 1,400 Israelis and abductions of 200 others to Gaza.
“October 7 is a black day in our history,” he said. “We will get to the bottom of what happened on the southern border around Gaza. This debacle will be investigated. Everyone will have to give answers, including me.”
Macron warns of ground invasion ‘mistake’
President Macron said it would be a mistake for Israel to launch a “massive ground intervention” in Gaza, although he stressed that it would be justified in launching a limited operation targeting “terrorists” (David Chazan writes).
“France recognises Israel’s right to defend itself,” Macron told reporters at Cairo airport after talks with President Sisi of Egypt. “Regarding a ground intervention, if it is entirely targeted against terrorist groups, that is a choice that it has. But if it is a massive operation that would endanger civilian populations, in that case I think it would be a mistake for Israel as it is not likely to protect Israel over time and it is not compatible with respect for civilian populations, international humanitarian law and even the rules of war.”
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Macron emphasised the need to protect civilians during his two-day visit to the Middle East and his talks with Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. According to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry, more than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s bombardment of the territory in retaliation for the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis on October 7.
Pentagon requests delay of invasion
Israel has “agreed to delay” its ground invasion of Gaza after a Pentagon request as the US is working to rush air-defence systems to the Middle East.
While the US has publicly said that the timing of any ground attack against Hamas is solely a matter for Binyamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, in private discussions senior American officials have been pressing for a delay, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Washington is concerned about the safety of US troops stationed in Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The US wants to send air-defence systems to protect them should the conflict spread to other parts of the region.
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It also wants to free more American hostages.
There is concern in the US that the Israeli defence forces are not adequately prepared for an invasion. Officials fear that Hamas will have an advantage in the miles of tunnels they have spent years constructing in Gaza and in street fighting amid terrain it knows well.
RAF aircraft carries aid for Gaza
A Royal Air Force plane carrying 21 tonnes of aid for Gaza set off to Egypt today as the UK ramps up its humanitarian support for the Palestinian territories (Laurence Sleator writes).
A C-17 Globemaster, capable of transporting more than 45 tonnes of freight, set off from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire this morning on the five-hour flight. The aid, provided on behalf of the Foreign Office, includes 76,800 wound care packs, 1,350 water filters and 2,560 solar lights.
Each light and water filter will be enough to support a family of five, the Ministry of Defence said. The wound care packs were donated by the Department for Health and include sterilised clinical equipment and protective clothing.
UN chief shocked at reaction to Hamas comments
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António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, said he was shocked by what he called “misrepresentations” of his comments about the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Guterres said the terror of October 7 did not happen “in a vacuum”, which caused a furious reaction in Israel. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, described Guterres’s comments as a “blood libel” and demanded his resignation. “There is no clearer proof that the UN has become a stain on humanity,” he said.
This morning he told Israel’s Army Radio that visas for UN officials would be withdrawn. “We have already refused a visa for the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths,” he said. “The time has come to teach them a lesson.”
In an effort to clarify his statement, Guterres said today: “I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement ... as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite.”
Iran hails Hamas attacks as victory
Iran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas, hailed the October 7 attacks on Israel as a “success”.
But the Islamic republic has insisted it was not involved in the onslaught, during which more than 220 people were also taken hostage.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “Let everyone know that in this matter and future matters, the Palestinian nation is victorious and the future world is the world of Palestine, not the world of the Zionist regime.”
On Tuesday Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, warned Iran that the United States would respond “decisively” to any attack by Tehran proxies, as tensions rise over the conflict.
“The United States does not seek conflict with Iran. We do not want this war to widen,” Blinken told a UN security council session.
“But if Iran or its proxies attack US personnel anywhere, make no mistake. We will defend our people, we will defend our security — swiftly and decisively,” he said.
The Islamic republic lashed out at Blinken for what it said was his attempt to “wrongly place the blame on Iran”.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said: “Iran categorically rejects these groundless allegations.”
US is directing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Khamenei says
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US of “directing” Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
“America is a definite accomplice of criminals,” said Khamenei during a speech in Tehran. “The United States is in some way directing the crime that is being committed in Gaza.”
Khamenei said the hands of Americans “were tainted with the blood of the oppressed, children, patients, women and others”.
The US, the sworn enemy of Iran, has moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean in a move it says is intended to deter Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah from getting involved in the Hamas-Israel war.
It has also confirmed this week that it has sent a “few” military advisers to Israel to support its close ally.
Israel carries out missile attacks on southern Lebanon
The Israel defence forces said they struck a terror cell preparing to carry out an anti-tank guided missile attack in the Mount Dov area of southern Lebanon.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, said the military had struck five cells in southern Lebanon in the past day.
On October 13, an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering the clashes, killing a Reuters videographer and injuring six other journalists. At the time Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned Israel’s “aggression on southern Lebanon.”
Israel says it will block visas for UN officials
Israel has said it will deny UN officials visas after António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said last night that the Hamas attacks on October 7 did not happen “in a vacuum”.
Guterres told the UN security council last night: “It is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”
Israel has responded furiously to the comments, which they claim justify the Hamas attacks, and has called for the UN chief to resign.
Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad meet in Lebanon
The Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has hosted leaders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the “axis of resistance” in Lebanon, to assess what they must do to “achieve real victory”, according to the group’s media office.
The Hezbollah office released a photo of Nasrallah, who has remained uncharacteristically silent since the conflict broke out, alongside Ziad al-Nakhalah from Islamic Jihad and Saleh al-Arouri from Hamas.
“An assessment was made of the positions taken internationally and regionally and what the parties of the axis of resistance must do at this sensitive stage to achieve a real victory,” the statement read. Co-ordination between the Iran-backed groups will continue on a day-by-day basis, it added.
Nasrallah, the long-time Hezbollah leader, is famous within the Arab world for his long-winded televised speeches but has not spoken publicly since the Hamas attacks sparked a new conflict in Gaza.
With Lebanon — and the region — on the verge of war depending on his decision to enter the conflict or not, his uncharacteristic silence is leaving many uneasy.
Italian deputy PM condemns Erdogan’s comments on Hamas
Italy’s deputy prime minister condemned President Erdogan of Turkey’s comments on Hamas as “grave and disgusting”.
Matteo Salvini’s office said it would suggest that Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, should formally summon the Turkish ambassador to Italy.
Erdogan had said that Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group waging a battle to protect its land, in a speech to his party’s MPs in parliament.
Hamas suspected of German bomb threats
A spate of recent bomb threats directed against schools, politicians, broadcasters and Berlin’s central railway station may have been linked to Hamas, according to a senior German official (Oliver Moody writes).
Over the past few days more than two dozen institutions across Germany have received anonymous letters warning of an imminent attack. The targets have included at least 17 schools, the headquarters of the ruling Social Democratic party and the central office of the public television channel ZDF in Mainz, which was evacuated.
Police and prosecutors have yet to identify the senders or the underlying motive. However, Felix Klein, Germany’s antisemitism commissioner, said there were indications that Hamas or its supporters might be involved.
“Should this suspicion be confirmed, it will once again underline that antisemitism is an attack on our society as a whole and that its destructive power is directed above all but not exclusively against Jews,” Klein said.
Pressure Israel to stop Gaza bombardment, Erdogan says
President Erdogan of Turkey has said that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group waging a battle to protect its land.
In a speech to his party’s MPs in parliament, Erdogan said Israel had taken advantage of Turkey’s good intentions and that he would not go to Israel as previously planned.
The Turkish leader did not say when he had intended to visit Israel, where Ankara had been considering joining a natural gas pipeline project promoted by the US.
Erdogan met the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a UN summit in New York last month, marking a improvement in relations that began with a decision last year to reappoint ambassadors.
“Of course, we had good intentions, but [Netanyahu] abused them,” Erdogan said. He called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and urged world powers to pressure Israel to halt its bombardment of Gaza.
Israel airstrikes kill 80 in Gaza overnight
Israeli airstrikes killed 80 people in Gaza overnight, according to the Hamas government (George Grylls writes).
Israel defence forces said that 400 sites were struck on Tuesday, targeting Hamas operatives and terrorist infrastructure. It said the attacks were aimed at tunnels, military bases and munitions warehouses.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, said that more than 5,700 Palestinians had died since the group’s military wing launched the terror attacks on October 7.
The UN has said that 1.4 million Palestinians have been displaced by the Israeli bombardment, from a total population of 2.3 million in Gaza.
Expel foreign nationals who incite antisemitism, Jenrick says
UK visa-holders should be expelled from the country for inciting antisemitism even if their conduct falls “below the criminal standard”, Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has said (Peter Chappell writes).
Jenrick told the Commons on Tuesday that the process of revoking visas and expelling foreign nationals who spread “hate and division” has already begun “in a small number of cases”.
The Conservative minister was asked on Times Radio whether someone waving a Palestinian flag at a demonstration could see their visa revoked.
“No, we believe in freedom of speech. But I disagree with your premise that… somebody who is here as a visitor to the UK has the right to be antisemitic, to threaten British communities.
“I think there is conduct which is below the criminal standard but which is wrong.”
“If those people are not British citizens ... then I’m afraid their visas will be revoked and they should leave the country.”
Israel kills senior Hamas commander
Israel defence forces claim they have killed another senior Hamas commander, the latest to die in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip (George Grylls writes).
The IDF said Taysir Mubasher was the commander of the North Khan Yunis battalion and was previously responsible for Hamas naval operations.
“Mubasher has extensive experience in the military and as a commander, directing terror attacks, and he is considered close to Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing,” the IDF said in a joint statement with Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency.
The IDF claimed that Mubasher was responsible for a shooting in 2002 at Atzmona that left five Israelis dead, and that he masterminded the landing of militants on an Israeli beach in 2014.
US intelligence: Israel not responsible for hospital missile strike
US intelligence officials said last night they had concluded with “high confidence” that Israel was not responsible for the missile strike on the Al-Ahli hospital that killed scores of Palestinians in Gaza last week (Hugh Tomlinson writes).
In an anonymous briefing with US media, the officials said that American intelligence agencies had examined multiple videos, used geolocation techniques and intercepted communications between Palestinian militants to conclude that the disputed blast was likely caused by a rocket launched from inside Gaza.
• Who bombed the hospital in Gaza? Israel’s evidence analysed
They added they had traced the blast to a rocket launched from inside Gaza that had suffered a mechanical failure and changed direction midflight. They also said that the light structural damage at the blast site was not consistent with heavier Israeli munitions.
The officials said they had intercepted communications between militants affiliated with Hamas who could be heard discussing whether an errant Palestinian rocket had caused the blast. The communication was separate to a recording released publicly by Israel last week.
Israel bombs military bases in Syria
Israel has bombed a number of military bases in Syria, killing eight soldiers, according to Syrian state media (George Grylls writes).
Israel defence forces targeted military sites overnight near Deraa, a city in southwest Syria. The IDF said the strikes were a response to mortar and rocket launches from Syria towards Israel.
The Syrian state news agency said eight people died in the attacks, which took place at 1.45am local time this morning.
Florida bans pro-Palestinian student group
Florida’s university system and the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, ordered universities to shut down a pro-Palestinian student group whose national leadership backed the Hamas attack on Israel (Joshua Thurston writes).
On Tuesday, Florida became the first US state to outlaw the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The state university system of Florida said in consultation with DeSantis that it had to be dismantled as part of a “crackdown” on campus demonstrations providing “harmful support for terrorist groups”.
SJP is active in at least two Florida universities, said the system’s chancellor, Ray Rodrigues. Administrators at some US universities criticised the national SJP after it called the Hamas incursion “a historic win for the Palestinian resistance”.
Israel thwarts cross-border raid by Hamas
The Israeli military has killed ten Hamas fighters who launched a naval raid on the country’s beaches last night, the first major effort by the Sunni militia to cross the border since October 7 (George Grylls writes).
Israel’s defence forces (IDF) said the militants emerged from tunnels on the coast of Gaza and attempted to land in Israel by sea.
The Hamas frogmen targeted Zikim beach, a popular swimming spot about a mile and a half north of the border.
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Residents were told to lock their doors before the all-clear was given at about 11.30pm last night when the IDF killed the militants. The IDF said the attack had been “thwarted and the tunnel was struck, in addition to a weapons warehouse used by the terrorists in Gaza”.
The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, confirmed that an attempt had been made “to infiltrate by sea and land on the beaches of the occupied settlement of Zikim, south of occupied Askalan”.
