Hamas leader who plotted deadly attack killed, Israeli forces claim
A senior Hamas leader, who was reportedly behind last week’s attack that left 1300 Israelis dead, has been killed, according to Israel’s air force.
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Israel’s infantry forces and tanks have entered the Gaza Strip and begun searching for hostages after days of air strikes.
Troops made “localised raids” into Gaza over the past 24 hours ahead of an expected ground offensive on the densely populated Palestinian territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “this is only the beginning”.
“We are striking our enemies with unprecedented might,” he said in a brief televised statement late on Friday night local time.
The United Nations estimates tens of thousands of civilians have fled Gaza by car, on trucks and on foot after being given a 24-hour warning by Israel to evacuate to the south.
Gaza has been hit by more than 6000 air strikes since Hamas terrorists stormed Israel last Saturday, killing around 1,300 people.
More than 2269 people have been killed in Gaza and a siege of the territory remains in place with food and water supplies dwindling.
According to Israeli military, it has confirmed more than 120 civilians are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Follow our live coverage.
Israel claims to have killed Hamas leader who plotted massacre
The Israeli air force says it has killed a senior Hamas leader who planned attacks that left over 1300 Israeli’s dead on October 7.
Israeli forces claim Ali Qadhi, a company commander in the Najaba force of Hamas, was killed by a drone strike.
The strike was reportedly launched after obtaining intelligence from Shin Bet security agency.
Qadhi was reportedly arrested by Israel in 2005 over the kidnapping and murder of Israeli citizens. In 2011, he was released to Gaza as part of a prisoner swap.
“Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric October 7 massacre of civilians in Israel,” Israels Defence Forces said following the drone strike.
“We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate.”
Israel also claims Abu Merad, head of Hamas’ air forces, was killed.
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— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 14, 2023
Israeli military prepares for ‘co-ordinated attack’
The Israel Defence Forces said it’s “preparing to implement a wide range of offensive operative plans which include, among other things, an integrated and co-ordinated attack from the air, sea and land,” with an emphasis on a “significant ground operation”.
The IDF is “backed by an extensive logistical effort and by completing the reserve mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of servicemen,” the update stated.
The IDF released the statement just hours after its evacuation deadline for Gaza expired on Saturday. It did not specify a time the retaliatory assault was expected to begin.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was overheard telling IDF servicemen “the next stage is coming” during a visit to two of the kibbutzes that were ravaged by Hamas terrorists earlier this week.
Mr Netanyahu’s remarks come as IDF forces warned “anyone coming near the (Gaza) border will be shot,” with troops conducting “small raids” in the area, CNN reports.
The IDF is “preparing for the next steps,” Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said, according to the outlet.
The IDF has swarmed the border with troops and military equipment, but the exact contours of its plan for a siege on Gaza remain unclear. Israel had given evacuation orders to the region as it prepares for a ground invasion targeting Hamas terrorists.
‘An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe’
With thousands of Israeli troops massed around Gaza’s borders, uncertainty over when Israel could launch a ground operation in reprisal for deadly raids by Hamas has added to the turmoil in Gaza.
“We fear an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” said Ivan Karakashian of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Israel’s national security advisor, Tzachi Hanegbi, told reporters in Tel Aviv that the Israeli government was aiming to “destroy” Hamas’s capabilities in Gaza.
“There will be no Hamas sovereign rule in Gaza after the battle,” Hanegbi said, adding that the goal is “ambitious.”
Israel on Friday warned 1.1 million people to evacuate northern Gaza. In response thousands continued on Saturday to pack buses, cars and donkey carts and even fled on foot to escape, while others have gathered around a border crossing into Egypt.
The Israeli military designated two north-south routes in Gaza where it promised safe passage for six hours a day but military leaders have not said how long this will last and there have been reports of Hamas blocking civilians from moving.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it had been given a “renewed deadline” to evacuate by 4pm (midnight AET) on Saturday, but that it would continue its work in northern Gaza in keeping with “its humanitarian mandate”. Meanwhile, Palestinians who fled south and those who are still in the north are rapidly running out of food and water. There is no more electricity, and those with fuel-powered generators will soon live in complete blackout.
🛑A matter of life and death: water runs out for 2 million people in Gaza
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 14, 2023
🛑 No humanitarian supplies have been allowed into Gaza for a week
“It is a must; fuel needs to be delivered now intoðŸ“#Gaza to make water available for 2 million peopleâ€https://t.co/StJVfFn3Xhpic.twitter.com/T1IhCP9C2w
Gaza has already taken a battering from air raids and shelling since the Hamas assault on October 7 that killed over 1,300 people.
At least 2,269 people have been killed in Gaza in the past week. With power cut off, the Medecins du Monde medical aid group expects to gradually lose contact with its teams in Gaza, said Louise Nichet, a senior official in the group’s Middle East department.
Many aid groups have already suspended operations and no supplies can now get through the Israeli siege.
Gaza evacuation deadline comes and goes
Israel’s extended deadline for civilians to evacuate Gaza ahead of an anticipated ground offensive against Hamas has expired, one week after the deadliest attack in the Jewish nation’s history.
It is not yet clear if that will be extended again as more than one million people try to flee the area after being given 24 hours notice to leave, followed by an additional 11 hours.
Israel Defence Forces Lt Col. Jonathan Conricus went live on X to give an update on the 24-hour evacuation notice issued in Gaza on Friday.
“The Palestinian citizens in Gaza are not our enemies,” he said, adding that IDF doesn’t assess them as such, and if they did “the situation in Gaza would be different.”
“We have seen a significant movement of Palestinian civilians toward the south, we have seen people listening to our warning, understanding that they are moving out of a dangerous area.”
The IDF advertised their intentions in advance “not because it has any military logic” but because “we want civilians not to be affected by the war,” Mr Conricus said.
“They are not our enemy, we are not trying to kill or injure any civilians, we are fighting against Hamas.”
Images from Gaza showed people crammed into cars, taxis, pickup trucks and even donkey-pulled carts, while others walked on foot in search of safety.
The Red Cross released a statement on Saturday that said it was “appalled” by the human misery unleashed by the war between Hamas and Israel and called on both sides to abide by international humanitarian law.
“Nothing can justify the horrific loss of civilian lives in Israel last weekend... but such tragedy cannot in turn justify the limitless destruction of Gaza,” the Red Cross statement said.
“We are deeply alarmed by the call for relocation in Gaza. Our volunteers refuse to leave and abandon those who need them most. They must be protected - so that they can protect others.”
Civilians given extra hours to leave Gaza
Palestinians in northern Gaza are scrambling to head south after Israel extended a deadline for evacuations.
The evacuation area includes the whole of Gaza City and two major refugee camps, Jabalia and Beach Camp.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told more than one million residents of the region on Friday to flee south within 24 hours, a deadline that expired at 5am local time (10pm AET) on Saturday. The announcement for “all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes” and “move south for their protection” was made, according to the IDF, because it plans to “operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days” and wanted “to avoid harming civilians.” The deadline was later updated, with Avichay Adraee, IDF spokesperson for the Arab media, issuing a statement that stated it would allow the safe passage of Palestinians on approved routes between 10am and 4pm local time (6pm-12am) AET Saturday.
Human rights organisations have said such a mass movement of people will inevitably prove chaotic and extremely hazardous – the UN called a movement of this many people in a short time frame “impossible”.
UN spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement that the evacuation could not be conducted “without devastating humanitarian consequences,” and “could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”
The IDF said residents of Gaza City should move “and settle in the area south of the Gaza River.”
Proof Hamas had planned deadly attack for years
Disturbing video has emerged showing Hamas militants training for an attack on Israel years ago, including paragliding practice and using cabletyes on fake hostages
The Israeli intelligence agency, known to be among the best and most funded in the world, was taken by surprise on Saturday when militants invaded Israel, murdered hundreds of people and took hostages.
Footage shows at least six training sites within Gaza where militants practised their killing spree, one being just 720 metres from the border with Israel.
Fighters are even seen training in a makeshift kibbutz, the kind of housing which many Israelis live in towns, and which became scenes of mass murder at the weekend.
Hamas are understood to have taken around 150 hostages, with more than 1,000 confirmed dead – including children and babies.
Disabled teenager is among those kidnapped by Hamas
Unable to walk, talk and entirely reliant on her family to feed her through a tube, Rut Perez travelled to the Supernova festival near Gaza to ‘communicate through music’.
She ended up being one of the many festivalgoers who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, who stormed the area on Saturday as part of their surprise attack which unleashed war on the region.
The 17-year-old has muscular dystrophy, The Times reported.
Her sister Yamit has launched a desperate campaign to save her, posting on social media begging for anyone who knows her whereabouts to get in touch. She is missing alongside her father Eric, with Yamit begging the terrorists to let her father look after her if they’re still alive.
‘I am begging Hamas to let my dad take care of her, he’s the only one who knows what she needs,’ Yamit said.
‘She was the happiest I’ve ever seen her, dancing in her wheelchair’.
Rut and her father have not heard from them since the carnage at the festival began.
Israel vows to ‘dismantle’ Hamas
Israel Defence Force spokesman Jonathan Conricus has accused Hamas of using “civilians as their human shields”, after the terrorist group told civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to stay put.
Palestinians have fled the region in a mass exodus after the IDF on Friday local time told one million people to evacuate south ahead of its plan to “enhance our military operations”.
Mr Conricus said during a briefing that “we are not trying to kill or injure any civilians”, insisting that “Palestinian civilians are not our enemies”.
“If they were, the situation in Gaza would be entirely different. We are trying to do the right thing, we are trying to evacuate civilians in order to minimise the risk for them,” he said.
“We advertise this not because it has any military logic – it doesn’t – but because we want civilians not to be affected by the war.
“We didn’t put those civilians there. They are not our enemy. We are not trying to kill or injure any civilians. We are fighting against Hamas.”
IDF soldiers, he said, have been in formation around the besieged territory for several days – “in the south, in the centre and in the north, and they are preparing themselves for whatever target they will get, whatever task”.
“Our aim is very clear. The end state of the war is that we will dismantle Hamas and its military capabilities, and fundamentally change the situation,” Mr Conricus said.
“So that Hamas never again has the ability to inflict any damage on Israeli civilians or soldiers.”
Six-hour safety window for Gaza residents
Residents of Gaza City will be allowed to leave the region on two roads between the hours of 10am and 4pm local time, Israeli Army Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee has said in a post on X.
“An important statement to the residents of Gaza City. In recent days, we have appealed to you to leave Gaza City to the south of Wadi Gaza in order to preserve your safety,” the message read.
“I would like to inform you that the IDF will allow movement on the indicated streets without any harm between the hours of 10:00-16:00. For your safety, take advantage of the short time to move south – from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis.
“If you care about yourself and your loved ones, go south as instructed. Rest assured that Hamas leaders have taken care of themselves and are taking cover from strikes in the region.
“Residents of the beach, sand, and west of Olive will also be allowed to move on Daldul and Al-Sana Streets towards Salah Al-Din and Al-Bahr Streets.”
Head of Hamas’s aerial forces killed in Israeli air strike
A senior member of Hamas was killed in overnight air strike in the Gaza Strip, the IDF has said.
The strike, targeting headquarters from which the terror group managed its aerial forces, killed its head, Murad Abu Murad.
The IDF said Abu Murad “took a big part in directing terrorists during the massacre” last week.
IDF says that in an overnight airstrike in the Gaza Strip, the head of Hamas's aerial array, Murad Abu Murad, was killed. The strike targeted a headquarters from which the terror group managed its aerial activity, according to the IDF. pic.twitter.com/KqYjDCqrTX
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 14, 2023
Evacuation plan is ‘utterly impossible’
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said a plan by Israel to evacuate more than one million people out of northern Gaza in a single day was “utterly impossible to implement”.
“I am saying that, representing the official position of the European Union … [the evacuation plan] is utterly, utterly impossible to implement,” Borrell told a press conference in Beijing on the final day of a three-day diplomatic visit to China.
“To imagine that you could move one million people in 24 hours in a situation like Gaza can only be a humanitarian crisis.”
Hezbollah ‘prepared’ for action against Israel
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said it would be “fully prepared” to join its Palestinian ally Hamas in the war against Israel – when the time is right.
“We, as Hezbollah, are contributing to the confrontation and will (continue) to contribute to it within our vision and plan,” Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a pro-Palestinian rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“We are fully prepared, and when the time comes for action, we will take it.”
Mr Qassem rebuffed calls for the movement to stay out of the war – saying that outreach by “major countries, Arab countries, and envoys from the United Nations, directly and indirectly, asking us not to interfere in the battle, will not affect us”.
“Hezbollah knows its duties.”
UN warns of ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Israel to “reconsider” its warning to civilians in Gaza to evacuate the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.
The message, released by the IDF at midnight on Friday local time, indicated it could be readying to launch a ground invasion after days of aerial bombardment – prompting thousands to flee south.
The warning applies to UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities in those areas.
In an opinion piece published by The New York Times, Mr Guterres labelled the warnings “dangerous and deeply troubling”.
“Any demand for a mass evacuation on extremely short notice could have devastating humanitarian consequences,” Mr Guterres wrote.
“We have approached a moment of calamitous escalation, and find ourselves at a critical crossroads. It is imperative that all parties – and those with influence over them – do everything possible to avoid fresh violence or spillover of the conflict to the West Bank and the wider region.”
Mayor condemns lighting of Opera House
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has condemned the lighting of the Opera House’s sails earlier this week with the colours of the Israeli flag.
“I didn’t agree with that, taking one side or the other,” Ms Moore said while campaigning for the Voice referendum, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
“This is a very troubled area, and we have Palestinian, we have Israeli, we have Muslim, we have Jewish citizens here who would just be devastated with [and] concerned about what’s happening.”
Ms Moore said politicians should focus on “promoting” peace “instead of symbols or countries’ flags”.
The use of extraordinary police powers for a planned pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney tomorrow, she added, is “appalling”.
“I think in a democracy people should have the right to come together and protest about policies they don’t agree with.”
Adelaide family in ‘perilous situation’
An Adelaide family among those still trying to leave Gaza are in a “perilous situation”, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has told reporters.
“They are in a perilous situation, but the Department of Foreign Affairs and our federal officials are working overtime to see if we can’t get that family out sooner rather than later,” he said.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said 825 Australians have left Israel so far, with a further 20 still trying to do so.
The first repatriation flight, with 235 Australians on board, arrived in London this morning, with a second from Tel Aviv to Dubai later today.
“If you wish to leave, please do not delay. If you wish to leave, please take the first available flight. Please do not wait for another option,” Ms Wong said.
Secret document exposes evil Hamas plot
Maps and documents obtained by NBC News have revealed a “top secret” co-ordinated plan to target children and take hostages inside an Israeli village near Gaza.
The attack plans, which were found on the bodies of Hamas terrorists by Israeli first responders and shared with the news outlet, were intended for primary schools and a youth centre in the kibbutz of Kfar Sa’ad.
The terrorists allegedly hoped to “kill as many people as possible”, “capture hostages” and quickly move them to the Gaza Strip.
Israeli defence officials told NBC the documents show that Hamas had been systemically gathering intelligence on each kibbutz bordering Gaza, and creating specific plans of attack for each village that included the intentional targeting of women and children.
In one plan, two highly-trained Hamas units were instructed to surround and infiltrate the kibbutz – where one would work to “contain the new Da’at school” while the other would “collect hostages”, “search the Bnei Akiva youth centre” and “search the old Da’at school”.
The plans distinctively circled buildings Hamas intended to target, points of entry and modes of transportation the units would be using.
One Israel Defence Force soldier told NBC he had “never seen this kind of detailed planning” for a mass terrorist attack.
“The level of specificity would cause anyone in the intelligence field’s jaw to drop.”
Sick propaganda video after massacre
Hamas has released footage today of its members allegedly holding Israeli children and toddlers during last Saturday’s mass infiltration of southern Israel.
According to The Times of Israel, the “propaganda” video shows terrorists taking a number of small children and infants out of homes in Kibbutz Holit, and has been shared in an “apparent attempt” to downplay its attack.
One clip shows members giving a child a glass of water to drink; in another, they rock a baby in a stroller. Parents of the children are nowhere to be seen.
It comes after the White House was forced to clarify comments by US President Joe Biden, after he incorrectly claimed to have seen photos of the terrorists beheading children.
Reports suggested the Israeli military had discovered dozens of butchered bodies in Kfar Aza. one of the communities infiltrated by Hamas last weekend.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I never really thought that I would see or have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children,” Mr Biden told reporters.
A White House spokesperson later clarified he had not seen the supposed images, and instead had based his comments on local media reports and comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson.
Hamas described the accusations as “fabricated and baseless”.
Israeli tanks converge on Gaza border
Tanks and heavy weapons have been moved to the southern desert area around Gaza, with the Israeli government also calling up 300,000 reservists.
Namer Infantry Fighting Vehicles are reportedly among the tanks and armoured vehicles waiting outside the Gaza border, according to local media reports.
They are one of the most heavily armoured infantry fighting vehicles in the world and are equipped with a heavy machine gun.
Merkava IV tanks are also present, which include a defence system that can destroy incoming antitank missiles.
A ground offensive appears imminent from Israel’s military, though such a move is complicated by the presence of hostages, whom Hamas has threatened to kill one by one if bombardments are carried out without warning.
There have already been official accounts of the first ground troops entering Gaza, with Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari saying soldiers backed by tanks had mounted raids to attack Hamas rocket crews and find out information about the location of hostages.
“Over the past 24 hours, IDF [Israeli military] forces carried out localised raids inside the territory of the Gaza Strip to complete the effort to cleanse the area of terrorists and weaponry,” an army statement said.
“During these operations, there was also an effort to locate missing persons.”
New low for Hamas
Hamas has called on Palestinians to stay in their homes despite the looming threat of bloody door to door combat.
The Hamas authority for refugee affairs told residents of the north of the territory to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation”.
Israel has ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of people.
Palestinians would only be able to flee south within Gaza as Israel has completely sealed off the territory.
The stand-off has fuelled fears of a humanitarian disaster, with a statement on the Hamas website calling Israel “delusional” for thinking people would flee.
“Scenes of migration and displacement are a thing of the past and won’t be repeated, except with the victorious return of our people to our occupied land,” Hamas statement said.
BBC reporter breaks down in tears at hospital in Gaza
A reporter for the BBC fell to his knees in tears while reporting from a hospital in Gaza, saying “I’ve seen things I can’t unsee”.
BBC Arabic reporter Adnan El-Bursh did a walk through of Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza City’s main hospital, when his cameraman spotted a friend named only as Malik who was injured. His whole family had been killed.
Mr El-Bursh, who lives in Gaza, said: “This is my local hospital, inside are my friends, my neighbours. This is my community. Today has been one of the most difficult days in my career. I have seen things that I can never unseen.”
He also interviewed a woman who sat beside the corpses of her dead relatives and a young girl whose home had been destroyed.
“This young girl’s home was destroyed. Her relatives have been killed and she needs help. My daughter is the same age. I want to give her a hug.”
Mr El-Bursh described how “bodies lay everywhere” at the hospital.
Watch the video here.
Erin Molan clashes with pro-Palestine activist
Sky News host Erin Molan had a heated argument interviewing prominent Australian writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah shortly after news broke of Israel’s 24-hour warning for civilians to evacuate Gaza.
Molan condemned Dr Abdel-Fattah, author of Coming of Age in the War on Terror, for failing to call out Hamas and recognise it as a terrorist organisation, leading to a heated exchange over past atrocities dealt by Israel.
She called out the academic for “defending Hamas in the past”, making reference to an ideas panel she sat on in 2021 with a known Hamas “terrorist”.
Dr Abdel-Fattah said she “does not see Hamas as a terrorist organisation” and repeatedly made reference to the historic “apartheid” being carried out on Palestinian civilians by the state of Israel.
She claimed that the current state of affairs is the culmination of many years of oppression on the Palestinian people, insinuating media hosts are not reporting the bigger picture.
“I have already said I condemn the violence that Hamas perpetrated, and it should be held to account,” she said.
“I don’t see them as a terrorist organisation. What is the purpose of a terrorist label here? “Let’s talk about Israel’s terrorism on Palestinians.
– with AFP
Originally published as Hamas leader who plotted deadly attack killed, Israeli forces claim
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