Israel-Hamas conflict: IDF soldiers preparing for full-scale ground assault after encircling Gaza City
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted calls for a ceasefire after Palestine revealed a horrific new statistic five weeks into the Gaza conflict.
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The bloody Israel-Hamas conflict has entered its fifth week and fears are growing of a broader war in the Middle East as tensions in the region rise.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a surprise high-security visit to the West Bank, meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom has refused to formally condemn Hamas’ bloody 7 October attacks on Israel and instead slammed America for failing to be an “honest mediator” in the war.
Follow on for our latest updates throughout the day.
10,000 dead in Gaza
Hamas-run health ministry in Palestine has said the Gaza death toll has surged past 10,000.
Resisting calls for a ceasefire, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no letup in the war to destroy Hamas, whose October 7 attack left 1,400 dead in Israel, most of them civilians.
The Palestinian militant group also took more than 240 people hostage, including children and elderly people, in an attack that prompted Israel’s massive bombardment of Gaza and an intensifying ground offensive.
One month since the war began, the Hamas-run health ministry said the death toll in Gaza had surpassed 10,000 people -- more than 4,000 of them children.
With international criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war mounting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Gaza was becoming a “graveyard for children”.
More than 1.5 million people in densely packed Gaza have fled their homes for other parts of the territory in a desperate search for cover, with critical aid only trickling in.
But Netanyahu told ABC News the war would continue until Israel had restored “overall security” control of Gaza.
‘Closing in’: Israel surrounds Gaza City
Israeli Defence Forces are preparing for the “significant next phase” of their operation to destroy Hamas, having encircled Gaza City in preparation for a full-scale assault.
In the past hour, bombing of the Gaza Strip has intensified and Associated Press journalist on the ground report signs the IDF is ready to move in.
Ground troops reached the Mediterranean overnight, surrounding the city, while the Air Force carried out one of the most intense bombing barrages seen so far, hitting hundreds of targets, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht said.
“We countered, we contained and now we’re slowly closing in,” he told the media.
More than 450 targets were hit by air strikes in the past day, from Hamas military compounds to antitank missile positions.
The assault is coming from land, air and sea, with the Israeli Navy positioned in the Mediterranean Sea also firing on Hamas positions overnight.
An Israeli Government spokesperson last night told The Wall Street Journal that an air strike had killed Hamas commander Wael Asefa, who it called “personally responsible” for orchestrating the 7 October massacres.
The IDF has bombed portions of two bridges leading into Gaza and seized control of the main thoroughfare into the city.
Yesterday, the IDF said it would carry out a “significant next phase” of the ground operation within the next 48 hours.
Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold controlled by militant fighters, but a huge number of civilians also remain in the region.
US President Joe Biden spoke again with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier and the pair discussed “the possibility of tactical pauses to provide civilians with opportunities to safely depart from areas of ongoing fighting”, the White House said.
Air strikes overnight hit areas close to Gaza’s largest health facility, Al-Shifa Hospital, where thousands of patients are being treated and scores more civilians are sheltering.
The IDF claims Hamas is running military commands and keeping weapons stockpiles beneath hospitals, which the militant group denies.
More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in the past month, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza reported.
Most are women and children, it added.
The United Nations has said its shelters n Gaza are so overrun that it can’t count the number of people in need of water, food and medicines.
“It is a terrible, terrible situation,” a UN official told The Guardian.
“There is no room even to sleep on the floor. There is one toilet for 700 or 800 people. No bread, no stoves for cooking. We are drinking irrigation water.”
Mr Netanyahu continues to resist calls for a broad humanitarian ceasefire unless some 240 Israeli hostages, held captive by Hamas, are released.
‘Indefinite’: Netanyahu’s plan for Gaza
Israel plans to take “indefinite” control of Gaza at the end of its war with Hamas, the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed.
In a television interview with ABC News in the US, Mr Netanyahu said he intends to maintain a long-term military presence in the Gaza Strip.
“Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibility,” he said.
“When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine.”
Last month, US President Joe Biden warned against Israel permanently occupying Gaza.
Israeli TV show bags Western lefties
A sketch comedy show on Israeli television has taken aim at “Western liberals” it accuses of being hypocrites for supporting a cause that doesn’t align with their values.
The latest episode of Eretz Nehederet, which airs in primetime on Channel 2, features a lengthy skit featuring two university students, blue-fringed Wordle and pink-haired Kelcy, hosting a YouTube news show.
“Welcome to Columbia Untisemity,” she says, while he waves a merged Palestine and rainbow flag.
Kelcy declares that everyone on campus is welcome, including “LGBTQH” – the H for Hamas added to the acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in Gaza.
“I totally simp Hamas – it’s so trending right now,” Wordle says, before adding, “I major in queer post-colonial astrology.”
He comments that “Jews make the world dirty” in a reference to a medical student at the University of Warsaw who was suspended for holding a placard at a pro-Palestine process that read “keep the world clean” alongside an image of the Star of David being put in a rubbish bin.
“And no, I’m not antisemitic, I’m racist fluid,” Wordle adds.
The pair cross live to the character of a Hamas fighter in Gaza and tell him: “I love your head piece – the whole oppression chic. Very drip.”
The terrorist insists he’s safe “in a tunnel under a hospital” with “two million civilians above protecting me” to which the female character replies that “community is important these days”.
When Wordle says he wishes he could be there in Gaza, the terrorist character replies: “You can come to Gaza anytime and we will throw you from the roof, you homosexual dirt.”
Wordle gushes: “Do you hear that? They want to throw me a rooftop party.”
To which Kelcy replies: “They are so welcoming and inclusive.”
Hate crimes on the rise in America
An elderly Jewish man allegedly hit in the hit with a megaphone by a pro-Palestinian protester in Los Angeles has died in hospital.
A statement from the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles confirmed the man named Paul succumbed to his injuries on Monday local time.
The protest took place in Westlake Village on Sunday.
“While we wait for more information from our law enforcement partners, we remind you that this is the fourth major antisemitic crime committed in Los Angeles this year alone,” the statement read.
“Violence against our people has no place in civilized society. We demand safety. We will not tolerate violence against our community. We will do everything in our power to prevent it.”
Meanwhile, a Muslim student at Stanford University is in hospital after being allegedly struck by a motorist in a hit-and-run incident.
The student is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
“The driver is reported to have made eye contact with the victim, accelerated and struck the victim and then driven away while shouting ‘f*** you and your people’ out the lowered window of the vehicle,” Stanford’s Department of Public Safety said.
Police are investigating.
Video shows Hamas fighters in hospitals, Israel says
Israel has released vision it says proves Hamas militants are hiding within and beneath major hospitals in Gaza, despite staunch denials.
Intelligence provided to journalists by Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari purports to show a tunnel under Sheikh Hamad Hospital.
Other vision appears to show fighters firing on Israeli ground forces from within the hospital building itself, he said.
“We decided to declassify and share more sensitive intelligence with you, because the world must take immediate action.
He said the evidence proves “Hamas systematically exploits hospitals as part of its war machine”.
The IDF has repeatedly said in recent weeks that the terrorist group uses civilians in Gaza as “human shields”.
Rear Admiral Hagari said the video shows an entrance to a tunnel under the Sheikh Hamad Hospital, connecting to a sophisticated network that runs for hundreds of kilometres beneath Gaza.
“If it weren’t enough that we exposed a tunnel under the hospital, the terrorists also shot at our soldiers from within the hospital,” he said.
The hospital’s construction was funded by the Qatari Government, which provides direct support to Hamas and hosts some of its senior leaders.
The IDF claimed another health facility, named the Indonesian Hospital, is also being used by fighters.
At the press conference, Rear Admiral Hagari also played audio recordings of Hamas officials discussing the seizure of fuel from the hospital.
“This is the murderous organisation we are dealing with. Hamas doesn’t even try to hide it. They say it loud and clear.”
The operator of the Indonesian Hospital rubbished the claims Hamas was using its facility.
“We built this hospital to help others, according to the needs of the Gazans,” Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairperson of MER-C group, said at a press conference in Jakarta.
“Israel‘s accusation is a precondition so that they can attack the Indonesian hospital in Gaza.”
Qatar also slammed the accusation, saying it is “without any tangible evidence or independent investigation”.
“This is a blatant attempt to justify the occupation‘s targeting of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, residential areas, and shelters for displaced people,” Ambassador Mohammed El Emadi, chairperson of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, said in a statement.
Protesters occupy Statue of Liberty
Hundreds of Jewish people have occupied the Statue of Liberty in New York, calling for an immediate ceasefire in what they called Israel’s “genocidal bombardment” of Gaza.
Wearing black T-shirts bearing the words “not in our name” and “Jews demand ceasefire now”, the group unfurled a banner at the base of the iconic statue.
It read: “The whole world is watching”.
Organiser Jay Saper from the group Jewish Voice for Peace quoted the poem “New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, inscribed on the bottom of the Statue of Liberty, in honour of immigrants to the United States.
“The famous words of our Jewish ancestor Emma Lazarus etched into this very monument compel us to take action supporting the Palestinians of Gaza yearning to breathe free,” Mr Saper said.
Some two million Jews call New York home. The city has played host to countless protests in recent week, some of which have been marred by violent clashes.
Israel finds Hamas rockets in civilian buildings
Israeli soldiers on the Ground in Gaza have uncovered and destroyed several missile facilities within civilian buildings, including one in a mosque.
The Israeli Defence Forces released vision showing troops raiding a youth centre where rocket launchers were positioned against windows.
Soldiers also found and destroyed 50 rockets in the building, the IDF said in a statement.
‘Kill him’: Sydney Muslim cleric’s sick sermon
A Sydney Islamic centre is facing renewed criticism for hosting an alarming sermon by a prominent local cleric who spoke of Muslims killing Jews.
On Sunday, The Australian newspaper revealed a Muslim preacher called Brother Ismail spoke at the Al Madina Dawah Centre in the wake of Hamas massacres in Israel on 7 October and described the terrorists as “freedom fighters”.
He described “jihad” as the “solution” and referenced the al-Qaeda flag, while warning that Australia’s “national security system” could be tested by people here “labelling Muslims as terrorists”.
“There is no other way [than jihad] … they (Muslims) are looking forward to joining the mujahideen,” he said in his address.
Now, it’s been revealed the Islamic centre had uploaded a similarly inflammatory sermon delivered at the weekend by its leader Abu Ousayd.
“Towards the end of times, when the Muslims will be fighting the Jews, the trees will speak,” Ousayd said, quoting Islamic scripture.
“They will say: ‘Oh Muslim, there is a yahud [Arabic for Jew] behind me – come and kill him’.”
He went on to say that Jewish people had “hands everywhere in business” and use their “wealth to gain authority over the weak”.
“Jews own the majority of banks, who are happy to give the most oppressive interest loans to people in need, knowing that they are impossible to pay back.”
Yesterday, the Al Madina Dawah Centre told reporters it stood by Ismail’s comments.
The Federal Government said intelligence series are monitoring extremist language in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Federal MP Jason Clare, whose electorate takes in the Islamic centre, told The Australian: “I condemn these remarks – there’s no place for hate in Australia.”
Jihad Dib, the state MP for Bankstown, told the newspaper there’s “a responsibility on all of us to use language that unites rather than divides”.
US officials sign ‘dissent memo’
A number of State Department officials in the United States have signed a memo demanding the Biden Administration publicly condemn Israel’s actions in its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
The letter, obtained and published by the website Politico, indicates a growing loss of confidence among mid- and low-level diplomats.
“We must publicly criticise Israel’s violations of international norms such as failure to limit offensive operations to legitimate military targets,” it reads.
“When Israel supports settler violence and illegal land seizures or employs excessive use of force against Palestinians, we must communicate publicly that this goes against our American values so that Israel does not act with impunity.”
Politico notes the memo – marked “sensitive but unclassified” – was submitted to the State Department’s so-called Dissent Channel, where employees can freely voice policy positions. It’s unclear how many staffers signed it.
The memo said that a gap between America’s public stance and its words in private with key players in the conflict “contributes to regional public perceptions that the United States is a biased and dishonest actor, which at best does not advance, and at worst harms, US interests worldwide.”
The State Department has not commented on the emergence of the letter.
Last month, the department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said: “One of the strengths of this department is that we do have people with different opinions. We encourage them to make their opinions known.”
US sending hundreds of millions worth of weapons
The United States is planning to send US$320 million (AU$492 million) worth of precision-guided missiles to Israel, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal said it has viewed correspondence from the White House sent to Congress, notifying it about a transfer of a cache of SPICE Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies.
Those kits allow militaries to turn unguided bombs into GPS-guided weapons that are more precise.
A second report in The New York Times also confirms the deal.
Israel has previously ordered the same equipment in a deal worth more than US$400 million (AU$616 million).
Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, which manufactures the weapons, describes them as “next-gen precision guided munition with an advanced data link and a stand-off range of 100km”.
They are “capable of hitting stationary, relocatable and moving targets on land and at sea” and have “high lethality and low collateral damage”, the company said.
“The SPICE Family is part of today’s essential mix of aircraft weaponry. Incorporating the most advanced navigation, guidance and homing technologies ‒ together with a remarkable scene-matching algorithm and GPS-independence ‒ they enable autonomous, multiple, precision, high-volume attacks from the safety of significantly extended stand-off ranges.”
Labor slams Greens over walkout
Bill Shorten has slammed Greens politicians who stage a walkout in the Senate yesterday in protest over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Speaking on the ABC this morning, Mr Shorten said the move doesn’t “help a single soul anywhere” and is “just political grand-standing”.
During Question Time yesterday, Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi called the Coalition “morally corrupt” and Labor “cowards” for refusing to condemn the deaths of Palestinian civilians during Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Senator Faruqi said she was bringing “the people’s protest” in Parliament, as she and her Greens colleagues left the chamber.
Greens Senator Janet Rice held up a picture of the Palestinian flag during the walkout.
“You know, with the Greens – they don‘t walk out over Hamas, so I think that these guys are opportunists,” Mr Shorten said today.
“We want to make sure that we are supporting the humanitarian pause. We want to see relief get through to innocent Palestinian civilians.”
‘I beg you to stop’
Pope Francis has issued another plea for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, decrying “serious situation” that has seen “many, many people lose their lives”.
The Pontif took to X, formerly Twitter, where he wrote: “I continue to think about the serious situation in Palestine and in Israel where many, many people have lost their lives. In God’s name, I beg you to stop: cease using weapons! I hope that avenues will be pursued so that an escalation of the conflict might be absolutely avoided.”
It comes after the Vatican confirmed the Pope spoke with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday.
Speaking to gathered crowds in St Peter’s Square yesterday, Pope Francis also called for the release of hundreds of Israeli hostages, held captive in Gaza by Hamas.
In recent weeks, he has held phone discussions with US President Joe Biden, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Inside the luxe life of Hamas billionaires
An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians have been displaced since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict a month ago, while hundreds of thousands are crammed into makeshift refugee camps and shelters.
But even before the bloody battle unfolded, life in Gaza for most people was a grim reality.
With an unemployment rate of about 40 per cent, basic facilities like electricity and running water seen as a luxury, and strict controls on the movements of ordinary people outside the territory, the vast majority of Gazans live in abject poverty.
Except for the leader of the terrorist group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, whose family has an estimated fortune of US$2.5 billion (AU$3.85 billion).
Haniyeh, 61, runs the militant group from a luxury six-star hotel in Doha in Qatar, regularly travelling by private jet to Iran, Russia, Egypt and Turkey to shore up support and raise money.
As well as military preparedness and internal power dynamics, he oversees the growth of the Hamas investment portfolio, from which he and his family benefit greatly.
“Hamas has generated vast sums of revenue through its secret investment portfolio while destabilising Gaza, which is facing harsh living and economic conditions,” US Treasury official Elizabeth Rosenberg has said in the past.
Israel’s Embassy in the US claims Hamas has a yearly financial turnover of US$1 billion (AU$1.54 billion).
Haniyeh’s son Maaz – one of 13 children – is a major property owner in Gaza, where locals refer to him as the “father of houses”.
When outside the Strip, Maaz can reportedly often be found in nightclubs in Turkey, drinking alcohol and partying with a bevy of models – contrary to the practices of Islam.
His father is also an avid property mogul, paying $4 million in 2010 for a compound on the beachfront in Gaza near a crowded refugee camp, according to Egyptian magazine Rose al-Yusuf.
Haniyeh has bought more than a dozen villas and apartments, as well as whole residential buildings, since then. Most are registered in the names of his adult children, the Times of Israel reports.
While Haniyeh is rarely in Gaza, his sons visit often to exert their power and flaunt their wealth, travelling via limousine in a place where few own cars.
But Maaz has reportedly obtained a Turkish passport, allowing him to freely leave and travel widely abroad. He has also invested in real estate there.
Other figures in Hamas have grown their financial positions greatly in recent years, with German newspaper Bild reporting senior leaders Khaled Mashal, Abu Marzouk and Younis Qafisheh worth billions.
As well as siphoning money from wealthy supporters like Qatar, Hamas imposes steep taxes on businesses operating in Gaza. For every load of goods smuggled through its vast tunnel network, which stretches into Egypt, a flat levy of US$2000 (AU$3080) is applied, plus 25 per cent of the value of items.
In 2021, per capita GDP in Gaza was US$5600 (AU$8620) annually, ranking it one of the poorest places in the whole world.
Gaza becoming ‘a graveyard for children’
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has delivered a grim assessment of the situation on the ground in Gaza, warning “no-one is safe”.
During a briefing at the UN headquarters in New York overnight, Mr Guterres said the conflict has created “more than a humanitarian crisis – it is a crisis of humanity” and repeated calls for an urgent ceasefire.
Increasing ground offensives and relentless air strikes carried out by the Israeli Defence Forces have targeted hospitals, UN facilities, shelters, churches and mosques, and refugee camps, resulting in a significant loss of civilian life, he said.
As a result, Mr Guterres solemnly declared that Gaza is “becoming a graveyard for children”.
“I’m deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing. Let me be clear, no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.”
He said the safety of civilians in the region “must be paramount”.
‘No’: Palestinian spokesman’s shocking answer
A top Palestinian ambassador has refused to formally condemn Hamas’ bloody, surprise attack on Israel and instead called on the US to “empower the state of Palestine that will be able to protect its people.”
In an interview on CBS News’ Face The Nation on Sunday, anchor Margaret Brennan pointed to the Israeli government’s withholding of some tax revenues after it claimed the Palestinian Authority has not condemned Hamas adequately and the group’s 7 October massacres that left hundreds of civilians dead.
Pressed by Ms Brennan on if he wants to condemn Hamas and its attacks, Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot, responded, “No”.
Dr Zomlot added that he wanted to “clear the record”, specifying his role and the authorities of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO as they pertain to that role, and that the role of the United States in the conflict should be as “peacemaker.”
Ms Brennan asked again about the Hamas attack, saying, “Do you want to clear the air and condemn it?”
The ambassador again dodged the question and demanded the United States “de-designate” the PLO as a terrorist organisation.
When Ms Brennan asked a third time, Dr Zomlot deflected again.
On her fourth attempt, Ms Brennan reiterated that “on that specific condemnation it would just be a very quick answer.”
Again, Dr Zomlot specifically answered, “No.”
Dr Zomlot went on to say that he does not consider the conflict to be a war, because “a war does not happen between the occupied and an occupier” and “only happens between two sovereign states.”
During the interview, he also slammed the US for failing to be an “honest mediator” in the Israel-Hamas war after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
“We need to see the US playing the role of an honest mediator, not adopting the Israeli narrative,” the ambassador said.
Hamas says Gaza death toll tops 10,000
The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 10,000 people, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said, after a month of bombardment by Israel, whose offensive against militants shows signs of intensifying.
Determined to destroy Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed no let-up despite mounting calls for a ceasefire.
Hundreds of overnight strikes pushed the death toll in Gaza to 10,022, mostly women and children, a spokesman for the health ministry told a press conference.
Two pediatric hospitals and Gaza’s only psychiatric hospital were hit, the ministry said, after the director of another hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza reported he had counted 58 dead.
“These are massacres! They destroyed three houses over the heads of their inhabitants — women and children,” one resident, Mahmud Meshmesh, told AFP.
“We have already taken 40 bodies out of the rubble,” he said as crowds prayed around corpses wrapped in white shrouds.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas of building tunnels underneath hospitals, schools and places of worship in Gaza to hide fighters, store arms and ammunition, and plan attacks — charges the militant group has denied.
Ground forces with tanks have flooded the northern half of the Gaza Strip and tightened an encirclement of Gaza City, effectively splitting the territory in two.
Israel’s ally the United States sent its top diplomat Antony Blinken on a whirlwind Middle East tour that wrapped up on Monday in Turkey, where again his host pressed for an Israeli ceasefire, which Washington has declined to endorse.
The heads of major United Nations agencies issued a joint statement also calling for a ceasefire inside the territory of 2.4 million people where an Israeli siege has cut off most water, food and fuel supplies.
“It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,” the statement said. The Israeli army said on Monday it had pounded Gaza with “significant” strikes on 450 targets, having said last week it had already hit over 12,000. It also reported seizing a Hamas command post and killing a Hamas commander accused of helping organise the October 7 attacks and planning future incursions.
“We will take the fight to Hamas wherever they are — underground, above ground,” Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said, referring to Hamas tunnels, and repeating calls for civilians to leave the urban war zone.
“We will be able to dismantle Hamas, stronghold after stronghold, battalion after battalion, until we achieve the ultimate goal, which is to rid the Gaza Strip — the entire Gaza Strip — of Hamas.”
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Originally published as Israel-Hamas conflict: IDF soldiers preparing for full-scale ground assault after encircling Gaza City
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