Israel-Hamas war updates: Israel forces split Gaza in two
Israel forces have signalled they are at a turning point in the war against Hamas, dividing the besieged city into two and cutting off communications. Warning: Graphic
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Israel’s military said it was pounding Gaza after dividing the coastal strip into two in what is a “significant stage” in the war against Hamas.
Israeli forces “have encircled Gaza City … Now there exists a south Gaza and a north Gaza”, army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday local time.
Shortly before the strikes internet and telephone lines were cut for the third time since the war started, with Mr Hagari warning the bombardment would continue overnight and in the days to come.
Meanwhile rocket warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv and numerous other cities in central Israel, as Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip fired another round of rockets.
Global concern has soared over the spiralling Gaza death toll, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again vowed that “there won’t be a ceasefire until the hostages are returned”.
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory says 9770 people have been killed, around two-thirds of them women and children.
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US DEPLOYS MISSILE SUBMARINE
The US has deployed a guided missile submarine to the Middle East as a deterrent as the Gaza conflict threatens to escalate into a broader regional war.
The US Central Command posted an image on X, formerly Twitter, showing an “Ohio-class submarine (arriving) in the US Central Command area of responsibility”.
Followers were quick to identify the Al Salam bridge in the Suez Canal, northeast of Cairo, in the image.
While some reports said the Ohio-class submarines carried nuclear weapons, CNN stated the vessels fired “Tomahawk cruise missiles rather than nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles”.
The Ohio-class submarines can carry up to 154 Tomahawk missiles each, CNN reported.
‘URGENT MEDICAL AID’ AIR-DROPPED IN GAZA
Jordan’s air force air-dropped vital medical supplies to a field hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip, King Abdullah II said early Monday.
“Our fearless air force personnel air-dropped at midnight urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is our duty to aid our brothers and sisters injured in the war on Gaza,” he said, adding: “We will always be there for our Palestinian brethren.”
LEBANON SAYS ISRAELI STRIKE KILLED REPORTERS RELATIVES
Four relatives of a journalist were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the official Lebanese news agency said, adding that the journalist was also wounded.
The border area between the two countries has seen regular exchanges of fire, in particular between Iran-backed group Hezbollah and Israel, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said the four victims are the sister of radio correspondent Samir Ayoub and her three grandchildren, aged 10, 12 and 14.
They were following the journalist’s car in another vehicle when they were killed.
Ayoub later appeared on the local television channel Al-Jadeed, wearing a bloodstained shirt, and described pulling his niece from the car, the sole survivor of the five people inside it.
Lebanese journalist Samir Ayoub recalls the moment that the israelis bombed his niece’s car killing her & her 3 children | @MayadeenEnglishpic.twitter.com/3ldexnLt1q
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) November 5, 2023
DOZENS KILLED IN REFUGEE CAMP ATTACKS
Israel has bombed at least three refugee camps in Gaza, including the Al-Maghazi and Bureji camps, killing dozens of people, Gaza’s health ministry said.
The bombing of the Al-Maghazi camp, which is in the area where Israel advised people in the north of Gaza to evacuate to for safety as they continue their campaign to eliminate Hamas, killed at least 45 people, officials said.
ABBAS BLASTS ‘GENOCIDE AND DESTRUCTION’
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Ramallah under tight security to meet with Palestine’s president one day after meeting in Jordan with Arab foreign ministers angered by mounting civilian deaths in Gaza.
In his sit-down with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Mr Blinken said Palestinians in Gaza “must not be forcibly displaced”, and the pair also discussed “the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank, a US State Department spokesman said.
Mr Abbas denounced “the genocide and destruction suffered by our Palestinian people in Gaza at the hands of Israel’s war machine, with no regard for the principles of international law,” according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
NETANYAHU SUSPENDS PRO-NUKE MINISTER, SLAMS HAMAS HEAD: ‘LITTLE HITLER’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned a far-right cabinet minister from participating in government meetings after the minister suggested that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was “one way” to deal with the conflict.
Heritage minister Amichay Eliyahu went on Radio Kol Berama, a religious radio station on Sunday, and when asked if nuclear weapons should be used in Gaza, he answered “this is one way.”
“Minister (Amichay) Eliyahu’s statements are not based in reality,” Netanyahu wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Israel and the IDF are operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents. We will continue to do so until our victory.”
CNN reports that Netanyahu had suspended Eliyahu from taking part in government meetings until further notice.
It comes as Netanyahu taunted Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as being like Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and accused him of hiding in his bunker while his people were sacrificed.
“Sinwar doesn’t care about his people and acts like a little Hitler in a bunker,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
HAMAS CRIES FOUL OVER BOMBINGS OF HOSPITALS
Gaza’s Hamas government said the Israeli army was carrying out “intense bombings” on Sunday evening local time around several hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip, shortly after telecommunications were cut.
“For more than an hour, intense bombings have been taking place around hospitals,” said Salama Marouf, the head of the Hamas government’s media office.
SCOTT MORRISON’S SOLIDARITY VISIT
Scott Morrison has dismissed the call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict as he toured a Kibbutz decimated by the October 7 attack.
The former prime minister said a ceasefire would only “advantage Hamas to be able to strengthen their positions and make this war go on for even longer”.
“You can’t help but be overwhelmed by the sense of what we’re standing was once, a month ago, a place of innocence and now has been desecrated beyond comprehension,” Mr Morrison said on the tour of Kfar Aza.
The Liberal backbencher is visiting the Jewish state with former British prime minister Boris Johnson on a solidarity tour.
The pair also met with former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon on Sunday.
Mr Morrison is the first Australian political figure to visit Israel since the conflict began.
AUSSIES MAKE IT HOME AFTER GAZA NIGHTMARE
A dozen Australians trapped in Gaza when the conflict with Israel broke out last month have finally touched down on home soil almost a month after the violence began.
Twelve Aussies arrived home via a Qatar Airways flight into Sydney on Sunday night, the largest repatriation from Gaza yet after the Rafah border crossing to Egypt was opened last Wednesday, allowing them to flee war-torn Gaza and board a flight home.
Australians touch down at Sydney Airport after being trapped in Gaza
Sara Elmasry, her husband and two young children jumped straight into the waiting arms of family members in tearful reunion after they became trapped in the middle of the conflict while holidaying in Gaza on October 7.
“It was really difficult, telling them everything will be okay,” Ms Elmasry said through tears.
“We are praying for the ones who are left behind.”
Ms Elmasry’s sister Mariam, from Western Sydney, said her sister’s safe arrival home was “bittersweet” as other family members remained trapped in Gaza.
– Angira Bharadwaj
GRIM ANNIVERSARY AHEAD
This week marks a month since the shock Hamas attack on October 7, which Israeli officials say has killed 1400 people, mostly civilians, Israel has bombarded the besieged Gaza Strip.
Since Israel sent troops into the narrow Palestinian territory late last month, “over 2500 terror targets have been struck” by “ground, air and naval forces”, the army said on Sunday.
In a statement, it said ground soldiers were engaged in “close-quarters combat” as Israeli jets were striking targets including a “Hamas military compound” at an undisclosed location overnight.
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