Israel Hamas as it happened: Israel steps up Gaza strikes, aid flows through Rafah

And that’s where we will leave Monday’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. A quick look back on the day that was:

• A third convoy of aid trucks crossed into Gaza. It followed the admission of 34 trucks on Saturday and Sunday. However, Israel is still not permitting fuel on any trucks over fears it could find its way into Hamas’ hands.
• The Israeli military said it struck more than 320 targets in Gaza, including a tunnel housing Hamas terrorists, in the 24 hours to Monday morning.

Palestinians look for survivors after an airstrike in Rafah on Monday.Credit: AP

• The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 436 Palestinians, including 182 children, were killed in a 24-hour period, bringing the death toll in Gaza to 5087. More than 1400 Israelis were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7. At least 222 hostages are being held in Gaza.
• Israeli aircraft struck two Iran-backed Hezbollah cells believed to be planning to launch anti-tank missiles and rockets toward Israel.
• Pope Francis renewed his appeal for the free flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and for the release of the hostages, saying “every war is really a defeat”.
• A potential escalation of violence in the Middle East will form a significant part of talks between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden when they meet in Washington this week.
• Australia’s terrorism threat level is unchanged despite the outbreak of war, but there is a risk of opportunistic violence if tensions persist, ASIO boss Mike Burgess said.

I’m Lucy Cormack. Thank you for staying with us. Join us again tomorrow as we continue our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

The Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 436 Palestinians, including 182 children, have been killed in a 24-hour period.

It brings the death toll in Gaza to 5,087 since the conflict began, according to the ministry’s figures.

People mourn as they carry the body of a young Palestinian man on Sunday.Credit: Getty

Earlier, Israel’s military said it had hit about 350 targets in Gaza, including Hamas strongholds, in 24 hours.

More than 1400 Israelis lost their lives at the hands of Hamas terrorists during the October 7 onslaught. A further 222 hostages were abducted and taken to Gaza.

with Reuters

Israel is reportedly delaying its ground invasion of Gaza because of an increasingly complicated situation along its northern border with Lebanon, where clashes with Hezbollah continue to intensify.

Israel’s Channel 14, which is believed to be close to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, on Sunday cited unnamed officials as saying that the escalation of violence along the Lebanese frontier meant “we shouldn’t enter Gaza now”.

Netanyahu himself warned Hezbollah against “making the mistake of its life” by entering the war, during a visit to troops stationed near the border on Sunday, amid fears that the Iran-backed group may try to open up a second front.

“We will cripple it with a force it cannot imagine and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state are devastating,” he said.

Clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah have steadily escalated in the past week, forcing Israel to order an unprecedented evacuation from dozens of communities in the border region, which is home to some 200,000 people.

On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said that it had hit four Hezbollah cells operating on the border with Lebanon overnight.

Hezbollah, which is a designated terrorist group armed with tens of thousands of rockets, said on Monday that one of its fighters had been killed, without providing further details.

The Telegraph

The steady stream of world leaders making the journey to Israel in the thick of its war against the Hamas terror group continues, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis landing on Monday.

Mitsotakis was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two days after he told the Cairo Peace Summit that no military intervention could replace a viable political solution.

US President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.Credit: AP

French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are also due to land meet with Netanyahu in Israel on Monday. It follows visits from US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week.

with Reuters

A third convoy of aid trucks has crossed into Gaza laden with critical supplies, an aid worker and two security sources said.

Humanitarian deliveries through Rafah began on Saturday after wrangling over procedures for inspecting the aid and bombardments on the Gaza side of the border had left relief materials stranded in Egypt.

On Saturday and Sunday 34 trucks passed through. The number of trucks in Monday’s convoy was similar to each of those days, Reuters news agency said.

Humanitarian aid arrives through the Rafah land crossing into the Gaza Strip.Credit: Getty

While aid agencies have welcomed the trucks, they say the supply falls far short of the 100 trucks needed every day to meet essential needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

The UN’s World Food Programme has more than 900 metric tons of emergency food items at or near the Rafah border, ready for Gazan civilians. Since the start of the crisis, some 520,000 people have received WFP food assistance.

Assistance includes supplies of flour to contracted bakeries. But many bakeries have stopped working in recent days because of a lack of power and fuel. Israel has still not allowed any fuel to enter Gaza over fears it could be diverted to Hamas.

with Reuters

The Israeli military said it struck more than 320 targets in Gaza, including a tunnel housing Hamas terrorists, and dozens of command and lookout posts, in the 24 hours to Monday morning (local time).

Sites destroyed in the bombardment included dozens of mortar and anti-tank missile launcher positions, Reuters news agency reported.

“The terror targets struck included tunnels containing Hamas terrorists, dozens of operational command centres... and Islamic Jihad terrorists, military compounds, and observation posts,” the Israel Defence Forces said.

Israel also targeted sites “liable to endanger the troops who are preparing on the Gaza periphery for a ground manoeuvre,” the military said.

Local media reports said at least one strike on a house near the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed several Palestinians and wounded others.

Gazan health authorities say at least 4600 Palestinians have died in Israeli airstrikes since the October 7 killing spree by Hamas terrorists, when 1400 people were killed and 222 taken as hostages.

Read more on Hamas’ complex subterranean tunnel system, known by Israeli soldiers as the “Hamas metro.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has cautioned Australia’s political and community leaders to show restraint, calling out “disturbing rhetoric” that has emerged as tensions rise ahead of a likely ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces.

“We have seen some disturbing rhetoric in recent weeks,” Senator Wong told a budget estimates hearing on Monday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the government was prepared to use foreign interference laws against supporters of the Iranian regime.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“We are seeing a human tragedy, and I would observe that how all of us as political leaders approach these issues does have an impact on the unity of our country. Australians are deeply distressed, and rightly so, and this distress is felt most acutely in our Jewish community and our Palestinian community.”

The foreign minister said all MPs should strive for unity and social cohesion, days after growing divisions were exposed within Labor, nationally and in NSW, over Australia’s response to the war.

“I ask all parliamentarians when we speak let us speak with respect and understanding,” she said.

Earlier, Wong used social media to support a joint statement from the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the UK reiterating their support for Israel and calling for the release of all remaining hostages.

AP

From retail food outlets to major tech and financial firms, tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict are spilling over into the workplace.

Starbucks accused a union representing thousands of its baristas of damaging the brand and endangering co-workers with a pro-Palestinian tweet, while the CEO of a prominent tech conference resigned amid backlash for his public statements suggesting that Israel was committing war crimes.

Meanwhile, Islamic rights advocates say much of the American corporate response has minimised the suffering in Gaza, where thousands have died in Israeli airstrikes, and created an atmosphere of fear for workers who want to express support for Palestinians.

Across the US, people from all ranks have been called out for speaking too forcefully – or not forcefully enough – making it nearly impossible to come up with a unifying message when passions run deep on all sides.

Read more on this AP story here.

Israel’s military has announced 222 people have now been confirmed as taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced the revised number in a televised briefing on Monday, explaining that the figure continued to be updated according to Israeli intelligence.

The figure does not include the two US hostages - mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan - who were released and reunited with family in Chicago on Friday.

Israel’s military said on Monday that ground forces mounted limited raids into the Gaza Strip overnight to fight Palestinian gunmen and that air strikes were being focussed on sites where Hamas was assembling to attack any wider Israeli invasion.

Reuters

If you’re just joining us, it’s 11am in Gaza where Israeli warplanes struck multiple targets across Gaza from the early hours of the morning, including in areas where Palestinian civilians were told to seek refuge.

Another aid shipment was allowed into the besieged Hamas-ruled territory, with US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreeing that a constant flow of humanitarian aid will be allowed into the besieged enclave. Food, medicine and water have all crossed the border, but urgent calls for fuel are yet to be answered.

Volunteers and NGO staff celebrate after unloading aid supplies and returning to the Egyptian side of border near Rafah, in North Sinai, Egypt.Credit: Getty

Gaza relies on fuel to power its hospitals and water pumps but will run out by Wednesday, the UN warned.

“Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach those in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance,” United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said

Read more here from James Lemon to bring you up to speed on today’s developments in the conflict.