Israel-Hamas conflict as it happened: pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne, Israel strikes Gaza again

Thank you for joining us today. We will be back tomorrow morning.

Here are the key events of today:

• The US will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system and additional Patriot air defence missile system battalions to the Middle East, the Pentagon said. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Saturday (US time) that he was placing additional troops on prepare-to-deploy orders, but did not say how many. The Pentagon has already placed some 2000 troops on a heightened state of readiness in case they need to deploy to the region.

• Thousands of Palestinian supporters are rallying at the State Library Victoria calling for an end to the war on Gaza.

Thousands of people attended a pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne, similar to those held across the world in recent days.Credit: Chris Hopkins

• An Israeli missile attack targeted Damascus and Aleppo international airports early on Sunday, killing one civilian worker and putting the airports out of service, Syrian state media reported.

• Cathay Pacific flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv have been cancelled for the remainder of the year. Customers are urged to contact the airline for more information.

Palestinians look for survivors in buildings destroyed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.Credit: AP

• At least 130 premature babies are at grave risk because of lack of fuel at Gaza hospitals, the United Nations health agency said. Only 20 trucks carrying aid made it through the Gaza-Egypt border on Saturday, and humanitarian groups say the delivery was well short of the supplies that are needed.

• Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said the government is helping 77 Australians, permanent residents and immediate family members in Gaza. The government is also working to help 60 Australians leave the West Bank.

• Finally, Journalist Matthew Knott and photographer Kate Geraghty are in Ramallah. Here’s their latest report:

  On a basketball court that would usually be filled with the sound of laughter, desolation fills the air. The midday sun is beating down in the West Bank as Palestinian flags flutter in the breeze and white stone apartment buildings loom in the surrounding hills. This recreational centre in Ramallah – the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority – now resembles a refugee camp, with mattresses arranged on the ground beside luggage.

  Read their full report here.

Afraid to show faces, fearful of what comes next: Some of the Gazans in the Ramallah Recreational Complex.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Cathay Pacific flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv have been cancelled for the remainder of the year.

In a post on its website, the airline said customers who had already begun their journey and had not received a message from Cathay Pacific were advised to check the current status of their booking

“At the moment we can only offer customers very limited rebooking options. Customers who have not yet started their journeys are strongly advised to accept the offer of a full refund for their booking,” the update said.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers and we appreciate their understanding.”

Earlier media reports noted that Palestinians had received warnings from Israel’s military to move to the south of the Gaza Strip, and staying meant they could be identified as sympathisers of a “terrorist organisation” if they remained.

But The Israel Defence Forces have since issued a statement on social media saying the translation was inaccurate.

“To clarify, the IDF has no intention of considering those who have yet to evacuate as a member of a terrorist group,” the statement said.

“The IDF states, once again, for the safety of Gazan civilians, that they should evacuate to the south of Wadi Gaza. All those who remain are endangering themselves due to the Hamas’ terrorist activities within civilian areas.”

With Reuters

At least 130 premature babies are at grave risk because of lack of fuel at Gaza hospitals, the United Nations health agency said on Sunday.

The babies are being cared for at six neonatal units, according to Medical Aid for Palestinians, an aid group working in Gaza.

But doctors have warned that the babies are in imminent danger if fuel does not reach hospitals soon.

The World Health Organisation called for “immediate and sustained” access of fuel into Gaza to keep health facilities operating, in a statement to the Associated Press.

Melanie Ward, chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, urged world leaders to press Israel to allow the delivery of fuel to Gaza.

“The world cannot simply look on as these babies are killed by the siege on Gaza ... A failure to act is to sentence these babies to death,” she said.

Hospitals in Gaza have been struggling with the large number of wounded. Only 20 trucks carrying aid made it through the Gaza-Egypt border on Saturday, and humanitarian groups say the delivery was well short of the supplies that are needed.

Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon working with Medicins Sans Frontieres in Shifa Hospital, said the hospital’s generators “are cutting out more regularly now than before”.

He said hospitals in the territory were facing severe shortages of medical supplies, including bandages, medication and other supplies.

“You can imagine the amount 14,000 severely wounded patients would consume,” he said.

AP

Here are some photos of the trail of destruction in Gaza

Family members mourn the death of a young Palestinian man in an airstrike in Khan Yunis in Gaza.Credit: Getty Images

Palestinians evacuate a building damaged in the Gaza Strip. Credit: AP

A boy surveys destruction caused by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.Credit: AP

Stuck at the Rafah crossing, with Australian passports in hand, are 12-year-old Melbourne boy Yazan Hellis, his mother and his seven-year-old sister.

They are among the 71 Australians trapped in Gaza, according to DFAT, desperate to get home.

Australian Yazan Hellis, with his mother and seven-year-old sister, spoke to 7 News about their struggle to get out of Gaza. Credit: Seven News

The trio were in Gaza City visiting family when the bombing started, according to a Seven News report that has not yet been verified by this masthead.

“All I could hear was explosions of the bombing, bombing, bombing, explosions,” Yazan told the network.

“I saw people dead on the ground, arms everywhere, legs everywhere. I want to go back home to Australia, but the borders are closed and there’s bombing everywhere.”

He said he was “really scared”, as was his mother. “My mother is really, really stressed; she’s really scared.

“It’s really stressful. I’ve never been in a war before.”

Israel has confirmed that 212 people are being held hostage in Gaza, a military spokesperson said on Sunday.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari of the Israel Defence Forces added that Israeli strikes overnight killed dozens of Palestinian fighters, including the deputy chief of Hamas rocket forces.

On the northern front, Israel has been attacking fighters trying to fire missiles in across the Lebanese border and struck a site in Lebanon from where a missile was fired at an Israeli aircraft, Hagari said.

Reuters

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said the government is helping 77 Australians, permanent residents and immediate family members in Gaza.

The government is also working to help 60 Australians leave the West Bank.

More than 1800 Australians have now left Israel and the Palestinian territories. This includes 76 people who landed in Perth yesterday.

Palestinians said they had received renewed warnings from Israel’s military to move from north Gaza to the south of the strip, with the added warning that they could be identified as sympathisers with a terrorist organisation if they stayed put.

The message was delivered in leaflets marked with the Israel Defence Forces name and logo from Saturday and sent to people via mobile phone audio messages across Gaza.

“Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organisation,” the leaflet said.

Reuters

On a basketball court that would usually be filled with the sound of laughter, desolation fills the air, report journalist Matthew Knott and photographer Kate Geraghty from Ramallah.

The midday sun is beating down in the West Bank as Palestinian flags flutter in the breeze and white stone apartment buildings loom in the surrounding hills.

Afraid to show faces, fearful of what comes next: Some of the Gazans in the Ramallah Recreational Complex.Credit: Kate Geraghty

This recreational centre in Ramallah – the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority – now resembles a refugee camp, with mattresses arranged on the ground beside luggage.

The indoor soccer pitch is packed with men sleeping on the ground, some sheltering inside the nets. Those who haven’t secured a spot inside sleep outside.

Among the estimated 550 men here is Abu, a father of nine from Beit Hanon, a town in northern Gaza near the Israeli border.

Read their full report here.

Some 550 Gazans who held Israeli work permits have taken sanctuary in the recreation complex.Credit: Kate Geraghty