Israel-Hamas conflict as it happened: Israeli airstrikes hit refugee camp as Gaza offensive continues

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel’s war in Gaza would be long but victorious, in a statement in which he also mourned mounting military losses.

“We are in a tough war. It will be a long war,” he said. “I promise to all citizens of Israel: we will get the job done. We will press ahead until victory.”

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Thanks for following along with us today. Here is a summary of some of the most important news from today.

• Foreign passports holders began entering the Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt. Australians are expected to be among 500 who will cross into Egypt.
• Many nations in the Middle East condemned a series of airstrikes at a Gaza refugee camp that killed dozens of civilians. Israel says it killed key Hamas commanders in the attack. The Palestinian death toll has reached 8525, according to local officials.
• Heavy fighting is taking place inside Gaza, Israel says. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed on Tuesday when their armoured vehicle was struck by a missile.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since the Hamas attacks of October 7.
• A top United Nations official in New York has stepped down, saying the UN was failing in its duty to prevent the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza under Israeli bombardment.
• The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries later this week on a diplomatic mission. The US will also send an extra 300 troops to the Middle East.
• Gaza’s communication is in “complete disruption” after internet and mobile phone coverage was cut off again early on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has denounced the latest Israeli airstrikes on a refugee camp near Gaza City, urging the international community to play its role in ending such strikes. The IDF was targeting a Hamas commander.

“Yesterday’s air raid on Jabaliya camp, where hundreds of lives were lost, including women and children, was a stark reminder of ongoing Israeli brutalities and war crimes in Gaza,” Kakar said on Wednesday.

“Such reprehensible acts can never be condoned or forgotten. The world must act now to end this carnage.”

Palestinians search for survivors following an Israeli airstrike in the Jabaliya refugee camp.Credit: Getty

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each issued statements denouncing the strikes on the Jabaliya camp. The exact number of casualties was not immediately clear in the strikes, though one doctor said hundreds were killed and wounded.

Qatar, which has been mediating talks with Hamas over the more than 200 hostages it holds from its October 7 attack on Israel, described the strike as “a new massacre against the defenseless Palestinian people, especially women and children.” The country warned that “the expansion of Israeli attacks in [the] Gaza Strip … is a dangerous escalation in the course of confrontations, which would undermine mediation and de-escalation efforts.”

Up to 500 foreign passport holders will pass the Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt on Wednesday, an Egyptian security source said, after a deal was reached to open the crossing.

Dozens of foreign passport holders could be seen entering the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt on Wednesday evening (AEDT). It appeared to be the first time foreign passport holders have been allowed to leave the besieged territory since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than three weeks ago.

An Associated Press journalist filming the crossing saw a stream of dozens of people move through the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. They dragged suitcases and carried backpacks. A few cars drove through the gates as well, some with luggage pouring out of their open trunks. One group used a donkey pulling a cart with their possessions to enter the border crossing.

It wasn’t clear if they’d be immediately allowed through the Egyptian side of the crossing.

Hundreds have gathered at the crossing at different times in recent weeks, but have not been allowed out due to disagreements among Egypt, Israel and Hamas.

Qatar mediated an agreement between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, in co-ordination with the US, to allow foreign passport holders and some critically injured people out of besieged Gaza, a source briefed on the deal told Reuters on Wednesday.

AP, Reuters

Israeli missile boats were deployed in the Red Sea on Wednesday as reinforcements, the military said, after long-range missile and drone attacks on Israel by Yemen’s Houthis.

Images disseminated by the military appeared to show Saar-class corvettes patrolling near Eilat port in the Red Sea, which Israel sees as a new front as its war in Gaza draws retaliation from Iran-aligned pro-Hamas forces elsewhere in the region.

In firing missiles on Israel, the Houthis joined other Iran-backed militant groups including Hezbollah, which has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanon border.

While not the officially recognised government of Yemen, the Houthi movement controls a significant portion of the country and its involvement goes against the West’s efforts to prevent the fighting from spreading.

Reuters

The US and Israel are exploring options for the future of the Gaza Strip, including the possibility of a multinational force that may involve American troops if Israeli forces succeed in ousting Hamas, people familiar with the matter said.

The people said the conversations have been impelled by a sense of urgency to come up with a plan for the future of Gaza now that a ground invasion has begun. A second option would establish a peacekeeping force modelled on one that oversees a 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, while a third would see Gaza put under temporary United Nations oversight.

The people, who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive matter, underscored that the conversations are still at an early stage and much could change. Some US officials consider the options premature or unlikely. But Secretary of State Antony Blinken alluded to the challenge this week.

“We can’t have a reversion to the status quo with Hamas running Gaza,” Blinken, who will travel to Israel on Friday, told the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We also can’t have – and the Israelis start with this proposition themselves – Israel running or controlling Gaza.”

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that “sending US troops to Gaza as part of a peacekeeping force is not something that’s being considered or is under discussion”.

Israeli officials have said repeatedly that they don’t intend to occupy Gaza, but they’ve also said that continued rule by Hamas is unacceptable. There’s also little evidence that the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, would be willing or able to take over Gaza.

Bloomberg

Some Australians trapped in Gaza have been told to head to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, as reports emerged that some of the 88 trapped in the war zone may be on the list of 400 foreign nationals able to escape.

As Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had spoken to Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry two days ago pressing for Australians to be allowed to leave, the ABC reported the Department of Foreign Affairs had emailed some of the 88 Australians, who include citizens, permanent residents and visa holders, saying they were on an initial list of approved people allowed to cross over into Egypt.

Volunteers and aid trucks at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza Strip.Credit: AP

The email told the Australians to “seize this opportunity to depart Gaza” if it was safe to do so and urged them to take enough food and water to last at least five hours. This masthead has not seen a copy of the email but has confirmed its accuracy with a third party in touch with an Australian family in Gaza.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed they were “communicating with all individuals registered with us in Gaza about departure options, including to make them aware of the possibility of the opening of the Rafah border on 1 November”.

Read the full story here.

The Yemen-based Houthi movement has joined the Israel-Hamas war, extending the conflict to the far side of the Middle East.

In firing missiles on Israel, it has joined other Iran-backed militant groups including Hezbollah, which has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanon border.

While not the officially recognised government of Yemen, the Houthi movement controls a significant portion of the country and its involvement goes against the West’s efforts to prevent the fighting from spreading.

Find out more about the Houthis and why they have joined the conflict here.

Thank you for following our live coverage today. I’m Ben Cubby and I’m handing over now to my colleague James Lemon for this evening’s coverage.

Here are the day’s main headlines so far:

• Australians trapped in Gaza are on a list of foreign nationals and wounded Palestinians who will be allowed by Hamas to cross the border at Rafah into Egypt.
• Many nations in the Middle East condemned a series of airstrikes at a Gaza refugee camp that killed dozens of civilians. Israel says it killed key Hamas commanders in the attack. The Palestinian death toll has reached 8,525, according to local officials.
• Heavy fighting is taking place inside Gaza, Israel says. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed on Tuesday when their armoured vehicle was struck by a missile.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since the Hamas attacks of October 7.
• A top United Nations official in New York has stepped down, saying the UN was failing in its duty to prevent the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza under Israeli bombardment.
• The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries later this week on a diplomatic mission. The US will also send an extra 300 troops to the Middle East.
• Gaza’s communication is in “complete disruption” after internet and mobile phone coverage was cut off again early on Wednesday.

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said heavy fighting has been taking place inside the Gaza Strip and warned the war would be a long, complex campaign.

Israel’s military death toll reached 11 on Tuesday after nine soldiers were killed when their armoured vehicle was struck by a missile.

“The fall of IDF fighters in the battles against Hamas terrorists in Gaza is a hard and painful blow. Our hearts and thoughts are with their dear families,” Gallant said in a statement.

“The significant achievements of the heavy fighting in the depths of the Gaza Strip unfortunately exact a heavy price,” he said.

“We are prepared and ready for a long and complex campaign that requires courage, determination and perseverance — we will win.”

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,525, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

In the occupied West Bank, more than 122 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

Agencies

Australians are included on a list of foreign nationals that will be allowed to leave Gaza via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, Bloomberg reported.

Officials at Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry said aid some foreigners and dual nationals are expected to be allowed into Egypt, and published a list of people that could leave.

Volunteers and aid trucks at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza Strip.Credit: AP

The list included workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross and nationals from Australia, Austria, Jordan and Indonesia. The list did not include US citizens.

About 81 wounded Palestinians are set to travel through the Rafah border crossing for treatment in Egyptian hospitals, the interior ministry officials were quoted as saying.