Israel Hamas war live updates: Biden says ‘release hostages, then we talk ceasefire’
Joe Biden gave a blunt response when asked if he supports a “hostages-for-ceasefire” deal, as Hamas released two more captives and French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Tel Aviv.
Joe Biden says any discussions about a Gaza ceasefire could only take place if Hamas freed all hostages seized from Israel in its October 7 attack.
“We should have those hostages released and then we can talk,” the US President said at a White House event when asked if he would support a “hostages-for-ceasefire” deal.
It comes after Hamas released two more hostages amid reports of an “imminent” deal to release 50 dual nationals being held in Gaza.
The two hostages are Israeli women Nurit Yitzhak, 79 and Yochved Lifshitz, 85.
Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida said in a statement the two elderly women were released on “compelling humanitarian and poor health grounds”.
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The Israeli Hostage Center confirmed their release, which is believed to have been negotiated with “mediation” by Qatar and Egypt.
Footage shows the women being fed biscuits and coffee by the Hamas militants, before one of them gently holds the arm of Ms Lifshitz as he gently escorts her to the Red Cross vehicle.
Ms Lishftiz then shakes the hand of the Hamas soldier before being helped into an ambulance.
The move brings the total of hostages freed to four after Americans Natalie and Judith Raanan on Friday.
Israel has been bombing Gaza since Hamas gunmen poured across its border with the Palestinian territory on October 7 and killed more than 1400 people, mostly civilians.
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry said more than 5000 people, mainly civilians and many of whom children, have been killed in the Israeli bombardment.
🇵🇸🇮🇱 Video of Hamas handing over the 2 Israeli hostages pic.twitter.com/HOzUgRiANd
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) October 23, 2023
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MACRON ARRIVES IN TEL AVIV
French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Tel Aviv where he is expected to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister Benny Gantz and main opposition leader Yair Lapid.
Mr Macron will call for the “resumption of a genuine peace process” for the creation of a Palestinian state and “halting the colonisation” of the West Bank while visiting Israel.
“The only way to be useful is to one, show solidarity to Israel; two, make commitments against terrorist groups very clear; and three, to open up a political perspective,” Mr Macron’s office said ahead of the trip.
Mr Macron will also express France’s “solidarity” with Israel and the French citizens living there.
His office also said Hezbollah – the powerful Lebanese Islamist movement – “must not join the conflict”, saying that doing so “would only bring misery”.
President Macron of France has landed in Israel
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) October 24, 2023
Welcome to Israel 🇫🇷 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/sYrTcScmzC
The French leader’s visit for talks with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was announced late Sunday, two weeks after Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7.
Among those killed were 30 French citizens, while another seven are believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and taken to Gaza.
Among them is French-Israeli Mia Schem, who appeared in a video released by Hamas, late last week pleading to be rescued.
AID WORKER DEATH TOLL CLIMBS
Six workers with the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency were killed in just 24 hours in Gaza, the global body said, bringing to 35 the total of its staff killed since October 7.
“Since the start of hostilities, at least 16 health workers have been killed while on duty, along with 35 UNRWA staff,” the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said. “Six of (them) were killed in the past 24 hours.”
The UNRWA supports the 5.6 million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.The UNRWA paid tribute on X, formerly Twitter, “to our 35 colleagues who have been killed in Gaza since October 7”.
“We grieve and we remember. These are not just numbers. These are our friends and colleagues,” it said, adding that many of those killed were teachers in UNRWA-run schools.
UN chief Antonio Guterres also lamented on X the loss of “35 of our UNRWA colleagues - humanitarian, teachers - (who) have been killed in Gaza since October 7”.
“We mourn their loss and stand with colleagues doing all they can to assist those in need.”
AUSSIES LEAVING WEST BANK
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed four Australian citizens and one permanent resident have successfully departed the West Bank into Jordan.
“More that 1800 previously registered Australians have now left Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Ms Wong posted on Twitter/X.
“Officials remain in touch with other registered Australians wishing to depart the West Bank for Jordan. We are also assisting a number of New Zealand citizens.”
The departure of the Australian citizens comes amid rising fears about escalating violence on the West Bank.
Meanwhile, 77 Australian citizens, permanent residents and family members are believed to be in the Gaza Strip.
Ayman Qwaider, a Palestinian Australian who has been living in Perth since 2014, said he had been informed his sister Alaa’ Qwaider had been killed in an airstrike on Saturday, along with her three children.
“We are seeing entire families brutalised and killed, while there is no food, no medicine and no fuel to maintain generators in the hospitals,” Mr Qwaider said.
“Death awaits thousands of injured people in Gaza’s hospitals if this war continues.”
CHINA BREAKS SILENCE
China’s foreign minister has spoken to his Israeli counterpart, in the first call between top diplomats from the two countries since the Israel-Hamas conflict flared this month.
“All countries have the right to self-defence,” Wang Yi told Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, according to a foreign ministry readout.
But he also stressed that “they should abide by international humanitarian law and protect the safety of civilians”.
Wang promised China would “do its utmost” to support efforts that are “conducive to peace”.
China has refrained from explicitly condemning Hamas for the attacks.
Washington has said it hopes China’s friendship with Hamas backer Iran could help calm the conflict, particularly after Beijing brokered a detente between Tehran and its long-time foe Saudi Arabia this year.
“The most pressing task now is to prevent the situation from escalating further and from leading to a more serious humanitarian disaster,” Foreign Minister Wang told Cohen.
He also reiterated Beijing’s position that a two-state solution is the only viable outcome to the conflict.
POTENTIAL DEAL TO FREE 50 MORE HOSTAGES
Tel Aviv news channel I24 reported “sources within Gaza” as saying “the finalisation of a potential deal” brokered by Qatari was underway for the release of about 50 abductees who hold dual citizenship.
Officials of the Red Cross are believed to be on their way to receive the group, I24 said, and the release could be concluded “in the hours ahead” if there are no obstacles.
The suspension of Israeli air strikes on Gaza was believed to be a part of the deal to allow Red Cross teams to safely evacuate the hostages.
It would represent almost a quarter of the 222 people that the Israeli Defence Forces said were being held by Hamas.
OBAMA WARNS ISRAEL OVER THEIR ACTIONS
Barack Obama has released a lengthy statement warning the Israeli government against taking measures that could “worsen a growing humanitarian crisis” for the civilian population in Gaza.
The former president said he “fully supported” Joe Biden’s call for support of America’s “long-standing ally” in dismantling Hamas, but cautioned against how Israel prosecutes the fight against Hamas.
“The world is watching closely as events in the region unfold, and any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire.,” Mr Obama said.
“Already, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the bombing of Gaza, many of them children. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes.
“The Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population threatens not only to worsen a growing humanitarian crisis, it could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies, and undermine long term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.”
Mr Obama urged people to condemn anti-Semitism “in all its forms” as well as reject “anti-Muslim, anti-Arab or anti-Palestinian sentiment”.
“It means refusing to lump all Palestinians with Hamas or other terrorist groups … It means recognising that Israel has every right to exist … It means acknowledging that Palestinians have also lived in disputed territories for generations,” he said.
“That many of them were not only displaced when Israel was formed but continue to be forcibly displaced by a settler movement that too often has received tacit or explicit support from the Israeli government.”
Authorities in Gaza claim 5087 Palestinians have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict.
US UNDER ATTACK
The United States has accused Iran of “actively facilitating” attacks on US forces in the Middle East as it confirmed it had sent a small number of military advisors to Israel.
“Iran continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah, and we know that Iran is closely monitoring these events and, in some cases, actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict for their own good or for that of Iran,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“We know Iran’s goal is to maintain some level of deniability here, but we’re not going to allow them to do that.”
Until the flare-up in violence, President Joe Biden’s administration had hailed a period of relative calm with pro-Iranian militias in the region following quiet talks between US and Iranian officials.
But since Wednesday, at least five rocket and drone attacks have targeted three Iraqi military bases where American troops are stationed as part of the international coalition set up to fight the Islamic State group.
Iran’s Shiite clerical leaders support Hamas as well as the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, Shiite paramilitary groups in Iraq and Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
A senior US defence official said that the situation could get significantly worse.“We see a prospect for much more significant escalation against US forces and personnel in the near-term,” the official said, characterising the recent spike in attacks as “efforts by Iran and Iran proxy forces to seek to escalate this conflict.”
DEADLIEST PERIOD FOR PALESTINIANS IN THE WEST BANK IN 15 YEARS
More Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in the past few weeks than in any similar period in at least the past 15 years, according to Palestinian health authorities and historical data from the United Nations.
At least 95 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the Hamas attacks on October 7, health officials said.
Masked settlers shot and killed three Palestinians in the village of Qusra on October 11, according to Palestinian health officials.
And at a funeral procession for the victims the next day, settlers attacked again, killing two more Palestinians, a father and son.
ALBO HAS YET TO SPEAK TO NETANYAHU
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is yet to talk to his Israeli counterpart despite seeking a call with Benjamin Netanyahu immediately after Hamas launched its brutal assault more than a fortnight ago.
Speaking in Washington DC, Mr Albanese confirmed he had not had a conversation with Mr Netanyahu about the war, following suggestions from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that he should have prioritised travelling to Israel over the US this week.
He said he had instead spoken to Israel’s ambassador to Australia twice to convey the government’s view that the attack was a “violent act of terror against innocent civilians”.
“The situation is challenging and rapidly changing,” Mr Albanese said.
“There is a terrible loss of life including innocent life of both Israelis and Palestinians. Every innocent life matters, whether it is Israeli or Palestinian.”
“As hostilities continue, it is vitally important that international humanitarian law is upheld for the protection of citizens wherever they live.”
Ahead of his meetings with Joe Biden, Mr Albanese was asked whether it appeared he had taken sides on the conflict – given the US President’s bold visit to Israel last week – and if he had a message for pro-Palestinian Australians.
“We picked a side against Hamas,” Mr Albanese said.
“We did that very clearly and unequivocally because the actions of Hamas are against the interests of both the Israeli population clearly, but also against the interests of Palestinians.”
He said his government supported a two-state solution in the Middle East but added that it was “very hard to see how Hamas could negotiate” that outcome with Israel.
NEW YORK TIMES APOLOGISES FOR HOSPITAL ATTACK COVERAGE
The New York Times has admitted it “relied too heavily on claims by Hamas” in its reporting of an explosion at a Gaza hospital, however, they haven’t refuted claims that Israel was responsible.
“The Times’s initial accounts attributed the claim of Israeli responsibility to Palestinian officials, and noted that the Israeli military said it was investigating the blast,” the editors’ note said.
“However, the early versions of the coverage — and the prominence it received in a headline, news alert and social media channels — relied too heavily on claims by Hamas, and did not make clear that those claims could not immediately be verified.”
In article published Sunday, the New York Times still claims it is unclear who fired the missile.
HAMAS LEADER KILLED
Hamas Political Bureau member Jamila Al-Shanti was killed after an Israeli air strike on her home in Gaza City, Hamas has confirmed.
Dr Jamila Al-Shanti founded the women’s wing of the Hamas movement in Gaza and was the first female member of its political bureau, CNN reports. She was the widow of Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi.
“A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a member of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement, Dr. Jamila Al-Shanti, was martyred in the occupation bombing of her home in the Gaza Strip at dawn today,” the Hamas statement said.
It is unknown as yet if she was deliberately targeted in the strike.
19,000 DISPLACED IN LEBANON AMID BORDER TENSIONS
More than 19,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon amid an uptick in tensions between Israel and Hezbollah at the country’s southern border, figures released Monday by a United Nations agency showed.
“An increase in cross-border incidents” has resulted in the displacement of 19,646 people in Lebanon, “both within the south and elsewhere within the country”, said the International Organisation for Migration.
“We expect the numbers to rise as the cross-border tensions continue” or if there is an escalation in violence, IOM spokesperson Mohammedali Abunajela told AFP in a statement.
Iran-backed Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah has launched escalating attacks on Israel, raising fears the group intends to open a front from Lebanon in support of ally Hamas.
Cross-border exchanges between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been gaining pace as Israel battles Hamas militants in Gaza and fears mount that the powerful Lebanese movement seeks to enter open conflict with Israel.
TWO GAZA DRONES THWARTED, SAYS ISRAEL
The Israeli army said it had “thwarted” an attack from Gaza by two drones that were claimed by Hamas.
“Two UAVs were identified crossing from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory” at Nir Oz and Ein HaBesor near the border, the army said.
“Both UAVs were thwarted,” a statement added, without stating whether they were shot down.
Hamas, which used drones in their October 7 attack on Israel, said on social media that “Israeli military posts” were the targets of the latest raid.
ISRAEL HAS ‘LICENSE TO KILL’: PALESTINE PM
Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh has accused Western nations of giving Israel a “licence to kill” in its war against the Gaza Strip’s Islamist rulers Hamas.
“What we hear from the mouth of the occupation (Israeli) leaders on preparations for a land invasion means more crimes, atrocities and forced displacement,” Shtayyeh told the start of a Palestinian Authority government meeting.
“We condemn the statements that constitute a licence to kill and give Israel political cover to commit massacres and spread destruction in Gaza,” he added.
US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other leaders have visited Israel in recent days reaffirming its “right to defend” itself, while calling on the Israeli government to stay within international humanitarian law.
MORE THAN 5000 KILLED IN STRIKES ON GAZA, UK PLEDGES MORE AID
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday that more than 5000 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian enclave since Israel launched its bombing campaign more than two weeks ago, around 40 per cent of them children.
Thousands of buildings have been destroyed and more than one million people displaced in the territory that has been under siege and largely deprived of water, food and other basic supplies.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it had hit “over 320 military targets in the Gaza Strip” in the past 24 hours.
It said the targets “included tunnels containing Hamas terrorists, dozens of operational command centres” as well as “military compounds and observation posts” used by Islamic Jihad, another militant group.
The UK will provide an additional 20 million pounds ($A38.6 million) of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday, on top of 10 million pounds pledged last week.
“We recognise that the Palestinian people are suffering terribly,” he said in a speech to parliament.
DEADLY CHEMICAL WARFARE HAMAS PLOT REVEALED
Hamas fighters were planning to use deadly cyanide poisoning on civilians when they attacked Israeli villages, according to claims by the President of Israel Isaac Herzog.
Details of the plan to unleash chemical weapons contained on USB devices found on the body of a terrorist, was revealed as Israel agreed to a “continuous flow” of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Mr Herzog told Sky News the USB sticks contained instructions on how to create a device for cyanide emission and originated from an al-Qaeda guide book from 2003.
Mr Herzog’s showed two pages of the document he claimed included a crude sketch of a device made up of household items combined with chemical agents.
“This is how shocking the situation is, where we’re looking at the instructions that are given on how to operate and how to create a kind of non-professional chemical weapon with cyanide,” he said.
AID BACKLOG AS GAZA SUPPLIES HELD UP IN EGYPT
Workers were rushing to offload supplies at Egypt’s El Arish airport as aid trickles into the stricken Gaza Strip after more than two weeks of war with Israel.
Officials barked orders and forklift trucks revved their engines, swerving at speed on the tarmac as they carried items including vital food and medicine for the Palestinian enclave.
Plane loads of aid have been landing for days at El Arish, about 45 kilometres from the Rafah border crossing, the only route into Gaza after all Israeli checkpoints were closed following a shock Hamas assault on October 7.
But it was only over the weekend that the first supplies were allowed to reach Gaza, a narrow enclave of 2.4 million inhabitants, under blockade for years and complete siege by Israel after the latest violence spiralled into war.
Three convoys of aid totalling about 50 trucks have cleared the Rafah crossing since Saturday, reaching a populace in dire need of food, water and medical supplies.
The United Nations estimates Gaza requires about 100 trucks a day to meet the needs of residents, almost half of whom are believed to have been displaced by Israel’s bombing campaign.
19-YEAR-OLD ISRAELI SOLDIER KILLED
An Israeli soldier has been killed and another three hurt during an operation on the Gaza border according to local media.
It has been reported that the operation was part of the Israel military’s searches for the bodies of missing Israelis, and also to clear the ground ahead of an expected ground offensive.
The Israel Defense Forces said that an anti-tank guided missile was fired at an Israeli tank and support vehicle and the troops responded by firing back.
A 19-year-old soldier named as Captain Tamir Barak was killed in the exchange.
The ID dismissed claims Captain Barak was killed in a cross border raid inside Gaza.
IDF ATTACKS LEBANON
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has carried out strikes to eliminate 20 Hezbollah cells in southern Lebanon since the start of the war.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group has been carrying out daily missile attacks from Lebanon against IDF positions and towns in northern Israel.
The Israel Defense Force says it targeted a cell of fighters in southern Lebanon and destroyed an anti-tank missile launcher. The cell is suspected of planning to launch a missile near the border town of Shlomi, according to the military.
The military struck a number of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including a “military compound” and observation post. The IDF says military aircraft also targeted “a terror cell” along the border and destroyed armaments possessed by the operatives.
ISRAEL CALLS FOR HAMAS TO ‘UNCONDITIONALLY SURRENDER’
Israeli forces have continued to gather on its border with the Gaza Strip, but so far no invasion has been called.
While there has been speculation as to when Israel would start it, but it has been under pressure to delay the move to allow a deal to free more hostages.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip has hit more than 4,700, with bombings in the past 24 hours killing at least 400 people.
United States officials have been pressuring Tel Aviv to hold off on the ground attack as negotiations, via Qatar, continue with Hamas to secure the release of hostages.
Israel has said a ground invasion could be avoided if Hamas made an “unconditional surrender”.
“The aim here is to totally dismantle Hamas from its military capabilities,” Israel Defense Force (IDF) spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said on Monday.
“If that can be done from the air and with standoff measures, with very limited exposure to our troops and less damage on the ground, that would be great.
“If Hamas were to come out of their hiding places that they hide underneath the civilians, which is what they’re doing now, and return our hostages all 212 of them and surrender unconditionally then the war would end,” Lt Colonel Conricus said.
People in northern Gaza have been receiving voice messages on their phones urging them to leave, but there was confusion with the translation from Hebrew to Arabic as Israel denied the message declared anyone still in the region will be called a “terrorist”.
There are 77 Australians among the 2 million people caught in Gaza when its borders were closed on October 7 following Hamas’ bloody attack that claimed the lives of more than 1400 Israelis, among them at least 200 dual nationals.
GAZA TO RUN OUT OF FUEL IN THREE DAYS
President Herzog released details of plans found on a Hamas fighter in an interview with Britain’s Sky News.
“It’s al-Qaeda material, official al-Qaeda material … and in this material there were instructions how to produce chemical weapons,” he said.
Mr Herzog said Israel only supplied less than 10 per cent of the water into Gaza, adding there “was fuel for humanitarian needs”.
At least six fuel tankers were allowed into the Gaza Strip on Monday through the Rafah crossing on its border with Egypt.
However, hospitals in Gaza were running low on fuel to run generators to keep equipment, including incubators for preterm babies, operating.
MORE THAN 1 MILLION PEOPLE IN GAZA DISPLACED
Palestinian medical sources claim at least 400 people were killed in bombing raids on Gaza on Monday, while as much as 40 per cent of housing in the region had been destroyed.
More than 1 million people in Gaza have been displaced in a territory that would cover only 3 per cent of Sydney’s total land area.
Israeli Defence Forces apologised on Monday for a tank attack that hit an Egyptian military post at Kerem Shalom, near the Rafah crossing.
They have also continued operations in the Occupied West Bank in the town of Nablus, 70km north of Jerusalem.
Hamas militants have fired more than 7,400 rockets at Israel since the October 7 attack., however, most have been intercepted by its Iron Dome defence system and Israel has also evacuated its citizens from the border regions near Gaza in the south and Lebanon in the north.
US BROKERS DEAL TO ALLOW AID INTO GAZA
United States president Joe Biden revealed on Monday that a deal had been brokered to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on its border with Egypt.
Hard line Israeli politicians have criticised the deal to allow aid into Gaza while Hamas still has hostages.
Mr Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone to discuss Gaza and the region.
“The President welcomed the first two convoys of humanitarian assistance since Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, which crossed the border into Gaza and is being distributed to Palestinians in need,” a White House statement said.
“The leaders affirmed that there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza.”
So far less than 40 trucks have been allowed into Gaza, only about 8 per cent of what it usually imports each day.
The United Nations estimated that at least 100 trucks were needed to meet urgent needs.
Mr Biden also began talks with Mr Netanyahu about allowing U.S. citizens to cross the border at the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Israel Hamas war live updates: Biden says ‘release hostages, then we talk ceasefire’
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