Israel-Palestine War News LIVE: Hamas ‘captured soldiers, civilians’, attacked Israel to ‘defend Al-Aqsa’

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, released a video Saturday showing its fighters had captured three men who were dressed in civilian clothes. (AFP)

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: A woman has claimed that her father has been captured by the Hamas militants during their infiltration. She has said that she saw pictures of him in Gaza.

“He messaged me that they were in the house. He told me they were taking him. I saw pictures of him in Gaza,” she says.

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: The Palestinian militant group, Hamas, has released some images of its militants infiltrating Israeli territory through barbed wires.

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: Hamas commander says it launched multi-front attack on Israeli cities ‘in defense of Al-Aqsa’. Three days ago, dozens of Israelis stormed into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, has claimed that it captured soldiers and civilians during the infiltration into Israeli territory.

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: The Israel Defense Forces initiated Operation ‘Iron Swords’ on Saturday in retaliation for a sudden attack by Hamas on Israel.

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: United Kingdom’s foreign minister James Cleverly has condemned the unprecedented attacks on Israel by Palestinian militants, Hamas, from the Gaza Strip.

“The UK unequivocally condemns the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians. The UK will always support Israel’s right to defend itself,” he wrote on social media.

Rishi Sunak said he was “shocked” by the attacks on the Israeli civilians by the Hamas militants.

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: At least 22 people have died and over a hundred have been wounded in the Hamas militant attack on Israeli cities early this morning.

Israel-Palestine War News LIVE Updates: Israel has declared a “state of war” against Hamas militant organisation after a surprise missile attack and infiltration from Gaza Strip left several wounded and two dead. The number of deaths could go up.

The French foreign ministry on Saturday condemned “in the strongest possible terms the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel and its population” after the firing of hundreds of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

France “expresses its full solidarity with Israel and the victims of these attacks. It reaffirms its absolute rejection of terrorism and its commitment to Israel’s security”, the ministry added.

Russia on Saturday urged restraint from all sides after Palestinian militants fired hunderds of rockets on Israel, which then launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

“We are now in contact with everyone. With the Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs,” Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Russian private news agency Interfax, adding: “Of course, we always call for restraint.”

Ukraine’s foreign ministry condemned what it described as “ongoing terrorist attacks” on Israel after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Saturday launched the biggest assault on the country in years.

“Ukraine strongly condemns the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel, including rocket attacks against the civilian population in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” the ministry said on the social media platform X.

“We express our support for Israel in its right to defend itself and its people.”

Britain’s foreign minister James Cleverly on Saturday condemned attacks on Israel by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip.

“The UK unequivocally condemns the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians. The UK will always support Israel’s right to defend itself,” he wrote on social media.

Egypt warned of “grave consequences” from an escalation in tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in a statement from the foreign ministry carried by the state news agency on Saturday.

It called for “exercising maximum restraint and avoiding exposing civilians to further danger”.

Ukraine on Saturday expressed solidarity with Israel after a barrage of rockets was fired from Gaza.

“Ukraine strongly condemns the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel, including rocket attacks against the civilian population in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We express our support for Israel in its right to defend itself and its people,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said on social media.

India issues advisory for its nationals in Israel amid Hamas terrorists’ attack on Israel

Hezbollah issued a statement on Saturday saying they were closely following the situation in Gaza and are in “direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance”.

Following events involving Gaza militants who fired a barrage of rockets into Israel, the statement added that it was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalisation with Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday after hundreds of rockets fired by Hamas terrorists hit Israel today.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation not an escalation- at war,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“We are at war and we will win,” he asserted in a video statement according to translation provided by Reuters. “Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” he added.

The Israeli PM’s statement followed after rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel

Egypt warned of “grave consequences” from an escalation in tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in a statement from the foreign ministry carried by the state news agency on Saturday.

It called for “exercising maximum restraint and avoiding exposing civilians to further danger”.

In an official statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are at war and we will win.”

Dozens of fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force are now attacking targets of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip in several locations, tweets Israeli Air Force. 

Palestinian militants have begun a “war” against Israel, the country’s defence minister said Saturday after a barrage of rockets were fired and fighters from the Palestinian enclave infiltrated Israel, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The European Union on Saturday “unequivocally” condemned attacks by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel and called for an immediate stop to the violence.

“We follow with anguish the news coming from #Israel. We unequivocally condemn the attacks by Hamas. This horrific violence must stop immediately. Terrorism and violence solve nothing. The EU expresses its solidarity with Israel in these difficult moments,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

The Czech government Saturday condemned Hamas for launching “terrorist attacks” on Prague’s traditional ally Israel, which has accused the Palestinian militant group of launching war.

The Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia which preceded it have historically ranked among Israel’s staunchest allies.

A member of Israel’s police forces walks towards a fire as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel October 7, 2023.

August 2005 – Israeli forces unilaterally withdraw from Gaza 38 years after capturing it from Egypt in the Middle East war, abandoning settlements and leaving the enclave under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Jan. 25, 2006 – The Islamist group Hamas wins a majority of seats in a Palestinian legislative election. Israel and the U.S. cut off aid to Palestinians because Hamas refuses to renounce violence and recognise Israel.

June 25, 2006 – Hamas militants capture Israeli army conscript Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid from Gaza, prompting Israeli air strikes and incursions. Shalit is finally freed more than five years later in a prisoner exchange. 

Dec. 27, 2008 – Israel launches a 22-day military offensive in Gaza after Palestinians fire rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. About 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis are reported killed before a ceasefire is agreed.

Nov. 14, 2012 – Israel kills Hamas’s military chief of staff, Ahmad Jabari. Eight days of Palestinian militant rocket fire and Israeli air strikes follow.

July-August 2014 – The kidnap and killing of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas leads to a seven-week war in which more than 2,100 Palestinians are reported killed in Gaza and 73 Israelis are reported dead, 67 of them military.

March 2018 – Palestinian protests begin at Gaza’s fenced border with Israel. Israeli troops open fire to keep protestors back. More than 170 Palestinians are reported killed in several months of protests, which also prompt fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces. (Reuters)

Germany ‘firmly condemns terrorist attacks from Gaza on Israel’

‘Thousands of reservists will be called up’, says Israeli Military

Israel’s army carried out at least two air strikes on the Gaza Strip Saturday, an AFP journalist reported, after barrages of rockets were fired from the Palestinian territory into Israel.

More than 5,000 rockets had been fired so far from the Gaza Strip, the armed wing of Hamas which controls the blockaded coastal enclave said. Medics said the rocket fire killed at least one Israeli, a woman in her 60s.

Ofir Libstein, the mayor of Israel’s Sha’ar Hanegev region, has been killed by Hamas.

“Sorry to see what’s happening in Israel. I hope there can be peace one day,” says Elon Musk. 

Israel announces ‘Operation Iron Swords’, according to media reports.

The French Embassy in Israel on Saturday condemned attacks by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel, describing them as “inadmissible terrorist attacks”.

“Horrified by the developments coming from the south of the country. These terrorist attacks are inadmissible and must be condemned by everyone. We stand side by side alongside Israel and Israelis,” the French Embassy wrote on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.

Israel’s defense minister announced that the Hamas militant group has started a war against Israel and pledged that “Israel will win.”

Following a security cabinet meeting at the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Hamas “made a grave mistake” in launching barrages of rockets into southern and central Israel in its surprise morning attack.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly order an Official Declaration of War against Hamas and the other Palestinian Groups who are assisting in todays Attack during the Cabinet Meeting today at 13:00, according to media report. 

Hamas launched ‘war against State of Israel’: defence minister

The toll in the Hamas rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel climbed to 4, The Times of Israel reported.

The daily reported earlier that after a barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel.

 “My home is under attack for the last 3 hours , sirens are wailing and we can clearly hear the incoming rockets. The entire family is in the safe room and we are ok. I will keep you all updated, thank you for the messages of support,” Maya Kadosh, Israeli diplomat wrote on X. 

Barrages of rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip at dawn Saturday as militants from the blockaded Palestinian enclave infiltrated Israel, with at least one person killed, the army and medics said.

Rockets streamed across the sky repeatedly after the first launches from multiple locations across the Palestinian territory from 06:30 am (0330 GMT), AFP journalists in Gaza City reported.

‘Hamas has made a big mistake this morning’, says Israel’s Defense Ministry

Hundreds of residents in the Gaza Strip fled their homes to move away from the border with Israel after barrages of rockets were fired from the coastal enclave into Israel, an AFP correspondent reported.

Men, women and children were seen carrying blankets and food items as they left their homes, mostly in the northeastern part of the Palestinian territory, the reporter said.

Following a massive barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip fired towards Israel, Naor Gilon, Israel’s Ambassador to India stressed that the situation is not simple but Israel will prevail.

Noting that the attack happened during the Jewish holidays, the Indian envoy further stated that Israel is under a combined attack from Gaza, both by rockets and ground infiltration of Hamas terrorists.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented infiltration Saturday into southern Israel, sending fighters across the border and firing thousands of rockets into the country as the ruling Hamas militant group announced the beginning of a new operation.

The Israeli military put the country on war alert and began striking targets in Gaza in response, setting the stage for what was likely to be a new heavy round of fighting between the bitter enemies. In a serious escalation, salvos of rockets fired from Gaza set off constant air raid sirens as far north as Jerusalem.

An Israeli war jet is seen as rocket barrages are launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashdod, Israel October 7, 2023.

“There has been widespread rocket fire into Israeli territory from Gaza, and terrorists have infiltrated Israeli territory through various entry points. Residents in the south and centre of the country are required to be in close proximity to protected areas, and those in the Gaza periphery should remain within a secure space,” the IDF added in its statement.

Israel on Saturday morning declared a “state of readiness for war”, amid a massive barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip and infiltration into its southern area, killing at least one person and injuring 16 others.

Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip killed a woman in Israel on Saturday, the Magen David Adom emergency medical services said.

A woman in her 60s was killed “due to a direct hit” and 15 others were injured in southern Israel, it said, after dozens of rockets were fired from the blockaded enclave.