(Reuters) – Israel warned on Thursday that there would be no humanitarian exception to its blockade of the Gaza Strip until all Israeli Hamas hostages were freed, while the Red Cross called for fuel to be allowed in to prevent overwhelmed hospitals from “turning into morgues.”
In retaliation for Hamas’ unprecedented attack on its territory from the Gaza Strip, Israel has vowed to annihilate the terrorist organization and has been carrying out intense airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave since Saturday.
According to a latest report from the Gaza Ministry of Health, 1,354 Palestinians were killed and 6,049 injured in Israeli strikes.
The Hamas attack also left at least 1,300 dead according to Israeli media, while the Israeli army recorded more than 2,700 injured and numerous hostages. Israel said it was able to confirm the identities of 97 people taken hostage in Gaza by Hamas.
“The army is preparing for the next stage of the war,” warned an Israeli army spokesperson.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday as part of a tour of the Middle East aimed at showing Washington’s solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attacks and avoiding an escalation of the conflict.
In France, the government fears an importation of the conflict while the country has both the largest Muslim community and the strongest Jewish community in Europe.
President Emmanuel Macron plans to speak at 8:00 p.m. during a televised address, after receiving the leaders of the political parties, both the majority and the opposition, at midday.
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2:14 p.m. – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has accused Israel of seeking “genocide” by imposing a blockade on the Gaza Strip, according to Iranian state television. The war in the enclave is “not just a war of Zionists against Hamas, it is a war of Zionists against all Palestinians,” he added.
2:10 p.m. – Condor will charter two special flights on Sunday to evacuate German nationals from Israel, it told Reuters.
1:59 p.m. – The UK will make it easier for flights from Israel to help its citizens leave the country. The first such flight is scheduled to depart from Tel Aviv later on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
1:52 p.m. – According to Syrian state media, Israel attacked and disabled major airports in the capital Damascus and the eastern Syrian city of Aleppo on Thursday.
1:18 p.m. – There is no formal trace of Iran’s involvement in Hamas’ attacks against Israel, according to the Quai d’Orsay.
1:14 p.m. – Hamas must be treated exactly as ISIS was treated, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, while thanking the United States for its support “today, tomorrow and always.”
1:09 p.m. – “We are here, we are not going anywhere,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, assuring him of Washington’s support.
1:04 p.m. – A twelfth French national was declared dead after attacks by Hamas on Israel, a spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay announced Thursday.
Seventeen French people remain missing, he added.
12:54 – Egypt on Thursday called for humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and said it was directing international aid flights to Al Arish airport, near its border with the enclave.
12:07 p.m. – Other special flights will be organized on Friday and Saturday to allow French people to leave Israel, the Quai d’Orsay announced on Thursday.
“Several special flights will be organized on Friday and Saturday to allow French people who were unable to find available seats on commercial flights still open in Tel Aviv to return to the national territory,” the ministry said in a press release.
Air France confirmed that it was cooperating with the Ministry of Defense for the organization of special flights, while specifying that “regular service to Tel Aviv remained at this stage suspended until further notice”.
12:02 p.m. – According to a latest report from the Gaza Ministry of Health, 1,354 Palestinians have been killed and 6,049 injured in Israeli strikes on the enclave since Saturday.
11:42 – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants with his Emirati counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed in a phone call on Thursday, the Turkish presidency said. Ankara, which has offered to mediate in the conflict, is holding discussions with Hamas to obtain the release of civilian prisoners, a senior Turkish official said on Wednesday.
11:33 a.m. – The British government has ordered families of diplomats in Israel to leave the country as a “precautionary measure.”
11:23 a.m. – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian begins a regional tour this Thursday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He will visit Iraq and Lebanon in particular, Iranian state media announced.
11:21 a.m. – According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Gaza Strip, subject to a blockade by Israel, still has some fuel to operate generators, particularly in hospitals, but the stock could be exhausted in few hours.
11:16 a.m. – Israeli settlers killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. A father and son were shot dead when settlers opened fire during the funeral of four Palestinians killed Wednesday by armed settlers and Israeli soldiers in the village of Qusra, near the city of Nablus, according to witnesses to Reuters.
11:07 – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed in a phone call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the need to ensure regular humanitarian relief services and aid to Palestinians in Gaza, said on Thursday the Egyptian presidency in a press release.
11:02 a.m. – A group of independent United Nations experts on Thursday condemned the violence committed against civilians in Israel and deplored the “collective punishment” represented by the retaliatory strikes against Gaza.
While condemning the “horrific crimes committed by Hamas,” the group said Israel had resorted to “indiscriminate military attacks against the already exhausted Palestinian people of Gaza.”
10:59 a.m. – The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict threatened to darken the already gloomy economic outlook.
“Quite clearly, this is a new cloud on a horizon that is not the safest for the global economy, a new cloud that darkens that horizon – and which, of course, is not necessary” , she declared during a press conference organized on the occasion of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.
10:41 – The Israeli military spokesperson said Thursday that Israel was able to confirm the identities of 97 people taken hostage in Gaza by Hamas.
“The army is preparing for the next stage of the war,” he said, adding that 222 soldiers had been killed since Saturday.
09:57 – The cost of a guarantee against the risk of Israel defaulting on its debt rose on Thursday to its highest level in almost a decade.
Israel’s five-year credit default swaps (CDS) jumped to 103 basis points, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
09:35 – The general director of easyJet, Johan Lundgren, said on Thursday that he wanted to resume flights to Israel as soon as possible, without being able to establish a timetable.
Airlines are divided on what to do about security risks in the region. Within Air France-KLM, the Dutch KLM has given up offering a flight to Israel to allow Dutch citizens to leave the country. For its part, Air France maintained a special flight planned for Thursday chartered by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
09:19 – Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday, as part of a tour of the Middle East aimed at demonstrating Washington’s solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack.
The US diplomat will also try to secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas – some of whom are Americans – and the safe passage of Gaza civilians out of the densely populated enclave, in anticipation of a possible Israeli ground offensive .
09:11 – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday accused Iran of helping Hamas grow into the organization that carried out last weekend’s attacks on Israel. “While we do not have formal proof that Iran operationally supported this cowardly attack, it is clear to all of us that without Iran’s support, Hamas would never have been able to launch this attack without previous”.
09:11 – The death toll from attacks in Israel has risen to at least 1,300 deaths since Saturday, Israeli public television Kan reported.
09:05 – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will visit Lebanon and Iraq to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon .
08:45 – Since Saturday in France, more than a hundred anti-Semitic acts, mainly tags, and more serious acts have been recorded and 24 people have been arrested, declared Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on France Inter.
08:42 – An Israeli airstrike, the third in recent hours on residential buildings across the Gaza Strip, killed 15 Palestinians in a refugee camp, according to Hamas media.
08:40 – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in contact with Hamas and the Israeli authorities regarding the hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist group and says it is ready to carry out humanitarian visits, to facilitate communication between the hostages and their family members, and any possible release.
08:34 – The presidents of Iran and Syria have urged Islamic countries to take a unique stance in support of the Palestinians, a news agency linked to Iran’s main security agency, Nournews, reported on Thursday.
07:15 – Israel’s ambassador to Japan said Tokyo should be “vigilant” and examine what Hamas is doing with the aid the country provides to the Palestinians.
06:26 – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, a senior Palestinian official said on Thursday. Mahmoud Abbas is expected to meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman on Thursday.
05:48 – Former US President Donald Trump criticized what he called a lack of preparation on the part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Hamas attack.
(Written by Kate Entringer and Blandine Hénault)
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