Israel-Hamas war updates: Netanyahu rejects ceasefire after captive video
Fierce fighting on the ground in Gaza as Israeli forces push deeper inside the besieged enclave amid heavy bombing.
This live page is now closed. For the latest live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, follow along here.
This live page is now closed. For the latest live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, follow along here.
- Hamas releases a video of captives demanding a prisoner swap and criticising the Israeli government for failing to protect people during Hamas’s October 7 attack. Israel calls it “psychological propaganda”.
- An Israeli soldier is “released” in a military operation in Gaza, a joint statement by the Israeli military and Shin Bet says.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects any calls for a ceasefire with Hamas and says it is part of an “axis of evil” with Iran.
- Palestinians in Gaza City report receiving threats from the Israeli army over the phone telling them to evacuate as bombing continues and there are no safe escape routes.
- At least 8,306 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks since October 7. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel.
Here’s a recap of today’s events
We are going to bring our live coverage to an end soon. Here’s a summary of today’s main events:
- Hamas has released a video of captives demanding a prisoner swap and criticising the Israeli government for failing to protect people; Israel calls the video “psychological propaganda”.
- Israel says one of its soldiers has been “released” in a military operation in the Gaza Strip.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a ceasefire with Hamas.
- An Israeli air attack has severely damaged the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, drawing strong condemnation from Ankara.
- The Palestine Red Crescent says its warehouses have been damaged in an Israeli strike.
- UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has told the UN Security Council that Israel’s “relentless bombardment” of Gaza has led to an “unprecedented” level of destruction.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has not been able to resupply hospitals in northern Gaza.
- At least 8,306 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks since October 7; more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel.
Israel’s UN ambassador wears yellow star during Security Council meeting
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan has worn a yellow Star of David with the words “Never Again” while addressing the UN Security Council.
“From this day on, each time you look at me, you will remember what staying silent in the face of evil means,” Erdan told the meeting.
“Just like my grandparents and the grandparents of millions of Jews, from now on, my team and I will wear yellow stars,” he added.
Deaths, injuries reported in Israeli air strike in southern Gaza
At least three people were killed and several others were wounded after an Israeli air strike on a house west of the city of Rafah, according to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
WAFA also reported that a separate Israeli air strike targeted a residential building in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood southwest of Gaza City.
An Israeli aircraft was also reported to have struck homes in the vicinity of the Al-Quds Hospital, which is affiliated with the Red Crescent Society and located west of Gaza City.
There were no immediate reports on casualties for both strikes.
Forcible transfer of Palestinians ‘is a crime’: Jordan’s UN envoy
Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud told the Security Council that Palestinians in Gaza are facing a false choice: “Either you die in the north of Gaza or be transferred to the south of Gaza, to also be killed there.”
“The council should not accept this,” the Jordanian envoy said.
“Isn’t it time for the council to say to Israel that human life is sacred, regardless of someone’s religion, ethnicity or origin?”
Global public opinion stands with Gaza: Analyst
Speaking from Washington, DC, Palestinian political analyst Omar Baddar says people around the world are “watching these massacres [in Gaza] in complete and total horror”.
“They see that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is utter devastation, and not by accident as a result of the war, but by design,” Baddar told Al Jazeera.
“Israeli politicians have been quite explicit about the fact that they have deliberately cut off water, food and electricity to the entire civilian population. This is a war crime,” he said.
“They [the Israeli government] are intent on proceeding as if nothing is happening as long as they have the backing of the US. And unfortunately, that looks like it remains intact.”
Lebanon fears regional war as Hezbollah-Israel fighting intensifies
There is growing fear in Lebanon that fighting between the armed group Hezbollah and Israel could spiral out of control, even as many residents sympathise with the Palestinians under bombardment in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
In recent days, the Lebanese armed group and Israel have launched attacks deeper into each other’s territory, an escalation from previous skirmishes confined to the Israel-Lebanon border region.
“I really hope that an all-out war doesn’t start because then it will never stop,” said Elie Khoury, 30, from his phone shop in Beirut. “We won’t be able to handle it [economically]. We don’t even have enough medications and there is a shortage of needles in the hospitals.”
Read more here.
Israeli air strikes continue to pound Gaza in the north, south
Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip did not stop for more than an hour.
During the last hour, a residential building was flattening right where we are in Khan Younis city. Another residential house was destroyed … in the south of Rafah district.
The attacks also continued relentlessly around the Al-Aqsa Hospital, which led to the shutting [down] of electricity in the region.
The attacks also continued in the yards of the Indonesian Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip … it has been hit three times.
It’s also important to mention that this hospital contains thousands of Palestinians who were displaced from their houses; they considered this place to be a safe shelter for them.
‘How many more days will you wait to say enough?’ Palestine UN envoy asks Security Council
The 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are “enduring suffering that no human beings should endure”, Riyad Mansour has said.
“They are besieged and bombed with nowhere safe to go,” the Palestinian UN envoy said during the emergency meeting on the situation in Gaza.
“How many more days will you wait to say, ‘enough’? Paralysed, not acting, not carrying out your duty to maintain international peace and security and to stop that war,” Mansour said to the council members, urging an immediate ceasefire.
UK Conservative MP sacked from ministerial aide role for Gaza ceasefire call
A British member of parliament has been sacked from his government role as a parliamentary private secretary after he called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Paul Bristow, who is the Conservative MP for Peterborough, had said that a ceasefire would “save lives and allow for a continued column of humanitarian aid” to reach civilians, in a letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivered last week.
The British government is opposed to a ceasefire – despite the continued loss of life in Gaza – and a spokesperson for Sunak said that Bristow had been removed from his position because he had not backed the government’s decision.
The leadership of both the ruling Conservative Party and the main opposition Labour Party have refused to call for a ceasefire, but dissent has been emerging from members of parliament and councillors, particularly within left-wing Labour.
A Labour MP was also suspended on Monday for using the phrase “between the river and the sea” at a pro-Palestinian rally.
Supporters of Israel have attempted to police the usage of the phrase, which calls for freedom for Palestinians between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
McDonald’s own usage of the term included a reference to both “Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea”, living in “peaceful liberty”.
‘Never seen such atrocities’: Palestinian reporters recount war horrors
Journalists reporting from Gaza continue to carry out their jobs while facing what Amnesty International describes as “war crimes” of collective punishment and indiscriminate attacks.
But Palestinian reporters also speak of unprecedented physical, emotional and mental strains in the occupied West Bank and beyond. They are navigating the tricky grounds of professional reporting while facing intensified censorship, and what they say is deliberate Israeli gunfire.
Al Jazeera spoke to a number of Palestinian journalists about their experiences over the past weeks.
Read their stories here.
Biden administration trying to send ‘unified message’, not supporting calls for ceasefire
It’s quite clear that all across the administration, they’re trying to send a unified message.
First, when it comes to the mounting civilian casualties – the spokespeople coming out and saying this is not Israel’s fault, they’re doing all they can to avoid civilians. They blame Hamas, saying Hamas hides among civilian targets.
On aid, they don’t talk about the absolute desperate situation that the millions of Palestinians find themselves in. Instead, they are choosing to promote their efforts. They say they were able to get the Israelis to lift the blackout on communications, that they’ve been able to get the Israelis to reopen one line of freshwater into Gaza.
They say they’re working on trying to get up to 100 aid trucks into Gaza through Egypt a day, so they’re trying to focus on that.
But on the question of [a] ceasefire, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby made clear just hours ago that there is absolutely no daylight between the US and Israel on this.
Head of Mossad travelled to Qatar for talks on captives: Report
The director of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, travelled to Qatar over the weekend to discuss the efforts to release captives held in Gaza with Qatari officials, according to a report published by Axios.
David Barnea made the trip after Israel began expanding its ground operations in Gaza on Thursday, an escalation in the conflict that came after a source had told Al Jazeera that Qatar had been getting closer to mediating a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas.
Axios said that Barnea had resumed the talks on the captives while in Qatar, adding that sources had said that the discussions were “positive and constructive”, but hadn’t led to “a breakthrough”.
Al Jazeera reached out to the Qatari Foreign Ministry for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Palestinian rights groups urge ICC to issue arrest warrants
Three Palestinian rights group have called on International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants “for Israeli authorities and military personnel”.
The call by al-Haq, al-Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights comes a day after Khan visited the Rafah border crossing and urged Israel to make “discernible efforts” to ensure civilians access to food and medicine.
Shawan Jabarin, al-Haq’s general director, said Khan’s visit to Rafah contributes to maintaining what “little hope is left in the Palestinian people and signals a commitment on the Prosecutor’s part to take action, which we hope will be expeditiously undertaken without any further delays”.
1. Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Al-Haq, @AlMezanCenter & @pchrgaza welcome ICC Prosecutor’s visit to Rafah Crossing and call for the issuance of arrest warrants.
Full statement: https://t.co/U8v6vikX1b https://t.co/9PHyI5STMs pic.twitter.com/OmkIfwa084— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) October 30, 2023
What is the UAE’s position on Gaza at the UN Security Council?
The United Arab Emirates, which called for today’s emergency UN Security Council meeting on Gaza, is working on another draft resolution pushing for a ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The Gulf country is a top United States ally in the region and has been improving its ties with Israel over the past several years, including by bolstering communications and security ties. In 2020, the UAE signed a so-called “normalisation” deal with Israel, known as the Abraham Accords – and has worked to grow ever closer to Israel.
But amid the war in Gaza, the UAE has been taking an increasingly critical line at the UN, as Arab public opinion hardens against Israel in light of the civilian suffering in Gaza.
“It is interesting that the UAE is taking this position, but the UAE is not just acting as the UAE,” Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor, James Bays, explained.
“The UAE is the current Arab member of the Security Council, so they are the one acting on behalf of the Arab countries in this regard.”
Last week, Abu Dhabi voted in favour of a Russia-led Security Council resolution urging a ceasefire in Gaza while voting against a competing, US-led resolution that had called for a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
If you’re just joining us
It is 11pm (21:00 GMT) in the Palestinian territories and Israel, and here are the latest developments:
- More than 420 children are being killed or injured in the Gaza Strip every day, says Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN’s children’s fund.
- WHO says it has not been able to resupply two hospitals in northern Gaza, Al-Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals, because the United Nations deemed the level of risk unacceptable.
- The Palestine Red Crescent has said 26 trucks with humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt; no fuel has been allowed in.
- In a televised address, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says Hamas has “two options” – either to “die fighting or to surrender without any conditions”.
- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected any calls for a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities with Hamas.
- The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital has suffered severe damage in a new Israeli air attack.
Turkey decries attack on hospital in southern Gaza
Turkey has denounced an Israeli attack on Gaza’s Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, saying there is “no explanation” for such an attack.
In a statement, the Turkish foreign ministry said it had shared all of the “necessary information, including the coordinates of the institution in question” with Israel before the attack.
The hospital is the only cancer hospital in the enclave, it said.
“The siege and these inhumane attacks, which aim to deprive the Palestinian people in Gaza of their most basic rights, clearly violate international law,” the statement read.
Earlier on Monday, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said parts of the hospital were damaged after it was hit in an Israeli air strike.
Ceasefire not the answer, says White House, despite rising civilian death toll
The US does not believe a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is currently “the right answer”, says National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
The official was asked in a White House briefing about the US position on a ceasefire, after it voted against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for humanitarian pauses on Friday.
“We do not believe that a ceasefire is the right answer right now,” Kirby said. “We believe that a ceasefire right now benefits Hamas, and Hamas is the only one that would gain from that right now.”
Israeli attacks have killed more than 8,000 Palestinians since October 7, almost half of them children, and the number of dead is expected to rapidly rise as Israel expands its ground operations in Gaza.
Kirby said that instead of a ceasefire, the US administration was pushing for “temporary, localised humanitarian pauses for aid, and for people to get out”.
WATCH: What’s the financial cost of the war on Gaza?
Israel says the fighting is costing it millions of dollars every day.
A depleted workforce. The closure of schools and businesses. And now, spiralling military expenses.
Economists warn that the cost to Israel of its war on Gaza will be unlike anything it has experienced in decades.
More than 420 children killed or injured in Gaza every day: UNICEF
More than 420 children are being killed or injured in the Gaza Strip every day, says Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF.
“The true cost of this latest escalation will be measured in children’s lives,” she told the UN Security Council.
“In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, at least 37 children have reportedly been killed. More than 30 Israeli children have reportedly been killed, while at least 20 children remain hostage in the Gaza Strip, their fate unknown.
“The situation grows worse by the hour,” Russell warned. “And without an end to the hostilities, I am afraid for the fate of the region’s children.”
She called on the Security Council to “immediately” adopt a resolution that:
- calls for a ceasefire,
- demands the parties allow safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, and
- demands the immediate safe release of all abducted children.
Hezbollah making ‘arrangements’ to curb its losses: Report
The Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon has been exchanging fire with Israeli soldiers on its border for weeks, and has lost 47 fighters to Israeli strikes.
It is now working to curb its loses, sources familiar with the group’s thinking told Reuters news agency, following Israeli drone attacks.
Hezbollah had made “arrangements to reduce the number of martyrs”, a source said, without offering further details.
Among its tactics is the use of anti-aircraft missiles, one source noted.
On Sunday, Hezbollah unveiled its surface-to-air missile capability. The missiles are part of an increasingly potent arsenal.
‘Nowhere safe’ for Palestinian patients to go amid Israel’s hospital evacuation push: UN official
Lisa Doughten of the Office for the UN Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says “life hangs by a thread” for premature Palestinian newborns and patients relying on dialysis in hospitals in the Gaza Strip that are facing a lack of fuel.
“Some 9,000 cancer patients are not receiving adequate care,” she told the UN Security Council, expressing concern over the Israeli military’s warnings to evacuate healthcare facilities in the besieged enclave.
“There is nowhere safe for these patients to go, and for those on life support and babies on incubators, moving will certainly be a death sentence.”
‘What happened and continues to happen is forced displacement’: UNRWA chief
UNRWA’s Lazzarini tells the UN Security Council that Israel’s “relentless bombardment” of Gaza has led to an “unprecedented” level of destruction.
“Now, civilians remaining in the north are receiving evacuation notices from the Israeli forces, urging them south to receive scarce humanitarian assistance. But many, including pregnant women, people with disabilities, the sick and the wounded, are unable to move,” he said.
“What happened and continues to happen is forced displacement.”
Lazzarini added that hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians in Gaza are living in “appalling” conditions, with limited food and water.
“Hunger and despair are turning into anger against the international community and in Gaza, the international community is better known as UNRWA.”
US national security adviser meeting Saudi defence minister: White House
Jake Sullivan is meeting Khalid bin Salman Al Saud in Washington, DC, “to discuss the latest in the region and ongoing efforts to prevent the conflict from widening”, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“Our message to any actor seeking to exploit this conflict is, ‘Don’t do it,'” Kirby said.
“We’re continually watching to make sure that any actor who might be tempted to jump in here knows that we will take very seriously our national security interests in the region, not to mention our obligation to protect our troops in our facilities that are going after ISIS in places like Iraq and Syria.”
UN Security Council is discussing the situation in Gaza
The special session on Gaza is under way.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), is delivering the opening address.
We’ll bring you more shortly.