Israel has struck a high-rise building in Gaza City after warning residents to evacuate. Strikes elsewhere in Gaza City killed at least 27 people, health officials said. The military accuses Hamas of using high-rises for surveillance and plans more targeted strikes. Israel has declared Gaza City a combat zone, sparking protests among Israelis worried about hostages. Hamas released a video of two hostages pleading for an end to the war. Israel's offensive has killed over 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Health officials in Gaza say Israeli strikes killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, overnight and into Thursday. Hamas and Israel reiterated their incompatible demands for ending the nearly two-year war sparked by the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack. Meanwhile the Gaza Health Ministry says the Palestinian death toll from the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 64,000. The latest update includes around 400 people who were listed as missing and are now confirmed dead, according to the ministry.
Pope Leo and Vatican insist on 2-state solution to end Gaza war during meeting with Israel president
Pope Leo XIV and his top diplomats have told Israel’s president that a two-state solution is the “only way out of the war,” in Gaza. During a meeting Thursday, the Vatican called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and entry of humanitarian aid to famine-stricken Palestinians there. The Vatican issued an unusually detailed statement following Leo’s meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who met with the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister. The audience marked the first by history’s first American pope with the Israeli head of state. Leo spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July after an Israeli shell hit the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people and wounding the parish priest.
With Israel promising a punishing new offensive, Palestinians in Gaza's largest city are paralyzed with fear. They are unsure where to go, when to leave and if they will ever return. Israel has declared Gaza City to be a combat zone while the military moves forward with plans to overtake it in a campaign to crush Hamas. Parts of the city are already considered “red zones,” where Palestinians have been ordered to evacuate ahead of expected heavy fighting. That has left people there on edge. Departing the city now could mean leaving for good, but staying behind could be deadly.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — On a darkened beach in Gaza City, the only light comes from small food stalls and flickering cellphones.
The United Arab Emirates has warned that any Israeli move to annex the occupied West Bank would be a “red line,” without specifying its possible impact on the landmark normalization accord between the two countries. The warning came as Israel pressed ahead with the initial stages of its latest major offensive in famine-stricken Gaza City. Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals. Israelis were taking part in a “day of disruption” to protest the call-up of 60,000 reserves for the expanded operation, which has sparked global condemnation and left the country increasingly isolated.
Israel is mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists as part of a gradual call-up tied to its expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip's largest city. The military on Tuesday began to call up reservists weeks after it said it would mobilize 60,000 and extend the service of an additional 20,000 already on active duty. It also said ground and air forces were pressing forward and pursuing more targets in northern and central Gaza. Israel struck two western Gaza City neighborhoods that Israeli forces have repeatedly invaded during the nearly two-year war.
Israel has launched strikes across the Gaza Strip. Palestinian health officials say at least 31 people have been killed as the Israeli military presses ahead with a major offensive in Gaza City. Leading genocide scholars, meanwhile, have accused Israel of genocide. Those are allegations that the Israeli government vehemently rejects. Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared the territory’s largest city a combat zone last week. Residents have observed explosive-laden robots demolishing buildings on the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Gaza City residents now face the twin threats of combat and hunger.
The Israeli military says it has killed the longtime spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing. The announcement was made Sunday as the country’s security cabinet met to discuss the expanding offensive in some of Gaza’s most populated areas. An official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press there were no plans to discuss negotiations for a ceasefire at the meeting. Israel has killed many of Hamas’ military and political leaders as it attempts to dismantle the group’s military capacity and prevent an attack like the one in 2023 that sparked the war. Health officials in Gaza reported more deaths from Israeli strikes and hunger.