Israel-Hamas war: Israel expands ground operations into Gaza

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly adopted late on Friday a non-binding resolution demanding an "immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce" in Gaza.

The resolution was put forth by Arab countries. One hundred and twenty countries voted in favor.

Fourteen countries were against, including Israel and the United States. Forty-five countries abstained, including Germany.

A Canadian amendment to the resolution, backed by the US, failed to pass after garnering only 88 votes, less than the two-third majority needed. 

The amendment would have added a condemnation of the "terrorist attacks by Hamas ... and the taking of hostages." The amendment urges the immediate release of those hostages. 

The White House said it asked Israel about it aims and strategy in the Gaza Strip, including "how this is going to end."

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby confirmed he had seen reports that Israel’s army was intensifying strikes on the Gaza Strip but did not comment further on the offensive.

Commenting more broadly on the conflict between Israel and Hamas — which the US and others consider to be a terrorist group — Kirby said the US would be open to a localized, temporary pause in fighting in order to free more than 200 hostages who were taken by the Islamist group.

"We would support humanitarian pauses for stuff getting in, as well as for people getting out, and that includes pushing for fuel to get in and for the restoration of electrical power," Kirby said.

He also said 10 additional aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip but added that more fuel was needed.

Militant group Hamas called on the international community to "act immediately" as Israel's army intensified strikes on the Gaza Strip.

"We call on the Arab and Muslim countries and the international community to take responsibility and act immediately to stop the crimes and series of massacres against our people," Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is considered a terrorist organization by the US, the EU, Germany and others.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry posted footage of the strikes on social media, describing the operation as "the heaviest bombardment on land, sea, and air since the beginning of the war."

Connectivity collapsed in the besieged Gaza Strip on Friday evening, internet watchdog NetBlocks said, citing reports of heavy bombardment.

NetBlocks said live network date showed the collapse, highly impacting the Palestinian Telecommunications company (Paltel).

"The company is the last remaining major operator to supply service as connectivity declines amid ongoing fighting with Israel," the watchdog said on social media.

Other sources within the strip confirmed the blackout, including the Hamas government. 

Palestinian telecoms provider Jawwal also announced  "the total cut of all communication services and internet," saying the heavy bombardment "in the last hour destroyed all remaining international routes connecting Gaza to the outside world."

French news agency AFP journalists inside Gaza also confirmed they were only able to communicate "in limited areas where they could connect to Israeli networks across the border."

The Israeli military says it has increased its strikes on Gaza "in a very significant way," as Israel moves a step closer to a full ground offensive in Gaza.

The Hamas government said Israel had "cut communications and most of the internet" across the Gaza Strip.

"We will continue to strike in Gaza City and around" military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised address. "In addition to the attacks carried out in the last few days, ground forces are expanding their operations tonight."

The armed wing of Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the US and EU among others, that runs Gaza said it responded with "salvos" of rockets aimed at Israel.

Berlin police have banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration announced for Friday evening.

The rally, registered as "Berlin children for Gaza children," was to be held at Alexanderplatz in Berlin. The event was organized by the "Generation Palestine" group.

Police said in a statement that the ban was made after "assessing all the circumstances and findings and weighing up all the interests," including the risk of anti-Semitic incidents, violence or glorification of violence.

The organization of any replacement event is banned until November 6, the statement said.

Several demonstrations connected to the conflict between Israel and Hamas are planned in Berlin over the weekend.

On Saturday, 500 participants are expected at a "Peace in the Middle East" gathering at the central Brandenburg Gate.

On Sunday, a demonstration of solidarity with victims in the Palestinian territories is to take place in the Kreuzberg district, where 800 participants are expected.

A demonstration organized in solidarity with Israel is planned for Sunday at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.

Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has called on the German branch of the environmental group Fridays for Future to change its name in order to distance itself from controversial comments made by activist Greta Thunberg, the figurehead of the global movement.

Schuster said he expected the group and its most recognizable German member Luisa Neubauer, to "truly distance themselves from Fridays for Future International."

"If Luisa Neubauer really meant what she said at the Brandenburg Gate… where she said she was appalled by antisemitism around the world and underscored Germany’s unique obligation to Israel, then she must finally distance herself from this organization."

Last Sunday, Neubauer spoke alongside German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor at a large Berlin demonstration in support of Israel and against antisemitism.

Schuster accused Thunberg and the international umbrella organization of, "crudely distorting history, demonizing Israel and now even espousing conspiracy theories."

Three people have been injured in a rocket strike that hit Tel Aviv, according to Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service.

One man was hospitalized with moderate injuries and two others were lightly wounded and treated at the site of the rocket strike.

Israel's government says that more than 8,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip since October 7.

Medics from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have entered Gaza, a spokeswoman for the organization said.

Six medical staff and four other ICRC specialists entered the Gaza Strip alongside six aid trucks through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

ICRC regional director Fabrizio Carboni said the convoy was "a small dose of relief, but it's not enough."

"Our surgical team and medical supplies will help relieve the extreme pressure on Gaza's doctors and nurses. But safe, sustained humanitarian access is urgently needed," he said.

"This humanitarian catastrophe is deepening by the hour," the ICRC regional director said.

The ICRC joins a number of UN agencies and the World Health Organization in sounding the alarm on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.

Germany, the United States, Israel and several other countries consider the Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist organization.

The European Commission has announced that it is coordinating six more flights with humanitarian aid for Gaza.

According to a press release, a flight carrying 51 tons of medicine, medical items and education supplies left the Danish capital, Copenhagen, for Egypt on Friday.

Five more flights are planned in the next two weeks, the commission said.

The UN has released more details on aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip.

Lynn Hastings, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said 74 aid trucks managed to cross into Gaza since the border was partially opened on Saturday and, "we're expecting another eight or so today."

She said negotiations with Israel to secure humanitarian crossings were ongoing.

"In addition to the technical issues and the security issues, there are political issues as well," she told reporters in Jerusalem via video link.

"There's a certain amount of pressure on the government of Israel in terms of its domestic politics," she said.

Hastings said it was "very tricky" to provide Israel with security assurances while getting aid delivered to the Gaza Strip.

"We need the electricity lines to be reconnected and I've heard the Government of Israel saying they will not be doing that," Hastings said.

"We need to get the fuel trucks in, we need to get fuel for the gas power plant running again," she said.

"And we need to do it in a secure way that offers Israel assurances to make sure that it's not going to be diverted."

Hastings also spoke on the situation in Gaza's hospitals.

"We are aware of the 1,000 patients that require dialysis and over 100 children and babies that are in incubators, so we do our best to try and make the prioritization in accordance with the greatest needs," Hastings said.

The United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says that continuous humanitarian assistance is needed for the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA commissioner Philippe Lazzarini said that "meaningful and uninterrupted" aid was needed for the Palestinian enclave, adding that the assistance received since Saturday when aid trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza amounted to "crumbs."

"The current system in place is geared to fail. What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow. And to succeed, we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need," he stressed during a press conference in Jerusalem.

He confirmed that 57 of the agency's staff had been killed during Israel's war with Hamas.

Lazzarini also discussed the credibility of the death toll provided by the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip.

 "In the past, the five, six cycles of conflict in the Gaza Strip, these figures were considered as credible, and no-one ever really challenged these figures," he said.

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he has "no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using" for the death toll in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, said in a separate statement that another eight trucks carrying food, medicine and water are expected to cross into the Gaza Strip on Friday.

"We have gotten in approximately 74 trucks. We're expecting another eight or so today," she said.

Video streaming app TikTok on Friday denied allegations from the Malaysian government that it was blocking pro-Palestinian content.

"The claim is unfounded. Our community guidelines apply equally to all content on TikTok, and we're committed to consistently enforcing our policies to protect our community," a TikTok spokesperson told Reuters news agency in an email response.

On Thursday Malaysia's Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil warned both TikTok and Meta that Malaysia would take action if the social media companies were found to be blocking pro-Palestinian content.

TikTok says it has "a zero-tolerance policy for content praising violent and hateful organizations and individuals, and those organizations and individuals aren't allowed on our platform."

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, sees the Islamist militant Hamas group as a "dangerous organization" and says it does not allow content containing praise for the group.

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday said that ground troops, fighter jets and UAVs struck Hamas targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

In a short post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the IDF said forces had targeted anti-tank missile launch sites, command and control centers, and "Hamas terrorist operatives."

The IDF said that ground troops “exited the area."

"As part of the activity, IDF aircraft and artillery struck terror targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Shujaiya area and throughout the Gaza Strip," the IDF said in a statement.

The move follows Thursday's military operations which saw infantry and tanks briefly enter the Palestinian territory and conduct similar actions.

The post was accompanied with video footage showing a column of tanks and various explosions.

A missile struck a medical facility in an Egyptian town near the Israeli border, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News reported. The blast injured six people, it said.

 It was not immediately known who fired the projectile.

 

The media outlet cited sources as saying the blast in the town of Taba was related to the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Taba lies some 220 kilometers (136 miles) from Gaza. Reuters news reported a witness in Taba as having heard an explosion and seeing heavy smoke and dust rising.

The Israeli military said it was aware about reports of a blast. It said the situation was one "outside of our border," according to Reuters.