US will always be with you, Blinken tells Israel

This live updates article has been closed. For the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war, please click here. 

Canada supports Israel's right to defend itself in accordance with international law, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said.

He did not respond directly when asked whether Israel's blockade of the Gaza strip was legal under international law.

"We need to continue to work with international communities and allies to try and find a way to protect all civilians through this," he said at a press conference in Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories. "But the choices that Hamas has made, make that even more difficult than it would otherwise be."

Toronto police said they had arrested three men on Thursday after they made threats at the city's Community Hebrew Academy.

Officials told reporters that three Canadian citizens were confirmed dead from Hamas' attack in Israel.

They said that 128 Canadians were evacuated from Tel Aviv to Athens on Thursday on a military plane, adding that a second plane carrying 153 people will leave soon.

More than 1,600 Canadian citizens and permanent residents have requested help to leave the region.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to visit Israel on Friday.

She will be accompanied by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the Commission said in a statement.

The officials will "express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks, and meet with Israeli leadership."

The two officials have condemned Hamas' attack in previous statements.

"These innocents were killed for one single reason. For being Jewish and living in the State of Israel," Von der Leyen said on Wednesday. "It is an ancient evil, which reminds us of the darkest past and shocks all of us to the core,"

"October 7 is a day that will go down in global infamy," Metsola said on Wednesday in Brussels. "The world has witnessed Jews being murdered simply because they were Jewish. Again. In Israel."

Gaza's Interior Ministry says that an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least 45 people and injured dozens more.

The camp is located in the northern Gaza strip.

Eyad Bozum, the interior ministry's spokesperson, told the Associated Press that the death toll was likely to rise as civil defense workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told DW that members of the military alliance condemn Hamas' terror attacks on Israel.

Stoltenberg said it was "important" that NATO members were briefed by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday, adding that it was "shocking to be reminded of the brutality of the terrorist attacks over the weekend against Israel." 

Stoltenberg also touched on Israel's military response towards Hamas in Gaza during the interview.

"It is important to protect civilian lives," said Stoltenberg. "This is an extremely difficult situation… we know how many people live in the Gaza Strip."

Asked whether cutting food and electricity supplies falls within international law, Stoltenberg said: "I think this does demonstrate the extremely difficult dilemmas we face and that Israel faces as they are going to defend themselves against this type of terrorist attacks."

NATO plays no active role in the conflict, but many member states, including Germany, are willing to support Israel with supplies, Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg stressed that the conflict between Israel and Hamas will not divert the military alliance's attention from Russia's war in Ukraine.

"That will not undermine our ability, our willingness to continue to support Ukraine. And this is stated not only in words, but also in deeds," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to "do everything to ensure that these hostages, whatever their nationality, are released."

Speaking in a televised address to the nation, he confirmed that 13 French citizens had been killed in Hamas' attack on Israel over the weekend, while a further 17 French nationals were still not accounted for.

Hamas, deemed a terror group by the US, EU and others, is believed to have taken as many as 150 hostages following its attacks against Israel on Saturday. 

Addressing Israel, Macron urged a "strong and just response" to the attack which he called "blind murderous hatred" and a "frenzy of absolute cruelty."

"The only response to terrorism is a strong and just response," he said. "Israel has the right to defend herself by eliminating terrorist groups including Hamas in targeted operations."

However, he also insisted on "safeguarding civilian populations, because that is the responsibility of a democracy."

On the longer-term picture, Macron said that the only way to resolving the crisis was security guarantees for Israel along with a two-state solution.

Israel's new emergency government has been sworn in for the duration of the current conflict by a 66-4 vote in the Knesset.

Benny Gantz, a senior opposition figure from the centrist Blue and White alliance and former defense minister, has joined the government, forming a "war cabinet" alongside Netanyahu and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

Gantz, who is joined by four party colleagues, described the new government as "united" and ready to "wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the Earth."

Netanyahu's extreme right-wing coalition partners will continue to serve in the government. At the same time, the country's chief opposition leader, Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid party, has refused to join. 

Lapid has accused Netanyahu’s far-right coalition of "unforgivable" failures to prevent and defend against Hamas' attack on Saturday, but did express his party's support for Israeli operations towards Gaza.

In forming his emergency government, Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to put his controversial judicial reforms, which had caused monthslong protests, on ice.

The European Commission says it is opening an investigation into the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to determine whether it allowed the spread of disinformation on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The commission said that it had sent a formal request for information to X, which is owned by Elon Musk. This comes two days after EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton sent the firm a warning letter.

The platform's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, said in response to the warning letter: "X is proportionately and effectively assessing and addressing identified fake and manipulated content during this constantly evolving and shifting crisis."

President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas has called for "an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people" in his first public remarks since Hamas' terror attacks on Israel on Saturday.

The official statement was released following a meeting between Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Abbas said he rejected "practices related to killing civilians or abusing them on both sides," adding that the targeting of civilians by both Israeli forces and Hamas militants "contravenes morals, religion and international law."

He said that Palestinians "renounce violence and adhere to international legitimacy, peaceful popular resistance, and political action as a path to achieving our national goals."

Abbas called for action to secure the supply of electricity and water to the Gaza Strip and for the opening of "urgent humanitarian corridors."

The two leaders discussed "ways to stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and deliver aid and relief" to Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for a "complete siege" on Gaza after Hamas launched a massive terror attack on Israel Saturday, killing hundreds of people. Hamas, which rules over the Gaza Strip, is deemed a terrorist organization by the US, Germany, EU and several others.   

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he has been shown photographs "beyond what anyone would want to imagine. Babies riddled with bullets, young people burned alive ... It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. It almost defies comprehension and harkens back to ISIS on its rampage."

ISIS is a reference to the so-called "Islamic State' (IS), a jihadi organization which once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq. 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared some of the explicit photos on social network X, formerly Twitter.

Holding his second press conference of the day in Tel Aviv, Blinken described Hamas' attack on Israel as, proportionally speaking, "the equivalent of ten 9/11s" in terms of loss of life. "That's how devastating this attack has been."

Blinken also spoke about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, condemning Hamas for continuing to use civilians as human shields and saying that he had discussed with Netanyahu possibilities for safe passage for civilians who want to leave Gaza.

Asked whether the US would intervene if Hezbollah militants in Lebanon were to open a second front to the north of Israel, Blinken said that "there will not be a second front" and that no-one should "try to take advantage of this moment."

From Israel, Blinken will travel to meet with other leaders across the region in the coming days "to keep the conflict from spreading" and to discuss how to convince Hamas to release hostages, starting with King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan.

France is banning all pro-Palestinian protests, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says.

He made the statement in a letter to local government officials on Thursday.

The minister said that demonstrations were "likely to generate disturbances to public order."

Darmanin told the Agence-France Presse (AFP) news agency that "organizers and troublemakers" could be liable for arrest.

In a Thursday interview, the minister told Radio France Inter that France had registered "more than 100" antisemitic incidents since Hamas' terror attack on Israel on Saturday.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that residents in the Gaza Strip were going to be in a very difficult situation without immediate funding and help.

"Gaza's on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity and critical supplies," the UN food agency said.

More than half the population in Gaza, or 1.2 million people, already struggled to feed their families before Israel declared a "complete siege" of the enclave in reponse to Hamas' deadly terror attacks on Israel over the weekend, the UN agency said.

Hamas breached the border from Gaza on Saturday, killing hundreds and abducting others in an unprecedented attack during a major Jewish holiday. Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the US, EU and several others. 

The UN food agency together with others distributed fresh bread and food to 137,000 displaced people in shelters, and plans to reach more than 800,000 people across the enclave.

"In less than one week, shops in Gaza will run out of food. Available food risks being spoiled due to electricity cuts. WFP food assistance stocks are running out," it said.

Gaza's only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down Wednesday. Without power, communication is limited and information is scarce.

Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the US to allow delivery of food and fuel through its Rafah border crossing, which remained closed on both sides Thursday.

But Egypt has pushed back against proposals to establish corridors out of Gaza, saying an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave could have grave consequences on the Palestinian cause.

The conflict has claimed more than 2,500 lives on both sides since the weekend and is expected to escalate.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim, with whom he discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The chancellor's spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said that "the situation in the Middle East and Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel" were at the center of the meeting.

Scholz told Tamim that Germany stood by Israel "unwaveringly" and spoke of the "fate of hostages kidnapped by Hamas, including German nationals."

"Hamas has full responsibility for the well-being of hostages," Scholz stressed.

He also acknowledged Qatar's "humanitarian efforts" in the talks.

Ahead of the talks, Germany's chancellor defended the decision to meet with the Qatari emir, saying in his speech in parliament it would be "irresponsible in this dramatic situation not to use all contacts who could help."

Qatar is one of Hamas' main financial backers. Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the EU, as well as the US, Germany and several other countries.

Scholz is also scheduled to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah in Berlin next week.

The first special aircraft commissioned by the government in Berlin to evacuate German nationals from Israel landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday, the German Foreign Office said.

Lufthansa, which is carrying out a number of repatriation flights on Thursday and Friday, would have three additional flights land Thursday.

A ferry to Cyprus has also been organized on Thursday, the German Foreign Office said.

The Foreign Ministry had earlier said that citizens registered on the so-called ELEFAND crisis prevention list would be informed about evacuation details Thursday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is set to travel to Israel on Friday, the Federal Foreign Office said. 

On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Hamas' terror attacks in a speech at the Bundestag, the German parliament.

He said: "We condemn the terrorists and we say very clearly, Israel has the right under international law to defend its citizens against such acts of barbarism." 

Hamas is considered a terror group by the US, EU, Israel and Germany, among others.

World leaders have forcefully condemned Hamas' terror attacks over the weekend, with a string of top diplomats, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, having arrived in Tel Aviv to show support for Israel in recent days. 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has shared with the NATO military alliance a video showing the scale of the "horrific" weekend attacks by Hamas on Israel. Hamas is deemed a terror organization by the US, Germany and EU, among others.

Gallant joined NATO members via video conference on Thursday, briefing counterparts gathered for two days in Brussels on the situation in Israel.

The video showed "graphic and shocking footage," the Reuters news agency cited one source as saying. Another official in the room was cited as saying some of the footage was blurred "to protect the dignity of the victims."

"We have been hit hard. Yet, make no mistake, 2023 is not 1943. We are the same Jews, but we have different abilities. The state of Israel is strong, we are united and powerful," Gallant said, in statements carried by the German news agency DPA.

He vowed that the Israeli military "will destroy Hamas, and we will hunt down every last man with the blood of our children on his hand."

"It will be a long and difficult war, but we will prevail," Gallant added.