The United States is committed to ensuring that civilians in Gaza continue to have access to food, water and medical care without being diverted by Hamas, President Joe Biden said today, Reuters reports.
"We will continue to work with all parties to keep the Rafah crossing operational to allow the continued movement of aid that is imperative for the well-being of the people of Gaza," he said in a statement after the first convoy of humanitarian supplies passed through.
A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing said the group intends to release two more hostages for "humanitarian reasons," but that Israel has refused to accept them, Reuters reports.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Iz al-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said in a brief statement that he informed Qatar on Friday of Hamas' intention to release the two people.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called today at a conference in Cairo to organize an international peace summit to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
At the conference, he condemned the "killing of civilians on both sides" and called for the "release of all civilians, prisoners and detainees", alluding to the 210 hostages held by Hamas in Israel as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
"And while in one place we see officials rushing and competing to quickly condemn the killing of innocent people, we encounter an incomprehensible hesitation in condemning the same act on the other side," he said, referring to the condemnation of Hamas' attacks on Israel and the West's weak response to the suffering of the Palestinians.
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Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo condemned Israel's two-week bombardment of the Gaza Strip and called for renewed efforts to reach a peace settlement in the Middle East and end the decades-long cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at the summit that Palestinians will not be displaced or driven from their land.
He said that the Israeli leadership must understand once and for all that Israel can never progress if it is founded on injustice as a state.
"Our message to the Israelis is that we want a future of peace and security for both them and the Palestinians. We will not leave, we will not leave," Abbas said, according to Reuters.
Jordan's King Abdullah has condemned the "global silence" over Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and its indifferent approach to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
"The message the Arab world is hearing is that Palestinian lives are less important than Israeli lives," he said, adding that Jordanians were outraged and saddened by acts of violence against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip.
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In a raid by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, ten relatives of Saleh al-Aruri, who is the deputy leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh, were arrested, eyewitnesses said today.
Al-Aruri is one of the founders of the military wing of Hamas, and lives in Beirut.
He has been Israel's main target since the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel that killed at least 1.400 people and took more than 200 hostages.
Soldiers raided his house in the village of Arura, twenty kilometers north of Ramallah, early this morning and arrested more than 20 people, including one of his brothers and ten nephews, eyewitnesses told Agence France-Presse.
Dozens of others were taken in for questioning.
In front of the house, the soldiers placed a banner with a photo of Al-Aruri and an Israeli flag, on which it was written that it was Al-Aruri's house that became the "headquarters of Abu al-Nimer - Israeli intelligence".
Villagers said Abu al-Nimer was the nickname of the Israeli intelligence officer in charge of the area.
The army statement stated that the Israeli Shin Bet security service also participated in the raid and that dozens of Hamas members, including Al-Aruri's relatives, were arrested.
In addition, it was confirmed that the house is now used as a detention center for the interrogation of activists.
Israel accuses Al-Aruri of organizing multiple attacks against Israelis.
He spent almost 20 years in Israeli prisons, and was released in 2010 on the condition that he go into exile.
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Hamas announced today that it will not discuss the fate of Israeli army prisoners until Israel ends its "aggression" on the Gaza Strip, reports Reuters.
"Our position regarding the Israeli army prisoners is clear: it is related to the (possible) exchange of prisoners and we will not discuss it until Israel ends its aggression against Gaza and the Palestinians," Hamas official Osama Hamdan said, speaking from Lebanon. television journalist.
Today, Israel issued a warning to citizens not to travel to Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, saying they could be the target of attacks because of the anger caused in those Arab countries by Israel's war against the Palestinian Hamas.
"We have witnessed a significant increase in protests against Israel over the past few days in countries around the world and especially in Arab countries in the Middle East," the National Security Council said in a statement.
"The rhetoric of global jihad that calls for harming Israelis and Jews around the world has become more extreme," the statement warned.
It was also warned to avoid travel to other Middle Eastern and Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Turkey, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Maldives.
Israel has organized the evacuation of its citizens from Turkey, and for travel to that country it has issued a warning of the highest level not to go.
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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced today that it continues to prepare for the expected ground offensive on the Gaza Strip while Israeli rocket fire from that Palestinian territory and retaliatory Israeli air strikes continue.
It said that "plans to expand the conflict" had been approved in recent days and that soldiers were being trained "in accordance with approved operational plans".
The Israeli army has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers on the border of the Gaza Strip ahead of a major ground offensive that officials have been announcing for days as "soon".
Israeli media reports today that the US and several European governments are putting pressure on Israel to postpone the offensive after Hamas released two American women held hostage in Gaza on Friday.
It is feared that the offensive would hamper efforts to release about 210 hostages in the foreseeable future, a senior diplomatic official told the Times of Israel.
Citizens of Western countries pressuring Israel are among the hostages whose families believe their release will become increasingly difficult as time goes on.
An unnamed diplomatic official said a ground invasion was highly likely and Israel was not being pressured not to launch one, but to delay it to see if additional diplomatic efforts could bear fruit.
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The Israeli military said today that it has arrested 7 wanted Palestinians, including more than 670 with ties to Hamas, since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 450, in another Palestinian territory - across the West Bank.
Last night, 68 members of the Islamic extremist Hamas were arrested, according to the announcement.
Last night, soldiers also demolished the house of Hamas member Maher Shaloon, accused of killing an Israeli in the West Bank in February, in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp.
Several clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians broke out in the past two weeks during the war between Israel and Hamas, and there were several attempted terrorist attacks, the army claims, according to Israeli media.
According to the Palestinian Authority, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers have killed 84 Palestinians from the West Bank since the beginning of the war.
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British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said today that he had spoken with the Israeli government about its duty to act in accordance with international law and to preserve the lives of civilians in Gaza, as well as for its military to show restraint, reports Reuters.
"I spoke directly to the Israeli government about their duty to respect international law and the importance of preserving civilian lives in Gaza," Cleverley said at the Cairo Peace Summit hosted by Egypt.
"Despite the incredibly difficult circumstances, I have called for discipline and professionalism and restraint from the Israeli military," Cleverley said.
At least 352 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on different parts of Gaza in the last 24 hours, Anadolia reports.
The head of the Hamas-affiliated government's media office, Selameh Marouf, said Israel had continued its attacks without interruption since October 7.
He called for the Rafah border crossing to remain open at all times, to ensure the entry of aid needed by the Gaza Strip.
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Trucks carrying aid to Gaza left the Rafah crossing and arrived in the southern part of the enclave on Saturday, a Palestinian border official told Reuters.
At least 20 trucks expected to enter the Gaza Strip "represent only three percent of what was entering the Gaza Strip daily in terms of health and humanitarian needs before the aggression," the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.
The first convoy of humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip today should not be the last, warned in Cairo the head of the UN humanitarian organization, Martin Griffiths.
Twenty aid trucks from Egypt entered Gaza, which is under Israeli siege and shelling.
"I am confident that this cargo will be the beginning of a sustained effort to supply basic goods - above all food, water, medicine and fuel - to the people of Gaza, in a safe, unconditional way without obstacles, he said.
Today, according to the Egyptian media, the trucks contained food and medical aid, but not fuel, which is necessary in the Gaza Strip, whose only power plant is not working.
Trucks with humanitarian aid began entering Gaza today through the Rafah crossing, on the Egyptian border, for the first time since the conflict began 14 days ago.
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A border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday to allow the delivery of desperately needed aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, for the first time since Israel blockaded the territory following an October 7 attack by the militant Hamas movement.
The first trucks entered the Gaza Strip where about 2,3 million Palestinians are in Gaza, half of whom have fled their homes, facing food and water shortages. Hospitals say they are running out of medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators due to a nationwide power outage.
The Hamas media office said the arrival of aid trucks "will not change the catastrophic health conditions in Gaza."
Earlier on Saturday, Egyptian state television showed footage of Egypt opening its border with the Gaza Strip at the Rafah crossing.
Israeli forces continued airstrikes across the Gaza Strip from where militants continue to fire rockets into Israel.
The opening of the Rafah crossing followed more than a week of high-level diplomacy by various mediators, including visits to the region by US President Joseph Biden and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
More than 200 trucks with around 3.000 tons of aid, which have been waiting near the crossing for days, have started heading towards Gaza. Hundreds of foreign nationals were also waiting to cross from Gaza into Egypt to avoid the conflict.
The opening came hours after Hamas released two American women, a mother and daughter, who were among about 200 hostages taken by the militants during an October 7 incursion into Israel. It is not yet known whether there is any connection between the release of the first two hostages and the opening of Rafa.
Hamas said it was working with mediators to "close the case" of the hostages if security conditions allow. The militant group said it was committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and others.
At the same time, a ground offensive by Israeli forces is expected with the aim of eradicating Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years. Israel said on Friday that it has no plans to take long-term control of the small but densely populated Palestinian territory.
A potential Israeli ground attack is likely to lead to a dramatic escalation of casualties on both sides in the city's fighting. More than 1.400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel during the Hamas incursion, according to Israeli authorities.
The Palestinian Authority, under the control of Hamas, says that at least 7 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 4.137.
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(Radio Free Europe)
Trucks with humanitarian aid started moving today from the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side to the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, a security source and an official of the Egyptian Red Crescent told Agence France-Presse.
Egyptian state television showed more trucks crossing a large gate at the border, on the 15th day of war between Israel and Hamas, which rules Gaza.
Tonnes of humanitarian aid have been piling up for days in anticipation of the opening of the crossing so aid can be delivered to Gaza's 2,4 million residents who are under blockade and have been left without water, electricity and fuel.
More than 200 trucks with about 3.000 tons of aid, which had been standing at the crossing for days, started moving towards Gaza, the AP agency reports.
Israel imposed a siege on the territory and launched waves of airstrikes after Hamas commandos invaded southern Israeli territory on October 7.
The opening of the crossing came just hours after Hamas freed an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first of about 200 hostages taken by Hamas militants after the October 7 incursion into Israel. It is not known if the two events are related.
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Hamas' media office said today that the expected aid trucks "will not change the catastrophic health conditions in Gaza."
At least 13 Palestinians were killed in an airstrike in the Deir El Balah neighborhood of Gaza on Saturday, Hamas' Al Shehab news agency reported, Reuters reports.
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have started entering the Rafah crossing in the besieged Gaza Strip, footage from Egyptian state television showed, reports Reuters.
Earlier today, trucks with medicines were being prepared, and there were border staff on the Egyptian side of the crossing.
"The aid convoy scheduled to enter (Gaza) today includes 20 trucks carrying medicine, medical supplies and a limited amount of (canned) food supplies," Hamas' media office said in a statement.
The US embassy in Israel said the Gaza-Egypt border could open today (Saturday), suggesting the move would allow foreigners to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave, Reuters reports.
In a post on social media, the embassy said it had "received information" that the Rafah crossing would open at 10 a.m. local time, or XNUMX a.m. CET.
"We do not know how long it will remain open for foreign nationals to leave Gaza," it added.
Israel vows to wipe out Hamas in a relentless assault on the Gaza Strip, but has no clear end in sight and no plan for how to manage the devastated Palestinian enclave even if it triumphs on the battlefield.
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