Benjamin Netanyahu warns people to leave Gaza as he vows to reduce parts of the territory ‘into rubble’
Israel’s prime minister has warned people living in Gaza to leave as he vowed to turn parts of the territory “into rubble” in revenge for a “black day”.
Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said Israel was at war with Palestinian militants from Hamas, which governs Gaza, after their fighters launched a surprise attack on Saturday morning.
Rescue service officials told Israeli media at least 250 people were killed in the deadliest attack on the country in decades.
Israel’s health ministry said at least 1,590 people had been injured.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian health ministry said at least 232 people had died and 1,700 wounded in Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza.
In a televised address, Mr Netanyahu said the country’s military would “take revenge for this black day” but he warned: “This war will take time. It will be difficult.”
In a statement he later posted on X, he wrote: “All of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble.
“I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.”
Rockets were seen landing on Gaza hours after Mr Netanyahu issued the threat.
Netanyahu says war will ‘take time’ – follow live updates
Israel will stop supplying electricity, fuel and goods to Gaza, which is already blockaded, according to a statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office on Saturday night.
Much of Gaza was already thrown into darkness by nightfall after electrical supplies from Israel, which serve power to almost all of the territories, were cut off earlier in the day.
Mr Netanyahu also said the “first phase” of the counter-operation had ended, and that Israel had fought off the majority of Hamas militants.
He vowed to continue the offensive “without reservation and without respite”.
Palestinians inspect the ruins of a tower destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City
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Elderly woman captured by Hamas
‘Record year for Palestinians killed by Israelis’
Hamas gunmen targeted up to 22 locations in the initial assault with gun battles continuing well after nightfall. Militants held hostages in two towns and occupied a police station in a third.
Footage appeared to show Hamas fighters paraglide into Israel as they began a mass incursion.
Hamas’ military wing claimed it was holding dozens of Israeli soldiers captive in “safe places” and tunnels in Gaza.
The Israeli military confirmed that a number of Israelis were abducted but would not give a figure.
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Video shows aftermath of Gaza airstrike
Firefighters work to put out a fire in an open field in Ashkelon, Israel, following a mass-infiltration by Hamas
Palestinian activist Nour Odeh, a former Palestinian Authority spokesperson, told Sky News’ US partner NBC News that the attack comes after a record-breaking year for the number of Palestinians killed by Israelis.
He said Saturday’s incursion was not the “beginning of the story” and Israeli forces have occupied Palestinian territories for over 50 years.
Mr Odeh said: “It’s a record-setting year for the number of Palestinians killed, the number of Palestinian children killed, the number of homes demolished, the number of attacks by armed settlers that, you know, burned down homes and attack people and wounded and killed Palestinian civilians.”
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Israeli woman purportedly captured after attack
Flames and smoke billow in southern Israel after rockets were fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza
Israel responds to Hamas attacks
After nightfall, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza intensified, flattening several residential buildings in giant explosions, including a 14-storey tower that held dozens of apartments as well as Hamas offices in central Gaza City.
Israeli forces fired a warning just before and there were no reports of casualties.
Soon after, a Hamas rocket barrage into central Israel hit four cities, including Tel Aviv and a nearby suburb, where two people were seriously injured.
Throughout the day, Hamas fired more than 3,500 rockets, the Israeli military said.
A shopping mall is illuminated with the Palestinian flag in Baghdad in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza
US ‘stands with the people of Israel’
In the southern Gaza city of Rafah, an Israeli airstrike late on Saturday flattened a home, killing 12 members of the Abu Qouto family, neighbours said. Ten members of a family in the northern town of Jebalya were killed in another airstrike, relatives said. It was not known why the homes were targeted.
Palestinians demonstrated in towns and cities around the West Bank on Saturday night amid the offensive. Palestinian health officials said Israeli fire killed five there, but gave few details.
President Joe Biden said from the White House that he had spoken with Mr Netanyahu to say the United States “stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults”.
He said: “Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop.”
The US joined Russia to vote against a UN resolution on the Ukraine war – and abstained from voting on one it drafted after amendments proposed by European countries were added.
The 193-member assembly approved a US-drafted resolution, marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which had originally called for an end to the conflict but did not mention Moscow’s aggression.
It also made no mention of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
However, it was amended after European nations said that it should include references to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the need for a lasting peace in line with the UN Charter.
It was also amended to include references to Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Follow latest: Ukraine war live updates
The amended US-drafted resolution won 93 votes in favour, while 73 states abstained – including the US – and eight – including Russia – voted no.
On the same day, the UN General Assembly approved a European-backed resolution from Ukraine which demanded Russia immediately withdraw from the country.
There were also 93 votes in favour of this resolution, while 65 abstained and 18 voted against it.
The UK, France and Germany were among the countries that voted in favour of the Ukraine-backed resolution, which called for a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.
The US, Russia, Belarus and North Korea were among those that opposed it.
The US voted against Ukraine’s resolution. Pic: AP
The duelling proposals reflect the tensions that have emerged between the US and Ukraine after Donald Trump suddenly opened negotiations with Russia in a bid to quickly resolve the conflict.
It also underscores the strain in the US’ relationship with Europe over the Trump administration’s decision to engage with Moscow.
The outcome marks a setback for the Trump administration in the UN General Assembly, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion.
However, later in the day, the UN Security Council approved the US resolution calling for an end to war in Ukraine – but without mentioning Russia’s aggression. The resolution received 10 votes in favour, while the remaining five members – including France and the UK – abstained.
Dame Barbara Woodward, the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations, said after the UN Security Council approved the motion: “What, how and on what terms this war ends can only be decided by negotiations with Ukraine.
“No peace will be sustainable without Ukraine’s consent.
“We regret that our proposals making these points clear were not taken on board, and as such we could not support this resolution.
“But we share the ambition to find a lasting end to this war, supported by robust security arrangements that ensure Ukraine never again has to face Russia’s attack.”
It came after the results in the General Assembly had showed some diminished support for Ukraine – as more than 140 nations had voted to condemn Russia’s aggression in previous votes.
The United States had tried to pressure the Ukrainians to withdraw their resolution in favour of its proposal, according to a US official and a European diplomat.
US deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea, meanwhile, said multiple previous UN resolutions condemning Russia and demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops “have failed to stop the war,” which “has now dragged on for far too long and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine and Russia and beyond”.
“What we need is a resolution marking the commitment from all UN member states to bring a durable end to the war,” Ms Shea said.
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Dorothy Shea said the war has ‘dragged on too long’. Pic: Reuters
The world is marking the third anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine as America’s allies try to navigate a new reality as Washington’s stance appears to favour Moscow.
European leaders were dismayed last week when they and Ukraine were left out of preliminary talks on ending the conflict.
Mr Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator,” falsely accused Kyiv of starting the war and warned that he “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left”.
Mr Zelenskyy responded by saying the US president was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space”.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is at the White House holding talks with Mr Trump to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine.
At the start of the meeting, Mr Trump told reporters Russian President Vladimir Putin will accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the war in the country.
Mr Trump and Mr Macron have been meeting after the pair had earlier joined a call between G7 leaders.
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Trump on Ukraine’s territory: ‘We’ll see’
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who will meet with Mr Trump at the White House on Thursday, appeared virtually and said G7 nations should be ready to “take on more risk”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in Kyiv, called Russia’s aggression a war on “our way of life”.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Europe’s “first priority” is to strengthen Ukraine’s resistance.
She said this includes speeding up the delivery of weapons and increasing investment, announcing a further €3.5bn (about £3bn) in aid for Ukraine.
Friedrich Merz, who is set to become the new German chancellor, has vowed to “create unity” in Europe as it adjusts to the new Trump administration and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Mr Merz’s task will be complicated by the need to form a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats of outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will remain in office for the immediate future.
He has repeatedly pledged not to work with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, despite its second-place finish but which is under observation by the country’s intelligence agency for suspected right-wing extremism.
Mr Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union, which won with 28.5% of the votes, and the Social Democrats have a combined 328 seats in the 630-seat parliament.
The 69-year-old, who put toughening Germany’s immigration laws at the forefront of the election campaign, said he hopes to complete a deal by Easter.
Experts believe this could prove to be a challenging timescale as the rivals try to find common ground over key policies.
Co-leader of the Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, indicated a deal with Mr Merz is not a formality.
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The path to power may not be smooth for Merz
He said: “The ball is in Friedrich Merz’s court. Only the course of any talks will show whether a government can be formed.”
With US President Donald Trump back in the White House and tensions rising over how to resolve the war in Ukraine, Mr Merz wants to unify Europe in the face of challenges from the US and Russia.
“I have no illusions at all about what is happening from America,” he told supporters.
“We are under such massive pressure… my absolute priority now is really to create unity in Europe.”
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At a media conference later, he added: “There are three topics we need to talk about. Of course, external and security policy – especially following the statements coming out of Washington.
“It is clear that we as Europeans need to be able to act swiftly. We need to be able to defend ourselves. That is a topic that is a top priority in the next few weeks.”
Mr Merz said he remains “hopeful” of maintaining the transatlantic relationship, but warned if it “is destroyed, it will not only be to the detriment of Europe, it will also be to the detriment of America”.
On the other key issues, he added: “Another important topic is the immigration – that is an area where we have proposals. I suppose the Social Democrats will be prepared to talk to us about this as well.
“The third topic is the economic situation. We have to protect work in the industrial sector in Germany.”
He also earlier used social media to say “Europe stands unwaveringly by Ukraine’s side” and how “we must put Ukraine in a position of strength”.
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