Israel preparing for ‘coordinated offensive’ in Gaza Strip – as Iran pledges cooperation with Hamas
Israel is preparing to launch a “coordinated offensive” on the Gaza Strip, after the deadline given to Palestinians to move south to escape passed.
Up to 1.1 million people on the sliver of land were offered safe passage south of the Gaza Wadi river by Israel’s Defence Forces until 4pm local time on Saturday (2pm BST), ahead of what is expected to be an all-out offensive by land, sea and air.
But the UN warned the forced evacuation will have devastating humanitarian consequences, with hospital patients and others unable to leave.
Medical officials say an estimated 35,000 have crammed into the grounds of Gaza City’s main hospital, hoping for refuge.
Israel-Hamas war live: Israel preparing attack by air, land and sea
Earlier on Saturday, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops preparing to enter the Gaza Strip, telling them: “The next stage is coming.”
The Hamas militant group stormed the border last weekend, killing hundreds of Israelis in their homes – as well as 260 others at a music festival.
The group also took Israelis hostage.
Thousands have been killed on both sides since last Saturday’s attack.
The preparations come as Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar on Saturday.
The pair “agreed to continue cooperation” to achieve the group’s “goals”, a statement from Hamas said.
It added Iran praised the attack as a “historic victory” that had dealt a setback to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
US outlet Axios reported Iran sent a message to Israel via the United Nations, stressing that it does not want further escalation in the conflict, but will intervene if the Israeli operation in Gaza continues.
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‘I need daddy?’ Lost in Gaza chaos
As Gazans move south – airstrikes continue over the territory
As families in cars, lorries and donkey carts packed with their possessions headed south from Gaza City, Israeli airstrikes continued in the besieged territory.
Hamas said 70 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in an attack on a fleeing convoy.
Sky News has seen footage that appears to show the truck both before and in the aftermath of the strike.
It was not immediately clear who the target of the airstrikes was, or whether militants were among the passengers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said its troops conducted raids into Gaza to battle insurgents and hunt for more than 120 civilians kidnapped in last weekend’s shock assault by militants on southern Israel.
It is the first time Israel has stated ground troops have been operating inside the strip.
Israeli soldiers at a kibbutz that was targeted last weekend
Israeli media reported remains of people who had gone missing in last week’s attack had been found during the IDF raids.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, while reiterating “unwavering” support for Israel, discussed international coordination to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food and medical care.
Mr Biden also spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who stressed the urgent need to allow urgent humanitarian aid corridors in Gaza.
In New York, Russia asked the UN Security Council to vote on Monday on a draft resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict
that calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and condemns violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism.
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Pro-Palestinian protests take place in UK
Protests prompt arrests in London as politicians express support for Israel
In the UK, arrests were made at a pro-Palestinian rally in London as thousands of people marched through the streets.
There had been previous warnings made to those who attended that anyone showing support for Hamas faced being detained.
Hamas is a proscribed terror group in the UK.
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have condemned Hamas, a week after its attack on Israel.
Speaking on Saturday evening, Mr Sunak defended Israel’s right to defend itself, saying: “We stand with Israel, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always.”
“And I stand with you, the British Jewish community, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always.
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer added: “In the days that have followed, we have heard horrific stories of the murder and mutilation of men, women and children, along with the horror of hostage-taking.”
He called for hostages to be released and said he stands by the Jewish community.
British citizens on the Gaza Strip are being encouraged by the government to follow advice from Israel and move southwards, with hopes the Rafah crossing could open to allow those displaced in the region to head into Egypt.
Four repatriation flights organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have left Tel Aviv for those wanting to leave Israel, with the government now advising against all travel there.
New pictures show the moment of impact as an Israeli missile hit a Beirut apartment block and exploded.
The block was one of five buildings destroyed by airstrikes on Friday alone.
Israel launched airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut in a fourth consecutive day of intense attacks.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press photographer captured a sequence of images showing an Israeli bomb approaching and hitting a multi-storey apartment building in Beirut’s Tayouneh area.
Richard Weir, a senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch, reviewed the close-up photos to determine what type of weapon was used.
“The bomb and components visible in the photographs, including the strake, wire harness cover, and tail fin section, are consistent with a Mk-84 series 2,000-pound class general purpose bomb equipped with Boeing’s joint directed attack munition tail kit,” he told AP.
Pics: AP
Smoke covers a building that collapses following the strike. Pic: AP
Deadly strikes as bombardment stepped up
Israel stepped up its bombardment this week – an escalation that has coincided with signs of movement in US-led diplomacy towards a ceasefire.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked munitions warehouses, a headquarters and other Hezbollah infrastructure. It issued a warning on social media identifying buildings ahead of the strikes.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike killed five members of the same family in a home in Ain Qana in the southern province of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon’s state media said.
The report said a mother, father and their three children were killed but didn’t provide their ages.
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Three other Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 32 in different parts of Tyre province on Friday, also in south Lebanon, the report said.
Video footage also showed a building being struck and turning into a cloud of rubble and debris that billowed into Horsh Beirut, the city’s main park.
Residents check the site of the airstrike in Tayouneh, Beirut. Pic: AP
More than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon during 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – most of them since mid-September.
About 27% of those killed were women and children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon from September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel.
Friday’s strikes come as Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has asked Iran to help secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The prime minister appeared to urge Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group.
On Thursday, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, said that prospects for a ceasefire with Lebanon were the most promising since the conflict began.
The Washington Post reported Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushing to advance a Lebanon ceasefire to deliver an early foreign policy win to his ally, US President-elect Donald Trump.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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