UN chief warns Gaza growing more desperate 'by the hour'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday warned the situation in Hamas-ruled Gaza is declining rapidly as he repeated desperate appeals for a ceasefire to end the "nightmare" of bloodshed.

"The situation in Gaza is growing more desperate by the hour. I regret that instead of a critically needed humanitarian pause, supported by the international community, Israel has intensified its military operations," Guterres said on a visit to Nepal's capital Kathmandu.

Israel pounds Gaza as UN warns order 'starting to break down'

Israel pounded Hamas-ruled Gaza with more air and ground attacks Sunday in an escalating military campaign as the UN warned civil order was "starting to break down" in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu steeled the nation for a "long and difficult war" ahead in a late-night televised address as the Red Cross voiced shock at the "intolerable level of human suffering" inside Gaza.

More than three weeks on from the October 7 attacks, Israel has intensified the war despite UN calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, outrage across the Muslim world and desperate pleas from families of the 230 hostages to "bring them home".

The ground operations have heightened fears that Israel's other enemies -- the Iran-allied "axis of resistance" forces in Lebanon as well as Syria, Iraq and Yemen -- could get involved in the conflict.

After weeks of heavy bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-ruled health ministry said has claimed over 8,000 lives, the army said "stage two" of the war started with ground incursions since late Friday.

Israel's military said early Sunday that it had struck another 450 Hamas targets within the past 24 hours, and that it was increasing the number of ground forces in Gaza.

"As part of the expansion of ground activities, combined combat forces struck terrorist cells that attempted to attack the forces," it added, reporting that two Israeli soldiers were wounded, one severely by a mortar shell.

Israel unleashed its massive retaliation on October 7 after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Netanyahu said Saturday that "this is the second stage of the war whose goals are clear: Destroying the military and leadership capabilities of Hamas, and bringing the hostages back home."

He vowed to "eradicate" Hamas "for the sake of our existence".

Panic and fear have surged inside Gaza, where over one million people are displaced, and where communications went dark for days after Israel cut internet lines, although connectivity had gradually returned early Sunday.

Inside Gaza, where petrol and diesel have virtually run out, donkey cart driver Raafat Najjar told AFP that "there are no cars, we transport (people) on carts as there's no fuel."

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Sunday that "thousands of people broke into several UNRWA warehouses and distribution centres in the middle and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, taking wheat flour and other basic survival items like hygiene supplies.

"This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza. People are scared, frustrated and desperate."

- 'Bring them home' -

Netanyahu in his address also admitted to the intelligence failure that left Israel blind-sided and exposed to the October 7 attack that stunned and infuriated the nation.

"There was a terrible failure here, and it will be thoroughly examined," he said.

While Israel has mourned its dead, there has also been intense sympathy with the families whose loved ones are still inside Gaza and at heightened risk as the war intensifies.

Hamas has released four of them but this week also claimed that "almost 50" had been killed by air strikes, a claim that was impossible to verify.

"Bring them home," shouted relatives at a rally on Saturday.

"We demanded that no action be taken that endangers the fate of our family members, and any step considered should take into account the safety of our loved ones," said Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of hostage Romi Gonen.

Hamas's armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said it was ready to release the hostages if Israel freed all the Palestinian prisoners it was holding.

Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, said the group stood ready to make an "immediate" exchange.

Netanyahu met representatives of hostage relatives on Saturday. He made no commitment to any exchange deal but assured the families Israel would "exhaust every option to bring them home".

Ifat Kalderon, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon is believed to be held in Gaza along with members of his family, told AFP she supported the idea of a prisoner release in exchange for the hostages.

"Take them, we don't need them here," she said. "I want my family and all the hostages to come back home."

- 'Red lines crossed' -

As Israel sends troops and tanks further into Gaza, analysts caution of possible fallout threatening the entire Middle East, with Iran-backed Hezbollah opening a new front on the Lebanese border.

Israel's ally the United States has sternly warned Israel's enemies not to get involved, a warning underscored by two aircraft carrier battle groups it has moved to the eastern Mediterranean off Israel and Lebanon.

- Communications blackout -

Overnight to Saturday, hundreds of buildings and houses were completely destroyed and thousands damaged, Gaza officials said.

Hamas retaliated with fresh rocket fire, which wounded three people in central Israel.

Billionaire Elon Musk said his Starlink satellite service would support internet access for "internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza" a day after communications and phone networks were cut across Gaza.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said this was affecting emergency calls and critical ambulance sorties. Human Rights Watch warned it could provide "cover for mass atrocities".

Starlink is a network of satellites in low Earth orbit that can provide internet to remote locations, or areas where normal comms infrastructure has been disabled.

- 'Stop this madness' -

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell demanded a "pause of hostilities" to allow aid into Gaza, after the UN General Assembly called for an "immediate humanitarian truce".

The non-binding resolution on Friday received overwhelming support, but Israel and the United States criticised it for failing to mention Hamas.

Israel's military campaign has displaced more than 1.4 million people inside Gaza, according to the UN, more than half of its 2.4 million inhabitants.

Supplies of food, water and power to the crowded territory have been almost completely cut off.

A first convoy of aid was allowed on October 21, but only 84 trucks have crossed in total, according to the UN, which says that on average, 500 trucks entered Gaza daily before the conflict.

Between the bombardments and the fuel shortages, 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals have been forced to close and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it has had to "significantly reduce its operations".

Violence has also risen sharply in the occupied West Bank since the October 7 attacks, with 109 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers, including 33 children, according to the UN

Turkey-Israel ties in tatters over Erdogan address

Israel said Saturday it was recalling its diplomatic staff from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a fierce attack on its military operation against Hamas militants in Gaza.

The announcement dealt a body blow to the sides' nascent efforts to restore political and economic relations after a decade of all but frozen ties.

Israel and Turkey -- an overwhelmingly Muslim nation that forms the bulwark of NATO defences on the edge of the Middle East -- had only just agreed to reappoint ambassadors last year.

They were also resuming discussions on a US-backed natural gas pipeline project that could have formed the basis for much closer and more lasting cooperation in the coming years.

But their relations unravelled as Erdogan began to pick up the pace of his attacks on Israel's retaliatory military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party staged a massive rally in Istanbul on Saturday that the president said drew a crowd of 1.5 million people.

"Israel, you are an occupier," he told the Turkish and Palestinian-flag waving sea of supporters.

He accused the Israel government of behaving like a "war criminal" and trying to "eradicate" Palestinians.

"Of course, every country has the right to defend itself. But where is the justice in this case? There is no justice -- just a vicious massacre happening in Gaza."

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen recalled all diplomatic staff from Turkey moments after Erdogan finished his remarks.

"Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a reevaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey," he said in a statement.

- 'Crusade' -

Israel had already ordered diplomatic staff out of Turkey and several other regional countries as a security precaution earlier this month.

A Turkish diplomatic source said all Israeli diplomats had left the country by October 19.

"It is difficult to understand whom Cohen had instructed to return," the Turkish diplomatic source said.

But Cohen's statement adds a new diplomatic dimension to the withdrawal.

It follows Erdogan's own announcement earlier this week that he was cancelling plans to visit Israel because of its "inhumane" war.

The sides' diplomatic relations are now in danger of falling to the lows they experienced when an Israeli raid on a Turkish ship carrying aid into Gaza killed 10 civilians in 2010.

Erdogan has been a leading international supporter of Palestinian rights during his two-decade rule.

He told Saturday's rally that Israel was "a pawn in the region" that was being used by Western powers to stamp their authority on the Middle East.

"The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West," Erdogan declared.

And he accused Israel's allies of creating a "crusade war atmosphere" pitting Christians against Muslims.

"Listen to our call for dialogue," Erdogan said. "No one loses from a just peace."

Erdogan's address came in response to days of pro-Palestinian protests in Istanbul and other major cities organised by Turkey's more right-wing and Islamic conservative groups.

But one poll released this week showed the majority of respondents preferring to see Turkey remain either neutral or try to play a mediating role in the war.

The Metropoll survey showed 11.3 percent of the respondents saying they "back Hamas".

But 34.5 percent said Turkey should stay "neutral" and 26.4 percent said it should mediate.

Just 3.0 percent said they "support Israel".

- No EU ceasefire call -

In a joint statement earlier this week, EU leaders avoided any mention of a ceasefire despite some member states' push for tougher language.

Austria's Schallenberg tagged Borrell in a social media post reminding him of the official EU position on Saturday evening.

"It is imperative to stick to the positions clearly expressed by Heads of States and Governments", the minister said, referring to the meeting of European Union leaders earlier this week.

Schallenberg listed the EU's positions, which included condemnation of Hamas's "terrorist attacks", Israel's "right to defend itself in line with international law" and the call for all hostages to be released.

EU leaders wrangled for five hours on Thursday to agree a position, calling for "humanitarian corridors and pauses", stopping short of a call for a ceasefire.

Saturday's exchange was a further indication of the enduring divisions inside the European Union over the war.

A vote at the UN General Assembly on Friday also laid bare the splits in the EU.

Eight EU countries including Belgium, France and Spain voted in favour of a non-binding resolution calling for an "immediate humanitarian truce".

Austria and Hungary were among four EU member states to vote against the resolution, while 15 nations including Germany, Italy and the Netherlands abstained.

Israel and the United States criticised the resolution for failing to mention Hamas.

ICRC chief calls for end to 'catastrophic' Gaza suffering

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday called on all sides to act to halt the "intolerable" human suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

"This is a catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate," said Mirjana Spoljaric, as Israel declared its war on Hamas had "entered a new phase" with its massive bombardment of Gaza.

"I am shocked by the intolerable level of human suffering and urge the parties to the conflict to de-escalate now," she said.

"The tragic loss of so many civilian lives is deplorable.

"It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza amid the massive bombardments, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible."

Spoljaric was speaking hours after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sharply criticised the "unprecedented escalation" of bombardments on Gaza, and called for an "immediate" ceasefire.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned on Saturday there was the potential for thousands more civilians to die if Israel presses a major ground offensive in Gaza.

The conflict is the fifth and deadliest in Gaza since Israel unilaterally withdrew troops and settlers from the Palestinian territory in 2005.

Shelling injures peacekeeper in south Lebanon: UN

A UN peacekeeper was injured Saturday by shelling in south Lebanon, the mission's spokesman said, hours after reporting a hit at its headquarters as Israel-Lebanon border skirmishes intensify amid war in Gaza.

"One peacekeeper was lightly injured" near the border village of Hula, said Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said a Nepalese peacekeeper was "moderately injured in the stomach and arm after two Israeli shells" fell in Hula.

Earlier on Saturday, Tenenti had told AFP that "a shell hit inside the base" in Naqura, where UNIFIL headquarters are located, indicating there were "no injuries but some damage".

He said UNIFIL was seeking to verify who fired the shells.

A Lebanese military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media, said "an Israeli shell penetrated the cement wall" around the UNIFIL headquarters.

The shell did not explode, a UNIFIL statement said, adding that "several of our other positions have also sustained damage in the past three weeks" and urging "all parties to immediately cease fire".

Since Palestinian group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, Lebanon's southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.

The cross-border skirmishes have killed at least 58 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally, mostly Hezbollah combatants but also four civilians, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.

At least four people have been killed on the Israeli side, including one civilian.

- 'Hostile drone' -

On October 15, UNIFIL said its headquarters was struck by a rocket but nobody was hurt.

Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah said it attacked a number of Israeli positions on Saturday, using artillery, guided missiles and other weapons.

Israel's army confirmed that "several anti-tank missile and mortar shell launches" had been fired at its posts along the border, indicating they "fell in open areas".

It said its tanks and artillery were "responding with fire toward the origin of the launches and striking Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon".

NNA reported Israeli shelling at several locations along the border, while "a hostile drone" carried out three strikes in an area more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the frontier.

 

Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians in West Bank: health ministry

Israeli forces killed three Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as violence surges across the territory in parallel with the ongoing war in Gaza.

More than 110 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in the West Bank since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7.

The health ministry said three people aged 29 to 31 were shot dead by Israeli forces at dawn, with the incidents taking place in Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah, in Nablus's Askar refugee camp and in Tubas, a town further north.

It did not provide further details and the Israeli military did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP.

Israel occupied the West Bank during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and its forces regularly carry out raids on Palestinian communities.

In recent months there has also been a rise in violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians.

On Saturday, a 40-year-old Palestinian who was harvesting his olives was killed by a settler in the village of Sawiya near Nablus, the health ministry said.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march in New York

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters poured onto the streets of Brooklyn, New York's largest district on Saturday to voice their anger at Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Home to between 1.6 and two million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims, New York has for the past three weeks been rocked by demonstrations, rallies and vigils in support of the Palestinians and Israel.

Left-wing American Jewish activists are also up in arms against Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Hundreds of people were arrested Friday when police broke up a large demonstration of mostly Jewish New Yorkers who had taken over the main hall of Manhattan's Grand Central station in protest at Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

"We're mobilizing all across New York City, flooding Brooklyn," to call for the "liberation (of) each and every single Palestinian", said 21-year-old protester Abdullah Akl.

Protest organizer Nerdeen Kiswani took aim at American "politicians" for their unwavering support of Israel.

"We are here as New Yorkers to say that we're against this and we're against the politicians, the local politicians as well like New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, who have both pledged unconditional support to Israel," said Kiswani.

Their stance "means that they provide unconditional support to the killing of our people," added Kiswani.

Adams, who governs a city of nearly nine million people, including the world's largest Jewish community after Israel, has repeatedly assured pro-Israel rallies that Israel's "fight" is New York's fight too.

New York media and AFPTV estimated the crowd at thousands of demonstrators, who waved "Free Palestine" and "By any means necessary" placards.

Israel unleashed a massive bombing campaign after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 230 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Since then, relentless Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 8,000 people, half of them children, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the territory said.