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Israel-Hamas war live: Netanyahu says Israel preparing for ground invasion of Gaza and war cabinet ‘working around the clock’

In a televised address, Israeli prime minister says Hamas is ‘doomed’ and timing of ground invasion to be ‘unanimously’ decided by war cabinet

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Guterres 'shocked' by 'misrepresentations by some of my statement' on Gaza

The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has said he has been shocked by misinterpretations of his statement to the UN security council. Israel has called for his resignation over the speech.

“I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement … as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite,” Reuters reports. “I believe it’s necessary to set the record straight – especially out of respect for the victims and their families.”

On Tuesday in New York, having said no injustice to the Palestinians could justify the appalling attacks by Hamas, the UN chief continued: “It is important to … recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”

The UN secretary general had created fury in Israel and among some Republicans in the US by describing Israel’s bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip as the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” and “clear violations of international humanitarian law”.

Key events

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue to carry out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip to “improve” the army’s situation for the upcoming ground offensive, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said.

In a statement, Hagari said the war “will be long, and to achieve the goals of the war, resilience, trust and patience are required” from the Israeli public.

We will continue to strike in Gaza to achieve the goals of the war. Every strike improves our situation for the next stages.

The US has agreed to send two Iron Dome missile defence systems to Israel, according to multiple reports.

“The US will be flowing additional Iron Dome support to Israel,” a defense department official told the Hill.

The Department of Defense is currently engaged in planning to support the provision of U.S. Iron Dome batteries to Israel.

It is unclear when the two systems will be sent, or if they have already been shipped.

Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised statement, said Israel will carry out “soul-searching” and find out what took place during the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

The events of that day will be “fully examined” and “everyone will need to give answers”, the Israeli prime minister said. He added:

I, as the prime minister, am responsible to secure the future of this country. My role is to lead this country and its people to all-out victory over our enemies.

Netanyahu: Israel preparing for ground invasion of Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu said all Hamas militants are “doomed” during a televised statement on Wednesday.

Israel’s military are “getting prepared” for the ground invasion with the goal of destroying Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities, the Israeli prime minister said. The country’s war cabinet are “working around the clock” until it reaches victory, he said.

Netanyahu said he would not provide any details about the ground invasion to “secure the lives of our soldiers”. However, he said the timing of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation is “unanimously” determined by Israel’s war cabinet.

The family of an Al Jazeera journalist has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to the news outlet.

Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Wael Dahdouh’s wife, daughter and son are among his family members who were killed in a strike on a house they were sheltering in, Al Jazeera’s managing editor Mohamed Moawad said.

Aljazeera' s brave veteran journalist Wael Dahdouh's wife, son and daughter were killed in an Israelis airstrike which targeted a shelter house they had fled to. Wael received the news while on air covering the nonstop Israeli strikes on Gaza! pic.twitter.com/yT7jYdG8jn

— Mohamed Moawad (@moawady) October 25, 2023

Footage shows the moment emergency services pulled a family from under the rubble after an airstrike hit their home in Gaza City.

The Hamas-run health ministry has said at least 6,546 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October, including 2,704 children.

A doctor at one of Gaza’s biggest hospitals said the situation is “critical” with just hours to go before the facility is forced to close due to a lack of fuel.

Khaled, a doctor in al-Awda hospital, the main maternity provider in northern Gaza, said the hospital lacks medicines, especially emergency and anaesthesia drugs. In a statement through the charity ActionAid, he said:

The Israeli army called us six days ago to ask us to evacuate the hospital and evacuate the patients and the staff. They gave us two hours for evacuation. We told them that we would not evacuate the hospital.

We cannot evacuate. We have patients, critical patients. And some of them need special care and close observation. All the hospitals around here are overcrowded. I cannot move any patients.

“We are delivering babies here, during the attacks,” he added.

The organisation warned that many women are giving birth without any pain medication, and children are undergoing intensive surgery with no anaesthetic.

Hamas militants have stopped people from approaching the Rafah crossing, a US state department spokesperson said.

Speaking to CNN, Matthew Miller said the sporadic presence of Hamas at the crossing has made the situation “extremely difficult”.

At times, Hamas has had no one there manning the border station. At other times, we have seen Hamas militants actively there with guns preventing people from approaching the crossing.

He said there has been a problem getting people through Gaza into “the no man’s land” where they can ultimately get across to the Egyptian side. He added:

The Egyptians are — on their side — ready, they say, to accept people, foreign nationals, United States citizens, if they can get to Egyptian processing.

Harriet Sherwood
Harriet Sherwood

The prime minister of Qatar has said he hopes there will soon be a breakthrough in negotiations led by the Gulf state to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, although his government has warned that an invasion by Israel could jeopardise those efforts.

“There is some progress and some breakthrough and we remain hopeful,” said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who is also the foreign minister, at a press conference in the Qatari capital.

“If they are able to get along between the two parties I think we will see some breakthroughs hopefully soon,” he added.

Officials from Qatar’s foreign ministry have said an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza would complicate efforts to free the hostages.

Majed Al-Ansari, the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, said:

Obviously a land incursion into Gaza would make it difficult to maintain the safety of the hostages, and in our efforts at mediation with both sides we urge all parties in this conflict to de-escalate immediately.

After the release of four hostages in recent days, Qatar is now discussing a larger release of civilians, according to diplomatic sources. The talks do not include Israeli soldiers who are being held hostage.

Gaza school severely damaged in 'close proximity strike', says UN agency

A school sheltering Palestinians in Gaza sustained “severe collateral damage” due to a “close proximity strike”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.

One civilian was killed and 44 more were injured, including nine children, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The school in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip had been sheltering 4,600 internally displaced people, it said. More than 613,000 internally displaced people are sheltering in UNRWA facilities across Gaza, the agency said.

Another three UNRWA staff members have been killed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 38 staff killed since 7 October, it said.

The agency said last night that it would be forced to halt its operations in Gaza due to a lack of fuel as of Wednesday night.

UNRWA’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, had already warned on Sunday that the organisation’s fuel would run out on Wednesday.

Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach those in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance. No fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza.

In response to last night’s warning, Israel’s military posted a picture of what it said were fuel tanks inside Gaza. “They contain more than 500,000 liters of fuel,” it wrote. “Ask Hamas if you can have some.”

A Royal Air Force plane carrying humanitarian supplies for Gaza has landed in Egypt.

Humanitarian aid “must continue to reach those who need it most”, Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, posted on X.

The C-17 aircraft that left RAF Brize Norton on Wednesday morning carried 21 tonnes of humanitarian supplies, including medical equipment and water filters, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.

The will be distributed by the Egyptian Red Crescent.

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  • What is UNRWA and what has it said about fuel deliveries to Gaza?

  • How bombings, blockades and import bans caused Gaza’s water system to crumble

  • Rishi Sunak calls for ‘specific pauses’ in Israel-Hamas conflict

  • UN warns Gaza aid operation will soon stop if fuel not let in