The Israeli military made its first raids into the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion. “I emphasise that this is only the beginning,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Friday Israel gave more than a million residents of the northern half of Gaza 24 hours to flee to the south. Hamas vowed to fight and told residents not to go. The situation in Gaza has reached a “a dangerous new low”, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “We need immediate humanitarian access throughout Gaza, so that we can get fuel, food and water to everyone in need. Even wars have rules.”
The Associated Press has the story:
Netanyahu: ‘Only the beginning’ on Israeli raids into Gaza
NEWSLOOKS- (AP)
CONFLICT
* Calls for an escape route for Palestinians from Gaza have been rebuffed by Arab neighbours. “It is important that the (Palestinian) people remain steadfast and present on their land,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said.
It reflects deep-rooted Arab fears of a new wave of permanent Palestinian displacement, like the the “Nakba”, or “catastrophe”, during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s creation.
* U.S. President Joe Biden said he was making a priority of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while being committed to returning Americans taken hostage by Hamas.
“Our teams are working in the region – including communicating directly with the governments of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations and the United Nations – to surge support,” he said.
* Israeli security forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded dozens in confrontations across the West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Israeli military has said it is prepared for an escalation in the West Bank and is on high alert.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed establishing safe areas in Gaza where civilians could relocate. The U.S. is engaging with the ICRC and U.N. relief agencies, a State Department official said.
* Egypt said it was directing international humanitarian aid flights for Gaza to Al Arish airport in Sinai, near the Rafah border crossing. But it rejects any move to set up safe corridors for fleeing refugees, Egyptian security sources said.
* A news videographer was killed while working in southern Lebanon.
* Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. The Israeli military denied it.
* “The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
* Israel is waging all-out war on Hamas militants to safeguard its future, its defense minister Yoav Gallant said – “This is a war for the existence of Israel as a prosperous state, as a democratic state, as homeland of the Jewish people.”
* Blinken said the Israeli government showed him photographs and videos of Hamas atrocities. He said they showed a baby “riddled with bullets”, soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. “It’s simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,” he said.
* The Hamas attack on Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory attacks.
HUMAN IMPACT
* “We have no track of her since then.” A brother is determined to find his sister missing after Hamas’ kibbutz raid.
* Supporters of the Palestinians, and those of Israel, protested and prayed on Friday.
* Israeli air strikes have made major cemeteries in Gaza dangerous to reach so mourning families are burying their dead in informal graveyards dug in empty lots.
* An Israeli family fears for an ailing grandmother driven off by Hamas gunmen.
* When Israel called up its reservists and declared war this week, the response was swift and overwhelming.
INTERNATIONAL
* The White House said it has not seen any indications that other actors were considering joining and widening the conflict.
* Saudi Arabia is putting U.S.-backed plans to normalise ties with Israel on ice, sources said, signalling a rapid rethinking of its foreign policy priorities.
* Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken is telling Middle Eastern leaders there can be “no more business as usual” with Hamas, he said as he tours Arab states.
* The EU’s industry chief warned Alphabet to adhere to EU tech rules after the spread of disinformation on YouTube following Hamas’ attacks in Israel. It followed similar warnings to to X owner Elon Musk, Meta Platforms’ Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
* The websites of two relief groups providing aid to Israel and Gaza were disrupted after hackers flooded them with traffic, following a series of hackivist threats.
* The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over potential war crimes carried out by Hamas in Israel and Israelis in the Gaza Strip, even though Israel is not a member state, the ICC’s top prosecutor told Reuters.
* The UAE sent a plane carrying urgent medical aid to Egypt for the Gaza Strip, the Emirati state news agency said.
* Israel’s call for more than 1 million to move within 24 hours is going to be a “tall order,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said – “That is a lot of people to move in a very short period of time.”
* Israel Football Association chief Moshe Zuares criticised the English FA for its decision not to light up Wembley Stadium’s arch in blue and white in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack.
* Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines of the conflict, saying the party was “fully ready” to contribute to the fighting.
* Jordanian riot police forcibly dispersed hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach a border zone with the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Jordan fears repercussions for itself as many of its population are Palestinians.
* Republican infighting in the U.S. House of Representatives has left the chamber unable to act to support Israel’s war and pass government spending bills before funding runs out.
INSIGHTS
* Israeli forces poised to invade Gaza on a mission to wipe out Hamas will confront an ever-more capable opponent trained for years by a clandestine support network.
* U.S. President Joe Biden is facing little pressure at home to rein in Israel. He appears to have given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a free hand. But a ground offensive and higher civilian death toll – could force the president to rethink that approach.
* A factbox on the Gaza Strip, devastated by conflict and economic blockade.
* The war falls under a complex international system of justice that has emerged since World War Two.
* The conflict hinges on statehood, land, Jerusalem and refugees, pitting Israeli demands for security against Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own.
* “He is elusive. He is the man in the shadows.” The secretive Hamas mastermind behind the assault: Mohammed Deif.
* The Israel-Hamas war upends Biden’s two-pronged Mideast strategy: brokering Israeli-Saudi detente and containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
MARKETS AND BUSINESS
* What impact can the Israel/Hamas war have on oil?
* Hamas’ cash-to-crypto global finance maze is in Israel’s sights, to cut support from charities and friendly nations.
* US yields slid on worries that Israeli raids inside Gaza could escalate the conflict.
* The G20 chair, India, said the Middle East conflict raises fuel price concerns.
* United Arab Emirates stock markets tumbled on Friday, tracking global equities as a widening conflict between Hamas militants and Israel made investors nervous.
* Airlines wrestled with the safety risk of evacuation operations.
* What are global firms with a presence in Israel doing after the Hamas attack?
