Israel-Palestine Escalation
Israel was hit by an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, with Hamas movement's troops infiltrating border areas. On October 8, the Israeli government announced that it had invoked Article 40 of the Basic Law, which means the country was officially in a state of war.
Gaza Strip - Sputnik Africa

Live Updates: No Ceasefire in Gaza Without Release of Captives, Operation to Continue – Netanyahu

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CAIRO (Sputnik) - Responding to a Hamas attack on October 7, Israel launched retaliatory strikes and enforced a total blockade of the Palestinian Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off water, food and fuel supplies and killing nearly 10,000 civilians, mostly children. Later, Israel launched a ground invasion of the Strip.
Egypt refuses to consider Israel's actions as legitimate self-defense since these actions lead to the death of civilians in the Gaza Strip, which cannot be justified, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Saturday.

"There can be no justification for the deaths of civilians in Gaza [...] We will not accept attempts to justify these actions as a legitimate right to self-defense," Shoukry said during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al Safadi.

Shoukry added that Israeli strikes on civilian targets and attempts to force the displacement of Palestinians "cannot be considered a right to self-defense."
Al Safadi, in turn, noted that other Arab countries also refuse to consider Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as self-defense.
On October 7, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, breaching the border and killing and taking captives in nearby Israeli military sites and communities. The movement said its operation, Al-Aqsa Flood, was in response to Israeli provocations and occupation of Palestinian territories.
Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion into Gaza, ostensibly to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue hostages.
The escalation of the conflict has resulted in the deaths of some 1,400 people in Israel and more than 9,000, including at least 4,800 children, in Gaza, and has raised the risk of a wider regional conflagration amid fears that Iran or the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah could enter the fray. The UN and other human rights groups warned of a possible genocide in Gaza.
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17:53 05.11.2023
Mobile Connectivity, Internet Off Again in Gaza Strip: Palestinian Telecom Operator
17:03 05.11.2023
Iranian Supreme Leader Discusses Situation in Gaza With Hamas Chief - State Media
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei held a meeting and talks with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Sunday, during which the two sides discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip, I Fars news agency has reported.
During the meeting, Haniyeh briefed Khamenei on the latest developments in Gaza, the Iranian news agency reported. Khamenei commended the resilience of Gazans and stressed the need for serious action on the part of Muslim countries and international organizations, the report read.
16:54 05.11.2023
16:36 05.11.2023
Arab League Comment on 'Nuclear Bomb' Statements: This Is the Real Face of Israel
The Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, commented on the statements of the Israeli Minister Amichai Eliyahu about the possible use of the nuclear bomb in the Gaza Strip, revealing the "despicable racism".
Aboul Gheit said in a statement on the X platform that "the statement reveals not only the fact that they have a nuclear weapon, but also the hateful racist view of the Israelis towards the Palestinian people," adding that "this is the real face of the occupation government for all those who defend it in the West.
16:08 05.11.2023
US Sees No Need to Cut Aid to Palestine Now, Works with Israeli Security Services - White House
16:07 05.11.2023
US Cannot Predict End of Gaza Conflict, Situation 'Will Not Be Same' After Hamas Attacks on Israel - White House
16:05 05.11.2023
US Concerned by Number of Civilian Victims in Gaza, Urges Israel to Comply with Humanitarian Law
TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – The United States is concerned about the number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and calls on its Middle Eastern partner to abide by international humanitarian law, Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said on Sunday.
“What I will say is- is some of the images and some of the events that we've seen transpire in Gaza have been heartbreaking for all of us. There are innocent people being killed in this conflict in Gaza,” Finer said in an interview with CBS News.
It is hard to predict a timetable for an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas but the United States believes that things will not be the same as they were before the Palestinian movement attacked Israel in early October, Finer said.
“So I don't want to speculate about how close we are or are not to the end of the war. But what I will say, and President [Joe] Biden has been very clear, about this is that whenever this conflict is over, we cannot go back to the way things were before October 7, either in Gaza, or in the West Bank,” Finer said.
Finer also argued against reducing support given to the Palestinian Authority under the current circumstances, pointing out that they "are working, in many cases alongside Israeli security forces."
16:02 05.11.2023
US Discusses Possibility of Halting Combat in Gaza to Free Israeli Remaining Captives - White House
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States is involved in secret talks to deliver a pause in Gaza fighting that would ensure the release of remaining American hostages from Hamas captivity, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said Sunday.
"Those negotiations are going on quietly behind the scenes, they have taken longer than any of us would like. But we continue to believe that there is the possibility of getting a significant number of these hostages released, and you've heard both President [Joe] Biden and the prime minister of Israel say that there could be a pause in the fighting to enable that," he told CNN's Face the Nation show.
Washington has so far been able to negotiate the release of more than 300 Americans, but a number of others are believed to still be trapped inside the besieged Gaza Strip, according to Finer.
"You heard the prime minister of Israel say yesterday that the context in which they would consider a pause would be related to a hostage agreement. We don't obviously have yet a hostage agreement, but again, we're working very hard to get one," he said.
15:28 05.11.2023
Netanyahu: No Ceasefire in Gaza Without Release of Captives, Operation to Continue Until Victory
TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that there will be no ceasefire in the Gaza Strip without the release of hostages abducted by Hamas and that the Israeli military operation will continue until the victory is achieved.
"I also want you to know one thing that we will not do — there will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages, let that be taken out of the lexicon altogether. We say this to our enemies and to our friends. We will continue until we defeat them, we have no choice. I think everyone understands that today," Netanyahu told soldiers at an Israeli air force base.
14:07 05.11.2023
Israeli Army Says Eliminated More Than 20 Senior Hamas Commanders
14:07 05.11.2023
Ankara, Cairo Working on Moving Injured Gazans to Egypt:Turkish Health Ministry
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Ankara and Cairo are working together to bring about 1,000 sick and wounded people from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, including those with cancer, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Sunday.
"We agreed on many things [with the Egyptian health minister]. We continue to work to bring nearly 1,000 patients and injured people, who were previously reported to us and need urgent treatment, to Egypt via the Rafah border gate. This includes cancer patients who were getting treatment at the Turkiye-Palestine Friendship Hospital in Gaza, which was forced to end its operations," Koca said on X.
Cancer patients and those in serious condition will be transported to Turkey by air ambulances and a ship hospital, Koca said.
14:06 05.11.2023
Egypt Permits Entry of 2 Turkish Ships With Field Hospitals for Injured Gazans
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Cairo has granted permission to two Turkish ships with field hospitals to enter Egyptian ports to provide medical treatment for injured civilians of the Gaza Strip, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Sunday.
"Two Turkish ships were granted permission to enter Egyptian ports. These ships have been in standby in our waters to be deployed at any time for the shipment of field hospitals and ambulances that Turkiye wants to send to Egypt to be used in the treatment of the injured from Gaza," Koca said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Wednesday, Koca said that Ankara was awaiting Cairo's permission to build 20 field hospitals for Palestinians at Egypt's El Arish Airport, located not far from the Rafah border checkpoint.
13:03 05.11.2023
Hezbollah Says Struck Israeli Barracks Near Lebanese Border
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said on Sunday it launched a missile strike on Israeli barracks in the village of Avivim and a military facility on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
"On Sunday, Islamic Resistance fighters fired guided missiles at the Avivim barracks and the Jal ad-Dir facility," the movement said in a statement.
13:03 05.11.2023
Iran's Defense Minister Threatens US With 'Serious Attack' if Washington Does Not Stop War in Gaza Strip
13:02 05.11.2023
Gaza's Death Toll From Israeli Strikes Rises to 9,700: Health Ministry
CAIRO (Sputnik) - The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has topped 9,700 and over 24,800 people have been injured, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said on Sunday.
"The death toll grew to 9,770, with 4,800 children, 2,550 women and 596 elderly people. Also within this month, 24,808 people sustained injuries of various degrees," Al-Qudra told a briefing broadcast by Arab television channels.
12:26 05.11.2023
Israeli Minister Suspended After Suggestion that Nuking Gaza is an Option
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu from government meetings until further notice after the minister said "throwing an atom bomb on Gaza in one of the options."
Eliyahu also voiced his objection to allowing any humanitarian aid into Gaza, adding that "there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza" and that Palestinians "can go to Ireland or deserts."
Later, Eliyahu took to social media to claim that his comment about the option of nuking Gaza was only a metaphor.
09:48 05.11.2023
Russian Emergency Ministry Says Will Deliver 60 Tonnes of Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Strip
Two special flights of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations prepare to deliver 60 metric tons of humanitarian cargo for the residents of the Palestinian Gaza Strip, including food and personal care products, on Sudany, November 5, 2023. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 05.11.2023
Israel-Palestine Escalation
Sixty Tonnes of Russia's Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Strip Arrives in Egypt
08:53 05.11.2023
US Officials Outline Steps to Israel to Reduce Civilian Casualties in Gaza Strip - Reports
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US officials have privately outlined to Israel a number of steps to reduce civilian casualties in the Jewish country's ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip by taking a "more deliberate" approach in their operations and using smaller bombs to target Hamas's tunnel infrastructure, The New York Times reported, citing sources.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the "concrete steps" that the US believed Israel should take to "minimize" the death of civilians, but he did not specify the exact measures, the newspaper reported on Saturday. Blinken delivered the same message during his meeting with six Arab leaders in the Jordanian capital city on Saturday, the report said.
Meanwhile, US officials said that a number of discussions had taken place to advise Israel to take a "more deliberate approach" in their operations to reduce civilian casualties, including improving the process of targeting Hamas leaders by gathering more intelligence data on the movement's command and control networks before launching strikes, using smaller bombs to hit the tunnel network and deploying the Israel Defense Forces' ground units to separate civilian population centers from possible places of accumulation of the Palestinian movement's members, the report also said.
On Saturday, the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Palestinian Authority met in Jordan's Amman to coordinate their efforts to end Israel's conflict with Hamas. The ministers also met with Blinken to present a common stance on the Gaza–Israel conflict.
08:51 05.11.2023
IDF Claims to Have Discovered Multiple Access Points to Hamas Underground Tunnels in Northern Gaza
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday it had detected multiple access points to Palestinian resistance movement Hamas's network of underground tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip.
"IDF troops uncovered multiple access points during operational activity in Northern Gaza," the IDF said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Saturday, the Israeli army said it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip and destroyed the Palestinian movement's infrastructure.
08:47 05.11.2023
Israeli Army to Allow Evacuation of Civilians From Northern Gaza to Southern on Sunday
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will open a humanitarian corridor on Sunday to allow the evacuation of Gaza Strip residents from north to south, IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Saturday.
On Saturday, the IDF also allowed the evacuation of Gaza residents from north to south along the Salah al-Din Road from 11:00 to 14:00 GMT.
"Today, Hamas fired mortar and anti-tank shells towards our forces, who were trying to open the road from the north of the Gaza Strip to its south so that you could protect yourselves … Despite this, the IDF will allow traffic on Salah al-Din Road tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. [08:00-12:00 GMT] For your safety, take advantage of this time to move south beyond Wadi Gaza," Adraee was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
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