Israel-Hamas updates: 45 killed in Israel strike on Gaza apartment block

This live blog is now closed.

You can read about the situation in the Palestinian territories and Israel here and here.

You can also read about the deteriorating situation at Gaza hospitals here.

We are going to bring our live coverage to an end soon. Here’s a summary of today’s main events:

• Israel said it dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza amid a mounting Palestinian death toll.
• US Secretary of State Blinken voiced unwavering support for Israel during a visit to the country, where he met with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
• Israeli forces bombed runways in Syria’s two main airports in Damascus and Aleppo.
• Upon arriving in Beirut, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian said if Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on “other fronts”.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says that the continuation of crimes against Palestinians will receive a response from “the rest of the Axis” and Israel will be responsible for the consequences.

“Some Western officials have questioned if there is an intention to open a new front against the Zionist entity. Of course, in light of the continuation of these circumstances that are war crimes,” he adds, speaking through a translator, on television upon his arrival in Beirut.

The Iranian minister said the displacement of Palestinians and cutting water and electricity to the Gaza Strip are considered war crimes.

Axis of Resistance refers to an alliance among Iran, Palestinian militant groups, Syria, the Lebanese Hezbollah group Hezbollah and other factions.

Israel’s military says 247 soldiers have been killed since the start of the war last weekend – an increase from 222 earlier in the day.

Many of the troops were caught by surprise after the Hamas incursion last Saturday on a Jewish holiday. Israel has one of the world’s most powerful militaries, bolstered by more than $3.8bn of military aid a year from the US.

Israel has 169,500 active military personnel in the army, navy and paramilitary. A further 465,000 constitute its reserve forces, while 8,000 form part of its paramilitary.

About 300,000 Israeli soldiers are now stationed near the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Said Sadek, a professor of peace studies at Egypt-Japan University, said concerns have grown over whether the Palestinians of Gaza fleeing the bombardment would be able to return if a humanitarian corridor is created.

“Now, if Egypt opens the gates and allows Palestinians to escape from the bombardment and come to Sinai, there is no international guarantee, even the Americans declare, that they will not guarantee that they can return back,” he told Al Jazeera from Cairo.

“There is suspicion that Sinai can be an alternative homeland for the Palestinians. And even Jordan … has also warned about using this excuse of humanitarian refuge in Sinai to close and end the Palestinian question, to solve the demographic problem in Gaza by getting rid of the population,” he said.

Hamas has accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza, saying that Western countries offering military aid to Israel are participating in the killing of Palestinians instead of seeking a resolution to the conflict and occupation.

“There is no safe area for the people in Gaza to seek refuge or shelter,” senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said in a video statement, speaking in English.

“Every area and every building is under possible attack. Everyone is targeted and vulnerable to Israel’s killing, including women, children, the elderly and even disabled people.”

Hamad also decried the “illegal and unethical” siege by Israel on Gaza that is preventing fuel and humanitarian supplies from entering the territory.

“The Israeli leaders are giving clear instructions to their army to carry out a genocide [against] more than two million citizens in the Gaza Strip. We are facing unprecedented crimes in modern history,” he said.

The Emirati defence ministry has denied allegations that US military aircraft recently arrived at Al Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates to provide support for Israel.

In a statement on X, the foreign ministry said the allegations are baseless and the presence of US warplanes at the base has been ongoing for months in accordance with agreements to maintain bilateral military cooperation.

The UAE hosts about 2,000 US soldiers and serves as a crucial base of operations for the deployment of armed drones and F-35 stealth fighters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed he will visit the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt following planned trips to Jordan and Qatar on Friday.

An Arab-American civil rights organisation has said that the FBI visited “multiple mosques” across the US, adding that the group also received reports of immigration authorities detaining Palestinian nationals.

“We have received multiple calls today regarding Palestinian nationals detained by ICE, and/or visited by the FBI,” Abed Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said in a social media post.

ICE is the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

“The FBI has also visited multiple mosques today, in different states, as well as Arab inmates,” Ayoub added.

We have received multiple calls today regarding Palestinian nationals detained by ICE, and/or visited by the FBI.

The FBI has also visited multiple mosques today, in different states, as well as Arab inmates.

This is a troubling trend.

— Abed A. Ayoub (@aayoub) October 12, 2023

The UN health organisation in Gaza have only “a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves” and rely on generators to sustain the most critical functions.

“Even these functions will have to cease in a few days when fuel stocks are due to run out,” WHO said in a statement. “The impact would be devastating for the most vulnerable patients, including the injured who need lifesaving surgery, patients in intensive care units, and newborns depending on care in incubators.”

The organisation has documented 34 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza since the bombardment began, resulting in the death of 11 healthcare workers and injuring 16 others. It said there had been damage to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances.

Israel appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza, something it has done in two of its previous four wars with Hamas. The Israeli military has invested tremendous resources for such a scenario, even building a training base in its southern desert meant to replicate Gaza’s urban landscape.

A ground attack would send a strong message, and forces operating inside Gaza might have a better chance of killing top Hamas leaders and rescuing hostages.

However, such an assault all but guarantees far higher casualties on both sides. It would involve street-by-street battles with Hamas soldiers who have had years to prepare tunnels and traps.

Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht suggested Israel’s military is ready for action but it is up to the politicians to give the green light. Israeli forces “are preparing for a ground manoeuvre – if decided”, he told reporters on Thursday.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that it confirmed the use of white phosphorus by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.

The rights group said it verified videos taken earlier this week “showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border”.

HRW said the weapon “has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire”.

It added that the use of white phosphorus in densely populated places like Gaza “magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk”.

Breaking: @hrw has confirmed—based on verified video & witness accounts—that Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza & Lebanon. White phosphorus causes excruciating burns—causing lifelong suffering—& can set homes afire. Its use in populated areas is unlawful https://t.co/AzN4bAHkau pic.twitter.com/USyi8fsOf9

— Omar Shakir (@OmarSShakir) October 12, 2023

Sources report that 360,000 reservists have been summoned. They will supplement an active military force of more than 150,000, giving Israel half a million men and women in uniform.

So how will they be used? Read more here.

The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the EU parliament Roberta Metsola are set to visit Israel on Friday.

A statement from the commission said the pair would “express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks, and meet with Israeli leadership”.

The European Commission and European Parliament hoisted Israeli flags outside their headquarters in Brussels following Saturday’s attacks – a move that was criticised by some for oversimplifying the situation.

The EU had earlier backtracked on an announcement it was suspending aid to Palestinians following the attack amid pushback from some member states.

Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says if Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on “other fronts” – an apparent reference to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Beirut late Thursday and was greeted by representatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with Lebanese officials.

“In light of the continued aggression, war crimes, and siege on Gaza, opening other fronts is a real possibility,” he said, speaking to journalists on his arrival.

Amir-Abdollahian visited Iraq and is also expected to hold talks in Syria later this week as part of a regional tour.

His trip comes amid tensions between Hezbollah, which is allied with Tehran, and Israel along Lebanon’s southern border.

Spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military struck the houses, as well as a Hamas “monitoring centre”.

“As part of the attack, two terrorist operatives who were in the centre were eliminated,” he said, without giving a specific location of the targets.

The update came after a wave of Israeli attacks in Gaza. Palestinian authorities said those attacks included the heavy bombardment of the Jabaliya refugee camp, which killed at least 45 people.

By Imran Khan, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank:

Let me bring you up to date with the multiple incidents going on right now.

In Hawar, settlers are attacking cars. Just outside of Nablus, settlers are attacking Palestinians. In the last couple of hours, Israeli soldiers shot at a car at a checkpoint. A 37-year-old Palestinian woman was killed in that attack. We’re also hearing of an attack on an illegal Israeli settlement where a Palestinian gunman was shot dead at a checkpoint.

There is a complication when it comes to the occupied West Bank. The minister of defence, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is a settler himself. He is angry that he’s not part of the Israeli war cabinet. So he is allegedly calling on his settler supporters to attack Palestinians.

We can’t confirm that but he’s always said Israelis should defend themselves. Now, if that happens, if he does publicly call for settlers to attack Palestinians, then Israel has a huge problem.

Iran’s foreign minister says if Israel fails to stop its attacks on civilians in Gaza the region will face “new conditions”.

“They cannot put Gaza under complete siege and bomb the citizens and commit war crimes and expect no response,” Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a statement.

Amirabdollahian met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Thursday in Baghdad and is expected to travel to Lebanon on Friday.

He said there is a need for an end to the “killing of children and civilians in Palestine”.

As the war rages on in Gaza, the US has moved one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world and an accompanying strike group to the eastern Mediterranean, bringing its military might to the tense region.

Analysts say Biden is effectively threatening to enter the war on Israel’s side should a broader conflict break out. Still, many suggest it is highly unlikely the US military would directly take part in hostilities.

Read more here.

At least 1,537 Palestinians – including 500 children and 276 women – have been killed and 6,612 wounded in Israeli air attacks on the blockaded enclave since Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry says.

Israel has pledged to crush Hamas and looks poised to send ground troops into the densely populated area as calls mount for a humanitarian corridor to be opened up and offers to broker peace come in.