The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, residents are facing ever-growing uncertainty after the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down Wednesday. Without power, communication is limited and information is scarce.
Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday. However, Egypt pushed back against proposals to establish corridors out of Gaza, saying an an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave would have grave consequences on the Palestinian cause.
The war, which has claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate.
Here’s what’s happening on Day 6 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war:
JERUSALEM — Fourteen health facilities have been damaged and 10 health care workers killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Palestinian health officials said Thursday.
JERUSALEM — At least 1,417 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and over 6,200 have been injured since the Israel-Hamas war began, Palestinian health officials said Thursday.
Of the dead, nearly 450 are children and 250 are women.
The war has claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides since Hamas launched its attack on Israel last Saturday.
TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Blinken offered a statement with Herzog that touched on the same themes as his earlier statement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“There really are two paths before countries in this region and in many ways, countries in this world. But here in the Middle East, there’s the path of integration, cooperation, normalization and equal measures of justice, opportunity, dignity for all peoples, including the Palestinians,” Blinken said.
He added: “Or there’s the path that Hamas has shown to the world these last few days — terror, destruction, nihilism, a path that leads to nowhere for anyone except to the darkest places in our souls.”
JERUSALEM — Every Israeli soldier killed by Hamas militants so far in the latest Israel-Palestinian war has been identified, the Israeli military confirmed Thursday.
A total of 222 Israeli soldiers have died and their families have all been notified, a spokesperson for the military said.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he has ordered the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the Gaza enclave, currently under siege by Israeli forces.
He said coordination with Egyptian authorities is underway to ensure the safe and prompt delivery of the aid, including medical supplies, to Gaza.
PARIS — The death toll among French citizens in the Hamas militant attacks in Israel has risen to 12, with 16 others missing, France’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
An evacuation flight bringing French citizens to Paris is expected later Thursday and others are planned in the coming days, officials said.
NEW DELHI — India’s first chartered flight from Tel Aviv will leave on Thursday night and bring about 230 Indian nationals back home, an Indian official said.
“We will have more flights depending on the demand” from the Indians wanting to return home from Israel, Arindam Bagchi, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday.
There are about 18,000 Indian citizens living in Israel, a small percentage of them students, he said.
There were about a dozen Indian nationals living in the West Bank and three or four in Gaza.
While New Delhi has not heard of any Indian casualties in the Hamas attack so far, he said the Indian government is in touch with an Indian citizen who was injured during the missile attack on Ashkelon, a coastal city in the southern part of Israel.
Sheeja Anand, a medical caregiver, is in a hospital and improving, Bagchi said.
JERUSALEM — Palestinian residents of the city of Beit Lahiya in the northern region of the Gaza Strip said Thursday that Israeli planes dropped flyers warning them to evacuate their homes and to head to “known shelters.”
“Anyone who is near Hamas terrorists will put their lives in danger,” the flyers said. “Adhering to IDF instructions will prevent you from being exposed to danger.”
The area had already been heavily struck by the time the flyers were dropped. Shelters in the Gaza Strip are not safe from airstrikes — the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has seen 10 of its shelters struck since the start of the operation.
Palestinians living the pummeled Strip have said that the military often has not alerted them before striking homes, or will alert them but not with enough time to evacuate before their homes are struck. Israeli defense officials have said that they attempt to provide warning before strikes.
ANKARA — Turkish officials have confirmed that at least one Turkish citizen has been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. The Turkish Jewish Community identified the victim on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, as 52-year-old Avraam Avi Zakuto who emigrated to Israel in 1972.
Earlier, the Israeli Embassy in Turkey said another Turkish citizen is reported missing.
TALLINN, Estonia — Estonia’s government says a man with dual Estonian-Israeli citizenship is among the dead in the attacks launched on Israel by Hamas last Saturday.
Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters during a news conference on Thursday that more detailed information about the man wouldn’t be provided, in accordance with his family’s wishes.
There are still 22 citizens of the Baltic country in Israel at present, the minister said, while 35 citizens have left the country since the wave of attacks began.
TEL AVIV, Israel — The number of U.S. citizens who have died in the Israel-Palestinian war has risen to at least 25, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday during a visit Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
That’s an increase from 22 on Wednesday. The State Department previously said at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s pro-government media reports that Israeli airstrikes have targeted the airports of the capital city Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, damaging their runways.
Al-Watan Daily and Dama Post did not give further details other than both airports are out of service.
They were the first Israeli strikes on Syria since the militant Palestinian group Hamas carried out its deadly attacks in southern Israel.
Earlier this year, the airports of Damascus and Aleppo were hit several times.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed journalists on Thursday in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu praised Blinken’s visit as a “tangible example of America’s unequivocable support of Israel.”
“President Biden was absolutely correct in calling this ‘sheer evil,’” Netanyahu said, referring to Hamas’ unprecedented attack Saturday on Israel.
They shook hands after Netanyahu’s remarks.
Blinken said that he came before journalists “not just as secretary of state, but also a Jew” while recounting his own family’s history of surviving the Holocaust.
“So prime minister, I understand on a personal level, the harrowing echoes that Hamas’ massacres carry for Israeli Jews, as well as Jews everywhere,” Blinken said.
JERUSALEM — The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Thursday strongly condemned what it called the “ongoing Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
“The OIC considers this brutal aggression against the Palestinian people a blatant international and humanitarian law violation and a war crime,” it said in a statement. It cited the killing and wounding of women and children, the destruction of civilian buildings and other locations.
The OIC said it held Israel “fully responsible” for the “repercussions of the continuation of this sinful aggression.”
The OIC, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, broadly aligns itself with the thinking of Saudi Arabia’s rulers. That suggests the ongoing war likely will affect the ongoing efforts by the United States to broker a deal that could see Saudi Arabia diplomatically recognize Israel.
CAIRO — Egypt’s Foreign Ministry denied Thursday it had officially closed the Rafah crossing and said Israeli airstrikes have prevented it from operating.
In the statement, the ministry called on all countries and international organizations wishing to provide humanitarian aid to deliver supplies to el-Arish International Airport, in Egypt’s northern Sinai. Hamas’ border authorities said Tuesday that an Israel airstrike hit the no-man’s land between Gaza and Egypt, blocking the road with a large crater.
The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday said it was in touch with Hamas and Israeli authorities as part of efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages who are believed to be held in the Gaza Strip.
“As a neutral intermediary we stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits, facilitate communication between hostages and family members and to facilitate any eventual release,” said Fabrizio Carboni, the group’s Middle East regional director.
The Mideast emirate of Qatar, a frequent mediator between Israel and Hamas, has also confirmed its involvement in the negotiations.
Carboni appealed to Israel to allow badly needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza as Palestinians face staggering supply shortages following Israel’s decision to impose a siege on the crowded territory.
PRAGUE — The Czech Foreign Ministry said it has agreed with a request from Israel to allow Israeli citizens to fly home on Czech government planes evacuating Czech citizens from Israel. The ministry said the Israeli nationals need to return home for humanitarian and family reasons, or to join the military following the attacks by Hamas.
An unspecified number of Israel’s citizens were aboard a Czech plane that took off from Prague on Thursday. Another such plane is scheduled to fly to Israel later in the day.
CAIRO — Fabrizio Carboni, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s regional director, said the aid group’s first aim is to mobilize the medical supplies, fuel and staff already within Gaza — particularly those that could support medical facilities.
Speaking to journalists at an online presser, he said that aid delivery through the Rafah crossing requires both a political agreement and also a security deal so that needed supplies can safely reach affected areas.
“I fear that what’s coming next is going to be at least as challenging as what we’re seeing now.” Carboni said.
LONDON — The head of Elon Musk’s social media platform X says it has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and taken down or labeled thousands of pieces of content since the militant group’s attack on Israel.
CEO Linda Yaccarino on Thursday outlined efforts by X, formerly known as Twitter, to get a handle on illegal content flourishing on the platform following a warning from a top European Union official, who requested information on how X is complying during the Israel-Hamas war with tough new EU digital rules aimed at cleaning up social media platforms.
The new Digital Services Act mandates social media companies step up policing of their platforms for illegal content, under threat of hefty fines.
