Israel War: Iran's military chief warns US over sending weapons to Israel

Militants carried rifles and shots rang out Friday during a funeral in the West Bank for 13 people killed in a battle with Israeli troops in the Nur Shams refugee camp. Some of the bodies carried through the streets of Tulkarem were draped in the flags of the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant groups.

Iran warned the US about the consequences of sending weapons to Israel, saying it would further complicate the situation in Gaza, CNN reported citing Iran's state-aligned media.

IDF spokesperson at Gaza border amid war with Hamas says,"...We are ready for anything...IDF is focused on a mission to ensure that Hamas leadership from top to bottom are unable to commit any more atrocities."

Seven hospitals and 21 primary care health centers in Gaza are "out of service," and 64 medical staff have been killed as Israel continues its airstrikes, CNN quoted a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Friday.

A Hamas spokesman is among more than 60 members of the militant organization detained by Israel in overnight raids across the West Bank, CNN reported.

China has sent an envoy to the Middle East to push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the latest sign of its ambition to play a larger role in the region.

The BBC has been told that as talks continue to secure the release of many of the estimated 203 hostages held in Gaza, Hamas has offered to release some in exchange for an immediate ceasefire. Israel has so far not agreed to this, we are told.

Israeli security forces conducted a “wide-scale counterterrorism activity” through the West Bank, arresting over 80 wanted suspects overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, 63 of whom belonged to the Hamas terrorist organization.

Protesters gathered at Iraq's border crossing with Jordan on Friday to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and call for an end to Israel's blockade, while in Indonesia's capital, demonstrators marched from several mosques to the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to denounce American support for Israel and demand an end to Israeli airstrikes.

Israel's defence minister said Friday that after the country destroys the Hamas militant group, the military does not plan to control “life in the Gaza Strip”.

A spokesperson for the UN human rights office says there are new signs that some Palestinians who initially moved south in response to the Israeli order to evacuate are returning to their homes because Israeli strikes are taking place in the south, too.

The death toll of those killed since October 7 in the Gaza Strip has climbed to 4,127, including 1,661 children, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reports CNN. 

Protesters marched from several mosques to the heavily guarded US Embassy in Indonesia's capital Friday to denounce the staunch American support for Israel and demand an end to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

Amid the Israel-Gaza war, increasing anti-US protests and potential terrorist attacks, the United States has issued a worldwide caution for Americans travelling overseas.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has arrived in northern Sinai as the UN focuses on efforts to get humanitarian aid across the Egyptian border into Gaza, CNN reported citing the office of the UN spokesperson on Friday. 

The Israel Defense Forces says it has received reports of gunfire toward the northern town of Margaliot on the Lebanon border. Reports suggest a gunman may have infiltrated into Israel, reported The Times of Israel.

Satellite photos analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show a massive convoy of semitruck trailers lined up at the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side, likely waiting for approval to cross into the besieged Gaza Strip as the Israel-Hamas war rages, reported the Associated Press.

On Gaza hospital bombing, Israeli Minister Avi Dichter in Sderot, "What happened in a hospital in Gaza was a Palestinian job... it's not a coincidence that it happened on the day the US President was supposed to visit here. That didn't happen from a bomb from an airstrike."

After a barrage of rockets toward Sderot, the municipality of the mostly evacuated city near Gaza says two projectiles fell in the city, reported The Times of Israel.

Hamas spokesman Hassan Yousef was arrested Thursday during raids Israel conducted across the West Bank, according to Israeli authorities, reports CNN.

Rocket alarms sound in the evacuated Gaza-area communities of Mefalsim and Nir Am, reported The Times of Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces says it struck several more sites belonging to the Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon overnight in response to yesterday’s rocket and missile fire on northern Israel. Separately, the IDF says it carried out a drone strike killing a terror operative in the area, reported The Times of Israel.

“Israel bombarded Gaza early Friday, hitting areas in the south where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable Israeli town in the north near the Lebanese border, the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil.

Thirteen people, including five children, were killed during an Israeli operation in the Nour Shams refugee camp in the West Bank, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Israel Defense Forces struck more than 100 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight, according to a joint statement issued by the IDF and the Israel Securities Authority on Friday, CNN reported. 

China and Russia "share the same position on the question of Palestine," China's Special Envoy on the Middle East issue, Zhai Jun, said Friday after meeting with his Russian counterpart in Doha, Qatar on Thursday, reported CNN.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to Egypt today to discuss the situation in Israel and Gaza with counterparts in the region, BBC reported.

There are explosions audible in the cramped, humid room where Azmi Keshawi shelters with his family in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. The bombardments keep coming closer, he says, and they’re wreaking death and destruction.

President Joe Biden is urging support for additional U.S. aid for Ukraine and Israel, saying in a televised address from the Oval Office that “American leadership is what holds the world together.”

The European Union began taking steps to limit the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas on the bloc, amid heightened security tensions after a firebomb attack on a Berlin synagogue and killings in Belgium and France by suspected Islamic extremists.

As the war entered Day 13, Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, as the Israeli defense minister ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza "from the inside".

Israel has reportedly withdrawn all of its diplomatic personnel from Turkey for "security reasons" against the backdrop of the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 were injured, and another 1,300 people were believed buried under the rubble, authorities said.

US intelligence estimates toll in Gaza hospital blast on “low end” of 100-300, calls loss of life “staggering”, AP reported.

The assault on Israel echoes nearly 20 months of war, tragedy, and brutality inflicted on the people of Ukraine, people that were very badly hurt since Putin launched his all-out invasion. Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy... Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields and innocent Palestinian families are suffering greatly because of them. Meanwhile, Putin denies Ukraine has or ever had real statehood. He claims the Soviet Union created Ukraine..." the US President said.

"As the President, there is no higher priority for me than the safety of Americans who are hostage... In Israel, I saw people who are strong, determined, resilient, and also angry, in shock, and in deep, deep pain. I also spoke with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and reiterated the United States remains committed to the Palestinian people's right to dignity and to self-determination. Like so many others, I'm heartbroken by the tragic loss of Palestinian life, including the explosion at the hospital in Gaza, which was not done by the Israelis. We mourn every innocent life lost. We can't ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace and have an opportunity...," said US President Joe Biden.

President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America's national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars.

"Hamas and Putin represent different threats," Biden said.

"But they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy,” he said.

Israel's defense minister promises ground invasion of Gaza, tells troops to be ready to see territory "from the inside", reports AP.