Israel-Hamas War HIGHLIGHTS: Palestinians say Israeli planes dropped flyers warning them to evacuate

The Israeli Air Force continues to vigorously attack terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip. So far, the Air Force has dropped about 6,000 bombs against Hamas targets Starting in the morning dozens of fighter jets, helicopter gunships and aircraft of the Air Force attacked a series of terrorist targets of the terrorist organization Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip. In the meantime, the IDF eliminated a commander of the terrorist organization Hamas and a group of operatives who stayed with him and engaged in directing terrorism against the State of Israel, as well as a combat management room of the Rafah Brigade in the southern Gaza Strip.

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.”

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.

Former President Donald Trump has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of betraying him just before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in 2020, breaking from the Republican presidential primary field’s uniform support of Israel as it responds to Hamas’ deadly attack.

The number of US 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.

Reports suggest that Iran’s Foreign Minister was also on board a flight that Israel sent back to Tehran after it conducted air strikes at Damascus and Aleppo airports. READ MORE

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.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says, "...The message that I bring to Israel is this - you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself but as long as America exists, you will never ever have to. We will always be there by your side..."

According to the latest figures released by the IDF, more than 1,200 Israeli citizens have been killed and over 95 families were informed about the hostages being taken by the Hamas group.

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and taken down or labelled thousands of pieces of content since the militant group’s attack on Israel, according to the CEO of the company formerly known as Twitter. Linda Yaccarino on Thursday outlined efforts by X to get a handle on illegal content flourishing on the platform. She was responding to 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. “So far since the start of the conflict X has identified and removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts from the platform,” Yaccarino said in a letter posted on X.

The presidents of Iran and Syria have discussed by telephone the situation in the Gaza Strip, expressing both countries’ support for the Palestinian people.
Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that Syria’s Bashar Assad and Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi said they stand behind the Palestinian people who are “being subjected to crimes and have the right to resist to defend their legitimate cause to gain back their rights.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Thursday, chaired a meeting today to review preparations for 'Operation Ajay' to bring back Indians from Israel.

Hamas responded defiantly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement the day before that he and opposition leader Benny Gantz had formed a national unity government to lead the country in its war on the Hamas militant group. Hamas officials vowed that Israel’s united front would not “intimidate or deter the resistance.”

Israeli airstrikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight, at one point late on Wednesday killing Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Moussa Naseer in an airstrike on his family home in the northern city of Beit Lahia, according to media linked to Al-Quds Brigades, the group’s armed wing.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has spoken by phone to Iran’s president to discuss the Gaza war. The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Thursday that President Ebrahim Raisi had called the crown prince. The crown prince “underscored the Kingdom’s unwavering stance in standing up for the Palestinian cause and supporting efforts aimed at achieving comprehensive and fair peace that ensures the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights,” it said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just landed in Tel Aviv in order to support and stand in solidarity with the war-torn Israel.

According to the sources, total number of Indians currently residing in Israel is about 18,000 and the first flight with Indians will depart today from Tel Aviv in the evening.

IDF Spokesperson Jonathan Conricus says "The scenes are out of a zombie movie. It is a war zone...Many body bags were evacuated from that Kibbutz, including those of children and babies. We got very disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded. It was hard to believe that even Hamas could perform such a barbaric act...There were bodies scattered everywhere, mutilated, women and children that were handcuffed and shot, executed, houses torched and burned, and people who were either burned inside or suffocated..."

The Israeli military says it is preparing for a possible ground operation in Gaza but that the political leadership has not yet decided on one. Lt. Col. told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground manoeuvre if decided.” Israel has called up some 3,60,000 army reservists and has threatened an unprecedented response to Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging incursion over the weekend. 

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. However, it pushed back against proposals to establish corridors out of Gaza, saying an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave would have grave consequences for the Palestinian cause. The Egyptian government has rejected any proposal to establish corridors out of Gaza for Palestinians fleeing Israel’s bombardment in Gaza, a senior Egyptian official said early on Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media, was responding to White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, who said that the Biden administration is in active conversations to achieve safe passage out of Gaza for civilians.

A senior officer from Hamas' naval division in the Rafah Brigade, has been killed this morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in its latest report on Thursday. According to the IDF, Muhammad Abu Shamleh's residence was being used as a storage facility for "naval weapons intended to carry out terrorist operations against Israel."

Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group on Wednesday blasted the United States for its support of Israel, saying that sending an aircraft carrier to the region “will not scare our people or the resistance movements that are ready for the confrontation.”

The Israeli military said that hostile aircraft had entered the country from Lebanon, setting sirens blaring across northern Israel as it urged citizens there to shelter. The military did not specify the kind of aircraft. But Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Palestinian militants are known to have drones and gliders.

The number of US citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to 22, the State Department said Wednesday. That’s an increase from the 14 who’d been confirmed dead one day earlier.

The State Department upgraded its travel warning for Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday to Level 3, “reconsider travel.” It kept its travel advisory for Gaza at the department’s highest warning level, Level 4, meaning “do not travel.” The State Department cited extremists continuing to plot attacks, the possibility of violence erupting without warning, and increased demonstrations. 

US President Joe Biden called the Hamas attack on Israel “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” and a campaign of “pure cruelty.” Biden was addressing a roundtable with Jewish community leaders convened at the White House on Wednesday. “This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty, not just hate, but pure cruelty, against the Jewish people,” Biden said. He added: “I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Hamas militants beheaded soldiers and raped women in their attack on Israel.
Netanyahu, in a late night televised address, detailed some of the atrocities that took place during the attack. He said boys and girls were shot in the head and that people had been burned alive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Hamas beheaded soldiers and raped women in their attack on Israel, and he vowed that Israel would “crush and destroy” the militant group.
Speaking in a late-night televised address as Israeli planes pounded Gaza, Netanyahu said every Hamas member was a “dead man.”