Israel-Hamas War: First Aid Trucks Enter Gaza From Rafah; Israelis Warned Not to Go to Jordan, Egypt, Morocco

A top official with Hezbollah vowed that Israel will pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and said on Saturday that his militant group based in Lebanon already is in the heart of the battle.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the “reprehensible assault” by Hamas can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, UN news reported on Saturday.

Activists and leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal staged a protest here on Saturday to condemn Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel.

Activists and leaders of the two organisations gathered at Azad Maidan and shouted slogans condemning the attack on civilians in Israel.

The Israeli military spokesperson released a statement on Saturday saying “A terrorist squad launched a rocket earlier today into the area of ​​Mount Dov that fell in an open area. IDF surveillance identified the squad and a manned aircraft remotely attacked it,” i24 reported.

Israeli troops on Saturday raided the West Bank home of a senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Aruri and detained members of his family, AFP reported.

Aruri is the deputy to Hamas’ overall leader Ismail Haniyeh and one of the founders of the Islamist group’s military wing.

An assessment by French military intelligence indicates the most likely cause of the deadly explosion at Gaza City’s al-Ahli hospital was a Palestinian rocket that carried an explosive charge of about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) and possibly misfired, a senior French military official said Friday.

“A convoy carrying much-needed humanitarian assistance crossed the Rafah border this morning into Gaza to address the growing humanitarian crisis. We thank our partners in Egypt Israel, and the United Nations, for facilitating the safe passage of these life-saving shipments,” Blinken posted on X.

Thousands took part in a pro-Palestinian march in Australia’s Sydney on Saturday, getting last-minute approval amid concerns after some protesters at an earlier rally had chanted anti-Jewish slogans, Reuters reported.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in London and other cities on Saturday to demand Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza, as the Israel-Hamas war entered its third week and its ripples spread around the globe.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday led a protest by her party against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and said its consequences can be very grave for the world in the coming times.

The protesters raised slogans against Israel while Mufti was seen carrying the Palestinian flag.

Police in Cyprus said Saturday they arrested four Syrians on suspicion of setting off a small explosive device that caused no damage not far from the Israeli Embassy in the capital Nicosia.

As tensions flared over Israel’s conflict with the Hamas militant group, Russia cautioned its people against visiting Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinian Territories over safety concerns.

Meta and Google have reportedly decided to quit the Lisbon Web Summit, one of the tech sector’s biggest annual events, after the organisers criticised Israel’s actions following the Hamas attacks.

Rockets have been fired towards Israel, The Times of Israel said.

Warning sirens sounded in several areas of the Gaza border. The Magen David Adom services said that no immediate reports of hits or injuries were received.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit, has said that at least 22 journalists have been killed since the Hamas launched its massive assault on Israel on October 7.

In a report released on Friday, the CPJ said that it is investigating all reports of journalists killed, injured, detained, or missing in the raging conflict, including those hurt as hostilities spread to neighboring Lebanon.

“As of October 20, at least 22 journalists were among the more than 4,000 dead on both sides since the war began on October 7, with hundreds killed in Tuesday’s hospital blast in Gaza,” it said.

“Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict in the face of a ground assault by Israeli troops, devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, and extensive power outages.”

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said that at least 17 of its staff has been killed in the war between Israel and militant group Hamas. “To date, 17 of our colleagues have been confirmed killed in this vicious war. Very sadly, the actual numbers are likely to be higher,” UNRWA was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel.

Egypt is hosting several regional leaders and senior Western officials for a summit on the war between Israel and Hamas terror group.

The meeting, set to take place in Egypt’s New Administrative capital will discuss ways to de-escalate the tensions and call or a cease-fire, Egyptian media reported.

Reportedly prime ministers of Italy, Spain, Greece and Canada will be in attendance at this summit.

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt has opened for the first time since the war between Israel and Hamas started on October 7.

Some 20 trucks carrying food, water and medicine were allowed to enter Gaza.

At a campaign fundraiser, US President Joe Biden said that among the reasons behind Hamas’s attack on Israel was the fact that Biden “was about to sit down with the Saudis”.

“Guess what the Saudis wanted to recognise Israel,” Biden said while giving details about the offer made by the US to broker a deal of normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This deal was put on hold after the militant group Hamas launched the brutal attack on Israel on October 7, The Times of Israel said.

US officials have earlier suggested that disrupting the normalisation effort might have been Hamas’s motive, but Biden’s remarks come to suggest a direct correlation between the attack and the deal.