LAST UPDATE | 12 Oct 2023
AT LEAST 150 Israelis and foreigners – including soldiers, civilians, children and women – have been held hostage in the Gaza Strip since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Saturday.
The Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 189 soldiers, have been killed in Israel.
In Gaza, over 1,300 people have also been killed, according to authorities there.
Palestine’s electricity authority has said Gaza’s only power plant has run out of fuel, while Israeli authorities have closed down the city’s borders to supplies.
Israel has said its siege of Gaza will not end until the hostages being detained are freed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today vowed that the United States will “always” back Israel, but said the Palestinians also have “legitimate aspirations” not represented by Hamas.
Meanwhile, former Irish president Mary Robinson has condemned “war crimes” by both Israel and Hamas.
Here are the latest developments as they happened today:
Dozens of foreigners have been killed, taken hostage or wounded during the surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Others remain missing.
22-year-old Kim Damti, an Irish-Israeli woman who has been missing since the Hamas attacks on Saturday, has been confirmed dead.
Several countries have launched operations to repatriate their citizens, while others plan to do so in the coming days.
NATO countries have told Israel’s defence minister they stood by his country after the attack by Hamas, but urged his forces to respond with “proportionality”.
In Gaza, officials have reported more than 1,200 people killed in Israel’s uninterrupted campaign of air and artillery strikes, while the UN said more than 338,000 people have been displaced.
US President Joe Biden – who has strongly backed Israel and started sending military aid – has cautioned that Israel must, despite “all the anger and frustration … operate by the rules of war”.
The Israeli army has said it was preparing for a ground assault on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip but that the country’s political leaders had not yet taken a decision.
“We are waiting to see what our political leadership decides about a potential ground” incursion, army spokesperson Richard Hecht told journalists.
“This has not been decided yet… But we are preparing for a ground manoeuvre if it is decided,” he added.
Dozens of the United Nations’ independent experts have this morning condemned Hamas’s “horrific crimes” and said Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip “amounts to collective punishment”.
“There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime,” the experts, who are mandated by the UN but do not speak on its behalf, said in a joint statement.
Here’s more of what we know about Israel’s preparations for a possible ground offence against Gaza:
The Israeli army has already deployed tens of thousands of troops to the border with the Gaza Strip. So far, its air strikes have targeted Hamas infrastructure but have also injured and killed civilians.
Army spokesperson Richard Hecht said Israel is now “preparing ourselves for the next stages of war”, which includes “multiple operative contingency plans”.
While decisions are made about whether to initiate a ground manoeuvre, the next possible operation “could be from the air” or “could be combined from the sea (and) air”.
Photo: Four paramedics were killed in Gaza in an air strike yesterday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Fabrizio Carboni, a senior official at the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip will become “unmanageable very quickly”.
You may remember that on Tuesday, the EU warned Elon Musk that his platform X, formerly Twitter, is spreading “illegal content and disinformation” about the conflict.
X has now responded to say that it had taken down or labelled “tens of thousands” of posts in the days after the Hamas attack on Israel.
“Since the terrorist attack on Israel, we have taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content,” the firm’s CEO Linda Yaccarino has written in a letter.
Staying with the letter sent by X, formerly Twitter, to the European Commission today, here’s some more of what we know.
Today’s letter was addressed to EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton, who had personally criticised Musk on social media on Tuesday, sparking a public clash between the two.
Breton, the EU’s self-styled “digital enforcer”, raised the alarm in letters sent to Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta group includes Facebook and Instagram.
His requested that each of them provide details within 24 hours on how “illegal content and disinformation” is being removed from their platforms in line with the EU’s new Digital Service Act (DSA).
The legislation came into effect for large platforms in August and bans illegal online content, with heavy fines for non-compliance.
Breton’s letter to Musk highlighted “violent and terrorist content that appears to circulate on your platform” following Hamas’s weekend operation to kill and take hostage Israelis living close to the boundary with Gaza.
Yaccarino’s response letter, published on a corporate X account and reposted by the CEO, said the firm had removed hundreds of accounts linked to the Gaza militant organisation Hamas since violence erupted on Saturday.
It had also taken down posts that involved “violent speech, manipulated media and graphic media”.
Everyday we're reminded of our global responsibility to protect the public conversation by ensuring everyone has access to real-time information and safeguarding the platform for all our users. In response to the recent terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, we've redistributed… https://t.co/VR2rsK0J9K
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) October 12, 2023
The latest count, according to Hamas, puts the death toll in Gaza over the recent days at 1,354 people.
Hamas said that at least 1,354 citizens have died and a further 6,049 have suffered various injuries, updating an earlier death toll of around 1,200 that had been announced at dawn this morning.
In Northern Ireland, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said he believes lessons can be taken from the North’s history to try to resolve the conflict.
He said he supported Israel’s right to defend its people from “terrorist insurgencies” but that ultimately the conflict could only be resolved through dialogue.
“I think there are lessons that can be drawn from our experience in Northern Ireland. Even the most seemingly intractable conflicts can be resolved but it requires dialogue, it requires a process and that has been lacking for some years in the Middle East,” Donaldson said.
“We haven’t had a proper process, a proper dialogue, and that is something which needs to be given priority now by the international community,” he said.
“I don’t think we can just stand by and say the violence is wrong – it is, but we need to help Israel and the Palestinians to get to a point where they are sitting across a table and trying to resolve their differences. That will require an end to the violence.”
US President Joe Biden spoke last night about seeing “confirmed pictures” of Hamas terrorists beheading children and babies, a story which has been widely shared in recent days. His comments appeared to confirm that the US had verified that the horrific incident had taken place. However, afterwards, a White House spokesperson said that the US had yet to to get independent verification.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Biden said in remarks about US support for Israel, shortly before 10pm last night Irish time. “I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”
In response to a question from a reporter from The Washington Post, a spokesperson for the White House said that Biden’s comments were based on media reports and claims by Benjamin Netanyahu, and that US officials have not seen pictures or confirmed the reports independently.
It was a confusing intervention from Biden on a hugely sensitive issue. It also highlights the fog of war – and the difficulty in getting accurate, verified information from a warzone.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in contact with Hamas and Israel to try to facilitate the release of hostages taken into Gaza.
The ICRC can not negotiate over hostage exchanges as it is not its role as a humanitarian organisation, according to its regional director Fabrizio Carboni.
However, it is in daily communication with Hamas.
“As a neutral intermediary we stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits; facilitate communication between hostages and family members; and to facilitate any eventual release,” Carboni said today.
He declined to go into details as to whether the organisation knew the whereabouts of those being held, respecting the ICRC’s tradition of discretion.
“We’ve called on all parties who have an influence on this case, and especially Hamas, to treat people humanely, respect their dignity, allow them to contact their family and inform them about their situation,” he said.
“We should be allowed to visit them.
“There are many people who shouldn’t be detained and captured and who need to be released.”
During leaders questions, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns says she’s “deeply concerned” about the European Union’s response to Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
Cairns said: “Civilians are being deliberately slaughtered. And the international community can’t muster up a single word of criticism for the Israeli government.”
When Israel drops its bombs, civilians have nowhere to run.”
“Now they don’t have food, water, or electricity. Soon, the internet will also die, and they will be completely cut off from the world. The people of Gaza have days, a week at most.”
She asks Tánaiste Micheál Martin if he too is concerned regarded the EU’s response.
Responding, Martin says the the response of Commissioner Varhelyi, does not reflect the EU’s response.
Earlier this week, Varhelyi announced on X, formerly Twitter, that the EU would be revoking all aid to Palestine, a move that was quickly shot down and reversed by the EU.
Martin claims that the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council made it clear that humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians would continue, when he met with them on Tuesday.
“Ultimately, we need to move on a pathway to peace and reconciliation,” the Tánaiste said.
It cannot be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth approach.”
Pushing the Tánaiste on whether he shares her concerns, Cairns asked if the Tánaiste what is he doing on an EU level to “work towards intervention”.
“We can play a powerful role, I think, as a neutral arbiter – if we’re willing to act, to lead, and to do so quickly,” she said.
Cairns directly asked Martin for his “position on the EU response”.
“I don’t accept your assessment of the EU response,” the Tánaiste said.
One of the biggest donors to Palestine is the European Union. So let’s not present the EU as somehow a body that’s out to undermine Palestinians.”
However, the Tánaiste said that International law and the Geneva Convention “must be adhered to” adding that the “vast majority of member states are very clear,- are very, very clear – in terms of continuing developmental aid and humanitarian aid”.
“But also, insuring that any [attacks] have to be in accordance with international law,” he added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on a visit to Israel today that the United States will “always” back Israel, but said the Palestinians also have “legitimate aspirations” not represented by militant group Hamas.
“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself,” Blinken said during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP reports.
“But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side.”
Paying a solidarity visit as Israel’s army hammers Hamas over weekend attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel, Blinken also gave a new death toll for US citizens, saying at least 25 were confirmed among the dead.
US President Joe Biden earlier vowed unwavering support for Israel and not called for restraint against Hamas, but Blinken hinted at the need for an eventual peace settlement — an idea that has long met resistance from the right-wing Netanyahu.
“Anyone who wants peace and justice must condemn Hamas’ reign of terror. We know Hamas doesn’t represent the Palestinian people, or their legitimate aspirations to live with equal measures of security, freedom, justice opportunity and dignity,” Blinken said.
Speaking in unusually personal terms, Blinken recalled how his grandfather fled anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia and his stepfather survived Nazi concentration camps.
“I come before you not only as the United States secretary of state but also as a Jew,” Blinken, who has a secular background, said.
“I also come before you as a husband and father of young children. It’s impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed, such as the mother, father and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, and not think of my own children.”
Blinken promised that the Biden administration and Congress would work together to meet military requests for Israel, which enjoys wide support across party lines.
“As Israel’s defence needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure that they’re met,” he said.
Netanyahu, speaking next to Blinken, voiced appreciation for US support and said that Hamas, which rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, should be treated like the Islamic State group.
“Just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” Netanyahu said.
Michael Kelly, editor of the Irish Catholic, has confirmed that a group of Irish pilgrims who were visiting Israel when the war broke out are on their way back to Ireland.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport is busy, but moving. Our Irish pilgrims are safely through security and awaiting their direct flight to Dublin. pic.twitter.com/psD9WksKNE
— Michael Kelly ن (@MichaelKellyIC) October 12, 2023
Mary Robinson, former Irish president and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has condemned what she described as “war crimes” by both Israel and Hamas.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Robinson noted that the United Nations and the International Criminal Court are investigating alleged war crimes on both sides.
She said Israel’s siege of Gaza has cut off food, water and other essential supplies to the more than two million people living in the territory, around one million of whom are children.
“I’m aware that Ireland has already been a very good voice in acknowledging the suffering of occupation, the continual problems for the Palestinians over decades, over 17 years of a blockade now on Gaza, and the continuing settlements in the Middle East which are making a two-state solution virtually impossible now.
“I think we all need to think about accountability,” she said.
Robinson, who is a founding member of The Elders group of world leaders, became emotional when discussing the killing of Israeli-Irish woman Kim Damti by Hamas.
“These are very serious war crimes, they are not justified by what has been happening to the Palestinian people under occupation.
“Irish people are very aware of that. It does not justify the horrific killings and the kidnappings – which are war crimes – and we must be very, very clear on that. We must not be ambivalent, there is no question, we have to treat them separately,” she said.
The United Nations’ mission in Lebanon is trying to prevent an outright confrontation between Lebanon and Israel.
The UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Aroldo Lázaro has said that “despite concerning events in the past days, the situation in UNIFIL’s area of operations remains stable, but volatile”.
UN peacekeepers “remain in their positions and on task”.
“We have increased patrols and other activities to maintain stability, coordinating this work with the Lebanese Armed Forces,” Lázaro said.
“We have actively engaged with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to de-escalate the situation and avoid misunderstandings.
“Our main goal is to help avoid confrontation between Lebanon and Israel, and any event that brings conflict closer is a concern. We are working 24/7 to ensure this does not happen.”
Statement from UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Aroldo Lázaro on recent events along the Blue Line. pic.twitter.com/MqZVfq0igp
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 12, 2023
Watch: Tánaiste Micheál Martin says Israel must not punish “innocent Gazans” for Hamas’ actions with “indiscriminate bombings”.
We need to move on the pathway to peace and reconciliation. It cannot be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth approach. pic.twitter.com/qSWmabJvmW
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 12, 2023
Striking a similar note, Doctors Without Borders has called for an immediate stop to “indiscriminate bloodshed”.
In particular, the medical aid group is demanding that people be given safe access to essential supplies like food, water and health facilities and for Israel to allow medicine, medical equipment, food, fuel and water to to enter Gaza, where 2.2 million people are trapped.
Matthias Kennes, head of Doctors Without Borders’ mission in Gaza, said this afternoon that fighter jets are “demolishing entire streets block by block”.
“We know what it was like in 2014 and in 2021 – thousands died. There is no place to hide, no time to rest. Some places are being bombed on consecutive nights,” Kennes said.
“Each time our medical colleagues go to work, not knowing if they will see their homes or their families again.
“This time, after five days, there have already been 1,200 deaths. What can people do? Where are they supposed to go?”
Israeli’s national air carrier El Al has announced that it will operate “special flights” to bring back reserve soldiers on the Jewish Sabbath, a rare move for the airline.
“El Al will operate special flights from New York and Bangkok on Friday” to retrieve reservists, rescuers, medics and members of the security forces “whose arrival into the country is vital,” it said in a statement.
The flights, which are expected to land at Ben Gurion airport after the start of the Sabbath on Friday evening, would be free of charge and financed by the airline along with “major US financial institutions”, it added without elaborating.
While some Israeli airlines fly on the Sabbath, a day that many businesses in Israel close and observant Jews refrain from driving and using electricity, the flag carrier has not done so in decades.
The last time El Al flew on a Saturday was in 1982, according to Israeli media, when Israel launched a major incursion into civil-war wracked Lebanon to attack Palestinian militants.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock plans to travel to Israel tomorrow, following suit with other politicians who have travelled to the country.
Baerbock will make the “solidarity visit” to Israel as part of her efforts at “crisis diplomacy”, a spokesperson said today.
The minister has held talks in Berlin with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, seen as a potential broker in the conflict.
Earlier today, US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Israel in a show of the US’s support, saying: “You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to. We will always be there by your side.”
In Kenya, a counterterrorism police service has warned there is a risk of terrorist groups carrying out attacks in “solidarity” with Hamas.
Kenya has suffered multiple attacks carried out by the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group since it sent troops into its neighbour in 2011 to battle the Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists.
“Conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza impacts global security,” Kenya’s counterterrorism police service said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Terror groups like Al-Shabaab may conduct attacks in solidarity with Hamas to remain relevant.
“Kenyans need to be vigilant & report terror activities to police for action,” it said.
Al-Shabaab, which has been waging a deadly insurgency for more than 15 years against Somalia’s fragile central government, issued a statement yesterday praising the surprise weekend assault by Hamas.
A man who is reportedly from Ireland has told of his grief after finding out that his daughter was dead following Hamas attacks on the Beeri Kibbutz, where a small Israeli farming community lives.
Speaking to a CNN reporter, Thomas Hand said that his eight-year-old daughter Emily had gone for a sleepover at a friend’s house in the Kibbutz.
He had not heard news of her whereabouts for two days prior to being informed by authorities that she had died.
Thomas Hand said: “They just said, we found Emily, she’s dead, and I went ‘Yes!’ and smiled, because that is the best news, of the possibilities I knew, that was the best possibility I was hoping for.
“She was either dead or in Gaza, and if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death…the way they treat you, they have no food, they have no water, she’d be in a dark room filled with christ knows how many people and for how many years to come,” he said.
The visibly shocked and upset father added: “So death was a blessing, an absolute blessing”.
In a heart-wrenching interview on @CNNsitRoom, CNN reporter Clarissa Ward speaks with @WolfBlitzer about a grieving father who finally received confirmation of his daughter's tragic death during the Hamas attack. Watch: pic.twitter.com/F9Yh3lW5KI
— CNN (@CNN) October 12, 2023
Amnesty International’s secretary general Anges Callamard has said the Israeli authorities “must immediately restore Gaza’s electricity supply”.
“The collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population amounts to a war crime – it is cruel and inhumane. As the occupying power, Israel has a clear obligation under international law to ensure the basic needs of Gaza’s civilian population are met,” Callamard said.
The families of French citizens held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza held a news conference today to press French President Emmanuel Macron to “intervene” to set them free.
“I demand French intervention … to have information about my children and about all those who disappeared,” said Batsheva Yahalomi, mother of a 12-year-old who is missing.
Meitav Journo, whose sister also disappeared, told reporters: “I want to speak to Emmanuel Macron directly. I want … my sister to return now.”
More news from France…
France has said it is banning all pro-Palestinian demonstrations after the bloody attack on Israel by Hamas, on the grounds such protests threaten to public order.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a note to regional prefects that the demonstrations “are likely to generate disturbances to public order”, adding that organisers should face arrest.
A very tense interview on Sky News with the former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett.
'Are you seriously asking me about Palestinian civilians? What is wrong with you? We're fighting Nazis.'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 12, 2023
Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett adds 'if Hamas use anyone as a human shield, it is their responsibility.'https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/Ijq1dtHXZj
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced £3 million to protect schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings in the UK in response to Hamas’ attacks in Israel.
“This is now the third deadliest terror attack in the world since 1970. The United Kingdom must and will continue to stand in solidarity with Israel,” Sunak said.
“At moments like this, when the Jewish people are under attack in their homeland, Jewish people everywhere can feel less safe.
“That is why we must do everything in our power to protect Jewish people everywhere in our country. If anything is standing in the way of keeping the Jewish community safe, we will fix it. You have our complete backing.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Doha tomorrow to discuss Hamas with Qatari leaders.
A source with knowledge of the visit told AFP that Blinken’s discussions would “focus on joint Qatari-US efforts to secure the release of hostages and de-escalate”.
Qatar, which hosts a political bureau for Hamas in Doha and has provided millions of dollars in financial aid to Gaza, has been linked to mediation efforts for a prisoner exchange between the Palestinian militant group and Israel.
Late last month, Qatar and Egypt brokered a deal between Hamas and Israel which saw the reopening of border crossings allowing Palestinian labourers from Gaza to return to work in Israel.
Blinken was in Tel Aviv today, where he affirmed that the United States would “always” support Israel and condemned Hamas.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he raised with Israel the “humanitarian needs” of the Gaza Strip while defending the right to retaliate for the deadly Hamas attack.
“We did discuss ways to address the humanitarian needs of people living in Gaza to protect them from harm, while Israel conducts its legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism and to try to ensure that this never happens again,” Blinken told reporters after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials in Tel Aviv.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken horrific pictures of babies killed by Hamas militants in Israel over the weekend, his office said today.
The graphic pictures were flagged with a content warning and were posted to the official account of the Prime Minister’s office on X, formerly Twitter. They show the remains of dead infants, the office said.
US President Joe Biden has condemned Donald Trump for describing Hezbollah as “very smart” even as the Lebanese militant group exchanges fire with Israel following the Hamas attack on the US ally.
During a campaign speech in Florida, Trump also falsely accused the Biden administration of bankrolling the Hamas assault as a result of a prisoner exchange deal with Iran, which has historically funded Hamas and Hezbollah.
Biden said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that “our nation’s support for Israel is resolute and unwavering. And the right time to praise the terrorists who seek to destroy them is never”.
Trump had made his remarks to supporters in West Palm Beach as he was criticising the White House.
“You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart,’” Trump said.
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said Trump’s remarks were “dangerous and unhinged”.
Israel also reacted angrily, with Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in a TV interview saying Trump could “obviously” not be trusted.
“It is shameful that such a person, a former president of the United States, aid propaganda and spreads comments that harm the spirit of IDF (army) fighters and the spirit of Israeli residents,” Karhi said.
“We don’t need to deal with him or with the nonsense he says.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The British Prime Minister has directed UK military assets, including Royal Navy vessels and a company of Royal Marines, to be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel.
Downing Street said maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft will begin flying in the region from tomorrow to track threats to regional stability, including monitoring activity such as the “transfer of weapons to terrorist groups”.
A Royal Navy task group will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean next week as a contingency measure to support humanitarian efforts.
The military package includes P8 aircraft, surveillance assets, two Royal Navy ships — RFA Lyme Bay and RFA Argus — three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.
The British armed forces will be on stand-by to “deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region, and offer deterrence and assurance”, No 10 said.
Rishi Sunak said: “We must be unequivocal in making sure the types of horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated. Alongside our allies, the deployment of our world-class military will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation.
“Our military and diplomatic teams across the region will also support international partners to re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists.”
The White House has said it is working to organise charter flights to help US citizens leave Israel as the country reels from the massive attack by Hamas.
“Beginning tomorrow, (the) United States government will arrange charter flights to provide transportation from Israel to sites in Europe,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby, adding that officials were “still working through some of the details”.
Two officers have been wounded in a shooting in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, police have said.
They said the gunman has been “neutralised”.
An AFP photographer saw what appeared to be a dead body outside the Shalem police station near Jerusalem’s Old City, with dozens of officers in the area.
One of the officers was in serious condition and the other was lightly wounded, police said citing medics.
We noted earlier that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken horrific pictures of babies killed by Hamas militants in Israel over the weekend, according to his office.
The graphic pictures were flagged with a content warning and were posted to the official account of the Prime Minister’s office on X, formerly Twitter. They show the remains of dead infants, the office said.
Blinken described to reporters what he saw in the photographs shown to him by Netayahu: “A baby – an infant – riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded, young people burnt alive in their cars.
“For any human being to see this, it’s really beyond almost anything that we can comprehend and digest,” Blinken said.
“Images are worth a thousand words. These images, maybe worth a million.
“The world is seeing new evidence of depravity and the inhumanity of Hamas – depravity and inhumanity directed at babies, at small children, at young adults, at elderly people, at people with disabilities.
“At a basic human level, how anyone cannot be revolted and cannot reject what they’ve seen – and what the world has seen – is beyond me,” Blinken said.
The European Commission is opening an investigation into Elon Musk’s X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, to determine if it has allowed the spread of disinformation around the Gaza-Israel conflict.
The Commission said it had sent a formal request for information to X in what is a first procedure launched under Brussels’ new European Digital Services Act (DSA), two days after it sent a warning letter from Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The US has no plans to deploy troops in the war between Israel and Hamas, the White House has said, adding that the Israeli government itself would not “welcome” such a move.
“There is no intention, no plan and, frankly, no desire by the Israelis for US combat troops to be involved in this conflict,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Israeli lawmakers have endorsed an expanded “emergency government”, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a war-time partnership with a rival.
Benny Gantz and four members of his party were sworn in as ministers without portfolio, in parliament shortly after the 66-4 vote.
Netanyahu, dressed in black, told parliament ahead of the vote that “the unity we are establishing sends a message of great force”, vowing to “destroy Hamas”.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, a former Gantz ally, said earlier today he would not join the government.
In a televised address, Lapid accused Israeli leaders of “unpardonable failure” for not preventing the brutal weekend attack by Hamas militants.
Netanyahu and Gantz announced in a joint statement on Wednesday they had agreed to join forces for the duration of the fighting, and with a three-member “war cabinet” that would also include Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu’s extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies remain in government.
Under his agreement with Gantz, the premier has agreed to freeze the hardline government’s divisive judicial overhaul, which had triggered mass street protests — the biggest in the country’s history.
“During the war, no bills or government-sponsored motions that are unrelated to the war would be advanced,” the statement said.
Gantz last served in a Netanyahu administration in 2020-2021 under a rotation agreement that was meant to see him take the helm for the second half of the government’s tenure, but early elections had been called before he was to become prime minister.
French anti-terror prosecutors have opened a terrorism probe into the attack by Hamas on Israel which has left 13 French citizens dead.
The probe is into murder, attempted murder and kidnapping, including of minors, by a “terrorist organisation”, National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutors (PNAT) said in a statement.
Gaza’s interior ministry says at least 45 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in a northern refugee camp.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Israel tomorrow and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an American defence official said.
Austin’s trip – which follows a visit to Israel by Secretary of State Antony Blinken – will also include meetings with defence officials and the country’s emergency government, the US official said.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said that Gazans must “stay steadfast and remain on their land”, amid calls for Cairo to allow safe passage for civilians stuck in Gaza.
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is the only passage in and out of the coastal enclave not controlled by Israel.
Egypt is committed to ensuring the delivery “of aid, both medical and humanitarian at this difficult time”, Sisi said, affirming Cairo’s “firm position” of ensuring Palestinians’ “legitimate rights”.
But he stressed, in a speech at a military ceremony, that Gazans must “stay steadfast and remain on their land”.
The tiny coastal enclave home to 2.4 million people, already blockaded since 2007, is under siege by Israel which has cut off water, food and power supplies.
Egypt has pushed for a diplomatic solution and called for restraint from both sides, while Sisi has asserted his country’s national security was his “primary responsibility”.
Today, he said that Egypt was already hosting “nine million guests, as I call them, from many countries who came to Egypt for security and safety”.
But the case of Gazans “is different”, he said, because their displacement would mean “the elimination of the (Palestinian) cause”.
Egypt was the first Arab state to normalise relations with Israel in 1979, after a six-year war that ended in 1973 with Egypt regaining the Sinai Peninsula from Israeli control.
The presidents of the European Commission and the EU parliament, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, will visit Israel tomorrow in the wake of Hamas’s bloody assault.
A statement from the commission said the pair would “express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks, and meet with Israeli leadership”.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Prime Time this evening, Varadkar said that Israel has a “right to defend themselves, but they don’t a right to breach international humanitarian law”.
“Israel is a country that is surrounded by these brutal, savage groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, countries like Iran, often supported by Islamic fundamentalists and anti-Semites around the world, so Israel is under threat” he said.
"Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves, but they don't have the right to breach international humanitarian law."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) October 12, 2023
An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaks about Israel cutting off electricity and water supplies to Gaza.@rtenews | #rtept pic.twitter.com/SZr2URIAyz
Varadkar said he is “really concerned” about what he is “seeing happening in Gaza at the moment”.
“To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, that’s not that way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself,” he added.
Varadkar said Hamas should “release all of the hostages immediately, Israeli citizens and dual citizens alike”.
“Israel is entirely justified in going after Hamas, in Gaza and elsewhere, but operations that clearly affect civilians disproportionately are wrong, cutting off electricity, cutting off water, that’s not acceptable,” the Taoiseach said.
During the Prime Time interview, Varadkar expressed his condolences to the family of Irish-Israeli woman Kim Damti who was confirmed dead yesterday.
22-year-old Kim Damti had been missing since Hamas militants launched an unprecedented series of surprise attacks on Saturday. She had attended the music festival when Hamas carried out a bloody mass-shooting on the event.
Her funeral was held today in Israel.
RTÉ reported that Irish Ambassador to Israel Sonya McGuinness told Kim Damti’s funeral that Ireland is “appalled at the loss of this beautiful young woman”.
“She was the best of your community and the best of our community and the best of who we are as a shared people,” McGuinness told mourners.
“Our sincere condolences to you and your entire community and Kim’s friends and families. We stand with you.”
Iraeli Ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich spoke to RTÉ’s Prime Time this evening.
She said: “Right now, we are at war. It’s a war that we didn’t choose, we didn’t start, but we need to make sure that our borders are secure, that our people are safe. Our people are not safe yet.
“We will do everything that we can in order to make our people safe.”
When asked what innocent cilivians in Gaza do to protect themselves from attacks, Erlich said she “would like to direct that question to Hamas”.
“They’ve been planning this attack for so long. They’re stockpiling for so long. They’ve been wielding terror tunnels for so long. If only they would have invested that money in stockpiling food for their people or water for the people. Why didn’t they take care of their people?” she said.
"What is the rationale for denying people who are being bombed the right to leave?"
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) October 12, 2023
"Right now we are at war"
Responding to questions about the blockade of Gaza, Israeli Ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich says Israel will do anything to keep its citizens safe.@rtenews | #rtept pic.twitter.com/zUDwh6EG5n
Erlich was asked what the rationale is for denying civilians who are being bombed the right to leave, the right to food, water and medicine.
She responded: “Right now we are at war. When you’re at war, you will do everything in your power to make sure that your people are safe. Talking about opening a border, our border was just infiltrated in order to butcher our people.
“And you’ve heard those stories. You cannot stay indifferent to these stories. I don’t want to believe that there’s anyone in Ireland that is indifferent to these stories, and do not fully condemn all of it.”
That’s all from us on the liveblog tonight.
A recap on the main points today:
Contains reporting by AFP, Press Association, Mairéad Maguire, Lauren Boland, Órla Ryan and Muiris O’Cearbhaill.
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