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US says it shot down missiles, drones in Red Sea potentially heading toward Israel

News is just coming in that a US warship shot down three missiles and several drones in the northern Red Sea, which the Pentagon said were potentially heading toward targets in Israel.

“We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen, heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” a Pentagon spokesperson told reporters in a press briefing.

Reuters

Major Gaza hospital shuts off lights to conserve fuel

Gaza’s second-largest hospital has switched off the lights in the majority of the facility as staff try to conserve energy amid fuel shortages.

Lights are still on in Nasser Hospital’s intensive care unit, but in many other departments, doctors are using mobile phones and flashlights to illuminate procedures.

Palestinian injured in Israeli air strike arrive at Nasser Hospital in Gaza.Credit: Getty

Meanwhile, funerals were held for the victims of an earlier strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. A mother wept, clutching the small body of her child cocooned in white cloth.

AP

Israel tells troops they will soon see Gaza ‘from inside’ ahead of ground invasion

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, and the country’s defence minister told ground troops to “be ready” to invade, though he didn’t say when.

Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out ebbing medical supplies and fuel for generators, as authorities worked out logistics for a delivery of aid from Egypt. Doctors in darkened wards across Gaza stitched wounds by the light of mobile phones, and others used vinegar to treat infected wounds.

Israeli Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.Credit: AP

The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for a devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel almost two weeks ago. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza and flee south, strikes extended across the territory, heightening fears among the territory’s 2.3 million people that nowhere was safe.

Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel on Thursday from Gaza and Lebanon, and tensions flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In a fiery speech to Israeli infantry soldiers on the Gaza border Thursday local time, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant urged the forces to “get organised, be ready” for an order to move in. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border.

“Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside … I promise you,” he said. “It might take a week, a month, two months until we destroy them,” he added, referring to Hamas.

Read the full story here.

AP

UN to inspect aid into Gaza as UN chief calls for urgent humanitarian ceasefire

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has made an urgent appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire between Hamas and Israel as Egypt says it is preparing to open its border to Gaza to deliver aid.

“Gaza needs aid at scale and on a sustained basis,” Guterres said during a press conference in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

UN Secretary General António Guterres has called for the release of Israeli hostages and unrestricted aid into Gaza.Credit: Suppled

He called on Hamas to release the hostages it seized during its deadly attack rampage in Israel’s south on October 7, and urged Israel to give unrestricted access into Gaza for aid.

A UN flag will be raised at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to protect against Israeli airstrikes under a UN-brokered deal between Israel and Egypt to allow aid into the Palestinian territory, after days of delays.

Officials said UN observers will also inspect trucks carrying aid before crossing into Gaza, and that UN and other humanitarian agencies will then oversee its delivery, to ensure it is given to civilians and not used by Hamas militants.

An Egyptian official said the country was still negotiating with Israel over allowing fuel into Gaza, where a shortage has forced the closure of multiple hospitals.

The World Health Organisation has warned that Gaza, cut off from water, fuel and medical supplies, is now “on the brink of collapse”, as it continues to come under heavy bombardment from Israel.

The European Parliament has also called for a “humanitarian pause” in Gaza to make sure aid can reach the needy and stressed that Israel’s right to defend itself can only be done within the strictures of international law. But it stopped short of demanding a cease-fire and also called for the immediate release of all Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

With agencies

Headlines this morning

Good morning and welcome to day 13 of our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

I’m Sherryn Groch and I’ll bring you the latest developments for the first half of the day. It’s just gone 10:30pm in Tel Aviv.

A quick summary of where things stand:

• Israel’s defence minister has told troops on Gaza border that they will “soon see [it] from the inside,” as Israel continues to bombard the densely populated enclave with missiles.
• Egypt says it’s preparing to open its crossing to Gaza to allow in aid after days of trucks full of food and water parked on one side while those trapped in Gaza camp on the other.
• The UN’s Secretary-General António Guterres has made an urgent appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire between Hamas and Israel and the World Health Organisation warns the crisis in Gaza is spiraling out of control.
• An Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank has left several Palestinians dead and more than 80 in custody, further stirring unrest.
• The leaders of Jordan and Egypt have warned that an Israeli crackdown on Gaza could spiral into a wider regional war – and “catastrophe”.
• The European Parliament has called for a “humanitarian pause” in Gaza to make sure aid can reach the needy and stressed that Israel’s right to defend itself can only be done within the rules of international law.
• Israel says 206 people are now believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas, and at least 1400 Israelis killed by the group.
• Palestinian officials say 3,785 people in Gaza have been killed and more than 12,500 wounded.
• US President Joe Biden will deliver a rare Oval Office address today as he prepares to ask for additional billions of dollars in military assistance for Israel and Ukraine.

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