Israel-Palestine latest news: Bombing of Gaza must stop immediately, Iran's supreme leader says

 Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that the bombing of Gaza must stop “immediately”.

“No one can confront Muslims and the resistance forces if the Zionist regime’s crimes against Palestinians continue ... the bombardment of Gaza must stop immediately,” Khamenei told a group of students in Tehran.

“The world is witnessing the Zionist regime’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” he said to chants of “Death to Israel”.

The comments from the supreme leader came just hours after the Iranian foreign minister said that  “preemptive measures” could be taken against Israel within a matter of hours by the “resistance” forces.

Iran’s president has warned that time is running out for a political solution to the violence and tensions on the border with Lebanon, home to Iran’s biggest proxy force, Hezbollah are soaring.

Israeli bombing in Gaza has killed more than 2,800 people, the Gaza health ministry said, and injured more than 12,000.

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ByAbbie Cheeseman BEIRUT and Andrea Hamblin

17 October 2023 • 11:33am

11:16AM

US and Israel agree Gaza aid plan after marathon talks

The US and Israel have agreed on a plan to allow aid into Gaza, the US secretary of state has announced, after marathon nine-hour talks with Israeli leaders.

“Today, and at our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza,” Antony Blinken told reporters.

Relief convoys which have been waiting for days in Egypt were this morning headed towards the Rafah border crossing with the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, aid officials said, though it is not clear when they will be allowed through.

Mr Blinken did not elaborate on the aid plan but acknowledged Israeli concerns that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza, or prevent it from reaching people in need.

“If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it. And we will work to prevent it from happening again,” Blinken said.

Israel has bombed the border crossing from Gaza to Egypt in recent days, and it is not immediately clear how aid convoys will safely cross.

Hospitals in Gaza are overflowing as doctors are running out of supplies. Food and water are being strictly rationed, and two million people have been living without electricity.

The UN has warned that thousands of people will die if aid doesn’t get through soon.  

11:11AM

Hostage Mia Shem's mother pleads with world leaders

The mother of French-Israeli woman Mia Shem, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, urged world leaders today to free her daughter after the Islamists aired a video showing her in captivity.

“I ask world leaders that my daughter be returned to us in the state that she is today, as well as the other hostages,” Keren Shem told a press conference in Tel Aviv.

Her comments came after Hamas broadcast a video showing her daughter receiving treatment for a wounded arm.

“I beg the world to return my baby to me,” Shem said, after French President Emmanuel Macron demanded her immediate and unconditional release.

Shem said she had not known whether her daughter “was alive or dead” until Hamas released the video footage of her.

Keren Shem, the mother of French-Israeli woman Mia Shem, held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza, speaks to the press in Tel Aviv on October 17, 2023 CREDIT: GIL COHEN MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

10:57AM

Hamas 'hostage negotiator' killed in Israeli air strike

The chief hostage negotiator for Hamas has been killed in an air strike on Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces have said in a statement overnight.

Osama Mazini, the head of the Shura Council and Gaza, was responsibile for prisoners according to the IDF statement.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim confirmed his death to The Telegraph, adding that his family were also killed. Naim said that despite Mazini being known as Hamas’ chief hostage negotiator because of previous deals with the Israelis, he did not have any involvement in the current hostage situation.

Earlier, the IDF released video of another strike that it said killed the head of Hamas’s general intelligence service.

10:54AM

Turkey says Egypt to host summit on Gaza conflict on Saturday

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that Egypt will host a summit of state leaders to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Saturday.

He was speaking at a joint news conference with his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut.

10:52AM

Cancer treatments to be stopped in Gaza as fuel runs out

🚨 The Turkish Friendship Hospital is the ONLY specialised hospital for cancer treatment in #Gaza.

It just announced that it'll suspend most services at any moment due to lack of fuel.

All services will stop in 48 hours, leaving all cancer patients in Gaza without treatment.

— Al-Mezan الميزان (@AlMezanCenter) October 17, 2023

10:07AM

Only four or five days of food stocks left in Gaza shops: WFP

The UN’s World Food Programme said the situation in the Gaza Strip was worsening by the minute with only four or five days of food stocks left in the shops.

“Inside the shops, the stocks are getting close to less than a few days, maybe four or five days of food stocks left,” said WFP’s Middle East spokeswoman Abeer Etefa.

9:38AM

More exchanges of fire across the Lebanese border

The Israel Defence Forces spokesperson has posted to social media that Israeli tanks are now attacking “the area from which the shooting was carried out at Metula from Lebanon.”

9:06AM

Jordan rejects the idea of creating more regional refugees, says humanitarian situation must be dealt with in Gaza

Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday warned against trying to push Palestinian refugees into Egypt or Jordan, adding that the humanitarian situation must to be dealt with inside Gaza and the West Bank.

“That is a red line, because I think that is the plan by certain of the usual suspects to try and create de facto issues on the ground. No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt,” King Abdullah said at a news conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) shakes hands with King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan after their press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 17 October 2023. CREDIT: FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

8:52AM

Watch: Israel releases video of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

8:49AM

More than 1,000 children killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, according to NGO Defence for Children Palestine

An injured Palestinian boy sits on the floor at the emergency room of the al-Shifa Hospital, waiting to receive treatment for his wounds following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. CREDIT: AP Photo/Abed Khaled

8:45AM

British government will do 'everything possible' to bring hostages home

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said that the British government will do “everything we possibly can” to get back the up to 10 British hostages being held by Hamas.

He told BBC Breakfast: “We don’t know where they are and we are thinking of them all the time. And of course we are strongly supporting the attempt by Israel to find them and release them.

“The British Government will do everything we possibly can to get them back, as soon as we possibly can.

“We mourn the six British hostages we know who have died and we are extremely concerned about the fate and the state of the other 10.”

He added that Israel has a “moral’’ responsibility to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and that humanitarian crisis is “looming’’.

8:42AM

Lebanon's national carrier parks planes in Istanbul amid escalating tensions

Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national carrier, has announced that it is going to park five of its 24 strong fleet in Istanbul “due to the conditions the region is going through”.

The move is just precautionary it said and flights will remain scheduled as usual. 

As tensions ratchet over whether Lebanon could get dragged into the conflict, many are worrying about the airport. Bordered by its enemy Israel and war-torn and dangerous Syria, Beirut’s airport is the only way in and out of Lebanon. 

During the last war with Israel in 2006 the airport was bombed, leaving everyone in the country stranded until evacuations could begin. The British government evacuated 5,000 people in the biggest evacuation since Dunkirk. 

8:32AM

Search and rescue in Khan Yunis, where Palestinians were told to flee to, after heavy Israeli air strikes

Palestinians search through the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 17, 2023 CREDIT: MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinians look for survivors after Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. CREDIT: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Civil defense members and residents conduct search and rescue operation amid rubble and destroyed buildings after Israeli attacks continue on the 11th day in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 17, 2023. CREDIT: Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images

A Palestinian man reacts as people search for casualties under the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 17, 2023. CREDIT: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

8:26AM

Slain British IDF soldier a 'typical cheeky chappie', sister says

The sister of Nathenel Young, who was killed by Hamas during the attack last Saturday as he was serving in the IDF, has described him as a “typical 20-year-old cheeky chappie”.

“(He) loved fashion and trainers and he had a trainers collection just like a typical 20-year-old cheeky chappie,”his sister Gaby Young told the PA news agency.

“I spent the whole day trying to figure out what was going on and where he was, hoping he was okay, that he just left his phone somewhere or something like that, not anything worse,” she recalled. 

Air raid sirens had rung out at his funeral two days later.

“Everyone had to just get on the floor,” she said.

“My parents and my sister from the UK had come from the funeral and they’ve never had to even experience air raid sirens so you can imagine how terrified they must have been.”

Undated handout photo of Gaby Young (left) with her brother Nathanel (right), who was killed by Hamas militants on October 7. CREDIT: PA Photo

8:15AM

Seven Palestinian civil defence members killed yesterday, UN says

Seven Palestinian civil defence members were killed in an Israeli air strike yesterday, the UN said in a daily briefing. 

Their deaths brought the total number of humanitarian staff killed while on duty to 31.

7:51AM

Pictured: This morning in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip

Bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes lie at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 17, 2023. CREDIT: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinians remove a man from under the rubble of a house destroyed by Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 17, 2023. CREDIT: REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot

People gather as Palestinians work to remove casualties from under the rubble of a house destroyed by Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 17, 2023. CREDIT: REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot

7:44AM

Heavy bombardments in southern Gaza overnight

Israeli bombs heavily hit areas west and southeast of Khan Yunis and west of Rafah, according to local reports. 

Khan Yunis is overflowing with hundreds of thousands of displaced people who followed Israeli instructions to flee their homes and head south for safety. Rafah, is additionally crowded with people who have foreign passports and have repeatedly been told they will be able to leave through Egypt.

At least 49 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli strikes that hit homes in Khan Younis and Rafah, Gaza’s interior ministry said this morning.

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official and former health minister, reported that 27 people were killed in Rafah and 30 were killed in Khan Yunis.

7:32AM

Joe Biden to visit Israel in show of support

Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday in a show of support for the US ally as its forces prepare for a possible ground attack on Gaza.

Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, confirmed the president’s travel plans at the end of seven hours of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet.

Mr Blinken said the president “will hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.” 

7:14AM

Four killed in infiltration attempts from Lebanon, IDF says

Good morning. I’m Abbie Cheeseman, taking over the live blog from Beirut. 

The Israeli Defence Forces have said they “spotted a terrorist squad attempting to infiltrate the security fence with Lebanon and plant an explosive device.” Four of them were killed, the statement added. 

Palestinian militants have been operating in the south of Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah. 

6:36AM

Aid heading to Gaza; border still closed

While there has still not been any announcement on when aid may make it into the Gaza Strip, relief convoys which had been waiting in the Egyptian city of El Arish are headed towards the Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian enclave, aid officials said.

“We have arrived at the terminal and are now waiting for the next step,” said Heba Rashed, who runs the aid group Mersal. 

Hundreds more lorries were headed along the coast road 25-mile journey to Rafah, according to other aid groups. 

Convoys of aid have been waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing for days. Egypt said yesterday that Israel will not come to a suitable arrangement to allow the aid in. It has repeatedly bombed the Palestinian side of the crossing.

CREDIT: Getty

6:00AM

Journalists want answers

The editor-in-chief of Reuters has called for a “transparent” investigation into the death a journalist who was killed while reporting in Lebanon.

Alessandra Galloni said the IDF must also clarify the “terms of engagement” in the Israel-Hamas war as she urged all militaries to ensure the safety of media professionals.

Issam Abdallah, a Reuters video journalist, was killed on Friday when he was struck by an Israeli artillery strike. Six other journalists were injured.

“I am reiterating my call to the Israeli authorities who have said they are investigating to conduct a swift, thorough and transparent probe,” Galloni said in a video. “By transparent, I mean an investigation with clear evidence and explanation.”

She asked Lebanon, which had claimed to have gathered evidence on the attack, to inform the investigation.

Israel's ambassador says there's no humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel bombs and lays siege to it, killing thousands of Palestinians

Grace Eliza Goodwin

Updated Tue, October 17, 202

• Israel's ambassador to the UK told Sky News that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

• About 2 million Palestinians have been trapped in Gaza with dwindling electricity, food, and water.

• Israel has launched thousands of bombs on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' attack on Israel.

An Israeli ambassador said she doesn't believe there's a humanitarian crisis in Gaza after Israel dropped thousands of bombs on the territory, killing thousands of Palestinians.

Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the UK, spoke with Sky News' Kay Burley on Monday about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which began when Hamas militants from Gaza attacked Israel on October 7th, killing more than a thousand Israelis and foreign nationals in Israeli settlements, including women, children, and the elderly, and taking civilians hostage.