Israel

Israel: Netanyahu swipes at intel chiefs over Hamas, then apologizes

JERUSALEM, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday took a jab at his intelligence chiefs on the X platform, saying they never warned him Hamas was planning its wide-scale attack on Oct. 7, but later retracted his comments and issued an apology.

The remarks, posted on X at 1 a.m. on Sunday (around 2300 GMT on Saturday), caused a political uproar and a rift within the war cabinet of Netanyahu, who has drawn public ire for not taking responsibility over intelligence and operational failures relating to Hamas' rampage through southern Israel.

Israel: Gazans break into aid centres, taking flour and supplies, UN says

JERUSALEM, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of Gaza residents broke into warehouses and distribution centres of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) grabbing flour and "basic survival items", the organisation said on Sunday.

"This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement.

A spiderweb of Hamas tunnels in Gaza Strip raises risks for an Israeli ground offensive

JERUSALEM (AP) — As an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip looms in its most devastating war yet with Hamas, one of the greatest threats to both its troops and the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped inside the seaside enclave is buried deep underground.

An extensive labyrinth of tunnels built by the Hamas militant group stretches across the densely populated strip, hiding fighters, their rocket arsenal and over 200 hostages they now hold after an unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Israel says its war can both destroy Hamas and rescue hostages. Their families are less certain

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military has sought to assure the public it can achieve the two goals of its war on Hamas simultaneously — toppling the strip’s militant rulers and rescuing some 230 hostages abducted from Israel.

But as the army ramps up airstrikes and ground incursions on the blockaded enclave, laying waste to entire neighborhoods in preparation for a broader invasion, the anguished families of hostages are growing increasingly worried those aims will collide — with devastating consequences.

Israel: Netanyahu says the Gaza war has entered a new stage and will be ‘long and difficult’

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation Saturday night that the military has opened a “second stage” in the war against Hamas by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea.

Casting the war as a fight for his country’s very survival, he warned that the assault would only intensify ahead of a broad ground invasion into the territory.

Israelis urge Egypt to help free hostages in Gaza

27 October 2023; MEMO: Over 200 Israelis demonstrated outside the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv yesterday to demand the return of prisoners of war held by the Palestinian resistance factions in the besieged Gaza Strip, Anadolu news agency reported.

Protesters gathered at the embassy’s entrance, waving banners demanding Egypt’s help to secure the release of Israelis held by the Palestinian resistance, Israeli Army Radio reported.

Israel: Prayers, protests and clashes in Jerusalem and West Bank as Gaza war rages

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH Oct 27 (Reuters) - Israeli security forces restricted young Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for prayers on Friday and deployed in strength across the Old City and beyond to quell any unrest spilling over from the conflict in Gaza.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians during raids, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said. Two of the dead were identified by militant factions as their members.

The Hamas tunnel city beneath Gaza - a hidden frontline for Israel

JERUSALEM/LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - What lies in wait for Israeli ground troops in Gaza, security sources say, is a Hamas tunnel network hundreds of kilometres long and up to 80 metres deep, described by one freed hostage as "a spider's web" and by one expert as the "Viet Cong times 10".

The Palestinian Islamist group has different kinds of tunnels running beneath the sandy 360 sq km coastal strip and its borders - including attack, smuggling, storage and operational burrows, Western and Middle East sources familiar with the matter said.

Israel-Hamas war upends years of conventional wisdom. Leaders give few details on what comes next

JERUSALEM (AP) — Just three weeks into the deadliest war between Israel and Hamas, it already is clear that the bloodshed has flipped long-standing assumptions in Israel and the region upside down.

Israel’s military and intelligence services were exposed as incompetent and ill-prepared. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decades of attempts to sideline the Palestinians and U.S. efforts to manage the conflict, rather than solve it, badly backfired.

Israel: Gantz tells illegal settlers around Gaza that they may not return 'home' for a year

26 October 2023; MEMO: Israeli Minister Benny Gantz has reportedly told residents of settlements near Gaza that it is possible they might not be able to return to their homes for a year, Israel’s Channel 12 reported yesterday.

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