A month , Israel's military says it's fighting in the 'depths' of Gaza City after encircling the northern part of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will have "overall security responsibility" in Gaza "for an indefinite period" after its war with Hamas. His comments in a TV interview offered the clearest indication yet that Israel plans to maintain control over the territory that's home to some 2.3 million Palestinians.
Several hundred thousand people are believed to remain in the north in the assault's path. Hundreds of Palestinians fled Gaza City to the south on Tuesday, raising their hands and waving white flags to move past Israeli tanks. Some came on donkey carts, most on foot, a few pushing aged relatives in wheelchairs, all visibly exhausted and many with nothing but their clothes on their back.
The number of Palestinians killed in the war passed 10,300, including more than 4,200 children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said Tuesday.
In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.
Currently:
-- Israel envisions an 'overall security' role in Gaza indefinitely.
-- Civilians fleeing northern Gaza's combat zone report a terrifying journey on foot past Israeli tanks.
-- AP PHOTOS: Death, destruction and despair reign a month into latest Israel-Gaza conflict.
-- Majority of Israelis are confident in justice of Gaza war, even as world sentiment sours.
-- How Lebanon's Hezbollah group became a critical player in the Israel-Hamas war.
Here's what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
HAMAS DENIES ISRAEL IS MAKING BIG MILITARY GAINS IN GAZA CITY
BEIRUT -- Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad, speaking on Tuesday from Beirut, denied that Israeli forces were making any significant military gains or that they had advanced deep into Gaza City.
"They never give the people the truth," Hamad said. He added that numerous Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday and "many tanks were destroyed."
"The Palestinians fight and fight and fight against Israel, until we end the occupation," said Hamad, who left Gaza days before the attack.
Israel's military says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters in the monthlong war. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims of either side.
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS TEAM MEMBER KILLED IN STRIKE ON REFUGEE CAMP
NEW YORK -- Doctors Without Borders reported the death of Mohammed Al Ahel, a laboratory technician for the organization in Gaza, on Nov. 6, during a bombing in the Shati refugee camp. Several members of his family also died in the bombing.
The international charity said Al Ahel had worked with them for more than two years and was at his home when the area was bombed and his building collapsed.
"Our repeated calls for an immediate ceasefire have gone unanswered," the charity said in a statement Tuesday. "But we insist that a ceasefire is the only way to prevent more senseless deaths across Gaza and allow adequate humanitarian aid into the Strip."
ISRAELI HOSTAGES' FAMILIES HOLD VIGIL BESIDE WESTERN WALL
Hundreds of family members of hostages held in Gaza joined supporters beside the Western Wall in Jerusalem to call for the release of their loved ones.
Tuesday evening's event was one of several held around Israel to mark one month since the unprecedented Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in which more than 1,400 people were killed and around 240 taken captive.
"The hostages have been underground in Gaza for 32 days. I cry out to every single person here and every single person on the planet to make it your mission to free these souls," Rachel Goldberg, a prominent spokesperson for the hostage families said, her voice breaking.
Singing and praying together while holding signs of the kidnapped, parents and friends gave speeches calling for their release. They also lit a memorial flame that will be carried across the world to build political pressure to aid their release.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT DOES NOT SUPPORT ISRAEL RE-OCCUPYING GAZA AFTER WAR
WASHINGTON -- The White House on Tuesday reiterated that President Joe Biden does not support an Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip once the war ends.
Asked about Netanyahu's comments, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he would leave it to Netanyahu to clarify what he means by having "indefinite" control of Gaza's security.
"There needs to be a healthy set of conversations about what post conflict Gaza looks like and what governance looks like," Kirby told reporters. "What we absolutely agree with our Israeli counterparts on is what it can't look like, and it can't look like it looked on October 6."
Biden previously said it would be a "mistake" for Israel to occupy Gaza.
THOUSANDS OF GAZA'S PREGNANT WOMEN AND NEW MOTHERS IN DIRE CONDITIONS, UN SAYS
UNITED NATIONS -- The figures are staggering: 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are unable to access routine maternal health care, 180 women are giving birth there every day, and 5,500 babies have been born since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Dr. Natalia Kanem, head of the U.N. agency that promotes reproductive and sexual health, gave those figures at a U.N. press conference Tuesday where she issued an urgent appeal for fuel for hospitals and incubators, clean water and food for pregnant and lactating women, and for a humanitarian cease-fire.
Kanem said the U.N. has no figures on the number of new mothers or newborns who've died since the war began. But she said, "we have seen losses of life" of newborns in hospitals who need incubators and oxygen which require fuel, adding that being in a hospital is essential for Caesarean section deliveries.
While two truckloads of health and delivery kits and medication have arrived in Gaza, "it's a drop in the bucket" compared to the needs, said Kanem, the executive director of the U.N. Population Fund.
Pregnant women need double the amount of fluid than non-pregnant women, "and if you're a lactating mother, it's triple" -- and "brackish water is not a solution," she added.
RED CROSS SAYS 2 AID TRUCKS CAME UNDER FIRE IN GAZA
CAIRO -- The International Committee of the Red Cross said two of its trucks were damaged when a convoy of its vehicles in Gaza came under fire on Tuesday.
The ICRC vehicles were hit as they were transporting vital medical supplies to hospitals and health facilities in the besieged enclave, the aid group said. A driver was lightly wounded.
"These are not the conditions under which humanitarian personnel can work," said William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Gaza. Officials did not provide further details on the trucks' location inside Gaza.
ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS ITS GROUND FORCES ARE BATTLING 'IN THE DEPTHS' OF GAZA CITY
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said Tuesday that its ground forces are now fighting in "the depths" of Gaza City.
The comments signalled a new stage by the Israeli military as it moves in toward what it says is the headquarters and stronghold of the Hamas militant group.
Speaking to reporters, the chief military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said that Israeli ground forces "are located right now in a ground operation in the depths of Gaza City and putting great pressure on Hamas."
Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel was making great progress in its war, saying that the army has killed thousands of Hamas fighters.
SMALL GROUP OF GAZA KIDS WITH CANCER CROSS INTO EGYPT FOR TREATMENT
CAIRO -- A dozen Palestinian children in Gaza who have cancer were allowed to cross the Rafah border on Tuesday for treatment in Egypt.
According to Egypt's Health Ministry, the 12 children were transferred to specialized cancer hospitals. Authorities did not say whether the children travelled alone or if any family members or guardians were allowed to accompany them.
Evacuations out of Gaza stalled on Friday following a dispute among Israel, Egypt and Hamas. Hundreds of trucks carrying aid have been allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt since Oct. 21. But humanitarian workers say the aid is far short of mounting needs. Egypt's Rafah Crossing has also opened to allow hundreds of foreign passport holders and medical patients to leave Gaza.
TURKIYE'S PARLIAMENT ANNOUNCES BOYCOTT ON COMPANIES THAT SUPPORT ISRAEL
ANKARA, Turkiye -- Turkiye's parliament has announced it's boycotting companies that support Israel, saying their products won't be sold in any of its restaurants, cafeterias or teahouses.
According to a statement from the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the decision was made by parliament speaker Numan Kurtulus in support of the "public sensitivities" toward the sale of products from companies that have allegedly "openly declared their support to Israel's war crimes."
The statement did not name any of the companies being shunned.
The rising number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip has sparked anger in Turkiye. Last week, Turkiye recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations despite recent efforts to normalize ties.
U.S. ENVOY SAYS WASHINGTON DOESN'T WANT WAR TO EXPAND TO LEBANON
BLIDA, Lebanon -- A top U.S. envoy said in Beirut on Tuesday that Washington doesn't want the ongoing war in Gaza to expand to Lebanon, as a Lebanese woman and her three granddaughters were laid to rest two days after they were killed in an Israeli strike.
The comments from Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, came during an unannounced visit to Beirut to discuss the volatile situation with Lebanon's parliament speaker and caretaker prime minister.
Hochstein told reporters after meeting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that restoring calm along Lebanon's southern border is of "utmost importance."
Hochstein said he heard Berri's concerns over the tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, where fighters of the militant group Hezbollah and their allies have been exchanging fire with Israeli troops for about a month, after the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7.
Hochstein's comments came as the Israeli military and Hezbollah exchanged fire on Tuesday following what Israel said was the targeting of one of its posts along the Lebanese border. The clashes along the border have intensified since Israel launched a ground incursion into Gaza against Palestinian militant group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah.
MILITANTS TARGET U.S. BASE IN IRAQ WITH DRONES
WASHINGTON -- Militants targeted the U.S. military base in Irbil, Iraq, overnight and again Tuesday morning, but caused no injuries to personnel or damage to the infrastructure, a U.S. defence official said.
The Islamic Resistance, an umbrella organization of Iran-backed Iraqi militant groups, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying their drones hit their target, without giving any further details.
The overnight attack on Irbil airbase near the city's commercial airport was a multi-drone attack. Tuesday morning's attack was with a single drone, said the defence official, who was not authorized to discuss the strikes and spoke on condition of anonymity. Commercial flights were briefly suspended following the strikes.
The strikes are part of an ongoing string of attacks in recent weeks by the Iran-backed militants on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria, in light of Washington's support of Israel in the ongoing Hamas-Israel war in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The attacks bring the total number of strikes on U.S. and coalition facilities in Iraq and Syria to at least 40 since Oct. 17.
The Islamic Resistance also claimed responsibility for other attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, including a drone attack on Al-Harir in Irbil province, and on the Green Village base in eastern Syria. The U.S. defence official said there were no reports of attacks at Al-Harir.
DEATH TOLL IN GAZA RISES TO 10,328, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip -- The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has risen to 10,328, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. It said 4,237 Palestinian children have been killed since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out Oct. 7. It said 25,956 others in Gaza have been injured. The vast majority of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes that have pounded the enclave for the past month.
ISRAELI STRIKE LEVELS BUILDING IN CITY IN CENTRAL GAZA
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip -- At least one Israeli strike hit a residential area in Deir al-Balah on Tuesday, completely levelling at least one building. Residents quickly gathered around the hill of rubble, either overcome by despair or digging for survivors as injured children were carried through the neighbourhood's narrow streets for treatment. It was unclear how many were killed or injured in the blast. Deir al-Balah is in central Gaza.
BELGIAN LEADER ACCUSES BOTH ISRAEL AND HAMAS OF VIOLATING INTERNATIONAL LAW
BRUSSELS -- In a rare scathing rebuke by a European Union leader of Israeli actions in Gaza, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Tuesday that some of its attacks were "totally disproportionate" and that both sides in the Israel-Hamas war disregarded international humanitarian law "on a daily basis."
While EU leaders have steadfastly defended Israel's right to defend itself within the limits of international law, De Croo said Jerusalem has disregarded that principle time and again in the monthlong conflict.
"For example, to bomb a refugee camp to smithereens because a Hamas leader might be there, that is totally disproportionate. It is never acceptable that so many civilian casualties are made to try and take out one person," De Croo said.
There have been several attacks on refugee camps in Gaza over the past weeks, inflicting heavy casualties among civilians.
De Croo said Hamas was equally responsible for violations of international law and that it "must release as fast as possible innocent hostages. The faster they are released, the more important it can be an element to end the spiral of violence."
Overall, De Croos said both sides "ignore international humanitarian law on a daily basis."
ISRAELI FLAGS PLANTED IN COPACABANA BEACH TO HONOUR ISRAELIS KILLED A MONTH AGO
RIO DE JANEIRO -- On Rio de Janeiro's iconic Copacabana beach on Tuesday, nonprofit Rio de Paz planted 1,400 blue-and-white Israeli flags in honor of those killed by Hamas one month ago, and 34 photos of the children and teenagers who were taken hostage.
Last week, Rio de Paz staged a similar demonstration to denounce the deaths of thousands of children in Gaza. The group draped dozens of white sheets stained with fake blood on the sand as if they were covering dead bodies, along with the names and ages of some of the victims.
"This war will go down in history as the war that killed children, with both sides capable of showing indifference to the most vulnerable," said the group's founder, Antonio Carlos Costa.
ISRAELIS OBSERVE ONE-MONTH ANNIVERSARY OF HAMAS ASSAULT
JERUSALEM -- Israelis observed a minute of silence on Tuesday morning in memory of the victims of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel and the 348 soldiers killed since the assault, on its one-month anniversary.
Israelis are marking the anniversary as a day of mourning over the attack, in which more than 1,400 people were killed and 242 were taken hostage. The one-month anniversary is a milestone in the timeline of Jewish mourning.
Memorial events are scheduled to be held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem later in the day.
BLINKEN SEEKS G7 CONSENSUS ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
TOKYO -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shifted his intense diplomacy on the Israel-Hamas war to Asia on Tuesday with an appeal for the Group of Seven leading industrial democracies to forge a consensus on how to deal with the crisis.
As he and his G7 counterparts began two days of talks in Japan, Blinken said it was critically important for the group to show unity as it has over Russia's war in Ukraine and other major issues and prevent existing differences on Gaza from deepening.
"This is a very important moment as well for the G7 to come together in the face of this crisis and to speak, as we do, with one clear voice," Blinken told Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.
The devastating monthlong conflict in Gaza and efforts to ease the dire humanitarian impacts of Israel's response to the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack will be a major focus of the meeting. Yet with the Russia-Ukraine war, fears North Korea may be readying a new nuclear test, and concerns about China's increasing global assertiveness, it is far from the only crisis on the agenda.
GERMANY RELEASES US$97 MILLION FOR UN PALESTINIAN REFUGEE AGENCY
BERLIN --- The German government says it is releasing 91 million euros (US$97 million) for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees following a review that it launched after Hamas attacked Israel.
Germany on Oct. 8 suspended development aid for the Palestinian areas pending a review, though it has kept up humanitarian aid.
The Development Ministry said Tuesday that it hasn't yet completed the review, but focused initially on UN agency UNRWA. It said that "as a first partial result" it has decided to release 71 million euros already earmarked for UNRWA and to add 20 million euros in new funding.
It said that funding, announced by Development Minister Svenja Schulze after a meeting in Jordan with the head of UNRWA, will be used to help continue providing basic services --- particularly drinking water --- to displaced people in the Gaza Strip and help Palestinian refugees in Jordan.
UAE TO ESTABLISH 150-BED FIELD HOSPITAL IN GAZA
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates says it will establish a field hospital in Gaza with 150 beds, a surgery department and intensive care units for adults and children.
The state-run WAM news agency reported the move late Monday, saying five aircraft had flown to Egypt, where the equipment will be unloaded and transferred to Gaza.
It says the hospital will be set up in multiple stages, without providing an exact timetable.
The UAE was the driving force behind the Abraham Accords in which four Arab countries normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
The wealthy Persian Gulf country has previously said it would provide US$20 million in aid to the Palestinian people and bring about 1,000 Palestinian children, along with their families, to the UAE for medical treatment.
