Meanwhile #Israel's defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has said Israel will sever all ties with the #Gaza Strip once its war with #Hamas is over -- it would, as he put it, end its "responsibility" for life there.
The #Hamas authorities say #Israeli attacks have now killed more than 4100 people.
Over 1400 Israelis were killed in Hamas' unprecedented extremist attacks within Israel earlier this month
Govt of #Israel shares first picture of Judith and Natalie #Raanan - two of the #hostages kidnapped in the #Hamas attack
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67165505?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6532e880364b3f1612ec5b0f%26First%20image%20of%20freed%20hostages%262023-10-20T20%3A53%3A50.899Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:551c3470-61de-499f-a88d-edeb187ae585&pinned_post_asset_id=6532e880364b3f1612ec5b0f&pinned_post_type=share
They were in Israel to celebrate the 85th birthday of Judith's mother, Tamar Raanan, and Natalie’s graduation from high school. They were taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on 7 Oct.
Another 8 family members are missing from Kibbutz Be'eri, and three were killed, incl a carer.
Blinken says US officials will meet with the released #hostages as soon as possible.
Blinken also says there's still 10 additional Americans who remain unaccounted for.
"No family anywhere should have to experience this torture," he says
"I want to thank the government of Qatar for their very important assistance," he says, but also states that he "can't speak publicly" about the details.
The #Palestinian Red Crescent says that #Israeli forces have issued an evacuation order to Al-Quds hospital in #Gaza.
The hospital is currently home to over 400 patients and 12,000 displaced civilians, according to the Red Crescent.
BREAKING NEWS
The #Rafah crossing has opened, with live footage showing trucks entering the border crossing from #Egypt into #Gaza.
It's unclear how long the crossing will remain open for. #Israel has so far agreed to allow 20 trucks into Gaza - carrying food, water and medicine - but no fuel - into Gaza through the southern crossing from Egypt.
#Egypt is holding a peace summit today to discuss the deepening conflict between Israel and the Hamas group in Gaza.
The list of attendees compiled by Reuters include #Egyptian Pres al-Sisi, #Palestinian Pres Abbas, UK Foreign Sec Cleverly, UN sec gen Guterres, and several heads of state in the Arab region, among others.
Notably, there are no #Israeli, #Hamas, US and #Iranian representatives on the list.
The Egyptian organisers say the main goal is a ceasefire.
#Hamas 'hostages : Who are the people taken from #Israel ?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67053011
V #BBC Frank Gardner:
'there is the possibility that more hostages could be released by negotiation.
But Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas and has hundreds of thousands of troops poised to go into Gaza.
If and when that incursion begins it will be considerably harder for Qatar, or any other mediators, to negotiate the release of more hostages.'
V CPJ:
Since the conflict started with an unprecedented #hamas attack on #Israel two weeks ago, 22 journalists have been confirmed dead:
18 Palestinian,
3 Israeli,
1 Lebanese.
8 journalists were reported injured.
3 journalists were reported missing or detained.
https://cpj.org/2023/10/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/
The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. As of June 16, 2025, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 185 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel,...
Palestinians under attack as settler violence surges in the West Bank
The #Israeli military says it's attacked "a series of military targets" of the Lebanese #Hezbollah group in the last few hours, in response to the "firing of anti-tank missiles and launches into Israeli territory last night".
The targets struck include military compounds and operational infrastructure used by the group, as well as an anti-tank launcher located at the border and aimed at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces #IDF says
V Haaretz:
#Berlin has documented 70 anti-Semitic incidents since #Hamas attacked #Israel. This is three times as many verified incidents as in the same period last year, when 25 cases were documented. The initiative has received numerous further tip-offs which have yet to be verified.
BBC reported yesterday as well the alarming rise of #antisemitic incidents in the UK
The Associated Press is publishing an updated visual analysis of the deadly Oct. 17 explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital. The AP initially assessed that the explosion was likely caused by a rocket launched from within Gaza that misfired, and that assessment has not changed. However, new images that emerged after AP’s story was published show that a key video used in the initial analysis is no longer tied to the hospital explosion. Still, three other videos show Palestinian militants launching rockets from inside Gaza on a trajectory that would have taken them in the direction of the hospital seconds before the explosion.
AFP reports that the #Israeli govt has told its citizens in #Egypt and #Jordan to leave asap.
It quotes a stmt from Israel's national security council, which says it "raises its travel warnings for Egypt (including Sinai) and Jordan to level 4 (high threat): recommendation not to travel to these countries and for those staying there to leave... as soon as possible".
Earlier this week, the warning level was similarly raised for #Turkey and Israeli citizens there were instructed to leave.
WHO says supplies approaching #Rafah crossing include:
"Trauma medicines and supplies for 1,200 people"
"Portable trauma bags for on-the-spot stabilization of up to 235 injured people"
"Chronic disease medicines and treatments for 1,500 people and basic essential medicines and health supplies for 300,000 people for three months"
This Haaretz excl. article quotes an official in the security establishment saying " #Netanyahu is on on the campaign trail." He alleges the PM "is collecting materials against the army and explaining in background conversations with reporters why he is not guilty and the intelligence didn't reach him"
Quote from Mahmoud #Abbas speech at the #Cairo #Egypt summit:
"We will never accept relocation, we will remain on our land whatever the challenges."
Abbas is head of the #Palestinian Authority, which has control over areas of the occupied West Bank, but not the #Hamas -run #Gaza Strip.
Egypt and other Arab states have previously said a massive influx of Palestinian refugees fleeing the war would be unacceptable because 'it would amount to the expulsion of Palestinians from their land'.
V BBC Rushdi Abualouf near #Rafah:
'One of the 20 trucks was loaded with coffins.'
#Palestinian officials say 4,137 people have died in #Gaza since #Hamas infiltrated and attacked Israel two weeks ago - #Israel has been bombarding Gaza ever since.
It's worth noting this death toll includes 471 people that the Gaza health ministry says were killed on Tuesday at Al-#Ahli hospital. That number is contested - an Israel foreign ministry spokesperson has said it was "several dozen".
Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby stmt yesterday:
"I join with my brother in Christ, Patriarch Theophilos III, in horror and grief that the Orthodox #Church compound in #Gaza was struck last night.
When we met in Jerusalem this morning, the death toll was still unknown and people were still buried under the rubble.
I pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, and for all civilians caught up in this appalling violence."
UN's humanitarian chief says a 2nd convoy of 20 to 30 trucks could enter #Gaza on Sunday, and the UN and #Israel are having "tough but fair" discussions about how trucks will be inspected.
"We need to build up a light, efficient, random inspection system that will not slow things down," Griffiths is cited by Reuterts as saying.
He compared the type of possible system to that used in Gaziantep to send aid from Turkey into Syria
Daniel Hagari #IDF spox says the #Israeli military will "deepen" and "increase" its strikes on #Gaza
At a press conference, he told reporters this would allow Israel to "minimise the risks to our forces in the next stages of the war" - and it would happen "from today"
Hagari also repeated a call for residents of Gaza City to move to the south of the region, saying it was for their own safety
On Sat, US President Joe Biden was asked if he was encouraging #Israel to delay any ground offensive into the #Gaza Strip.
In response, Biden simply said he was "talking to the Israelis".
Israel is widely expected to launch the offensive, but the timing remains unknown.
UK PM Sunak calls for all water supplies to be restored to Gaza wherever it is physically possible.
He welcomes the reopening of the Rafah crossing and calls for a "stream of trucks" to come rolling through.
#IDF says overnight air strikes on #Gaza have killed the deputy commander of #Hamas rocket force, alongside "dozens of terrorists", according to comments carried by the Reuters and Israeli media.
Hamas, officially designated a terrorist organisation by the UK, US, and others (it has ruled Gaza since 2007), says 55 people were killed in overnight strikes. Images have shown the aftermath of air strikes in both central Gaza and in the south, in #Rafah, which is close to the border with Egypt.
Mahmoud Abbas: "We will never accept relocation, we will remain on our land whatever the challenges."
Is that a 20th or 21st century dogma? Arabs used to 'relocate' quite eagerly after the emergence of their religion in the 7th century.
The natives in those lands where Arabs did 'relocate' en masse didn't always fare too well and some were wiped out completely.
Surely a mutually agreeable and peaceful relocation of both Arabs *and* Israelis into a more sustainable land arrangement, with all the incentives imaginable, should be at least theoretically possible?
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