Israel's Gaza invasion - Day 366

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Britain “will not falter in our pursuit of peace”, on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, AFP reports.

In a statement, the UK leader paid tribute to the victims of those killed a year ago, saying: “We stand together to remember the lives so cruelly taken.”

He added that Britain “must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country,” following a surge in reports of anti-Semitism across the UK.

Starmer also repeated his calls for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon “and for the removal of all restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza”.

“We will not falter in our pursuit of peace and on this day of pain and sorrow, we honour those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East,” he said.

Japan “unequivocally condemned” the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel but said it was “gravely concerned” by the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip one year on, AFP reports.

“Japan has consistently and unequivocally condemned the terror attacks by Hamas and others, and urge the immediate release of all hostages still being held captive,” Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said.

“At the same time, Japan is gravely concerned about the ongoing critical humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” Iwaya said, pointing to the “large number of civilians” killed and the insecurity facing both Israelis and Palestinians.

“Japan continues to urge all the parties including Israel, to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, and strongly urges them to steadily work toward realisation of a ceasefire,” Iwaya said in a statement.

“Japan is seriously concerned about the rising tensions beyond Israel and the Gaza Strip throughout the Middle East region, including the West Bank, Lebanon, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and Iran,” he said.

The Israeli army said it had deployed another division to participate in operations in Lebanon — making it the third troop grouping at division strength to be used in the ground fight against Hezbollah, AFP reports.

“The soldiers of the 91st Division began localised and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon,” said a statement from the army.

Israel has intercepted two aerial targets launched from the east after sirens went off in the central areas of Rishon Letsiyon and Palmachim, the military said on the one-year anniversary of the Oct 7 attacks.

According to Reuters, the military gave no further details of the source of the drones.

Hezbollah rockets hit Israel’s third-largest city of Haifa earlier today, in the first direct attack on the northern city that evaded the military’s usually reliable air defence systems, Reuters reports.

Hezbollah said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with a salvo of “Fadi 1” missiles. Media said two rockets hit Haifa — 17 kilometres from the Lebanese border — on Israel’s Mediterranean coast and five hit Tiberias 65km away.

Israeli media said 10 people were wounded in Haifa and Tiberias.

“This was the first real hit in the city,” said its mayor, Yona Yahav.

Israel’s military said five rockets were launched at Haifa from Lebanon, adding, “Interceptors were fired. Fallen projectiles were identified in the area. The incident is under review.”

It said 15 other rockets were fired at Tiberias, some of them intercepted.

French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tributes to the victims of the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel, on the first anniversary of the incursion that shook the Middle East, AFP reports.

“The pain remains, as vivid as it was a year ago. The pain of the Israeli people. Ours. The pain of wounded humanity,” he said in a post on the social media platform X, also posting in Hebrew and French.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has reiterated that Pakistan will continue to extend its moral, diplomatic and political support to Palestinians who are facing “unabated Israeli aggression and oppression”, Radio Pakistan reports.

In a message on Solidarity Day with Palestinian People today, he said that government “will continue its support to the Palestinian brothers and sisters until establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital”.

The prime minister said the entire country was “observing a day of solidarity with their unarmed Palestinian brothers and sisters”.

The premier said that Israel was mocking the world powers, international institutions, Security Council (SC) resolutions and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

An Israeli campaign group announced the death of a hostage held in Gaza, as the country marked the first anniversary of the October 7 attack, AFP reports.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Idan Shtivi, 28, was abducted from the site of the Nova festival and his “body is still held captive by Hamas”.

The country’s foreign ministry says a ceasefire in Gaza is needed “to get the hostages out and more humanitarian aid” into the enclave, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, it said: “We have to encourage those reasonable voices working towards a political solution.”

Britain advised citizens against all travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) due to a heightened state of tension and violent clashes in the region, Reuters reports.

“FCDO advises against all travel to the area close to the border with Gaza and all but essential travel to the rest of Israel and the OPTs,” it said.

Syria’s defence ministry said Israeli airstrikes that targeted its central region yesterday caused “material damage”, Reuters reports.

In a statement, the defence ministry said Israel had attacked Syria from the direction of northern Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites. It did not provide more details.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched in cities around the world over the weekend calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon as the bombardment in the Palestinian territory neared the one-year mark, AFP reports.

In Morocco Sunday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the capital, Rabat, waving Palestinian flags and calling to break off diplomatic ties with Israel, which the kingdom normalised in 2020.

“Resistance does not die” and “The people want an end to normalisation”, they chanted outside parliament.

“We consider Palestine to be a national cause,” Khadija Mokhtari, a 56-year-old retiree taking part in the protest, told AFP.

She attended to protest the “flagrant injustice, Israeli killings and the genocide” against Palestinians, she added.

Thousands also marched in support of Gaza and Lebanon in cities across Turkey, including Istanbul and Ankara.

In Ramallah, in the West Bank, protesters carried a banner showing photos of Palestinian journalists slain while covering the conflict.

Thousands also marched through New York’s Times Square, some carrying pictures of people killed in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

A year since the start of the bombardment in Gaza, Israel is still blocking a ceasefire agreement despite Hamas’ flexibility, Hamas chief negotiator and deputy Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said in a speech shown on Hamas’ Aqsa television according to Reuters.

Hayya said that despite the flexibility on a ceasefire deal shown by Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government continued to stall and undermine talks.

Hayya said the group was not prepared to make concessions on its demands that Israel end the bombardment, pull out its forces from Gaza, return internally displaced residents to their homes, and strike a prisoners-for-hostages deal.

Hayya accused the world of double standards over Gaza and Lebanon, which he said would lead to more disruption and instability in the region.

Hayya reaffirmed the group’s standing behind the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, saying it put the Palestinian cause on top of the world agenda.

“We can say in full confidence, that the Palestine cause has become the prime cause in the world and all parties now realize that there can be no security and no stability in the region unless our people gain their full rights,” said Hayya.

Palestinian fighter group Hamas praised its October 7 attack on Israel in a video message ahead of the first anniversary of the deadly storming of southern Israel which sparked the Gaza bombardment.

“The crossing of the glorious 7th of October shattered the illusions the enemy had created for itself, convincing the world and the region of its supposed superiority and capabilities,” Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya said in a video statement.

Israel’s army chief told troops that Israel was fighting a lengthy war and vowed to destroy those who attack Israel, which is battling fighters in both Gaza and Lebanon, AFP reports.

“This is a long war, measured not only by capabilities but also by the willpower and perseverance over time,” Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in an address to troops.

“This is a war for our right to be a free people in our land,” he added.

Thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators took to the streets of Australia to protest Israeli forces’ continued brutal attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, ahead of the first anniversary of Israel’s conflict in Gaza, Anadolu reports.

Major rallies were held in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide amid heavy police presence, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

Thousands of people protested in Sydney’s Hyde Park, carrying signs, placards, and flags, before marching through Melbourne’s CBD, with organizers leading chants over megaphones.

Police were seen checking the crowd for green and yellow flags, and signs around the park warned against displaying illegal symbols such as the Hezbollah flag.

“We’re here to demand that our government finally cut ties with the state of Israel, because enough is enough,” Amao Naser, one of the organizers of the rally, told ABC, adding that the goal is to push the government to act.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry called on Palestinian civilians to ignore Israeli orders to evacuate their areas and move south, Anadolu reports.

“Israeli claims about the presence of safe zones in southern Gaza are lies as Israel commits crimes and massacres in all areas of the enclave,” the ministry said in a statement.

“We call on citizens in northern Gaza to ignore Israeli threats to evacuate their homes and head south,” it added.

The Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza to leave their homes and move to areas designated by the Israeli army as a “safe zone” in central and southern Gaza.

Lebanese authorities called for piling pressure on Israel to halt its attacks against the health sector in Lebanon amid air and ground attacks on the country, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the Lebanese Order of Nurses (ONS) accused Israel of deliberately targeting hospitals, doctors, nurses, and paramedics “in a blatant defiance of international laws and conventions.”

“The international community, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the International Council of Nurses must intervene quickly to pressure Israel to neutralize the health sector from the devastating war,” it added.

“It is no longer possible to remain in hot areas to rescue the wounded, especially since the lives of nurses are in danger,” warned, the ONS, the only official body representing the nursing work in Lebanon.

The Israeli army rounded up at least 15 more Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to a prisoners’ affairs group, Anadolu reports.

A journalist was among the detainees in the raids that targeted the cities of Hebron, Bethlehem, Tulkarem, and Tubas, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement.

“The raids were marked by widespread abuse, threats against detainees and their families and acts of vandalism and destruction on homes,” the statement said.

“The occupation is waging a war of revenge against the detainees, 40 of whom have been killed since Oct. 7,” Qadura Fares, head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, told a press conference in Ramallah in the West Bank.

Palestine hailed a call by French President Emmanuel Macron to halt arms exports to Israel amid its onslaught on the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.

“Macron’s call aligns with international law and international legitimacy resolutions and supports the two-state solution and the principles of human rights,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In an interview with France Inter radio, Macron emphasised the need to focus on political solutions to end the Gaza conflict.

“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons [to Israel] to fight in Gaza,” he said.

The French president clarified that Paris has not supplied arms to Israel amid its current onslaught ar on the Palestinian enclave.

A gunman opened fire at a bus station in the Israeli city of Beersheba killing one woman and wounding 10 people, emergency services said, as security forces remained on alert, Reuters reports.

The attacker had been killed, the ambulance service said. A witness at the scene told N12 News he saw soldiers fire at the assailant, who media reported was a member of the Bedouin minority in Israel’s Negev desert.

Police described the shooting as a terrorist attack but have not provided details on the gunman’s identity.

Israeli security forces are on high alert across Israel for possible pro-Palestinian street attacks on the eve of the first anniversary of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel last year, which triggered the Gaza conflict.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati discussed the latest developments and humanitarian situation in Lebanon in a phone call, Turkiye’s foreign ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.

Fidan told Mikati that Turkiye is ready to support Lebanon in its humanitarian needs, the statement said.

At least one person was killed and 10 others injured during a shooting in southern Israel’s Beersheva, police and emergency responders said, a day before the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack, AFP reports.

“Paramedics have pronounced a 25-year-old female deceased, and are evacuating 10 casualties,” emergency service provider Magen David Adom said in a statement.