Israel-Hamas live: Palestine ministry publish names of 7,000 people it says have been killed in Gaza

Israel has warned overnight tank raid by IDF was carried out “in preparation for the next stages of combat”
Published a list of names of 7,000 people it says have been killed by Israel in the last three weeks.

The Hamas list – which has not been verified – is more than 200 pages long and includes the age and gender of the victims.
On Wednesday, US president Joe Biden said he had “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using” for the death toll.
Israel says that more than 1,400 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October that sparked the latest wave of violence in the war-torn region.

Overnight, Israeli tanks crossed over the border into Gaza and attacked Hamas targets in a limited “raid” before withdrawing.
The military said the raid was carried out “in preparation for the next stages of combat” as the Israeli defence forces prepared for a large-scale invasion that Israeli leaders have threatened as part of the war to destroy Hamas.

Benny Gantz, a retired general and member of Israel’s war cabinet, said any ground offensive would be only “one stage in a long-term process… that will take years”.

Reporter whose family were killed ‘felt duty’ to continue working
An Al Jazeera reporter who was on air when he was told his wife and children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike has spoken of why he has continued working despite his agony.
Wael Al-Dahdouh said: “Thank you for all your solidarity and condolences and prayers. They were really important … I felt it was my duty to get back to work as quickly as possible, despite everything.
“As you can see, the firing is going on everywhere…
“I felt that it was my duty, despite the pain and the open wound, to get back in front of the camera and to communicate with you on social media as soon as possible.”

UK Border Force set to help Britons escape Gaza
UK Border Force teams are in Egypt to help trapped British nationals escape from Gaza when a crossing is opened, Rishi Sunak has revealed.
Around 200 Briton stuck inside the besieged enclave have been in touch with the Foreign Office, the prime minister said:
PM said he was ‘very keen’ to bring home around 200 trapped Britons

EU summit calls for ‘humanitarian corridors and pauses’ in Gaza
EU leaders agreed at a summit on Thursday to call for the establishment of “humanitarian corridors and pauses” to get urgently-needed aid into Gaza.
“The European Council expresses its gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs,” a declaration adopted by the leaders said.
“The European Union will work closely with partners in the region to protect civilians, provide assistance and facilitate access to food, water, medical care, fuel and shelter, ensuring that such assistance is not abused by terrorist organisations,” added the declaration, issued at the summit in Brussels.
Pro-Palestine protesters blockade UK weapons factory
Union members blockaded a weapons factory in Kent for six hours, in protest over the war in Israel. The protesters included health workers, teachers and academics:

More than 150 protestors including teachers and doctors gathered in Kent to demonstrate against the use of weapons in Israel
Palestinian authorities release list of 7,000 people they say have been killed
Gaza’s ministry of health has published a list of names of 7,000 people it says have been killed by Israel in the last three weeks.
The list – which has not been verified – is more than 200 pages long and includes the age and gender of the victims.
On Wednesday, US president Joe Biden said he had “no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using” for the death toll.
Israel says that more than 1,400 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October that sparked the latest wave of violence in the war-torn region.

Israel says Gaza tank raid is ‘preparation for next stage of combat’
Israeli troops, backed by tanks and armoured bulldozers launched a “targeted” raid into northern Gaza, to prepare “for the next stages of combat,” the country’s military has said.
The hours-long “brigade-level raid”, the biggest of a number of raids Israeli forces have made into Gaza recently, comes ahead of a widely anticipated full ground offensive that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed will go ahead.
Israel has also unleashed its heaviest ever bombardment of Gaza, which is home to more than two million people, in retaliation for a bloody attack by Hamas, who stormed communities in southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 220 hostages.
Ratcheting up its bombing campaign, Israel’s military said in the last 24 hours alone it had launched 250 airstrikes across Gaza, targeting tunnel shafts and rocket launchers.

Iran says Hamas hostage release depends on freeing Palestinian prisoners
Iran’s foreign minister has said Hamas is ready to release civilian prisoners abducted from Israel but that the international community must take responsibility for releasing 6,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Hossein Amirabdollahian told an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly that Iran “stands ready to play its part in this very important humanitarian endeavour, along with Qatar and Turkey”.
Iran is a key backer of Hamas, and Qatar has already played a key role in the release of four Israeli civilians, among the more than 200 still held captive.
Mr Amirabdollahian accused the United States of directly participating in the Israeli-Hamas war and what he called a “genocide” against the Palestinians.
Iran’s top diplomat also issued a strong warning “against the uncontrollable consequences of the unlimited financial, arms and operational support by the White House to the Tel Aviv regime”.
“I say frankly to the American statesman, who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome expansion of the war in the region,” he said.

The delays, doubts and diplomacy around an Israeli invasion of Gaza
The Israeli raid into Gaza was not unexpected, such probing operations are normal tactics before a large-scale offensive.
The aim is to degrade the enemy’s capabilities in sections of the battlespace by destroying defensive positions, including ambush points, sweeping for mines and boobytraps and killing combatants.
The operation was, however, widely publicised, with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) issuing videos of columns of Merkava tanks entering the territory with drones flying overhead.
Also in the imagery were Caterpillar D9 armoured bulldozers which will play a highly important role in what is likely to lie ahead.
Press conference about Hamas hostages interrupted by air raid sirens
Hamas claims ‘around 50 hostages have been killed’ in Israeli airstrikes
Hamas has claimed that around 50 hostages have been killed in airstrikes carried out by Israel.
The claim, which has not been verified, was made by an al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson on the terrorist group’s Telegram channel on Thursday.
It comes as delegation from Hamas visited Moscow for talks on the release of foreign hostages, including Russian citizens that the militant group is currently holding in Gaza, Russian news agencies reported.
Senior Hamas member Abu Marzouk was among those attending, TASS said.
“Contacts were held with him in continuation of the Russian line on the immediate release of foreign hostages in the Gaza Strip. Issues related to ensuring the evacuation of Russian and other foreign citizens from the territory of the Palestinian enclave were also discussed,” TASS said.