[1/8]Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon in southern Israel October 10. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun Acquire Licensing Rights
Oct 11 (Reuters) – Israel says it has razed sections of Gaza as it takes revenge for the worst Hamas assaults in the 75-year-old history of its conflict with the Palestinians.
Hamas militants holding Israeli soldiers and civilians hostage had threatened to execute a captive for each home in Gaza hit, but as night fell on Tuesday there was no indication they had done so.
A ground offensive now looks inevitable.
HUMAN IMPACT
* A 21-year-old Israeli woman said she had “no tears left” after her father, sister, grandmother and cousin went missing on Saturday and video showed her 12-year-old brother being taken by gunmen.
* Gazans like Plestia Alaqad, 22, are running for their lives. After her apartment block was hit, she took refuge in a friend’s home but then got a call it would be targeted too. After a brief stay in a hospital, where she charged her phone, she headed to another home.
* Gazan rescuers pulled the body of a 4-year-old girl and other dead from the rubble of a municipal building where she and many others were sheltering. “They tried to escape death only to find it,” said volunteer Mohammad al Najjar.
* The distraught parents of a Thai seized in Israel sent a plea: “Help the hostages as soon as possible.” His parents recognised their son in a photo shared on social media of hostages sitting with hands seemingly tied behind their backs. “He was going to play soccer with his friend. Then he hung up the phone,” his mother said.
CONFLICT
* The death toll stands at more than 1,200 in Israel and at least 900 Palestinians.
* Israel called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists. “I think I’m ready for war,” said one, as Israeli airlines added flights to bring reservists back to the country.
* A UN human rights chief condemned “horrifying mass killings by members of Palestinian armed groups,” and Israel’s “imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians.” Volker Turk said sieges and abduction of hostages were both against international law.
* Israel has frozen crypto accounts seeking Hamas donations, police said. Hamas had endorsed crypto for years but said in April that it would stop receiving funds via bitcoin, citing an increase in what it called “hostile” activity against donors.
INTERNATIONAL REACTION
* President Joe Biden called the attacks by Hamas “an act of sheer evil” and at least 14 U.S. citizens were killed. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in Israel on Thursday, in a show of solidarity.
* Egypt is moving to prevent a mass exodus south from the Gaza Strip, as Israeli bombardments halted crossings.
* European Union foreign ministers met to try to resolve divisions over whether to continue aid payments to Palestinians.
* Britain’s opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said Hamas “does nothing for Palestinians” and “Israel must always have the right to defend her people.”
* Iran’s top authority Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran was not involved in the Hamas attack, though he “kissed the hands” of those doing damage to Israel.
* Harvard University alumni denounced a pro-Palestinian statement from students blaming Israel’s “apartheid regime” and “decades of occupation” for the explosion of violence.
INSIGHTS/EXPLAINERS
* How a secretive Hamas commander masterminded the attack on Israel. A survivor of seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021, Mohammed Deif rarely speaks and never appears in public so when Hamas’s TV channel announced he was about to speak on Saturday, Palestinians knew something significant was afoot.
* Hamas attack turned an Israeli kibbutz “paradise” into hell
* Hamas waged a campaign of deception to pull off its stunning attack.
* Biden finds himself thrust into a crisis likely to reshape his Middle East policy, and into an uneasy alliance with far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
* Palestinian statehood, Jerusalem and refugees lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
* Biden pledging aid to Israel raised questions about whether Washington can ramp up defense aid to Israel without jeopardizing aid for Ukraine, especially since Congress controls spending and the House is in limbo without a speaker to put legislation to a vote.
MARKETS AND BUSINESS
* Investors are on guard for an oil price spike amid Middle East turmoil.
* Global stocks rose, but violence in Israel made for nervy trading.
* FACTBOX: What are the global firms with a presence in Israel doing after the Hamas attack?
* World Bank chief Ajay Banga said the Gaza conflict is an economic shock ‘we don’t need’.
* The rapid spread of misleading claims and doctored images has put the focus on Elon Musk’s X platform. The EU urged Musk to tackle the spread of disinformation on X after the Hamas attack.
Editing by Stephen Farrell, Gerry Doyle, Andrew Cawthorne and Lisa Shumaker
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