Israel hostage number revised upwards to 199, no truce in progress to allow humanitarian access to Gaza: Day 10 of the Hamas-Israel war

 Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of day 10 of the Israel-Hamas war. We will be back tomorrow morning with new updates.

US Secretary of State Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sheltered in a bunker for five minutes when air sirens were activated in Tel Aviv during their meeting, as confirmed by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller through Reuters.

Hezbollah said they attacked a Merkava tank near the Dhaira village with “guided missiles” around 6 p.m. and “hit the target". This was their second attack today.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna spoke from the French Embassy in Beirut. Our journalist on the ground Salah Hijazi relayed her statement.

"I'm visiting the region at the request of [French President Emmanuel] Macron," she said.

"The situation is dangerous. I call for restraint. Nothing can justify the terrorist attack against Israel. The operation was planned," she continued.

"All civilians must be able to leave Gaza if they wish. Hamas cannot take an entire population hostage," she added.

"I am in Lebanon to reiterate our attachment to Lebanon and our support. I want to say this in the clearest terms, but I want to make it clear that no group can take advantage of the situation. This is a time for reason."

"Attention Canadians in Lebanon, you should consider leaving while commercial options remain available," said the Canadian government in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) page intended to provide advice to Canadians abroad.

On its official website, the government urged Canadians to "avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon due to an unpredictable security situation, the increased risk of terrorist attack, and the armed conflict with Israel."

"In the event that the armed conflict intensifies, commercial means to depart the country may be impacted. The Government of Canada’s ability to provide consular services during an active conflict, including evacuation of citizens, may be limited," added the government.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday that the war against Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas would be long but victorious.

"I'm telling you, it will be a long war, the cost will be very high, but we will win it, for Israel, for the Jewish people, and for the values our two peoples believe in," said Gallant during a joint statement at the Ministry of Defense.

According to Reuters, Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency acknowledges its failure to deter a Hamas attack on Israel, with the Shin Bet chief taking responsibility for the lapse in a statement.

"Responsibility for this is on me," he said.

Several Israeli Army military positions were shot with “light weapons” near the Lebanese border, and an “anti tank missile” was fired towards an Israeli tank with no casualties recorded, said spokesperson for the Israeli Army Avicha Adraee in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“In response, the IDF is hitting through artillery strikes towards the origins of the fire,” Adraee added.

The armed wing of Hamas says it launched a "barrage of missiles" at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, according to Reuters. 

Hezbollah says they have targeted five Israeli positions and claimed they injured some members of the Israeli Army, according to a statement they just released.

The village of al-Dhaira in South Lebanon is being bombarded by Israel right now, the Lebanese Army told L'Orient Today.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli Army is striking targets in Lebanon in response to shooting on Israeli forces along the border.

The Hamas-Israel war is evolving rapidly.

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Egypt said on Monday that Israel did not cooperate in the delivery of aid to Gaza and the evacuation of foreign passport holders via Rafah, the only entry point it does not fully control, leaving hundreds of tons of supplies stranded, according to Reuters.

Cairo claims that the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital crossing point for desperately needed supplies to the besieged Palestinian enclave, is not officially closed but is non-operational due to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza side.

"We refuse the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip," said Egypt's Head of Diplomacy Sameh Choukri, according to Al Jazeera.

After pressure from the European Union, TikTok announced that it removed more than 500,000 videos and 8,000 streams linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict since Oct. 7, and has strengthened its moderation teams, AFP reports.

On Thursday, Brussels reminded the Chinese social network, which is popular among young people, about its obligation to combat "illegal content" and "false information", which is part of the new European Digital Agenda (EDA).

European Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton issued similar warnings to Meta, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, as a torrent of violent content and conflict-related misinformation floods the platforms.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna arrived in Beirut on Tuesday afternoon as part of a regional tour, according to state-run National News Agency (NNA).

Colonna will hold talks with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, reported NNA.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be speaking later today to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, Reuters reports, citing the reported remarks of one of his aides.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov was also quoted by Russian agencies as saying that Putin had already spoken to his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi earlier today.

Breaking: A Lebanese army unit has found 20 missile launchers, four of which were carrying missiles prepared for launch, on the outskirts of south Lebanon towns of Qlaileh and Chaaitiyeh, the Lebanese Army says.

The army adds that it has dismantled the missiles.

Image: Demonstrators take part in a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Oct. 16, 2023. (Credit: Mussa Qawasma/Reuters)

Israel reiterated its warnings to Hezbollah today in a post by the Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, on the X platform, warning it of a "deadly response."

"Hezbollah fired several shells yesterday, at the request and with the support of Iran … It thus put Lebanon and its inhabitants in danger. The army is present and ready in the north. We have strengthened our ranks, and we aggressively and with determination to any attack. If Hezbollah miscalculates in provoking us, the response will be deadly,” he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced the evacuation of 28 settlements on the Lebanese border, saying that the measure is being taken to give greater freedom of offensive action to Israel's troops. 

Thousands of people gathered in the southern Philippines today to protest Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip in response to deadly cross-border raids by Hamas militants, AFP reports.

The predominantly Catholic Philippines has a large Muslim minority based mainly in the southern region that endured decades of armed Islamic separatist insurgencies until a peace treaty was signed nine years ago.

The four-hour peaceful protest was held at a public park in Cotabato, a city with more than 200,000 Muslim residents.

Cotabato police put the number of protesters at about 25,000.

Image: Demonstrators take part in a pro-Palestinian rally in Cotabato City, in southern island of Mindanao, on Oct. 16, 2023. (Credit: by Ferdinandh Cabrera/AFP)

Image: Members of different student and left-wing organizations protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, near Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India on Oct. 16, 2023 (Credit; Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)

'In the current circumstances, we are working for peace,' Mikati says

Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati says "the government is continuing its contacts [in Lebanon] and with foreign countries to maintain, as much as possible, calm on the local scene and protect the [country] from the repercussions of the war in Gaza,” according to comments reported by the Grand Serail on X (formerly Twitter).

“There is complete Lebanese unity in solidarity with Palestine, but no one has an interest in undertaking the adventure of opening a front from southern Lebanon, because the Lebanese are unable to bear it," Mikati is quoted as saying, before continuing, “In the current circumstances, we are working for peace. The decision to wage war is in the hands of Israel, and what is required is to deter it and stop its provocations so as not to create tensions.”

According to Reuters, the Russian news agency TASS reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken by phone with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad and that both leaders expressed support for the immediate delivery of aid to Gaza.

The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has expressed his full support for UN Secretary-General António Guterres and called for hostages to be "released immediately without conditions."

In addition to his call for hostages to be released, Borrell wrote on X that "unimpeded access must be granted to the UN to and throughout Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, including water & essential supplies. Human suffering can be no bargaining chip."

Arab League chief demands end to Israeli siege, military operations 'depriving Palestinians of their humanity'

The Arab League chief has demanded an end to military operations in the Gaza Strip and charged that the siege of the enclave is "depriving the Palestinians of their humanity," AFP reports.

"We demand the immediate end of military operations and the opening of safe corridors to bring aid to the population," Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said during an Arab justice ministers meeting in Baghdad.

Aboul Gheit said Israel's total siege of Gaza, which has cut off water, food, electricity and fuel, is "depriving the Palestinians of their humanity and paving the way for ethnic cleansing."

Egypt and France's foreign ministers have urged the delivery of humanitarian aid and the exit of foreign nationals from the bombarded Gaza Strip.

"Those who want to leave Gaza must be able to do so," AFP cites French foreign minister Catherine Colonna as saying, adding that she is urging the opening of crossing points.

Egypt controls the Rafah border crossing, the only passage in and out of Gaza not controlled by Israel.

A US official had told AFP on Saturday that Egypt and Israel had reached an agreement for American citizens to leave through Rafah.

But Cairo's top diplomat Sameh Shoukry told reporters today that Egypt has "repeated its request to Israeli authorities for humanitarian aid to pass through."

Shoukry said there was "nothing new, which is a dangerous matter considering the new needs that the Palestinian people in Gaza are being exposed to."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement today that "there is currently no cease-fire and humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for removing foreigners."

This afternoon, the crossing remains closed, locking convoys of aid on one side of the border and fleeing Palestinians and foreigners on the other, according to AFP correspondents and witnesses.

Israel sounds all-clear after suspected infiltration of Metulla, according to Reuters.

Palestinian children hold banners as they take part in a protest following Israeli strikes on Gaza, in Tubas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Oct. 16, 2023. (Credit: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters)

Israel-Lebanon border: Israel's Kan Radio reports that authorities have warned of a possible armed infiltration in the northern Israeli area of Metulla, near Lebanon, Reuters reports.

The Beirut and Tripoli bar associations organized two sit-ins in solidarity with the Palestinian people today, to protest the Israeli army's attacks on the Gaza Strip. A judicial source told L'Orient-Le Jour that the protests were held at midday, in conjunction with other sit-ins organized by bar associations in various Arab countries, following a call addressed to them by the secretary-general of the Arab Lawyers Union, a non-governmental organization of legal professionals founded in 1944 and headquartered in Cairo.

Image: Palestinians walk past piles of garbage that threaten to spark an environmental catastrophe, amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 16, 2023. (Credit: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Reuters reports, citing a source in the Foreign Ministry.

Humanitarian aid negotiations: UN aid chief Martin Griffiths says he will travel to the Middle East to support negotiations on the delivery of aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Griffiths said his office is holding "in-depth discussions" with Israel, Egypt and others.

The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate says that 11 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes since Oct. 7, according to Reuters.

Hospitals across the Gaza Strip have only 24 hours more of fuel reserves, putting thousands of patients at risk, the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said today, Reuters reports.

Image: A view of a part of Lebanon as seen from Israel's border with the country, in northern Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Israeli army has announced the evacuation of residents in 28 villages in northern Israel within two kilometers of the Lebanese border (Credit: Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

The Arab League us demanding a halt to "military operations" in Gaza and the opening of humanitarian "corridors," AFP reports.

The Israeli army has announced that at least 291 of its soldiers were killed in the Hamas attack, Haaretz reports.

The Israeli army has stepped up the jamming of GPS signals in the region in an attempt to thwart drone attacks carried out by Hamas and Hezbollah, according to Israeli publication Haaretz. Reuters reported on Sunday that the area concerned covers a 4km perimeter along the Lebanese border, as well as the southern border of the Gaza Strip.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry says Egypt has aimed since the Hamas-Israel conflict erupted to keep the Rafah border crossing operational, but that until now the Israeli government has not taken a stance that has allowed for the [Rafah] crossing to be open from the Gaza side, Reuters reports.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says it is too early to speculate on the economic consequences of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and that the impact would depend on whether the conflict spread to the wider region, Reuters reports, citing comments Yellen made to Sky News.

"It's too early to speculate on whether or not there will be significant consequences," she told Sky News.

"I think importantly it depends on whether the hostilities extend beyond Israel and Gaza, and that's certainly an outcome we would like to avoid."

Image: Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh speaks during a cabinet meeting in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 16, 2023 (Credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/Pool via Reuters)

According to the Hamas Telegram channel, Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv was bombed this morning by the party's armed wing.

This information was relayed by the pro-Iranian channel Al Mayadeen, which reported that the airport was targeted half an hour before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival in Israel.

No information regarding such a strike on the airport has been released by Israel.

An Israeli army spokesperson, quoted by Al Jazeera, says that the crossing points in Gaza are closed and that the army continues to attack Hamas.

There was ambiguity this morning regarding a cease-fire decision in Gaza and the opening of the Rafah border crossing.

UN-flagged fuel trucks move towards border crossing, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 16, 2023. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Tel Aviv and is expected to again meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, AFP reports.

US citizens in Israel are beginning to board an emergency evacuation ship to Cyprus, according to Haaretz.

As the Israeli army announces the evacuation of residents in northern Israel within two kilometers of the Lebanese border, our teams, both in the field in Lebanon and in our newsroom, are ready to cover the evolving situation in real time. You can follow us here or join the L'Orient Today WhatsApp group to stay fully up-to-date. Sign up here.

Israel claims that 199 hostages were captured by Hamas, in a new report relayed by AFP.

"We have updated the families of 199 hostages," military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a media briefing, revising up an earlier figure of 155 captives.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari says that the evacuation of 28 settlements on the Lebanese border, announced today, was decided to give the Israeli army greater freedom of offensive action. According to him, “if Hezbollah makes the mistake of testing us, the reaction will be deadly.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Israel tomorrow, the German TV channel Ntv has reported, citing government sources. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Israel last week, where she expressed Berlin's firm support for Israel and its defense following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in which hundreds of Israelis were killed or taken hostage.

Baerbock then traveled to Egypt, where Western countries are trying to prevent an escalation of the conflict in the region.

The Israeli security cabinet will meet at 8 p.m. today at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, according to Haaretz.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry says four Chinese nationals have been killed, two are missing and six have been injured in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to Reuters. At present, commercial flights between China and Israel are still operating, the ministry said.

Ambiguity surrounds opening of Rafah crossing

Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq told Reuters this morning that there is no truth to reports about the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt or a temporary cease-fire. Egyptian security sources had told Reuters earlier that an agreement had been reached to open the border crossing to allow aid into the enclave from 0600 GMT.

Al-Jazeera also reports that humanitarian aid sent by Jordan and Turkey remains stuck at the Rafah crossing, awaiting clearance for entry, while on the Gaza side of the still-closed gates, dozens of people are gathering. 

Meanwhile, several UN-flagged trucks are leaving the southern Gaza Strip in the direction of a meeting point of the Palestinian enclave's borders with Israel and Egypt, Reuters reports citing a Reuters TV staffer. According to Reuters, the trucks initially appeared to be en route to the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border, but their course later appeared to take them in the direction of Kerem Shalom, an Israeli border crossing close to the Egyptian frontier.

Image: Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza on Oct. 16, 2023. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Voices from Gaza: 'We are all afraid — of the war machine, of losing our children'

“After we received orders to evacuate our homes in the north, Palestinian activists are now urging those who fled this part of the Gaza Strip to return to their homes to defy the occupation and bombs. Several marches will be organized from south to north. These activists refuse to allow us to be refugees, to leave our apartments. For my part, I am still hesitant; I will see how the situation evolves. Moving around can be dangerous, and we are all afraid — of the war machine, of losing our children. But we also all want to put an end to it, survive and rebuild our neighborhoods,” says Ayman, a father of two young children.

A few days ago, Ayman fled his apartment in northwest Gaza for areas further south.

There is no cease-fire in Gaza, AFP cites Israel's prime minister as saying.

Meanwhile, Israeli news outlet Haaretz reports the country's prime minister's office as denying any cease-fire or humanitarian aid agreement in exchange for the removal of foreigners from Gaza.

"There is no cease-fire and humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the removal of foreigners," the outlet quotes the prime minister's office as saying this morning.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to about 2,750, according to the enclave's Health Ministry, AFP reports.

Some 9,700 people have also been injured as Israel continues its air campaign on targets in Gaza, AFP cites the Hamas-controlled ministry as adding.

Southern Gaza cease-fire decision ambiguous, Reuters reports

A decision to enforce a cease-fire in southern Gaza starting at 9 a.m. this morning remains ambiguous, according to Reuters.

Citing Egyptian security sources, the agency said that Egypt, Israel and the United States had agreed to a cease-fire in the south of the Gaza Strip, coinciding with the reopening of the Rafah border crossing.

However, the Hamas media office said this morning that it had no information on the humanitarian truce agreement, according to Reuters.

The Israeli army says it will "refrain" from striking evacuation corridors linking the north and south of the Gaza Strip this morning as it prepares a ground offensive targeting Hamas.

Israeli forces "will refrain from targeting determined axes from 08:00 AM to 12:00 PM," the Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "For your safety, take advantage of this short time to move from the north and Gaza City to the south," he added.

In a separate statement, the army said it had designated two evacuation routes. Israel has urged the inhabitants of northern Gaza — around 1.1 million people out of a total population of 2.4 million — to flee southwards, claiming to be striking northern Gaza City to destroy the center of operations of the Hamas movement.

Image: A Palestinian man looks at a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)

Blinken due in Israel today

Haaretz reports that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel at around 12 p.m. today. Blinken is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant before departing for the US.

This is his second visit to Israel in a week, and it follows a tour of several Arab countries. In Cairo yesterday, Blinken offered assurances that the United States' Arab allies do not want the conflict to spiral out of control.

Operations at Syria's Aleppo airport are expected to resume this morning after an Israeli airstrike put the airport out of service, Reuters quotes the Syrian Transport Ministry as saying.

Aleppo airport was targeted by a strike during the night from Saturday to Sunday. It was also targeted, along with Damascus airport, last Thursday.

According to the Syrian National News Agency, the Syrian Transport Ministry said on Sunday that operations would resume at 8 a.m. local time Monday.

Image: Palestinians gather at a site of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 16, 2023. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Image: Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians wait in the Egyptian city of al-Arish for the reopening of the Rafah border crossing this morning so that they can enter Gaza. (Credit: Reuters/Stringer) 

Hezbollah statement

In a statement released this morning, Hezbollah said it targeted several Israeli tanks stationed near the border in south Lebanon yesterday “in response to the killing and wounding of journalists in Aita al-Shaab” during an Israeli attack on Friday. The attack killed Reuters photographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists.

“The Islamic resistance [of Hezbollah] targeted, on Oct. 15, several tanks of the Zionist enemy in Hanita, on the Lebanese-Palestinian border, using remote-controlled missiles, and succeeded in inflicting direct damage,” the statement reads.

Reminder: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said yesterday that an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” is underway in the Gaza Strip, which is under near-constant bombardment by the Israeli army.

“Not a drop of water, not a grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed to enter Gaza in the last eight days,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, during a press conference, adding that “Gaza is being strangled.”

“An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” is unfolding in the Palestinian territory, he said.

Israel is evacuating communities along Lebanon border, the Israeli army has announced.

The army has announced "the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to two kilometers from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses."

The Rafah border crossing into Egypt, the only exit from the Gaza Strip that does not border Israel, was scheduled to open at 9 a.m. local time. According to several media outlets, around a hundred trucks carrying humanitarian aid are waiting to enter the enclave. The border crossing is only expected to remain open for a few hours. According to the Washington Post, Israel has requested to inspect all vehicles entering the strip through this crossing.

Here's what you need to know as the day begins: 

-More than a million people have fled in panic from the north of the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of which Israel continues to mobilize its troops for an imminent ground offensive against Hamas. In Gaza, an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” is underway, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says.

-Yesterday, the ninth day of the conflict, the Israeli air force relentlessly bombed targets in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas fighters continued to fire rockets toward Israel. The Israeli army confirmed that it was preparing for a "next stage" of its retaliatory operation against Hamas, saying it was awaiting a "political decision."

-These preparations are of great concern to the international community, which fears that the conflict will engulf the region. Having been talking to political leaders in region for several days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to return to Israel today for a second visit in a week. In Cairo, Blinken sought to assure that the United States' Arab allies do not want the conflict to spill over.

- US President Joe Biden cautioned that a new occupation by Israel of the Gaza Strip would be a “serious error” during an interview on CBS yesterday. Israel occupied Gaza from the Six-Day War in 1967 to 2005.

-In southern Lebanon deadly cross-border exchanges are increasing between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his country did not want a war on its border with Lebanon, but added that "if Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price." Iran has warned that "no one can guarantee control of the situation and the prospect of a widening of the conflict" if Israel invades Gaza.

-More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, the majority civilians, according to a latest Israeli report. Israeli retaliations have killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority Palestinian civilians, including hundreds of children, according to local authorities.

Good morning,
We are resuming live coverage of developments in Israel and Gaza, as well as in the south of Lebanon, where tension was high throughout the weekend.