Hezbollah claims more rocket strikes against Israel; Cairo summit fails to agree to contain Gaza violence - Day 15 of Hamas-Israel war

Thank you for joining the LIVE blog on day 15 of the Israel-Hamas war. We will be back tomorrow morning with more news updates.

During a Hezbollah-Amal gathering in solidarity with Gaza in the southern suburbs of Beirut, protesters say they are ready for a war, which they do not necessarily want, as L'Orient Today's Olivia Le Poidevin reported.

Read here: Israel-Hamas: "We're not scared of war in Lebanon"

The Israeli Army reportedly bombed the villages of Alma Shaab, Aita al-Chaab and Marwahine, according to National News Agency (NNA). L'Orient Today is in the process of getting more details.

The Dawn Forces, armed wing of Jamaa Islamiya in Lebanon, indicated in a press release that they targeted Israeli positions today, without further details. L'Orient Today is in the process of getting more details.

Talks between Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister and US Secretary of State

Antony Blinken spoke with Prime Minister Najib Mikati about "growing concern over rising tensions along Lebanon’s southern border," according to a statement released on Saturday about their talks on Friday.

The Secretary reportedly stated that people in Lebanon "would be affected by Lebanon being drawn into the conflict." He reiterated the US's support for the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces, which the US described in its statement as "the sole legitimate guarantors of Lebanon’s stability and territorial integrity."

The Israeli Army bombed Yaroun, Dhaira, Yarin and Jebine in South Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

Furthermore, the Israeli Iron Dome intercepted rockets fired from Kfarchouba, followed by Israeli responses, according to NNA.

With Israel and senior US officials absent, the Cairo "Peace Summit" on Saturday did not yield an agreement on containing the violence in Gaza.

Read more here: Cairo summit: No agreement reached to contain violence, Arab leaders condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two new operations against Israel in South Lebanon this evening.

The party said it attacked an infantry unit at the Hounin (Ramim) barracks today. Hezbollah also fired rockets at an Israeli military vehicle near the Dovev barracks and targeted an Israeli army tank in the same area using guided missiles.

Hezbollah claimed it carried out three operations in South Lebanon against the Israeli Army today.

The first operation took place in Hanita using guided missiles, according to a Hezbollah statement. The second, which also used guided missiles, was in Ibad, and it resulted in the destruction of a significant amount of Israeli Army equipment. Hezbollah also shelled Roueisat Al Alam in Shebaa Farms and the village of Kfarchouba.

Hezbollah announced the death of one of its militants, Ismail Ahmad Zein, killed in combat on an unspecified date.

The Israeli Army bombed Rmeich, Yaroun, and Aita Shaab in South Lebanon in the evening, according to the official National News Agency (NNA).

As the autumn rains begin and olive harvest season settles in, farmers in South Lebanon say they fear losing this year’s harvest due to intensifying Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire along Lebanon’s southern border villages, L'Orient Today's Sahar Al Bashir reports.

Read here: South Lebanon farmers fear losing this year’s olive harvest to bombs

An update at 6:00 on what has happened so far today:

LEBANON: Exchanges of fire continued between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border.

An anti-tank missile was fired this afternoon from Lebanon towards the area of Moshav Margaliot in Israel, according to statements from the Israeli Army, reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The Israeli Army stated that they targeted the shooters on the Lebanese side using a drone. An Israeli airstrike also targeted the village of Alma Shaab in southern Lebanon, as reported by a Telegram channel associated with Hezbollah. Earlier in the afternoon the Israeli army bombarded the town of Blida in the Marjayoun district, on Lebanon's southern border, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, several rockets have been launched from Lebanon toward the Israeli Har Dov area, and the Israeli army has returned fire.

RAFAH: 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid trucks have entered Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Read more here: Humanitarian aid starts entering Gaza from Egypt

CAIRO SUMMIT: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hosted a “Peace Summit” in Cairo today, with several senior Western and regional officials in attendance. Israel, Iran and the US did not attend.

GAZA: Testimony from Nour Al-Yacoubi who lives in East Gaza: “There is no rest in this war. The situation is still horrible, miserable. Electricity has been cut off for almost 13 days. There is no fuel in hospitals. Many areas are denied water and supplies. All areas are under the threat of being bombed. Thousands of families are homeless."

HOSTAGES: On Friday, Hamas freed Americans Judith Tai Raanan, 59, and her daughter Natalie, 17, who were among around 210 kidnapped in the attack on southern Israel by Hamas this month. Hamas said it acted in part "for humanitarian reasons" in response to Qatari mediation.

DEATH TOLL: The Hamas-run Health Ministry says 4,385 people have died in the last two weeks, and the UN reports 17 staff from its agency United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) have been killed. Hamas attacks in Israel have killed about 1,400, and earlier Israel's military said at least 307 soldiers were killed since Oct. 7.

PROTESTS: Protests have continued around the world. In Mobasa, Kenya members of the Muslim community waved flags and chanted slogans during a demonstration in solidarity with Palestine. In London, the BBC reports more than 100,000 people took to the streets in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

'March For Palestine' protest in London on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Henry Nicholls/AFP)

People take part in a 'March For Palestine' in London on Oct. 21, 2023, to "demand an end to the war on Gaza." (Credit: Henry Nicholls/AFP)

People stand in Trafalgar Square in a 'March For Palestine' in London on Oct. 21, 2023, to "demand an end to the war on Gaza." (Credit: Henry Nicholls/AFP)

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of central London this afternoon to show their support for Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Al Jazeera that “Israel continuously threatens to bomb and invade Lebanon.”

At today's summit in Cairo, Germany said Israel's fight against Hamas must be carried out with due concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and Britain urged the Israeli military to respect international law and show restraint.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told the summit in Cairo today that a humanitarian corridor is needed to deliver aid to civilians, which she said could lead to a ceasefire.

In his opening remarks, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi invited leaders to come to an agreement for a road map to end the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and revive a path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The road map’s goals included the delivery of aid to Gaza and agreeing to a ceasefire, followed by negotiations leading to a two-state solution, he said.

“All civilian lives matter,” Jordanian King Abdullah said, addressing the summit. “The relentless bombing campaign underway in Gaza as we speak is cruel and unconscionable on every level. It is collective punishment of a besieged and helpless people. It is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. It is a war crime,” he continued.

“Anywhere else, attacking civilian infrastructure and deliberately starving an entire population of food, water, electricity and basic necessities would be condemned. Accountability would be enforced … but not in Gaza,” he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attended the summit and asked for humanitarian corridors to be opened. He said Palestinians won’t leave. “We will remain on our land,” he said.

A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Belal Al Sabbagh/AFP)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Chia al-Soudani said that what was happening in Gaza was “unacceptable” and that the Oct. 7 war Hamas-Israel war could spread to the region and “threaten global energy supplies."

In a speech at the "Peace Summit" organized in Cairo today, the senior official stated his refusal of any plan to move Gaza residents out of the enclave. He demanded a ceasefire and that humanitarian corridors to the Gaza Strip be opened.

Israeli aircraft and soldiers targeted militants today who had fired rockets and anti-tank missiles near the border with Lebanon, the Israeli military said, according to Reuters.

"Hits were identified during both strikes ... Soldiers were responding to a third round of missiles," the Israeli Army added, according to Reuters.

TESTIMONY: Nour Al-Yacoubi, translator and media coordinator in a research center in Gaza, said that "there is no rest in this war. The situation is still horrible, miserable. Electricity has been cut off for almost 13 days. There is no fuel in hospitals. Many areas are denied water and supplies. All areas are under the threat of being bombed. Thousands of families are homeless."

"I am still in my home, in East Gaza. Where would I go? There is no safe place. Even the people who fled to the south were targeted in shelters and schools. I am trying to buy extra supplies for my seven month old daughter Lya. I can eat anything but I am fearing for her. I have bought two milk cans and two diapers packets for the coming days as no one knows what is coming," she added.

"We bake bread at home, as bakeries are full of people. One will be waiting for hours to get his portion. They are unable to meet people’s needs. Even though, we are afraid of the absence of flour in the coming days as long as no aids are allowed to reach Gaza," she continued.

"Regarding connection, it is very weak. I barely can call my family, after unlimited attempts of calling. I have been unable to see them for almost 15 days. I don’t have the courage to go out in the street nor do they," she added.

"We are fed up. Every thing is miserable. The world is silent. No one is doing anything to end this. Hundreds of people are being killed everyday day. Thousands of people are being left homeless every day. All I fear about is her," she concluded.

An anti-tank missile was fired this afternoon from Lebanon towards the area of Moshav Margaliot in Israel, according to statements from the Israeli Army reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The Israeli Army stated that they targeted the shooters on the Lebanese side using a drone.

An Israeli airstrike targeted the village of Alma Shaab in southern Lebanon, as reported by a Telegram channel associated with Hezbollah.

Image: Demonstrators protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza in London, Britain, Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Hannah McKay/Reuters)

CAIRO SUMMIT: UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly says he's spoken to Israel and called for restraint from its military, Reuters reports.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna tells Cairo Peace Summit that a humanitarian corridor is needed to deliver aid to civilian populations in Gaza and can lead to a cease-fire, Reuters reports.

LEBANON: The Israeli army is bombing the town of Blida in the Marjayoun district, on Lebanon's southern border, Lebanon's state-run NNA reports.

According to Israeli outlet Haaretz, several rockets have been launched from Lebanon toward the Israeli Har Dov area, and the Israeli army has returned the fire.

When contacted by L’Orient Today, the Lebanese Army said it did not have any immediate information about the incident. UNIFIL was not immediately available to comment.

Trucks carrying aid for Gaza exited the Rafah crossing and arrived in the southern part of the enclave, a Palestinian border official told Reuters.

The at least 20 trucks that are expected to enter the Gaza Strip "constitute only 3 percent of what was entering the Gaza Strip daily in terms of health and humanitarian needs before the aggression," a statement from the enclave's health ministry said, Reuters reports.

The Gaza Health Ministry says that excluding fuel from humanitarian aid will keep lives in danger for Gaza's sick and wounded.

Earlier today, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the aid shipments to Gaza would not include fuel.

Image: Members of the Muslim community in Kenya hold banners as they wave Palestinian flags and chant slogans during a demonstration in solidarity with Palestine in Mombasa on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Stringer/AFP)

In a speech to Israeli troops at the Biranit camp on the Lebanon-Israel border, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “Hezbollah has decided to join the fighting and will pay a heavy price,” several Israeli media outlets report.

Exchanges of fire across the Blue Line separating south Lebanon from northern Israel have occurred with increasing regularity since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7.

Speaking at today's peace summit in Cairo, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says the peace process over the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians should resume on the basis of a two-state solution, Reuters reports.

"No military intervention can replace a viable political solution," Mitsotakis is quoted as saying.

UPDATE: The Palestinian death toll since Oct. 7 has risen to 4,385, including 83 in killed in the occupied West Bank, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister tells the Cairo summit that he rejects attempts at forced displacement of Gazans by Israel, Reuters reports.

LEBANON: Fear mounts among south Lebanon's olive farmers that this year's crop — and in some cases, whole olive groves, which take years to mature — will be lost to Israeli shelling. Sahar Al Bashir spoke to some of the farmers affected.  Click here to read her report.

Image: A man harvests olives in Lebanon in November 2022. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today/Illustrative photo)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says at Cairo summit that the international community must avoid an escalation in the war between Israel and Hamas and set a roadmap towards a two-state solution, AFP reports.

Image: In this aerial view, a convoy of lorries carrying humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Oct. 21, 2023. The first of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip on Oct. 21 through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, said AFP correspondents on both sides. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)

For his part, Jordan's King Abdullah told the summit that he denounced what he termed global silence about Israel's attacks on Gaza and urged an even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Reuters reports.

"The message the Arab world is hearing is that Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones," Reuters quotes the king as saying, adding that he said he was outraged and grieved by acts of violence waged against innocent civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.

"The Israeli leadership must realise once and for all that a state can never thrive if it is built on a foundation of injustice ... Our message to the Israelis should be that we want a future of peace and security for you and the Palestinians."

UN chief urges 'humanitarian cease-fire' and end to 'godawful nightmare'

UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged a "humanitarian cease-fire" in the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas and called for global "action to end this godawful nightmare," AFP reports.

The war has left thousands dead and displaced a million Palestinians, who Guterres said need "much more" than the 20 trucks that are entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people this afternoon.

The Palestinians need "a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed," he told regional leaders at Cairo's "Summit for Peace."

The French Foreign Ministry calls for a humanitarian truce to allow the delivery of aid to the civilian population in Gaza, following the opening of the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, according to a post from the ministry on X.

Image: Workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent arrive to unload lorries carrying humanitarian aid after they entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: by Said Khatib/AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tells Cairo summit, "we won't leave, we will remain on our land," Reuters reports.

Image: Seen on a large screen, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas attends the international peace summit hosted by the Egyptian president in Cairo on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Khaled Desouki/AFP)

Meanwhile, in Cyprus, a small blast occurred overnight outside the Israeli Embassy in the capital Nicosia.

According to Reuters, police said a metal object containing "a small amount of pyrotechnic material" exploded about 30 meters away from a perimeter compound of the embassy, which lies in a heavily populated area of Nicosia.

Four youths aged between 17 and 21 found in the area are being questioned by police, a security source told Reuters. In the car of one of the detainees, police found two knives and a hammer.

Cyprus state radio reported the detainees were Syrians.

The embassy was the target of a botched bombing attempt in 1988 when a car packed with explosives went off on a nearby bridge, killing three people.

The Israeli military says humanitarian aid entering Gaza will go to southern areas only, adding that there is no fuel going in, Reuters reports. 

In a televised briefing, chief Israeli army spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the aid shipments would not include fuel.

Hagari also gave 210 as the updated number of hostages held by Hamas since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and said around a fifth of Palestinian rockets launched since Friday had fallen short within Gaza due to misfires, causing fatalities.

Image: A view of residential buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes in Zahra City in southern Gaza City on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters)

UNIFIL force commander visits area of operations in southern Lebanon

"UNIFIL's head of mission and force commander, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, is visiting the UNIFIL operational area to assess the current situation and engage with peacekeepers to understand their concerns,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti says in comments relayed by the NNA.

Tenenti adds, "UNIFIL continues its full commitment to its mission, which is to restore stability in southern Lebanon, and makes every effort to prevent the escalation of hostile activities.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly named the UNIFIL force commander as the peacekeeping mission's previous commander, Stefano Del Col.

LEBANON: "The current environment is that of war, and we must be prepared for any eventuality,” the head of the Lebanese Arab Red Crescent Ziad al-Ajouz has said, according to comments carried by the state-run National News Agency.

"We are fully prepared to keep pace with any field developments that may occur due to the warlike conditions in the region,” Ajouz continued.

Meanwhile, a Civil Defense official at the Lebanese Arab Red Crescent, Ahmed Baghdadi, said, "Swift field training courses have been prepared for volunteers, and with our modest resources, we have developed a plan for first aid and rescue in anticipation of any emergency."

Image: A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke rising behind destroyed buildings in the north-western part of the Palestinian enclave during an Israeli bombing on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Aris Messinis/AFP)

Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sissi tells Cairo summit he invited leaders to come to an agreement on a roadmap to end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and revive a path to peace, Reuters reports.

Israel “is currently shelling the outskirts of the town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district,” Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reports.

The NNA also reports that “the [Israeli] Manara settlement [close to the southern border and the locality of Marjayoun] was targeted a short while ago with guided missiles from the town of Mays al-Jabal.”

When contacted by L’Orient Today, UNIFIL's spokesperson was able to confirm the shelling in the “locality of Yaroun,” but had no information at the time of publication regarding the targeting of Manara.

The Lebanese Army was not immediately available for comment.

Cairo peace summit: "The absence of a top official from Israel's main ally the United States and some other major Western leaders has cooled expectations for what the hastily-convened event can achieve," Aidan Lewis and Nafisa Eltahir write. Click here to read more.

Image: Seen on a large screen, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly is greeted by the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi prior to the start of the International 'Summit for Peace' hosted by the Egyptian president in Cairo on Oct. 21, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Credit: Khaled Desouki/AFP)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz  has hailed the arrival of trucks carrying humanitarian aid in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"It is good and important news that the first humanitarian aid is now being delivered to the people in Gaza," Scholz said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that Germany would work "through all channels to alleviate the suffering in this conflict."

"I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies ... to the people of Gaza," said the UN's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths after 20 trucks crossed from Egypt into Gaza, AFP reports.

"This first convoy must not be the last," he warned. 

Image: Empty trucks wait on the Gaza border with Egypt at Rafah for the aid trucks to cross from northern Egypt on Oct. 21, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)

BREAKING: Seven aid trucks have begun arriving inside Gaza, Reuters reports.

The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad (Nabatieh), said in a speech from the town of Khirbet Selem, in south Lebanon, that “the resistance is ready to confront the enemy, even without the need for public statements from Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.”

 Nasrallah has not made any statement or delivered any speech since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7.

Raad said today that the Israeli actions in Gaza are a “senseless revenge and expressions of hatred, rather than a means to achieve political goals.”

“The resistance remains determined, alert, and cohesive in the face of the enemy's aggression,” Raad added.

“The Lebanese people must be prepared and vigilant to protect their own security while expressing solidarity with Gaza and supporting its right to resist occupation,” he continued.

“The Western world's hypocrisy regarding human rights is criticized, as they often turn a blind eye to the actions of the Israeli enemy, demonstrating bias in their own interests,” Raad concluded.

Image: Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today

BREAKING: 13 people have been killed in airstrike over a residential unit in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, Hamas' Al Shehab news agency reports, according to Reuters.

Reuters erroneously reported earlier today that Turkish President Erdogan had arrived in Egypt for Cairo Peace Summit. Just before 11 a.m. local time, the news agency issued a retraction, saying that Erdogan is still in Turkey.

Hamas' media office says that expected truckloads of aid "will not change the catastrophic medical conditions in Gaza," Reuters reports.

Image: UN workers gesture as trucks carrying aid arrive at the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Image: Trucks carrying aid wait to enter the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, as seen from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Reuters/Reuters TV)

Egyptian state TV shows trucks that have been waiting for days entering the border crossing area from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

BREAKING: The first trucks carrying aid began entering Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt, at around 10:15 a.m. (local time), according to images broadcast live by Al Jazeera.

Head of Hamas media office says 20 aid trucks supposed to enter Gaza today will include medicine, medical equipment and a limited amount of food, Reuters reports.

Rafah crossing update: Aid trucks loaded with medicine are being prepared, and border staff are in place at Egypt’s Rafah crossing with Gaza, Reuters reports sources as saying.

In case you missed it: Our journalist, Sally Abou AlJoud, spoke to residents of southern Lebanon about the housing preparations they are making amid mounting fears of an impending war. Click here to read her report.

Image: Displaced Lebanese from villages near the southern border take refuge at a school in Sour city, on Oct. 19, 2023, as they sought safety further from the intensifying border tensions between Israel on one side and Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions on the other over Israel's war with Hamas. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says at least 17 of its staff have been killed in the Gaza war, warning that the death toll would likely rise, AFP reports.

"To date, 17 of our colleagues have been confirmed killed in this vicious war. Very sadly, the actual numbers are likely to be higher," UNRWA said in a statement.

BREAKING: Israel has issued a statement calling on its citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan, AFP reports.

Israel calls on its citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan, the national security council said today as regional tensions flared over the war in Gaza.

"Israel's National Security Council 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," the council said in a statement. 

Image: Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City on Oct. 21, 2023. (Credit: Mutasem Murtaja/Reuters)

In Australia, thousands have taken part in a pro-Palestinian march today in Sydney after getting last-minute approval amid concerns after some protesters at an earlier rally had chanted anti-Jewish slogans, Reuters reports.

Around 15,000 people attended the march, organizer Palestine Action Group said, with demonstrators chanting "Palestine will never die" and waving Palestine flags. Police, including officers on horseback, patrolled the event that closed city streets, and a police helicopter circled overhead.

Police said no arrests had been made, and Palestine Action Group spokesperson Amal Naser said the march was peaceful.

The US Embassy in Israel announced this morning in a statement on its website that it has “received information that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will open on Saturday, 21 October at 10:00 AM local time.”

“If the border is opened, we do not know how long it will remain open for foreign citizens to depart Gaza,” the statement reads. “We anticipate that many people would attempt to cross should the border open, and US citizens attempting to enter Egypt should expect a potentially chaotic and disorderly environment on both sides of the crossing.”

“The situation remains dynamic and fluid and the security environment is unpredictable,” the statement added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to "fight until victory" in Gaza, signaling no pause in his military's bombardment and expected invasion of the enclave after Hamas released two US hostages last night, Reuters reports.

Cairo peace summit on Gaza conflict — here's a list, published by Reuters, of who's expected to be in attendance:

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Jordanian King Abdullah

Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani

Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa

British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs James Cleverly

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov

China's envoy for Middle East issues Zhai Jun

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

European Council President Charles Michel

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell

The Israeli army announced this morning that it attacked "numerous Hamas targets during the night," citing particularly "observation and firing posts" located "in buildings" in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli media outlet Haaretz reports.

Hamas attacked Israel to derail its warming ties with Saudis: Biden

US President Joe Biden said yesterday that he believes Hamas's brutal attack on Israel two weeks ago was aimed at disrupting warming ties between the country and Saudi Arabia, AFP reports.

"One of the reasons why they acted like they did … why Hamas moved on Israel … [was] because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis," Biden is quoted as telling guests at a campaign fundraiser.

"The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel … unite the Middle East," he reportedly said.

9- More than 1,400 people have been killed on Israeli territory since Oct. 7, the majority of them civilians killed in a Hamas attack on the first day of the war, according to the Israeli authorities. According to the Israeli army, around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the counteroffensive, which allowed Israel to regain control of the attacked areas.

In the Gaza Strip, 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel's retaliatory bombardment, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas.

8- To try to find a solution, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi is hosting a “peace summit” in Cairo today, which will be attended by several senior Western and regional officials.

7- At least a million Gazans have been displaced since the conflict began 15 days ago, according to the UN.

“I am afraid that the current destructions follow a clear plan, that people will not find a place to live, and that this will cause a second Nakba,” Omar Ashour, a retired general in Gaza, told AFP.

6- Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas. Its defense minister yesterday gave the following remarks on its military plans in this respect:

After the "military campaign" of airstrikes and "later maneuvers aimed at neutralizing Hamas terrorists and infrastructure," there will be "low-intensity operations to eliminate the last pockets of resistance," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

5- The Palestinian Red Crescent reported yesterday that Israel had warned that the Al-Quds hospital, in the north of the Gaza Strip, could be targeted, but said it was "unable" to evacuate the establishment, which houses some 500 patients in the area of ​​the enclave hardest hit by the Israeli army.

4- Today, Saturday, “at the earliest," the first shipment of humanitarian aid is expected to enter the enclave through the Rafah border crossing, Martin Griffiths, the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has indicated. In Washington, President Joe Biden estimated yesterday that the first 20 trucks would enter the enclave today or tomorrow.

On the 11th day of Israel's complete siege of Gaza, the enclave's 2.4 million residents lack food, clean water, medicine and fuel. Meanwhile around 175 humanitarian aid trucks remain blocked on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing.

“These trucks are not just trucks; they are a lifeline; they make the difference between life and death for many people in Gaza,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as he personally oversaw the operations in Rafah yesterday.

Israel has authorized, at the request of the United States, the entry of aid via Rafah, the only exit from Gaza into the world that it does not control, on the condition that it is provided to “civilians” only.

3 - France is sending messages of moderation and de-escalation to Hezbollah in order to dissuade it from entering the conflict, French President Emmanuel Macron told a group of journalists yesterday. “We sent messages to Hezbollah very directly through our ambassador and our services. We also passed them on to the Lebanese authorities,” he said. “There was rocket fire but there was no escalation today in this matter. But we remain very cautious. We pass these moderation messages on a daily basis,” he added.

The French president also indicated that he did not rule out a trip to the Middle East "in the coming days, the very next few weeks." He further specified that France would send “emergency humanitarian aid” and would do so “as quickly as possible” towards Egypt for the population of Gaza.

2- At dawn today, the Israeli army announced that it had carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to rocket and anti-tank missile fire towards Israel. Throughout the day Friday and into the evening yesterday, exchanges of fire took place between the two parties.

In northern Israel, soldiers are deployed en masse near the border. In an extremely rare measure, the authorities announced yesterday the evacuation of Kiryat Shmona, a town bordering the Lebanese border that has around 25,000 inhabitants, many of whom have already left.

Here's what you need to know, in nine points, to start the day:

1- Hamas released two American women yesterday evening whom it had kidnapped on Oct. 7 during its deadly attack on Israel. The two women, a mother and her daughter, were released after mediation by Qatar. US President Joe Biden said he was “overjoyed”. Hamas is still holding some 200 hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Image credit: Government of Israel/Handout via Reuters

Good morning,

We resume our live coverage this morning as the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third week today.