People rally during the National March on Washington and call for a ceasefire at Freedom Plaza, November 4, 2023, Washington, DC. (Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP)
On Sunday, fighting in Gaza rages for the 30th day since Hamas militants first stormed the Israeli border on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and abducting over 240, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip and deployed ground troops. According to the health ministry in Gaza, at least 9,488 people have been killed, two-thirds of which are women and children.
Here are the key developments from the past 24 hours:
Refugee camp and UN school hit
The Gaza health ministry said more than 30 people were killed after Israel bombed the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza late Saturday.
An Israeli military spokesperson said they were looking into whether its troops had been operating in the area at the time.
Hamas stated that Israel "directly" bombed citizens' homes and that most of the dead were women and children.
Earlier on Saturday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 15 people were killed after Israel struck the Al-Fakhura school in the Jabalia refugee camp operated by UNRWA.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians had taken refuge at the school in the north of the Palestinian territory when it was hit, a ministry spokesperson said.
Israel army chief inside Gaza
Israeli chief of staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, visited troops inside the Gaza Strip Saturday, a military spokesman said — the first of such visits since the war began four weeks ago.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli forces were fighting "hard" inside Gaza and that troops had "completed the encircling" of Gaza City.
Israeli soldiers "entered populated areas," he continued.
Blinken faces Arab anger
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken faced a rising tide of anger during meetings with five Arab foreign ministers in Jordan on Saturday, a day after Israel rebuffed his efforts to secure humanitarian "pauses" in its war to destroy Hamas.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, whose country has been the sole conduit for foreigners to escape Gaza and for aid to get in, called for an "immediate and comprehensive ceasefire."
Blinken is set to hold talks in Turkey on Sunday.
Turkey breaks diplomatic ties with Israel
Turkey announced it was recalling its ambassador to Israel and breaking off contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in protest of the bloodshed in Gaza.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry's spokesman Lior Haiat called the move "another step by the Turkish president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] that sides with the Hamas terrorist organization."
Hamas welcomed the move by Ankara and urged Erdogan "to put pressure on President Biden and his administration" so that "humanitarian and medical help can reach our besieged people in the Gaza Strip."
Thousands protested in Istanbul Saturday against the visit.
Hamas halts evacuation of foreigners after Israel refused to allow wounded Palestinian to be evacuated
Gaza's Hamas government suspended the evacuation of foreign passport holders to Egypt Saturday after Israel refused to allow wounded Palestinians to be evacuated to Egyptian hospitals, a border official said.
"No foreign passport holder will be able to leave the Gaza Strip until wounded people who need to be evacuated from hospitals in north Gaza are transported through the Rafah crossing" to Egypt, the official said on condition of anonymity.
On Friday, a senior White House official accused Hamas of abusing a US-brokered deal to open the crossing to get its fighters out of Gaza.
One-third of the names on a list of Palestinians needing medical evacuation were those of Hamas members and fighters, the official said.
Crossfire exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel on Saturday
On Saturday afternoon, the Israeli army announced that it launched airstrikes on Lebanon against Hezbollah targets, in response to attacks made by the latter.
"In response to the fire from Lebanon (...) Israeli army fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist targets," the Israeli army stated in a press release, also mentioning tank and artillery strikes on Lebanon.
Hezbollah, on its part, claimed to have attacked five Israeli positions along the border and in another attack, "hit an Israeli military position near Kiryat Shmona along the border."
Prime Minister Mikati on a a regional tour
Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati is on a regional tour. On Saturday, he met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Amman, Jordan. During the meeting, Mikati called on the international community to "pressure Israel to end its daily violations of Lebanese territory."
Blinken in turn expressed "deep concern about the exchanges of fire along the southern border of Lebanon with Israel" and emphasized "the importance of ensuring that the conflict between Israel and Hamas does not spread to other areas."
Mikati then went to Cairo, where he was received by the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip and deployed ground troops. According to the health ministry in Gaza, at least 9,488 people...