At least 447 children and 248 women are among the 1,417 killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Health Ministry said today.
The ministry also said that 6,268 people have been injured since Saturday.
Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "crush" Hamas and urged the world to treat them the same way as the Islamic State group.
"Just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated," he said as he met visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Over 3,600 people have so far been killed in Israel and Gaza after the sudden Hamas strikes triggered a catastrophic war in the region.
Israel has also announced a complete siege of Gaza, effectively blocking electricity, food, and water supply.
The United Nations said that more than 3 lakh people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip as heavy Israeli bombardments continue to hit the Palestinian enclave.
Here are the live updates on the Israel-Hamas war:
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday vowed that France would do everything to ensure the release of the dozens of hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas after its attack on Israel.
"I want to say that we will do everything to ensure that these hostages, whatever their nationality, are released," he said in an address to the nation, adding that France would work to this end both with "our partners" and the Israeli authorities.
Indian IT services company Infosys today said all its employees in Israel are safe.
The Israeli army said it has bombarded the Gaza Strip with approximately 6,000 bombs containing a total of 4,000 tonnes of explosives since Saturday when it began striking Hamas targets.
"Approximately 6,000 bombs have been dropped on the Gaza Strip with a total weight of 4,000 tonnes," the army said in a statement today.
The Hamas ministry today said that the death count in Gaza has risen to 1,354.
"We are temporarily drawing down dependants of staff at our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate in Jerusalem as a precautionary measure," said a Foreign Office spokesperson.
"Our Embassy and Consulate remain fully staffed and continue to provide consular services to those who require assistance," it added.
The UK currently advises its nationals against all but essential travel to Israel.
The Israeli army said Thursday it was preparing for a ground assault on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
He also said the goal of Israel's response to Hamas' attacks - 1,500 gunmen stormed the border and slaughtered over a thousand people - is the "total elimination of military capabilities of Hamas..."
"Don't make a mistake...", the Israeli diplomat said, "Hamas is not Palestinian... it is not Islam. They are brain-washed people... only brain-washed people can do these types of things to children, infants" and underlined the Israel government's intention to "wipe Hamas off the face of the Earth".
Israel focusing on 'taking out' senior Hamas leaders in Gaza, says army: news agency AFP
"Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electric switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home," he said in a statement.
Around 150 Israelis, foreigners and dual nationals were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip by Hamas group as part of the Saturday attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israeli towns and communities around the enclave.
Israel has in turn launched a withering air campaign against Hamas group in the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing around 1,200 people.
Blinken is expected to visit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington closes ranks with its ally that has launched a withering air campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken, who under unusually tight security with guards in camouflaged military gear, was received at the airport by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
In comments made before departing to Israel, Blinken stressed Washington's support to Israel.
"The United States has Israel's back. We have their back today, tomorrow -- we will have it every day," Blinken told reporters. "We're determined to make sure Israel gets everything it needs to defend itself."
Egypt has discussed plans with the United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border with Gaza Strip but rejects any move to set up safe corridors for refugees fleeing the enclave, Egyptian security sources said on Wednesday.
Gaza, a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest, is home to some 2.3 million people who have been living under a blockade since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took control there in 2007.
Three Chinese nationals have been killed in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, Beijing's foreign ministry said Thursday.
"To my understanding it has currently been confirmed that three Chinese nationals were unfortunately killed in the conflict," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz vowed Thursday his country would not allow basic resources or humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas released the people it abducted during its surprise weekend onslaught.
"Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electric switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home," he said in a statement.
Blinken arrives in Israel in solidarity visit after Hamas attacks
Hamas would not have been able to attack Israel without Iran's support, says German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: news aganecy AFP
"Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades fired rockets at Tel Aviv in response to (Israeli strikes) targeting civilians in Al-Shati and Jabalia camps," Hamas said, referring to its armed wing, in a text message sent to journalists.
AFP correspondents witnessed dozens of air strikes over 30 minutes on Thursday morning in the direction of Al-Shati camp and in the blockaded strip's north.
"The occupation (Israeli forces) committed massacres this morning in Al-Shati camp and Jabalia camp, leaving dozens of martyrs and injured," Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry, told AFP.
Rockets fired at Tel Aviv after Israeli strikes on Gaza 'civilians', says Hamas: news agency AFP
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in contact with Hamas and Israel to try to negotiate the release of hostages taken into Gaza, the group said Thursday.
At least 150 Israelis and foreigners -- including soldiers, civilians, children and women -- have been held hostage in the Gaza Strip since Hamas's surprise Saturday attack on Israel.
"As a neutral intermediary we stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits; facilitate communication between hostages and family members; and to facilitate any eventual release," Fabrizio Carboni, the ICRC's regional director for the Near and Middle East, said in a statement.
Hostage-taking is forbidden under international humanitarian law, and anyone detained must be released immediately, Carboni added.
The United States continues to monitor the situation in Israel very closely, President Joe Biden said Wednesday observing that the terrorist attack by Hamas has brought back painful memories of a millennia of antisemitism and genocide against the Jewish people.
Biden said termed Saturday's attack the "deadliest day" for Jews since the Holocaust.
Corporal Naama Boni, a 19-year-old soldier serving in the 77th Battalion of the Armored Corps, was at her post when a full-fledged surprise attack was waged from the air, sea and ground by Hamas group.
The 80-year-old president, who has dispatched a US aircraft carrier to the region in a show of support for Israel, also warned Hamas-backer Iran to "be careful."
But as Israel responded with air strikes on Gaza which Palestinian officials say have killed more than 1,000 people, Biden said he had spoken earlier Wednesday to Netanyahu.
The US president said he had known "Bibi" Netanyahu for 40 years and they had a "very frank relationship, I know him well."
"And the one thing that I did say is that it is really important that Israel, with all the anger and frustration... that exists, is that they operate by the rules of war," Biden said.
"And there are rules of war."
Yifat Zailer wishes she could travel back in time to Friday.
On that day, the Tel Aviv resident was happy. Members of her close extended family were at their homes in the Nir Oz kibbutz, near the Gaza border.
Then Saturday came, and Hamas militants swarmed over the border.
Zailer started texting her family - her aunt, uncle, cousin, cousin's husband and their two small children - to see what was happening. But after about 9 a.m., their messages stopped.
Benjamin Netanyahu's government had divided Israel with its controversial judicial reforms, but he now presides over a country which is united in its demand for a definitive reprisal against Hamas.
This sudden change in politics stems directly from the collective trauma caused to Israeli society by the bloody and unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday, in which it killed at least 1,200 people and kidnapped dozens more.
"Netanyahu has his back against the wall. Everyone is pressuring him, including his own party Likud," Akiva Eldar, a veteran political commentator, told AFP.
Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira has interrupted an Asia trip to travel "to New York to participate in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, called by Brazil... to address the situation in the Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a statement.
Brazil previously called an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sunday, the day after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
Israeli troops are massing for what's widely seen as all but inevitable: a ground invasion of Gaza.
He claimed that women and children are being handcuffed and executed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The United States is encouraging its international partners to use their influence with Hamas and its supporters in Iran to get the militants to stand down after their assault on Israel, a senior official said Thursday.
The comments came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading Thursday to Israel for a visit of solidarity before stops in Jordan and likely other countries in the region.
A senior official traveling with Blinken said that the United States had no issue with reported talks between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
"Frankly, we're asking all of our partners to engage with Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran -- with any of that trifecta -- with whom they have any channels or relations or what have you, to get Hamas to stand down from its attacks, to release those hostages, and to keep Hezbollah out, and to keep Iran out of the fray," the official said on a refueling stop in Ireland.
In the wake of deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, the US State Department has advised Americans to reconsider travelling to Israel.
"On October 11, 2023, the Department of State raised the Travel Advisory Level for Israel and the West Bank to Level 3 - Reconsider Travel. The Travel Advisory for Gaza remains Level 4 - Do Not Travel. This replaces the previous Travel Advisory issued on October 3, 2023," the department's official statement said.
The agency raised its travel advisory to level 3, citing the terrorist groups, lone-actor terrorists and other violent extremists continuing to plot "possible attacks in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza".
Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for the fifth straight day since the militants' audacious attack and the death toll spiralled into the thousands, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the complete destruction of the militant group.
"Every Hamas member is a dead man," the veteran right-wing Israeli leader said, again likening them to the Islamic State group and promising: "We will crush them and destroy them as the world has destroyed Daesh."
Netanyahu earlier temporarily settled his political differences and set up an emergency government including centrist former defence minister Benny Gantz for the duration of the crisis.
Saturday's surprise attack -- the worst in Israel's 75-year history -- has seen a total of 1,200 people killed in the Islamist militants' onslaught, according to Israeli forces. Most were civilians.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler and Iran's president spoke by phone about the war between Israel and Hamas, Saudi state media said early Thursday, their first call since a surprise rapprochement in March.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call on Wednesday from the Iranian leader, Ebrahim Raisi, during which they discussed "the current military situation in Gaza and its environs", the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
Prince Mohammed told Raisi that Riyadh is "communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation", SPA said.
He also stressed "the kingdom's firm position towards supporting the Palestinian cause", it said.
More than 3,38,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said, as heavy Israeli bombardments continue to hit the Palestinian enclave.
The number of displaced in the densely populated territory of 2.3 million people had by late Wednesday "risen by an additional 75,000 people and reached 3,38,934," the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in an statement sent on Thursday.