Israeli tanks on Thursday entered the North Gaza which they describe as a "targeted raid" that hit "numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts".
Israel Defense Forces said that a column of tanks and infantry had launched an overnight raid into Hamas-controlled Gaza, striking "numerous" targets before retreating to home soil.
The military announced the incursion into the north of the Palestinian territory hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared preparations for a ground war were underway.
Black-and-white video footage posted by the military showed a column of armoured vehicles and bulldozers winding toward what appeared to be a border fence and breaking through it.
Here are the live updates on the Israel-Hamas war:
: Israel has a right and responsibility to go after Hamas after what happened on October 7, White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby said on Thursday (local time).
Addressing a press briefing, Kirby said US President Joe Biden on Wednesday stressed the need to be careful while targeting Hamas leaders in a way that minimizes risk to civilians and collateral damage.
Kirby's remarks come amid Israel's ongoing counter-offensive against Hamas after the latter launched coordinated attacks in southern Israel on October 7.
-EU leaders called on Thursday for pauses in Israeli bombing and Hamas rocket attacks to get humanitarian aid into Gaza after days of wrangling that highlighted divisions within the bloc over the broader Israel-Palestinian conflict.
In a declaration agreed at a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the Union's 27 nations expressed the "gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza".
They called for "continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs".
EU leaders on Thursday called for "humanitarian corridors and pauses" to get aid into Gaza, after hours of negotiations at a summit of the bloc in Brussels.
"The European Council expresses its gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs," a statement said.
Hamas names over 7,000 people it says killed in war with Israel: News Agency AFP
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday rejected the "misrepresentations" of his remarks a day earlier on Palestinian grievances that infuriated Israel, which has vowed to retaliate against the world body.
Hamas armed wing says 'almost 50' Israeli hostages killed since Israel strikes began: News Agency AFP
It looks like any other scrappy Tel Aviv tech start-up, with staff in hip clothing huddled around laptops and downing espressos, but they are the volunteers in a "war room" assembled to help Israel bring home the hostages.
US President Joe Biden has hinted that one of the reasons behind Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel was the recent announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that integrates the entire region with a network of rail, road and ports. Read here.
Britain will convene a meeting of the government's COBRA emergency response committee on Thursday to consider its strategy and approach towards Gaza and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told Times Radio .
Britain is pushing for a humanitarian pause to the conflict, and for Britons in Gaza to be able to leave safely.
Israel said Thursday that a column of tanks and infantry had launched an overnight raid into Hamas-controlled Gaza, striking "numerous" targets before retreating to home soil.
The military announced the incursion into the north of the Palestinian territory hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared preparations for a ground war were underway.
The Israel Defense Forces described the operation as a "targeted raid" that hit "numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts".
It said the operation was "preparation for the next stages of combat" adding that "the soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory".
"Overnight, the IDF conducted a targeted raid using tanks in the northern Gaza Strip, as part of preparations for the next stages of combat," the army said in a statement.
"The soldiers exited the area at the end of the activity."
Israel is in the midst of a fight for its existence and preparations are underway for a ground incursion into Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said and added that "all Hamas members are dead men walking".
In an address to the nation on Wednesday evening, he stressed that the two main goals of the war were "to eliminate Hamas by destroying its military and governance capabilities, and to do everything possible to get our captives home".
"Large numbers of people's houses (are being) bombarded. However, this is a custom of the Israeli occupation. (But), at the end of the day, we are on this land. This is our destiny... this is our destiny and this is our choice and this is our patience... and we won't deviate from this path."
The United States put forward a draft resolution on Saturday as global outcry grew over a worsening humanitarian crisis and mounting civilian death toll in Gaza. It made the move just days after it vetoed a humanitarian focused draft from Brazil, arguing more time was needed for U.S.-led diplomacy.
The initial U.S. text shocked many diplomats with its bluntness in stating Israel has a right to defend itself and demanding Iran stop exporting arms to militant groups. It did not include a call for humanitarian pauses for aid access. But it largely toned down the final text that was put to the vote.
- Israel bombarded Hamas targets as it prepared for a ground invasion, with Russia warning the conflict could spread beyond the Middle East, and as world powers failed to secure plans to deliver critical humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
- U.S. President Joe Biden, in remarks looking beyond the war that began with an Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants, said on Wednesday that the future should include Israeli and Palestinian states side by side.
- "Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity and in peace," Biden said at a joint press conference in Washington with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
- Biden said he believed one reason the Islamist Hamas group attacked southern Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostages of different nationalities, was to prevent normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
