What we know
The Israeli Army claims to have regained control of all communities around Gaza, more than 48 hours after Hamas launched a surprise assault in which more than 700 people died. The videos show the horror on the ground, including an attack on a music festival where Israeli rescuers say they found 260 people dead. Israel has been bombarding Gaza with airstrikes and formally declared war on Hamas on Sunday.
This follow-up is over. You can see the latest news on the conflict in Israel here.
The number of Thai citizens killed in Israel increases to 18
The number of Thai citizens who have died in Israel increased to 18, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Tuesday.
The ministry clarified that the number of injured amounts to nine. He had previously said that 15 Thai citizens had been injured.
The ministry also said 11 Thai nationals are believed to have been captured. His whereabouts are unknown. Thai embassies in various locations are working to contact the Palestinian Authority and request his release, the ministry added.
At least 15 Thai citizens, including some injured, will leave Israel this Wednesday back to Thailand.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister also spoke with his Israeli counterpart, who expressed condolences over the deaths of Thai citizens, the ministry said. The ministry said compensation will be provided to the families of Thai victims.
1 day ago
Israeli father said taking children hostage is a “crime against humanity”
Tomer Shalom, an Israeli citizen whose daughter has been missing since Saturday, told CNN that it is a “crime against humanity” that children have been taken hostage to Gaza.
“It is beyond comprehension. “You can’t imagine this situation where kids go dancing and have fun and go to a club and don’t come home because they’ve been caught,” Shalom told CNN’s John Vause.
Shalom said his daughter Noam, 20, called him around 8:30 a.m. Saturday from the music festival, scared and crying. Shalom said she heard gunshots over the phone.
He said his daughter, who is a paramedic, spoke to a friend on the phone around 9:15 a.m. local time Saturday from an ambulance where another friend was being treated for a gunshot wound to the leg. It was the last time anyone heard from her, she told CNN.
Shalom said he has tried to stay “healthy” and that the situation is currently “very fragile.”
“If we let this happen, if we don’t raise our voices now, we will normalize the situation… We should all raise our voices, they are not allowed to take children,” Shalom said.
1 day ago
Killing hostages “won’t make things better,” warns Israeli army after Hamas threat
Killing hostages held in Gaza “won’t make things better,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said Tuesday, a day after Hamas warned that civilians taken captive would be executed if Israel attacks people in Gaza without warning.
“If they hurt one of these grandmothers or one of these babies or one of these children, it’s not going to make things better and they know it,” Hecht said.
He said the IDF was sending some warnings before bombing targets, including through social media and warning shots.
“We will notify as best we can… people will have to move,” he said.
When asked if the IDF was distinguishing between civilian, government and military targets, he said the distinction was not so simple: “In the buildings where people live there could be a weapons warehouse… there could be a Hamas chief living there.”
He said the IDF struck “hundreds of targets” overnight in Gaza.
1 day ago
IDF attacked more than 200 targets in Gaza overnight
Dozens of Israel Defense Forces fighter jets attacked “more than 200 targets” in Gaza overnight, the IDF said in a statement on Tuesday.
The targets were in the Rimal and Khan Yunis neighborhoods in Gaza, from where the IDF claimed several attacks were directed against Israel.
The IDF said it struck an Islamic Jihad terrorist infrastructure in Khan Yunis, a Hamas weapons storage site located inside a mosque, and “operational terrorist infrastructure used by Hamas terrorist operatives,” among other targets.
The warplanes also struck several “operational residences” belonging to Hamas fighters, as well as a Hamas operational command center located inside a mosque.
1 day ago
Israeli forces “more or less” restored full control over Gaza border fence
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have “more or less” reestablished full control over the border fence with Gaza, according to IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht.
“Looking south, we have more or less reestablished full control over the border fence. “Let’s hope that in the next few hours it will be final,” he said in a briefing on Tuesday.
Hecht said Israeli forces have secured communities around the border and have almost completed the evacuation of all communities near the border.
He added that during the night there were two small shootings in the Sa’ad and Kissufim communities.
“We are focusing our offensive on Gaza and our airstrikes,” he said.
1 day ago
IDF adds ‘tens of thousands’ of additional troops along Lebanese border
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expanded its presence along the border with Lebanon, adding tens of thousands of additional soldiers, according to IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus.
“The situation [en la frontera con el Líbano] It is volatile. We are attentive. “We have added tens of thousands of additional soldiers along the border, both reservists and regular units, in anticipation of a Hezbollah attack,” Conricus told CNN.
“We have strongly urged them to think twice before embarking on any such attack against Israel,” he said.
“So far in the last few hours the situation has been calm. Let’s hope it stays that way,” she added.
1 day ago
Argentina begins evacuation operation for its citizens stranded in Israel
The Argentine Armed Forces reported this Monday through a statement that, at the direction of the Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, they began the evacuation of compatriots who are stranded in transit in Israel.
The joint operation has been called “Safe Return” and, according to the statement, the operation will be carried out in close coordination with the Argentine Foreign Ministry.
The Armed Forces added that the evacuation operation will consist of a series of air bridges that will link the cities of Tel-Aviv with Rome until completing the prompt evacuation of Argentine citizens and will be carried out by means of strategic air transport aircraft of the Air Force. from Argentina.
The authorities added that the operation will begin this Tuesday morning from the El Palomar air brigade.
In the evacuation, the Argentine Government will initially use a C-130 Hercules aircraft, which would be complemented by a Boeing 737 for the initial evacuation to Italy and from Italy commercial flights from Aerolíneas Argentinas would be used, the statement cited.
1 day ago
Dozens of people taken to hospital after stampede at pro-Israel vigil at the University of Florida, witness says
Dozens of people injured during a stampede at a pro-Israel candlelight vigil at the University of Florida on Monday night are being treated at a local hospital, a witness told CNN. “There are five people admitted, but there are at least 30 in the waiting room,” said Chanie Goldman, who was supporting people at Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
Several people were trampled after one person fainted during the event, causing confusion and concern when their bag fell. “It looked like a shooting or a car,” said Chanie Goldman’s husband, Rabbi Berl Goldman, leader of Chabad UF, which organized the vigil. He estimated the crowd size was about 1,000 people. “Everyone panicked. Nobody knew what was happening,” he said.
Injuries that were treated at the hospital included a broken ankle, broken ribs and concussions, along with minor cuts and scrapes, Chanie Goldman said. “I saw how they trampled people,” she said. “People were falling on top of each other.”
Goldman said he saw no signs of life-threatening injuries. CNN has contacted Shands Hospital for more information.
The University of Florida Police Department said there were no signs of “malicious intent” in the incident, with Chief Linsa Stump-Kurnick calling it “an accident that was misinterpreted by the crowd and caused panic.”
1 day ago
Israeli woman tells CNN how she escaped Gaza with two children
An Israeli woman described to CNN how she and a friend hid in a closet as Gaza militants stormed their home on Saturday, taking her and others captive.
Avital Alajem and his neighbor Hayim Katsman were hiding in a closet when about eight Hamas fighters bombed the door and started shooting, killing Katsman, he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Alajem said the militants dragged her along with another friend’s two young children – Negev, 4, and baby Eshel, just 4 months – and forced her to walk toward Gaza while the militants burned their neighborhood.
«They burned everything they could, the cars, everything. They broke everything. “Everything is ruined,” he said. “I kept telling myself that maybe some women there will take care of us and maybe be a little human with us.”
Alajem said that for reasons she does not understand, the militants freed her and her two young children after crossing the border into Gaza.
«I don’t know why they saved the children’s lives and mine. They just told me to leave. And then we started walking back,” he told Cooper.
Four-year-old Negev, whose foot was injured by shrapnel, had to crawl his way home, he said.
“I saw tanks and heard many bombs. They were shouting, honking their horns. We move forward,” Alajem said.
Alajem was able to safely return the two children to their father at home, but their mother, Adi Kaaplon, is still missing.
When talking about Katsman, his neighbor who was killed while taking refuge in a closet, Alajem said that “he was a good soul in this world.”
“Hayim in Hebrew is ‘life,'” Alajem said, “he gave life to this planet, because he saved me and I was able to save two children.”