Live updates: What’s happening in the Israel-Hamas war as Israel deepens military assault in Gaza

Israel expanded its military assault deeper into the northern Gaza Strip as the U.N. and medical staff expressed fears over airstrikes hitting closer to hospitals, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter alongside thousands of wounded. Relief workers said the largest convoy of humanitarian aid to arrive in Gaza still fell far short of needs.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,306, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them civilians slain in the initial Hamas rampage that started the fighting Oct. 7. In addition, 239 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.

Here’s what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

7:49 p.m. EDT

Canada’s foreign affairs minister says humanitarian accord urgently needed to aid people of the Gaza Strip

TORONTO — Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Monday that a humanitarian agreement is urgently needed to help people in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to the Economic Club of Canada, Joly called for a temporary pause in hostilities in the Israel-Hamas war to allow more aid to get into Gaza.

“The humanitarian situation facing the Palestinian people, facing Palestinian women and children, is dire,” she said.

Joly reiterated Canada’s unequivocal condemnation of Hamas for its attacks on Israelis and said Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorism “in accordance with international law.” She also criticized attacks by extremist Israelis on Palestinians in the West Bank.

UNWRA head warns that further breakdowns of civil order endanger agency’s operations in Gaza

UNITED NATIONS — The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is warning that “an immediate humanitarian cease-fire has become a matter of life and death for millions,” stressing that “the present and future of Palestinians and Israelis depend on it.”

Philippe Lazzarini warned during an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Monday that a further breakdown of civil order, following the recent break-ins at the agency’s warehouses by panicked Palestinians searching for food and other aid, will make it extremely difficult for the largest U.N. agency in Gaza to continue operating.

He said in a virtual briefing that he is worried about a spillover of the conflict and urged all 193 U.N. member nations “to change the trajectory of this crisis.”

The commissioner-general of the agency known as UNRWA, also said 64 of its staff have been killed in just over three weeks — the latest only two hours prior when UNRWA’s head of security in mid-Gaza was killed with his wife and eight children.

Lazzarini said most Palestinians in Gaza “feel trapped in a war they have nothing to do with” and “they feel the world is equating all of them to Hamas.” He stressed that the Oct. 7 Hamas atrocities in Israel don’t absolve Israel from its obligations under international humanitarian law, starting with the protection of civilians.

Israel backtracks on refusing to grant entry visas to UN officials

GENEVA — Israeli officials are going back on their promised refusal to grant entry visas to U.N. officials.

Martin Griffiths, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, tweeted Monday that he was in Israel — less than a week after Israel’s U.N. ambassador said it had “refused” to grant Griffiths a visa.

Israeli officials had expressed outrage over comments last Wednesday by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants “did not happen in a vacuum.”

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s U.N. ambassador, accused Guterres on Israel’s Army Radio of justifying a slaughter, called for his resignation and said Israel would “refuse to grant visas to U.N. representatives.”

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres stood by his remarks.

On Monday, Israel’s ambassador in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, said, “We haven’t said categorically that we’re not giving visas. We are … We understand their need to be there.”

Eilon Shahar confirmed that Griffiths was in Israel, as well as other officials, including Han Kluge, the regional head of the World Health Organization.

But she continued to voice Israel’s frustration that U.N. institution chiefs didn’t speak out more forcefully against Hamas militants for “butchering civilians and women in such a vicious way.”

“The United Nations has let down the people of Israel,” Eilon Shahar added. “When I say the United Nations, I’m talking about the multilateral organizations have let down the people of Israel.”

Israeli airstrikes damaged oxygen system and water supply at Turkish Palestinian Hospital, director says

CAIRO — Doctor Sobhi Skeik, director of the Turkish Palestinian Hospital, situated just south of Gaza City, said his hospital was damaged by an Israeli strike at 6:30 pm Monday evening. The blast partially destroyed two rooms on the third floor of the small hospital, damaging the building’s oxygen system and water supply.

“Just out of luck no one was in the rooms at the time,” Skiek said. There was no evacuation order from the Israeli army before the strike.

Over the past few days, Skeik said dozens of missile strikes have hit the atmosphere and area surrounding the hospital, which specializes in cancer treatment. He said the hospital is currently housing 100 to 150 patients, 200 staff members and 100 displaced people.

Israel warns citizens to leave northern caucasus after mob storms Dagestan Airport

JERUSALEM — Israel has warned its citizens to leave the northern Caucasus after a mob stormed an airport in Russia’s Dagestan region when a flight from Israel landed there.

Hundreds of men, some carrying banners with antisemitic slogans, rushed onto the tarmac of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, on Sunday night, looking for Israeli passengers on the flight from Tel Aviv, according to Russian news reports.

READ MORE: Putin calls security meeting following storming of Dagestan airport after plane from Israel lands

The attack seemed to be partly fueled by anger at Israel’s actions in Gaza, where it has been at war with Hamas following a deadly incursion by the militant group earlier this month. Several people in the mob were waving Palestinian flags.

More than 20 people were wounded, with two in critical condition, and police made 60 arrests.

Israel raised its travel warning level to 4, the highest level, calling on citizens to avoid all travel to Dagestan and neighboring regions, and for those who are there to leave as soon as possible.

2:29 p.m. EDT

U.S. continues to provide Israel with weapons shipments almost daily, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon continues to provide weapons shipments almost on a daily basis to Israel, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Monday.

Despite the rising number of civilian casualties, “we are not putting any limits on how Israel uses weapons,” Singh said. “That is really up to the Israeli Defense Force to use and how they are going to conduct their operations.”

Singh did not answer a question on whether there were concerns inside the Pentagon about the way the weapons were being used, but said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has regularly emphasized the need for Israel to follow the laws of armed conflict and avoid civilian casualties as much as possible.

Netanyahu says he has no plans to resign and will not agree to a cease-fire

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has no plans to resign, despite a public uproar over the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas raid that killed over 1,400 Israelis and sparked the current Israel-Hamas war.

Netanyahu was asked at a news conference Monday if he has considered stepping down.

“The only thing that I intend to have resigned is Hamas. We’re going to resign them to the dustbin of history,” he said. “That’s my goal. That’s my responsibility.”

Netanyahu also said he would not agree to a cease-fire, saying it would be tantamount “to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen.”

He said Hamas was responsible for the high death toll in Gaza, accusing the group of using civilians as human shields.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,306, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

German chancellor says Hamas must be held accountable for death of German-Israeli citizen and others

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Hamas must be held accountable for the death of German-Israeli dual citizen Shani Louk and others killed by the militant group in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

“The news of Shani Louk’s death is terrible,” Scholz wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Like many others, she was brutally murdered. This shows the full barbarity behind the Hamas attack — who must be held accountable.”

Louk’s mother told German news agency dpa earlier Monday that she had been informed by the Israeli military of the death of her 22-year-old daughter, who had been missing since the attack.

“This is terror, and Israel has the right to defend itself,” Scholz wrote.

12:57 p.m. EDT

Israel says female soldier captured during Hamas assault has been released

JERUSALEM — Israel says a female soldier captured by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 incursion has been released during Israel’s ground operations in Gaza. The military provided few details, but she appears to be the first captive to be freed since Israel stepped up its ground war. The military says Private Ori Megidish “was medically checked, is doing well, and has met with her family.”

U.N. special envoy for Syria warns of ‘potential wider escalation’

UNITED NATIONS — The Israeli-Hamas conflict has spilled into Syria which is now “at its most dangerous situation for a long time,” fueled by growing instability and violence and a lack of progress toward a political solution to its 12-year conflict, the U.N. special envoy for the country says.

Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council Monday he was “sounding an alarm” that the Syrian people now face “a terrifying prospect of a potential wider escalation.” He pointed to airstrikes attributed to Israel hitting Aleppo and Damascus airports several times and U.S. retaliation against what it says are multiple attacks on its forces by groups the U.S. “claims are backed by Iran, including on Syrian territory.”

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused “terrorist groups,” some backed by Syria and Iran, of threatening to expand the Gaza conflict “by using Syrian territory to plot and launch attacks against Israel.”

“We call on the regime to curb the activities of Iran-backed militias in Syria, stop the flow of foreign arms and fighters through its territory, and cease escalatory actions in the Golan Heights,” she said, warning that the United States will continue to respond to attacks on U.S. personnel and facilities in Syria “or against U.S. interests.”

Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia of Russia, Syria’s closest ally, accused Israeli forces of striking sites in Syria, including civilian airports, and called U.S. attacks in the country “illegitimate actions” and “a gross violation of Syria’s sovereignty.”

5 people killed in the occupied West Bank

JERUSALEM — Five Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Another Palestinian died of wounds sustained in an attack on a Jewish West Bank settler last week near Ramallah, the ministry said.

Four Palestinians were killed in heavy clashes after dozens of military vehicles and two bulldozers entered the town of Jenin and and the adjacent refugee camp of the same name for an arrest raid. Israeli media reported that the battle included drone strikes — a once rare, but now increasingly common attack mode used in the West Bank.

Another Palestinian man was killed in a military raid near Hebron.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on Oct. 7. Since then, Israeli forces and settlers killed 122 Palestinians, according to the health ministry.

Hamas releases video purportedly showing 3 hostages

JERUSALEM — The militant Hamas group ruling Gaza released a video Monday purporting to show three women captured during its Oct. 7 attack inside Israel. One of the women delivers a brief statement, likely under duress, criticizing Israel’s response to the hostage crisis.

Hamas and other militants captured around 240 people during the deadly raid and have said they will release them in return for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israel has dismissed the offer.

U.S. says American and coalition forces were attacked 23 times in Iraq, Syria

WASHINGTON — Two U.S. senior defense officials briefing reporters at the Pentagon on Monday said that from Oct. 17 to Oct. 30, U.S. and coalition forces were attacked at least 14 times in Iraq and nine times in Syria by a mix of drones and rockets for a total of 23 attacks.

The officials said many of the drones and rockets were intercepted and failed to reach their targets.

Bases housing U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq have come under rocket and drone attacks over the past weeks as tensions in the region rise over the Israel-Hamas war.

9:54 a.m. EDT

World Bank says wider Mideast conflict could push oil prices into ‘Unchartered

WASHINGTON — The World Bank reported Monday that oil prices could be pushed into “uncharted waters” if the violence between Israel and Hamas intensifies, which could result in increased food prices worldwide.

The World Bank’s Commodity Markets Outlook found that while the effects on oil prices should be limited if the conflict doesn’t widen, the outlook “would darken quickly if the conflict were to escalate.”

The attack on Israel by the militant organization Hamas and the ensuing Israel military operation against Hamas have raised fears of a wider Mideast conflict.

Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s chief economist, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already had disruptive effects on the global economy “that persist to this day.”

“If the conflict were to escalate, the global economy would face a dual energy shock for the first time in decades — not just from the war in Ukraine but also from the Middle East,” Gill said.

Gaza Health Ministry says 304 people were killed in the past day

GAZA — The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says 304 people were killed over the past day, raising the death toll since the conflict began to 8,306.

Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said Monday that the number of people wounded since Oct. 7 has reached 21,048.

He said the dead include 3,457 children and 2,136 women, adding that there are about 1,950 people still missing under the rubble.
Al-Qudra urged people to head to medical centers in Gaza to donate blood of all types.

He said the Israeli bombardment has been getting closer to medical centers and hospitals such as the Turkish Friendship hospital that specializes in treating people who have cancer.

Overnight airstrikes damage hospital South of Gaza City

CAIRO — Overnight airstrikes struck an area close to the Turkish hospital south of Gaza city, damaging roofs, doors and windows, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday.

Medhat Abbas shared images showing damage to a roof and a shattered window in the hospital, the only facility treating cancer patients in Gaza.

An initial report on the damage, seen by The Associated Press, said the hospital’s water desalination system was also destroyed. The hospital treats 60 cancer patients and over two dozen other patients who were recently transferred from Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest.

Airstrikes hit a convoy of trucks entering Syria from Iraq

BEIRUT — Syrian opposition activists and a Beirut-based TV station say airstrikes on a convoy of trucks in eastern Syria destroyed several vehicles and killed several people shortly after they crossed the border from Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not immediately clear who was behind the early Monday strikes, adding that three trucks were destroyed shortly after they entered the Syrian border town of Boukamal. It said several people were killed.

Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet that covers news in east Syria, said U.S. aircraft carried out the attack, adding that the trucks were transporting weapons for Iran-backed militias. He said three drivers were killed.

Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in different parts of Syria, also reported that American warplanes carried out the attack, saying the trucks were carrying construction material.

The U.S. military did not immediately respond for a request for comment.

Al-Mayadeen and Abu Layla said that hours after the airstrike, Iran-backed fighters fired rockets at the al-Omar oil field that houses U.S. troops.

Bases housing U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq have come under rocket and drone attacks over the past weeks as tensions rise in the region over the Israel-Hamas war.

Vatican says two-state solution needed for stable, lasting peace

VATICAN CITY — A top Vatican official spoke by telephone Monday with the Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, at the foreign minister’s request.

The Vatican said in a statement that the Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, expressed “serious concern in the Holy See about what is happening in Israel and Palestine, emphasizing the absolute necessity to avoid widening the conflict and to reach a two-state solution for a stable and lasting peace.”

UN Security Council to discuss Gaza Monday afternoon

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Monday afternoon on Israel’s ground incursion in Gaza and the dire humanitarian plight of Palestinians at the request of the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE, the Arab representative on the council, is one of 10 elected council members working on a new Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war which is still in discussion. The council has rejected four draft resolutions — one vetoed by the United States, one vetoed by Russia and China, and two that failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes.

The Gaza meeting will take place after the council meets first on Western Sahara and then on Colombia.

The General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, adopted a resolution Friday by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions calling for humanitarian truces leading to a cessation of hostilities. Security Council resolutions are legally binding. General Assembly resolutions are not but they are an important barometer of world opinion.

4 people killed in clashes in Jenin

CAIRO — Four Palestinians were killed early Monday in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians.

The ministry said five other Palestinians were wounded, including two with critical injuries.

Israeli media reported that there was heavy exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Jenin in a battle that included drone strikes.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the war between Israel and Gaza broke out on Oct. 7. Since then, Israeli forces and settlers killed 115 Palestinians, including 33 minors, as of Sunday, according to the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

OCHA said half of the fatalities were during clashes that followed Israeli search-and-arrest operations.

Gaza’s water shortage means people bathe and wash dishes in the sea

On a beach in Gaza, a young boy hunches over a plastic tub full of soapy water and laundry. Nearby, a woman uses sand to clean metal pots and pans. A man stands waist-deep in the sea cleaning a pair of sweatpants, while elsewhere, three women sit in the salty Mediterranean and let the lapping waves rinse their dresses.

The besieged Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people don’t have access to clean, running water after Israel cut off water and electricity to the enclave. If water does trickle from the tap, residents have said it’s so contaminated with sewage and seawater that it’s undrinkable. Under these circumstances, some are forced to use the sea to bathe, wash clothes and clean their cookware.

On Sunday, 33 trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered the only border crossing from Egypt. Israel said it has opened two water lines in southern Gaza within the past week. The AP could not independently verify that either line was functioning.

Germany urges Israel to protect Palestinians in the West Bank

BERLIN -– Germany is calling on Israel to protect Palestinians against “activities of extremist settlers” in the West Bank.
Following deadly attacks by settlers in recent days, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer on Monday urged Israel to hold those responsible to account.

He told reporters in Berlin that Palestinian families must be able to remain where they have lived for decades and not be forced to leave for fear of their lives.

Germany is a close ally of Israel and has stressed Israel’s right to defend itself following the attacks by Hamas from Gaza.

Cornell sends police to Jewish center after antisemitic messages posted online

Cornell University administrators dispatched campus police to a Jewish center after threatening statements appeared on a discussion board Sunday.

Cornell President Martha E. Pollack issued a statement explaining there were a series of “horrendous, antisemitic messages” threatening violence against the university’s Jewish community, specifically naming the address of the Center for Jewish Living.

The Cornell University Police Department is investigating and has notified the FBI of a potential hate crime, she said.

The content of the online threats appeared to be instigated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and sent chills through Cornell’s Jewish community during the third week of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Woman missing after Hamas attack on music festival is reported dead

BERLIN -– The mother of a German Israeli dual citizen missing after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 says she has been told that her daughter is dead.

Ricarda Louk told German news agency dpa on Monday that she was informed by the Israeli military of the death of Shani Louk, who was 22. She said her daughter’s body hasn’t been found, but a splinter of a skull bone was located and submitted for a DNA test.

Louk believes her daughter died on Oct. 7, when she was at a music festival in southern Israel that was attacked by militants from Gaza. Videos that circulated at the time appeared to show the young woman face-down on a pickup truck.

The German government has said that a “low two-digit number” of German Israeli dual citizens are believed to be held in Gaza.