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Israel says it has brought in special forces to try to wrest control of four sites from Hamas fighters in response to the militant group’s unprecedented incursion into Israel.
Israel formally declared war on Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for the surprise attack a day earlier. The Israeli military has tried to crush fighters still in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. More than 1,100 people have been killed and thousands wounded on both sides.
The fighting continued in several locations Monday morning.
HAMAS WANTS TO ‘LIBERATE ALL PALESTINIAN PRISONERS,’ IT SAYS
Hamas wants to “liberate all Palestinian prisoners” from Israel and end Israeli provocations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, particularly at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a spokesman for the militant group said Monday.
Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told The Associated Press over the phone that Hamas militants were still fighting Israeli forces and had captured more Israelis on Monday morning.
“We are in an open battle to defend our people and the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said. “This battle is linked to the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners and the cessation of this fascist government’s activities in Jerusalem.”
He said the group has captured “a large number of Israelis” in Gaza, without giving a specific figure. He said Hamas’ military wing, al-Qassam, would announce the figures later.
HUNGARIAN AIR FORCE BRINGS MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE OUT OF ISRAEL
Two Hungarian air force planes carrying 215 people from Israel arrived in Budapest early Monday, according to posts by Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Facebook.
“We thank the authorities of Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania for their cooperation in the swift issuance of the necessary permits for flights,” the foreign minister wrote.
Earlier, Szijjarto said in a video on Facebook that there were 400 Hungarian citizens in Israeli territory, but that there were no known Hungarians who had been killed or injured in the Hamas attacks.
EGYPTAIR SUSPENDS FLIGHTS TO ISRAEL
EgyptAir, Egypt’s national carrier, suspended its flights to Israel on Monday amid fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, Cairo airport officials said.
The flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv are suspended until further notice, said two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media. EgyptAir normally operates a daily flight between Cairo International Airport and Ben Gurion International Airport, just outside Tel Aviv.
Many carriers suspended flights to and from Israel following the unprecedented attack by the Hamas militant group, which rules Gaza, Israeli media reported.
12 THAI NATIONALS KILLED IN ISRAEL FOLLOWING HAMAS ATTACK
Twelve Thai nationals have died in Israel following Hamas’ attack, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kanchana Patarachoke said Monday. Eleven others were taken hostage and eight were injured. The numbers, based on reports from workers and employers in the area, were still awaiting confirmation from Israeli authorities, Kanchana said.
Around 5,000 Thai workers are in the areas around the Gaza Strip, and some have been evacuated to safer areas, the spokesperson said, adding that Thailand’s air force is preparing planes for an evacuation whenever the situation allows. Many Thais work on farms in Israel.
ISRAEL MOVES TO PROP UP ITS CURRENCY AMID MARKET UNCERTAINTY
Israel’s central bank says it will sell up to $30 billion in foreign exchange to prop up the country’s shekel currency following market uncertainty in the wake of Hamas’ incursion from the Gaza Strip.
The central bank issued a statement Monday morning announcing the plan, saying it “will operate in the market during the coming period in order to moderate volatility in the shekel exchange rate and to provide the necessary liquidity for the continued proper functioning of the markets.”
It added it would provide additional liquidity of up to $15 billion in the market as well.
The shekel has fallen to a near eight-year low against the U.S. dollar in early trading Monday.
SCHUMER CRITICIZES CHINA FOR NOT SUPPORTING ISRAEL AFTER HAMAS ATTACK
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told China’s foreign minister on Monday that he was very disappointed by Beijing’s statement on the recent Hamas attack because it didn’t show any sympathy or support for Israel.
“I urge you and the Chinese people to stand with the Israeli people and condemn these cowardly and vicious attacks,” Schumer, who is leading a delegation of six senators to China, told Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Wang, who spoke before Schumer in their opening remarks, did not respond before journalists were escorted out of the room.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Sunday called on both sides to exercise restraint and immediately end the hostilities. It said that establishing an independent state of Palestine is the fundamental way to resolve the issue.
EL SALVADOR PRESIDENT, WHO HAS PALESTINIAN ANCESTRY, CALLS HAMAS ‘CRIMINALS’
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has Palestinian ancestry, decried Hamas on Sunday after its attack on Israel.
“The best thing that could happen to the Palestinian people is for Hamas to completely disappear. Those savage beasts do not represent the Palestinians,” Bukele said on the social network X, previously known as Twitter. “Anyone who supports the Palestinian cause would make a great mistake siding with those criminals.”
He also compared Hamas to the MS-13 gang, which has terrorized El Salvador for years.
10 NEPALIS KILLED IN VIOLENCE IN ISRAEL
Ten Nepali nationals have been killed in fighting in Israel and at least one more is missing, Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said. An unknown number of others were wounded in the violence, it added. Efforts were being made to return the bodies to Nepal and embassy officials were also trying to help citizens who want to leave the country.
US GIVING ISRAEL ALL THE HELP IT NEEDS, SCHUMER SAYS
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says senators were briefed by senior State Department and Pentagon officials and given assurances that the United States was giving Israel “everything they need.”
“I asked the representatives of our Defense Department if they are giving Israel everything they need, and I was heartened that they said yes and that they are surging support,” Schumer said in a statement after Sunday evening’s unclassified briefing.
“I asked them if they have denied any requests that Israel has made, and they said no. I urged them to ensure Israel has everything it needs to protect itself, and reiterated that the Senate stands ready to deliver on additional needs,” he said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced earlier Sunday that the U.S. was sending a host of military ships and aircraft to the region. He also said it was providing the Israeli defense forces with additional equipment, including munitions.
INDONESIA EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT ESCALATING CONFLICT
Indonesian officials are urging an end to the fighting between Hamas and Israel and blaming the occupation of the Palestinian territories for the conflict.
The world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel and there is no Israeli embassy in the country. It has long been a strong supporter of the Palestinians, and President Joko Widodo has condemned the airstrikes that Israel has launched in response to Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday.
“The occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel, as the root of the conflict, must be resolved, according to the parameters agreed upon by the UN,” said the statement from Indonesia’s foreign ministry.
The ministry also said the government continues to monitor the situation of its 13 nationals residing in the Gaza area.
US SENATOR CORY BOOKER SAYS HE WAS IN ISRAEL AT TIME OF ATTACK
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey was in Israel when Hamas attacked Israel, he announced Sunday in a video statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Booker said he was jogging in the Old City of Jerusalem on Saturday when he received a call from his chief of staff telling him to return to his hotel immediately. He sheltered in the stairwell of his hotel with other guests. Booker wrote that he is now safe. It is unclear if he has returned to the U.S..
“We who believe in peace and freedom and human rights for Palestinians, for Israelis, for all humankind must reject those who use terror as their weapon,” Booker said.
MORE THAN 123,000 GAZANS NOW DISPLACED, UNITED NATIONS SAYS
The United Nations says the number of displaced Gazans has risen to more than 123,000 as a result of the fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas following the militant group’s unprecedented attack on Israel.
As of late Sunday, retaliatory Israeli airstrikes had destroyed 159 housing units across Gaza and severely damaged 1,210 others, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said a school sheltering more than 225 people took a direct hit. It did not say where the fire came from.
Several Israeli news outlets, citing rescue service officials, said at least 700 people have been killed in Israel, including 44 soldiers. The Gaza Health Ministry said 413 people, including 78 children and 41 women, were killed in the territory. About 2,000 people have been wounded on each side. An Israeli official said security forces have killed 400 militants and captured dozens more.
ISRAEL WANTS TO REMOVE HAMAS FROM POWER, MILITARY SPOKESPERSON SAYS
One of Israel’s goals as it battles Hamas fighters is to remove the militant group from power in the Gaza Strip, a military spokesperson said Monday.
Jonathan Conricus made the statement in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. His words appeared to go further than those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said Sunday that his security cabinet had made the decision to destroy Hamas’ ability to govern in a way that posed a threat to Israeli civilians.
A thousand Hamas militants took part in the initial, unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday, Conricus said.
“It is by far the worst day in Israeli history,” Conricus said.
UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS, TAKES NO ACTION ON US DEMAND
The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting behind closed doors Sunday to address the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel, during which the U.S. demanded that all 15 members strongly condemn the incursion. The council didn’t take immediate action on the request.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood said after the meeting that “a good number of countries,” but not all, denounced Saturday morning’s attack. He said the support of at least one member could be counted out.
Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told The Associated Press that the U.S. was trying to say at the meeting that Russia isn’t condemning the attacks, but “that’s untrue.”
“It was in my comments,” Nebenzia said. “We condemn all the attacks on civilians.”
He said Russia’s message is: “It’s important to stop the fighting immediately, to go to a cease-fire, and to meaningful negotiations which were stalled for decades.”
China’s U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, expressed a similar position as he headed into the meeting.
But Wood said the international community must strongly condemn “this unprovoked invasion and the terrorist attacks” until Hamas ends its “violent terrorist activity against the Israeli people.”
BIPARTISAN UNITY IN CONGRESS TO HELP ISRAEL, PELOSI SAYS
Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there is bipartisan unity in Congress “in support of what we need to do” to support Israel.
Speaking at an event in San Francisco on Sunday organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, Pelosi condemned the attacks on Israel as “acts of cowardice.”
“I want you to know that in the Congress of the United States … there is unity, bipartisan unity in support of what we need to do, whether it’s militarily, whether it’s diplomatically, whether it’s financially to help our friends, the Israelis,” Pelosi said, according to a recording of her remarks provided by her office.
Pelosi said the surprise attack from the Gaza Strip was “outside the circle of civilized human behavior.”
“This assault on these children, on these grandmas, on these families, is something that takes us to a different threshold of how we deal with this subject,” she said.
PRO-PALESTINIAN AND PRO-ISRAELI FACTIONS CLASH AT RALLY IN NY
Pro-Palestinian students waved flags, chanted and held signs calling for an end to U.S. support for Israel during a rally held a block from the United Nations on Sunday that erupted into a skirmish with supporters of Israel.
As the students left, a small group of men waving Israeli flags crossed over metal barricades erected to keep the protesters confined to the sidewalks. The action prompted students to rush back, with one grabbing an Israeli flag and throwing it to the sidewalk and stomping on it. He was joined by other pro-Palestinian protesters.
Police stepped in to push the crowds apart and pulled the Israeli faction away.
A separate pro-Palestinian rally was held Sunday in New York City’s Time Square. That protest was condemned before it began by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
“The people of Israel are facing violent terrorist attacks and civilian kidnappings,” she said in a statement Saturday. “The planned rally is abhorrent and morally repugnant.”
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER SAYS HE’S OFFERED HELP TO ISRAEL
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says Sunak has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and offered any support Israel needs.
The spokesperson said Sunday that Sunak reaffirmed that the U.K. will stand with Israel “unequivocally against these acts of terror.”
CARTER CENTER SAYS IT STRONGLY CONDEMNS TARGETING OF CIVILIANS
The Carter Center issued a statement saying it strongly condemns the targeting of Israeli and Palestinian civilians and is calling for dialogue and action from the international community to halt hostilities in the region.
The statement says fundamental human rights of all residents in the region must be protected, land claims and security concerns addressed, and the sanctity of Muslim and Christian holy sites preserved.
The statement added that “the urgency for a robust and renewed peace process has never been greater” and that “there is not a military solution to the crisis – only a political one.”
The Atlanta-based Carter Center is a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization founded in 1982 by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.
HAMAS OFFICIAL SAYS MORE THAN 100 ISRAELIS HELD CAPTIVE IN GAZA
A senior Hamas official says the militant group is holding more than 100 people captive after its unprecedented assault on Israel.
Mousa Abu Marzouk made the remarks to Arabic language news outlet al-Ghad on Sunday. The figure is in addition to more than 30 people said to be held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.
During their rampage through southern Israel, militants dragged back into Gaza dozens of captives, among them women, children and the elderly. Their precise number hadn’t been clear until the two militant groups made their announcements.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE SAYS HE AND FAMILY IN ISRAEL DURING ATTACK
The office of U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman says he and his family were in Tel Aviv when Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday and were forced to shelter in a hotel stairwell until Sunday morning.
The New York Democrat’s office released a short statement on Sunday saying Goldman, his wife and their three youngest children were in Israel for a Bar Mitzvah at the time of the attack.
The statement adds that the congressman was grateful for the assistance of Israeli and U.S. State Department officials “and he hopes all Americans can come together to support Israel’s right to defend herself from terrorism and war crimes.”
U.S. HOUSE TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL
The U.S. House is preparing a bipartisan resolution that it “stands with Israel” and condemns “Hamas’ brutal war.”
The resolution from the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is expected to be among the first items considered for voting once the House elects a new speaker.
“Now is the time to show the world the United States firmly stands with our friend and ally Israel in our condemnation of this heinous attack by Iran-backed terrorists,” said the committee chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.
“I expect this bipartisan resolution to be one of the first, if not the first, items considered on the floor once we elect a new speaker. And I expect it to receive overwhelming bipartisan support.”
House business is currently at a standstill after the historic ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The resolution says the House of Representatives “stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.”
AT LEAST 260 BODIES RECOVERED FROM MUSIC FESTIVAL, ISRAEL SAYS
The Israeli rescue service Zaka says its paramedics removed about 260 bodies from a music festival attended by thousands that came under attack by Hamas militants.
The total figure is expected to be higher as other paramedic teams were working in the area.
Video aired on social media and by Israeli news outlets showed dozens of festival goers running through an open field as gunshots rang out. Many hid in nearby fruit orchards or were gunned down as they fled.
PENTAGON PUTS U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER ON ALERT TO ASSIST ISRAEL
The Pentagon has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to be ready to assist Israel, two US officials said. The carrier was already in the Mediterranean conducting naval exercises with Italy.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is the United States’ newest and most advanced aircraft carrier.
The vessel and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas and conducting surveillance.
The large deployment, which also includes a host of ships and warplanes, underscores the concern that the United States has in trying to deter the conflict from growing.
BIDEN PROMISES HELP FOR ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday morning, the White House said, and told the Israeli prime minister that “additional assistance for the Israeli Defense Forces” is now on the way to Israel.
There will be more assistance in the coming days, Biden told Netanyahu, according to the White House. It was their second call since the surprise Hamas attack.
Biden and Netanyahu plan to remain in touch, and the two leaders also discussed “ongoing efforts to ensure that no enemies of Israel believe they can or should seek advantage from the current situation.”
ISRAEL CONFIRMS AMERICANS ARE AMONG HAMAS CAPTIVES
Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, said American citizens are among those who were taken captive but gave no details about them, nor about Americans who might have been killed.
“Unfortunately I can’t. We have a lot of dual citizens in Israel. I suspect there are several, but we’re still trying to sort through all of all this information after this horrific surprise attack and we’ll make sure to put that information out so that the loved ones of these people who were killed and who are held hostage, they know as quickly as possible,” Dermer told CNN’s ‘’State of the Union.’’
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