JERUSALEM, Nov 4 — Fighting raged in Gaza today for a 29th day since Hamas militants stormed across the Israeli border and, according to Israeli officials, killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and abducted more than 240 others.

Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip and sent in ground troops, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory saying 9,227 people have been killed, two-thirds of them women and children.

Here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures towards Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati to sit down at a hotel during a day of meetings, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in the Jordanian capital Amman on November 4, 2023. — AFP pic
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures towards Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati to sit down at a hotel during a day of meetings, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in the Jordanian capital Amman on November 4, 2023. — AFP pic

Blinken in Jordan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jordan today for talks with counterparts from five Arab countries, after visiting Israel in his efforts to secure humanitarian “pauses” in the war.

Amman said the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as a representative of the Palestinian Authority — led by president Mahmud Abbas, a rival of Hamas — would meet Blinken about the conflict.

This image grab taken from an AFPTV video footage shows victims lying near an ambulance damaged in a reported Israeli strike in front of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 3, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. — AFP pic
This image grab taken from an AFPTV video footage shows victims lying near an ambulance damaged in a reported Israeli strike in front of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 3, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. — AFP pic

Ambulance strike

An Israeli strike on a Gaza ambulance convoy killed 15 people, Palestinian medics said, spurring concerns for health workers’ safety. Israel accused Hamas of using the vehicles to transport fighters.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said one of its ambulances had been struck “by a missile fired by the Israeli forces”, about two metres from the entrance to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified by the reported attack... on an ambulance convoy” and called for the fighting to stop.

Palestinian search through the rubble of a collapsed building looking for victims and survivors following a strike by the Israeli military on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 4 , 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. — AFP pic
Palestinian search through the rubble of a collapsed building looking for victims and survivors following a strike by the Israeli military on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 4 , 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. — AFP pic

South Gaza incursion

The Israeli army said today its forces carried out an overnight “targeted raid” in southern Gaza, where it has struck before but rarely sent in troops.

Soldiers “operated to map out buildings and neutralise explosive devices”, the army said without specifying the location.

It said “troops encountered a terrorist cell exiting a tunnel shaft. In response, the troops fired shells toward the terrorists and killed them.”

Supporters of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah hold a large image of its leader Hassan Nasrallah during his  televised speech in the Lebanese capital Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 3, 2023. — AFP pic
Supporters of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah hold a large image of its leader Hassan Nasrallah during his televised speech in the Lebanese capital Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 3, 2023. — AFP pic

Nasrallah blames US

Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, a Hamas ally, yesterday said the United States was “entirely responsible” for the Hamas-Israel war as he broke his silence on the conflict amid concerns of a broader regional conflagration.

“America is entirely responsible for the ongoing war in Gaza and on its people, and Israel is simply a tool of execution,” Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, saying the possibility of open conflict was “realistic”.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told the BBC that Hezbollah was unlikely to escalate the violence, saying “a broader regional conflict has been deterred”.

Smoke rises after the Israeli bombardment of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 3, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. — AFP pic
Smoke rises after the Israeli bombardment of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 3, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. — AFP pic

Evacuations continue

Hundreds of Palestinians and foreigners, including Gazans requiring urgent medical care and dual nationals, were expected to leave Gaza today for a fourth day of evacuations through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, according to a list released by the Palestinian border authority.

On Friday, a senior White House official said Hamas had tried to use a US-brokered deal on opening the Rafah crossing on humanitarian grounds to get its fighters out of Gaza.

One-third of the names on a list provided by Hamas of wounded Palestinians for evacuation were those of Hamas members and fighters, the official said.

“That was just unacceptable to Egypt, to us, to Israel,” the official added. — AFP