Gaza situation dire, UN says, as Israeli military admits security failures

It is currently the middle of the night in Israel and Gaza. Here is the latest news on the ground:

• The number of Israelis killed by Hamas has risen to 1,300, with at least 150 hostages taken into the Gaza Strip
• More than 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes, with 338,000 people displaced

• The UN sexual and reproductive health agency says 50,000 pregnant women are unable to access essential health services and clean water in Gaza
• While the World Health Organisation says 11 medical workers have been killed in Gaza since Saturday
• Meanwhile, Israel’s information minister, Galit Distel Atbaryan, has resigned - saying the department's funding will be better used elsewhere

• European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen will visit Israel on Friday to express solidarity with the victims of Hamas attacks
• US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is also travelling to Israel on Friday- a day after a visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken

• And police in France have banned all pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are "likely to generate disturbances" to public order

UK PM Rishi Sunak has just spoken to Israeli PM Netanyahu, according to a statement from No 10 Downing Street.

During the call, Sunak said "the UK stands side by side with Israel in fighting terror and agreed that Hamas can never again be able to perpetrate atrocities against the Israeli people".

Sunak told his Israeli counterpart he had "authorised the sending of a significant support package to the region, including RAF surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy ships to patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean, three Merlin helicopters and a detachment of Royal Marines".

The statement adds: "Noting that Hamas has enmeshed itself in the civilian population in Gaza, the Prime Minister said it was important to take all possible measures to protect ordinary Palestinians and facilitate humanitarian aid."

Earlier on Thursday, Sunak spoke to the president of Egypt to discuss "the importance" of opening the Rafah border crossing to allow British and other people trapped in Gaza to flee.

“They agreed to remain in close contact and to explore any further support the UK can provide,” No 10 says.

Israel’s information minister, Galit Distel Atbaryan, resigned on Thursday, and asked for her ministry’s funds to be directed instead to citizens in southern Israel.

Her department's role was to explain Israel to the world and did not wield much power to begin with. Since the conflict began about a week ago, it has lost even more agency.

She wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it is now “a waste of public money".

Translated from Hebrew to English she said: "This office cannot make a significant contribution to the country and the good of the country is more important to me than anything else."

The Daily TelegraphCopyright: The Daily Telegraph

A UK newspaper will publish images of babies Israel says were killed by Hamas militants in the coming hours.

The Daily Telegraph posted the front page to its account on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday night. It said the images, first shared by Israel's account on the site, would be published inside its Friday morning edition.

The images, shared by the @Israel account on X, are extremely graphic and the BBC is not showing them.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Ireland's Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar has said Israel does not have the right to engage in collective punishment of the Gaza Strip, and has called for restraint from both sides amid the ongoing conflict.

But he warned actions leading to the failure of Gaza's only operational power station could "breach international humanitarian law".

"To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, that's not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself," Varadkar said.

He told Ireland's state broadcaster RTÉ: "Israel is a country that is surrounded by enemies, brutal savage groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, countries like Iran, often supported by Islamic fundamentalists and antisemites around the world.

"So Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves, but they don't have the right to breach international humanitarian law," he added.

Varadkar also stressed the importance of opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach Palestinians.

The World Hearth Organisation (WHO) says it has documented 34 attacks targeting the provision of healthcare in Gaza since Israel's retaliatory strikes started last Saturday.

Eleven health workers on duty have been killed and 16 injured.

In a statement, the body also says that access for emergency medical teams in the field has been hampered by infrastructure damage. It reports damage to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances.

BBC Arabic's reporter Adnan Elbursh and his team have visited the main hospital in Gaza City. He described it as one of the most difficult days of his career.

Warning: The footage contains some distressing scenes.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Adele Raemer, 68, was among those who fled their homes in one of the communities near the border with Gaza when Hamas militants attacked last Saturday.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour programme her “DNA changed” as a result of the incursion.

“Our DNA changed of this whole country.”

“‘I can't tell you how many friends and neighbours I have lost in one day,” said Adele, describing the attack as a “genocide”.

“After the Holocaust, we said never again. And they tried to do it again.”

You can listen to the full interview with Adele here.

It's just gone midnight local time in Israel and here's a look at the latest news lines from Thursday:

• European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen will visit Israel on Friday to express solidarity with the victims of Hamas attacks
• US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is also travelling to Israel on Friday - a day after a visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
• The UN sexual and reproductive health agency says 50,000 pregnant women are unable to access essential health services and clean water in Gaza

• Police in France banned all pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are "likely to generate disturbances" to public order. Police in Berlin issued a similar ban, citing the risk of antisemitic statements and glorification of violence.
• The number of Israelis killed by Hamas has risen to 1,300, with at least 150 hostages taken into the Gaza Strip
• Earlier, Israel said the siege of Gaza would not end until Israeli hostages were released
• More than 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes, with 338,000 displaced

European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will visit Israel on Friday, the European commission said on Thursday.

Von Der Leyen and Metsola will meet with Israeli leadership and express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas attacks.

Egypt has asked Israel to stop air strikes near the Rafah border crossing - which lies between Gaza and Egypt - after raids prevented normal operations there.

In a statement published earlier today on Facebook, the foreign ministry said the crossing remained open, but facilities on the Palestinian side had been "destroyed as a result of the repeated Israeli bombing, preventing it from operating normally".

It said countries and organisations can transport aid to Al-Arish International Airport in northern Sinai - and called for an end to air strikes so it could be repaired and function as a "lifeline" for Palestinians in Gaza,

Want to know more? Our Analysis Editor, Ros Atkins, explains more about the crossings into Gaza in this video:

The UN has repeatedly underscored how dire the humanitarian situation is in Gaza.

We're now hearing from UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, which says 50,000 pregnant women are unable to access essential health services or even clean water, and 5,500 of those women are due to give birth in the coming month.

They are deeply concerned for the safety and wellbeing of women and girls there, and the trauma and psychological distress.

One UNFPA staff member is Gaza said their only goal now is to breathe, to stay alive.

The agency says it is prepositioning supplies to be ready to deliver if the siege is lifted.

They have joined the calls of others for all parties to abide by their obligations under international law.

AMIR COHENCopyright: AMIR COHEN

The opposition leader Yair Lapid has called the Hamas attack an "unpardonable failure" by the Netanyahu government, adding that he wouldn't be joining the emergency war cabinet.

Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politician Benny Gantz agreed to put aside a bitter political rivalry and formed an emergency government on Wednesday.

Lapid is the founder of the centrist Yesh Atid party, and is currently the leader of the official opposition in the Knesset.

Alongside Netanyahu and Gantz, the new temporary cabinet includes Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Netanyahu and Gantz said in a joint statement that a seat would be reserved for Lapid in the war cabinet.

However, speaking on Thursday, Lapid said Netanyahu and Ben Gvir were "not the people who would restore the shattered trust of the Israeli people in their government".

Lapid added his party would not oppose the government and would support it during the security crisis.

The BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera explains how hundreds of Hamas militants managed to storm across the border between Gaza and Israel to carry out brutal attacks.

Gaza's Health Ministry said on Thursday that 1,537 Palestinians, including 500 children and 276 women have been killed since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes on Saturday.

Another 6,612 people have been wounded in the enclave.

The frozen chaos of the festival site amplifies the silence here; spotlights the absence of those who filled its tents and bars five days ago.

Soldiers now step through the shredded scattered belongings; the noise of shelling has replaced the music.

Looking at the vehicles with their doors wrenched open, the scattered backpacks and bedding, it’s hard not imagine the panic as people tried to flee.

The scale and brutality of this attack has shaken Israel’s sense of security.

Since then, this site has been a closed military zone.

Even the soldiers here are jumpy. While we were filming there today, gunshots suddenly cracked overhead and soldiers began running towards the perimeter fence.

There were several minutes of panic and confusion, as soldiers ran to secure one location, then another, struggling to keep television cameras away.

The army later said they had arrested one person near the site who they said had been armed with a knife.

The young people here on Saturday morning trusted their army enough to dance and party a few miles from the Gaza border.

Since then, everything has changed.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen's son Sagui - an American citizen - is missing and feared to be one of the 150 people being held hostage in Gaza.

Dekel-Chen appeals to the Israeli government to make the welfare of the hostages the highest priority.

EPACopyright: EPA

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin is traveling to Israel tomorrow - a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited.

Austin is expecting to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other members of the newly-formed war cabinet, a senior defence official said.

"He is looking forward to speaking in depth with Israeli leaders about their operational planning and their objectives for this conflict," a senior US official told reporters on the condition of anonymity, Reuters reported.