Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to expand its military offensive against Hamas which includes the “capture” of Gaza and the holding of its territory, according to an Israeli official.
It is also said to include moving the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza towards the south, which could worsen the humanitarian crisis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “good plan” because it would achieve the goals of defeating Hamas and returning its remaining hostages, the official said.
The cabinet also approved, in principle, a plan to deliver and distribute humanitarian aid through private companies, which would end a two-month blockade the UN says has caused severe food shortages.
The UN and other aid agencies have said the proposal would be a breach of basic humanitarian principles and that they will not co-operate.
Hamas said Israel’s proposal amounted to “political blackmail”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet met on Sunday evening to discuss the Gaza offensive, which resumed when Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on 18 March.
An Israeli official who briefed the media on Monday said that ministers voted unanimously to approve a plan proposed by the Israeli military’s Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir to “defeat Hamas in Gaza and return the hostages”.
“The plan will include, among other things, the capture of the Strip and holding the territories, moving the Gazan population south for its defence, denying Hamas the ability to distribute humanitarian supplies, and powerful attacks against Hamas,” the official said.
Israeli media reported that the plan would take months and that the first stage included the seizure of additional areas of Gaza and the expansion of the Israeli-designated “buffer zone” running along the territory’s borders. It would aim to give Israel additional leverage in negotiations with Hamas on a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Security cabinet member, Zeev Elkin told public broadcaster Kan that there was “still a window of opportunity” for a new hostage release before the end of President Trump’s 13-16 May trip to the Middle East “if Hamas understands we are serious”.
During a visit to a naval base on Sunday, Lt Gen Zamir told special forces that tens of thousands of reservists were being called up “in order to strengthen and expand our operations in Gaza”.
“We are increasing the pressure with the aim of bringing our people home and defeating Hamas. We will operate in additional areas and destroy all terrorist infrastructure – above and below ground,” he said.
However, critics say this is a failed strategy, as none of the 59 remaining hostages has been freed since the offensive resumed six weeks ago.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents hostages’ relatives, said the plan was an admission by the government that it was “choosing territories over the hostages” and that this was “against the will of over 70% of the people” in Israel.
Nine Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a police station in northern Gaza, health officials and first responders say.
Several other people were also wounded when missiles hit the market area of Jabalia town. Video footage showed crowds gathered around the remains of a flattened building.
The Israeli military said it struck a “command-and-control centre” for Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Jabalia that was being used to plan attacks.
At least 17 other people were reportedly killed elsewhere in Gaza on Thursday.
They included a family of six – a couple and their four children – whose home in the northern Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City was bombed, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency.
A relative, Nidal al-Sarafiti, said the family had been asleep at the time of the strike.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) identified the man who was killed as Ali al-Sarafiti, who it said was a member of the armed group and a former prisoner who was jailed for 13 years in Israel after being convicted over an attempted suicide attack.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Palestinian media also said three displaced people were killed when their family tent was hit near Nuseirat, in central Gaza, and that two children died in a strike on another tent in the southern Khan Younis area.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says at least 1,978 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive against Hamas on 18 March following the collapse of a two-month ceasefire.
Israel says it is putting military pressure on Hamas to release the 59 hostages it is still holding, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
It has also blocked all deliveries of humanitarian aid and other supplies to Gaza for seven weeks, which the UN says is “further depriving people of the means for survival and undermining every aspect of civilian life”.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 51,300 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health Ministry.
BBC/Adebukola Aluko
Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels, and also join our WhatsApp Update Group.
The Israeli government has approved a temporary extension of the Gaza ceasefire for the next six weeks, covering the Muslim Ramadan and Jewish Passover periods.
Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office made the announcement shortly after the first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire expired at midnight on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s office said that under a ceasefire proposal by US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, half of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza – both alive and dead – would be released on the first day.
The remaining hostages would be freed “if an agreement on a permanent ceasefire is reached”.
Hamas has not publicly commented on the latest Israeli move.
On Friday night, Hamas said it would not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators that phase two would eventually take place.
The Israeli government backed the ceasefire extension after a four-hour meeting called by Netanyahu.
The prime minister’s office claimed that Hamas “has so far refused” to back the Witkoff plan, adding that Israel would immediately start negotiations if the group changed its position.
The US envoy’s plan envisages that Israel could return to fighting after 42 days if it believed negotiations on a second phase had failed.
Hamas has announced it will release three hostages on Saturday under a ceasefire deal with Israel: Israelis Ofer Kalderon, 53, and Yarden Bibas, 34, along with American-Israeli Keith Siegel, 65.
Bibas is the father of Kfir, who was 10 months old when Hamas kidnapped him, his mother Shiri, and his brother Ariel, now five but their fate remains unknown.
Israel confirmed receiving the list and will release more Palestinian prisoners in exchange, marking the fourth such swap since the ceasefire began on January 19.
Hamas took 251 hostages during its October 7 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and triggered the war.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports 47,460 Palestinians have died in Israel’s military offensive.
So far, 18 hostages and 400 Palestinian prisoners have been freed under the deal.
Israel and Hamas have agreed on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal following 15 months of war, mediators Qatar and the US say.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement would come into effect on Sunday so long as it was approved by the Israeli cabinet.
US President Joe Biden said it would “halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal’s final details were still being worked on, but he thanked Biden for “promoting” it. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said it was the result of Palestinian “resilience”.
Many Palestinians and Israeli hostages’ families celebrated the news, but there was no let-up in the war on the ground in Gaza.
The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency reported that Israeli air strikes killed more than 20 people following the Qatari announcement. They included 12 people who were living in a residential block in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, it said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and others – in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 46,700 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Most of the 2.3 million population has also been displaced, there is widespread destruction, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter due to a struggle to get aid to those in need.
Israel says 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, of whom 34 are presumed dead. In addition, there are four Israelis who were abducted before the war, two of whom are dead.
Qatar’s prime minister called for “calm” on both sides before the start of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire deal, which he said would see 33 hostages – including women, children and elderly people – exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east away from densely populated areas of Gaza, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to begin returning to their homes and hundreds of aid lorries will be allowed into the territory each day.
Negotiations for the second phase – which should see the remaining hostages released, a full Israeli troop withdrawal and a return to “sustainable calm” – will start on the 16th day.
The third and final stage will involve the reconstruction of Gaza – something which could take years – and the return of any remaining hostages’ bodies.
Israel’s cabinet has to meet on Thursday morning to give its final approval.
The ceasefire and the release of the first three Israeli hostages is expected to come on Sunday although a senior Hamas official has told the BBC there are talks ongoing to bring the start forward to Thursday night.
Sheikh Mohammed said there was “a clear mechanism to negotiate phase two and three”, with the agreements set to be published “in the next couple of days, once the details are finalised”.
He also said Qatar, the US and Egypt, which also helped broker the deal, would work together to ensure Israel and Hamas fulfilled their obligations.
“We hope that this will be the last page of the war, and we hope that all parties will commit to implementing all the terms of this agreement,” he added.
President Biden said the plan, which he first outlined eight months ago, was “the result not only of the extreme pressure Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and the weakening of Iran – but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy”.
“Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s 7 October attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed,” a statement added. “It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin.”
At a later news conference, Biden also acknowledged the assistance of President-elect Donald Trump, who put pressure on both parties by demanding hostages be released before his inauguration on Monday.
“In these past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team,” he said, noting that most of the implementation of the deal would happen after he left office.
Trump was the first to confirm reports the agreement had been reached, beating the White House and Qatar to a formal announcement.
In a later post on social media, he attempted to take the credit for the “epic” agreement, saying it “could have only happened as a result of our historic victory in November”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office thanked Trump “for his help in promoting the release of the hostages, and for helping Israel end the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families”.
“The prime minister made it clear that he is committed to returning all the hostages by any means necessary,” it said, before adding that he had also thanked Biden.
Later, the office said an official statement from Netanyahu would “be issued only after the completion of the final details of the agreement, which are being worked on at present”.
Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, said the deal would bring with it “deeply painful” moments and “present significant challenges”, but that it was “the right move”.
The agreement is expected to be approved by the Israeli cabinet, possibly as soon as Thursday morning, despite opposition from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners.
Then the names of all the Palestinian prisoners due for release will be made public by the Israeli government, and the families of any victims will be given 48 hours to appeal. Some of the prisoners are serving life sentences after being convicted of murder and terrorism.
Hamas’s chief negotiator and acting Gaza chief, Khalil al-Hayya, said the agreement represented “a milestone in the conflict with the enemy, on the path to achieving our people’s goals of liberation and return”.
The group, he added, would now seek to “rebuild Gaza again, alleviate the pain, heal the wounds”.
But he also warned “we will not forget, and we will not forgive” the suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza.
Celebrations erupted across Gaza as news of the agreement spread
As news of the agreement emerged, pictures showed people cheering and waving Palestinian flags in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis.
Sanabel, a 17-year-old girl living to the north in Gaza City, told BBC OS: “All of us are delighted.”
“We have been waiting for this for a long time,” she said. “Finally, I will put my head on my pillow without worrying… It is time to heal.”
Nawara al-Najjar, whose husband was among more than 70 people killed when Israeli forces launched an operation to rescue two hostages, said: “After the ceasefire I want to give my children the best life.”
“I want them to get over the fear we lived. My children are really scared. The terror has settled in their hearts.”
Supporters of the Israeli hostages’ families also celebrated in Tel Aviv
Sharone Lifschitz is a British-Israeli woman whose 84-year-old father Oded is among the remaining hostages. Her mother, Yocheved, was also abducted in the 7 October attack but was released after several weeks in captivity.
She told the BBC in London as news of the deal came through that it felt “like a bit of sanity”, but she admitted: “I know that the chances for my dad are very slim.”
“He’s an elderly man, but miracles do happen. My mum did come back, and one way or another, we will know. We will know if he’s still with us, if we can look after him.”
She warned: “There are more graves to come and traumatised people to come back, but we will look after them and make them see light again… May this be the start of something better.”
Moshe Lavi, the brother in-law of Omri Miran, a 47-year-old father-of-two young children, told the BBC that it was “a very mixed day for most families of hostages”.
“We want to see our families come home from their mass captivity. But we also understand that this is a phase deal. Only the first phase was agreed upon,” he said.
“We’ll have to keep fighting, keep advocating as families with all leaders with our own government to understand they have to release all the hostages.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the “priority now must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict”.
The comments by Israel Katz appeared to mark the first time that Israel has acknowledged killing Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Iran in July. Israel was widely believed to be behind the blast and leaders have previously hinted at its involvement.
In a speech Monday, Katz said the Houthis would meet a similar fate as the other members of an Iranian-led alliance in the region, including Haniyeh. He also noted that Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, helped topple Syria’s Bashar Assad and destroyed Iran’s anti-aircraft systems.
“We will strike (the Houthis’) strategic infrastructure and cut off the head of the leadership,” he said.
“Just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa,” he said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders killed in previous Israeli attacks.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched scores of missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war, including a missile that landed in Tel Aviv on Saturday and wounded at least 16 people.
Israel has carried out three sets of airstrikes in Yemen during the war and vowed to step up the pressure on the rebel group until the missile attacks stop.
US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a new Israeli proposal to end the conflict in Gaza, saying that “it’s time for this war to end”.
The three-part proposal would begin with a six-week ceasefire in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza.
There would also be a “surge” of humanitarian aid, as well as an exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
The deal would eventually lead to a permanent “cessation of hostilities” and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Hamas said it views the proposal “positively”.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Biden said that the first phase of the proposed plan would include a “full and complete ceasefire”, the withdrawal of IDF forces from populated areas and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
“This is truly a decisive moment,” he said. “Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.”
The ceasefire, he added, would allow more humanitarian aid to reach the beleaguered territory, with “600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza every single day”.
The second phase would see all remaining living hostages returned, including male soldiers. The ceasefire would then become “the cessation of hostilities, permanently.”
Among those who have urged Hamas to agree to the proposal was UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who said on X that the group “must accept this deal so we can see a stop in the fighting”.
“We’ve long argued a stop in the fighting can be turned into a permanent peace if we are all prepared to take the right steps,” Lord Cameron added. “Let’s seize this moment and bring this conflict to an end.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the development in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter. He said the world had “witnessed too much suffering [and] destruction in Gaza” and said it was “time to stop”.
“I welcome [President] Biden’s initiative [and] encourage all parties to seize this opportunity for a ceasefire, release of all hostages, guaranteed unhindered humanitarian access [and] ultimately a durable peace in the Middle East,” he added.
In his speech, Mr Biden acknowledged that negotiations between phases one and two would be difficult.
As recently as a few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was letting it be known that he was implacably opposed to agreeing to end the war as part of a ceasefire deal – making Mr Biden’s reference to the war’s end particularly significant.
While the plan includes many of the details from previous, ultimately failed rounds of talks, the US calls for a permanent ceasefire appear to be a significant concession designed to try and draw Hamas back to negotiations on terms they have already said they would agree to. A permanent ceasefire has been one of the group’s key demands.
The third phase of the proposal would see the final remains of any deceased Israeli hostages returned, as well as a “major reconstruction plan” with US and international assistance to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals.
In his remarks, Mr Biden acknowledged that some Israelis – including officials within Israel’s government – would likely be opposed to the proposal.
“I’ve urged the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal,” he said. “Regardless of whatever [political] pressure comes.”
The US president also directly addressed the Israeli people, telling them that “we can’t lose this moment”.
Notably, Mr Biden said that Hamas has now been degraded to the extent that it can no longer repeat an attack such as that which its fighters conducted on 7 October – a likely signal to the Israelis that Washington sees the war as done.
In a statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted that the war would not end until its objectives were achieved, including the return of all hostages and the elimination of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities. He said the latest plan would allow Israel to uphold these principles.
Hamas, for its part, said that it views the proposal “positively” because of its call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction and the exchange of prisoners.
The group said it was ready to “deal positively and constructively” with any proposal centred on a permanent ceasefire, provided that Israel “declares its explicit commitment to that”.
Another Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations who has seen the new Israeli proposal said that the document did not include a guarantee that the war will end, nor that IDF troops would withdraw from Gaza completely.
The proposal has been transmitted to Hamas through mediators based in Qatar.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his counterparts in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to try to build a wider support for the proposal.
Mr Blinken “emphasized that Hamas should accept the deal and that every country with a relationship with Hamas should press it to do so without delay,” state department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Friday night.
Faced with mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, President Biden has faced growing domestic criticism over the level of US support for Israel, and calls to do more to encourage the warring sides to negotiate.
Earlier this week, however, the White House said that it does not believe that Israeli operations in Rafah amount to a “major ground operation” that could cross a red line and trigger a possible change in US policy.
The statement came after an Israeli air strike and resulting fire killed at least 45 Palestinians on Sunday.
In a separate announcement on Friday, US lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum formally invited Mr Netanyahu to address Congress in Washington.
It is unclear when the address would take place.
More than 36,000 have been killed across Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The war began in October when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 back to Gaza as hostages.
Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of three hostages from Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say.
The bodies were those of Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, and Itzhak Gelerenter, it said. The IDF said they had been murdered on 7 October and their remains taken back to Gaza.
Local media reported that the bodies were found in a Hamas tunnel.
About 1,200 people were killed in an unprecedented attack when Hamas gunmen burst into Israel. They took 252 others back to Gaza as hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the news “heart-breaking”.
“We will return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased alike,” he said.
In a statement, the IDF said the bodies had been recovered in an operation overnight. It said it had acted on intelligence gleaned from “interrogations of terrorists” who had been detained in Gaza.
It said the three victims had been killed at an intersection near the site of the Nova festival massacre in southern Israel, before their bodies were taken to Gaza.
More than 360 people were killed at the festival. About 125 hostages remain unaccounted for, with the others having been released or rescued.
In October, the mother of Shani Louk – a joint German-Israeli citizen – said the Israeli military had confirmed her daughter had died after a piece of her skull bone was found.
However, it was hoped that Amit Buskila and Itzhak Gelerenter were still alive.
Ms Buskila was a fashion stylist and social media influencer, who had been on the phone to her uncle while trying to hide when she was kidnapped on 7 October.
Mr Gelerenter was a father and grandfather who arrived at the Nova festival only hours before the attacks began.
The Hostages Family Forum, a group bringing together relatives of those being held, said they “bow their heads in deep sorrow and with broken hearts following the announcement”. They said the three had been killed by “Hamas terrorists”, adding, “may their memories be a blessing”.
Under a deal agreed in November, Hamas released 105 hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
It is not clear how many of those unaccounted for are still alive.
Following the IDF’s announcement, the armed wing of Hamas said the captives they hold would return only through an “honourable exchange deal for our people”.
Long-running talks in Cairo aimed at securing a truce and further hostage releases are currently stalled.
After the 7 October attacks, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 35,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
About 2.2 million Palestinians are facing chronic food shortages and are in urgent need of shelter and other assistance, the UN says.
Iran has launched hundreds of aerial drones and missiles at Israel, marking a widely anticipated reprisal attack.
It is the first such direct clash between the two enemies, who have been engaged in a years-long shadow war, with Iran using proxy forces.
The Israeli military said Israel and other countries had intercepted more than 300 cruise missiles and drones, mostly outside Israeli airspace.
Israel said very little damage had been done but warned people to remain alert.
US President Joe Biden said “We helped Israel take down nearly all” of missiles and drones as he expressed strong condemnation for the attack.
“Iran and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel,” he said.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack was aimed at “specific targets”.
Iran had vowed to retaliate for a strike on its consulate in Syria on 1 April which killed seven IRGC officers, including a top commander. It accused Israel of carrying out that attack, but Israel neither confirmed nor denied it.
Following the attack Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “together we will win” but it is unclear what Israel’s response will be.
President Biden said he had reaffirmed “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel”.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said some Iranian missiles had hit inside Israel, causing minor damage to a military base but no casualties.
Israel’s ambulance service said a seven-year-old Bedouin girl had been injured by shrapnel from falling debris in the southern Arad region.
Mr Hagari said the widescale attack was a “major escalation” and said Israel and allies had operated at full force to defend Israel.
In a separate briefing, he said Iran had fired more than 300 projectiles at Israel overnight, 99% of which were shot down. He added that some of the launches came from Iraq and Yemen.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said “very little damage was caused” but warned the “campaign is not over yet” and said Israel must “remain alert”.
Two US officials told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that American forces had shot down several drones, but did not specify where or how they were intercepted.
The UK Ministry of Defence said RAF jets had been deployed in Iraq and Syria to intercept “any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions”.
Sirens sounded across Israel and loud explosions were heard over Jerusalem, with air defence systems shooting down objects over the city.
Iran’s IRGC – the most powerful branch of its armed forces – said it had launched the attack “in retaliation against the Zionist regime’s [Israel] repeated crimes, including the attack on the Iranian embassy’s consulate in Damascus”.
President Biden cut short a trip to Delaware to return to the White House as tensions mounted on Saturday.
After speaking to Mr Netanyahu later he said he would convene “my fellow G7 leaders to co-ordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack”.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Iran’s “reckless” attack, vowing that the UK would “continue to stand up for Israel’s security and that of all our regional partners”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement saying he “strongly condemn[ed] the serious escalation represented by the large-scale attack launched on Israel” by Iran.
He said he was calling for “an immediate cessation of these hostilities” and for all sides to exercise maximum restraint.
“Neither the region nor the world can afford another war,” he warned.
The UN Security Council will convene later for an emergency meeting over Iran’s attack on Israel, its president Vanessa Frazier said.
Earlier this week, Israel’s defence and foreign ministers warned that if Iran attacked Israel, Israel would strike back inside Iran.
Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri told state television that Iran’s response would be “much larger than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran”, Reuters reported.
He added that the US had been warned not to back an Israeli response.
US President Joe Biden has arrived in Israel to express his solidarity and discuss war plans with its leaders.
He landed in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and was greeted warmly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the high-stakes visit has been overshadowed by a blast at a crowded Gaza hospital in which hundreds are feared to have died.
The blast, which Palestinian and Israeli officials have blamed on each other, has further stoked tensions.
In a statement issued from Air Force One, Mr Biden said the US mourned “the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy” but he did not attribute blame.
Mr Biden had planned to travel from Israel to Jordan to meet Arab leaders, but that leg of the trip was cancelled after the deaths in Gaza on Tuesday inflamed tensions and sparked protests.
Jordan cancelled the meeting and condemned what it called “a great calamity and a heinous war crime”. The White House, meanwhile, said the decision had been “made in a mutual way” and Mr Biden would call the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Egypt on his return flight to the US.
Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu held a joint news conference shortly after he arrived, and the US president is expected to meet the Israeli war cabinet later on Wednesday.
He will ask “tough questions” to better understand Israel’s war aims and objectives in Gaza, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“He’ll be asking some tough questions but he’ll be asking them as a friend,” Mr Kirby told reporters, adding that the US would stress the need for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and the obligation to avoid civilian casualties.
BBC/Adebukola Aluko Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group
Israel formally declared war and has given the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas following its weekend attack.
Israel’s military scoured the country’s south for Hamas fighters and guarded breaches in its border fence.
It pounded the Gaza Strip from the air on Monday as it vowed to lay total siege to the impoverished, Hamas-ruled territory in the wake of an unprecedented weekend incursion.
Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence apparatus was caught completely off guard, bringing heavy battles to its streets for the first time in decades.
Israel’s formal declaration of war portends greater fighting ahead, and a possible ground assault into Gaza — a move that has brought intensified casualties in the past.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy “the military and governing capabilities” of the militant group, which is deeply rooted in Gaza.
As Israel hit more than 1,000 targets in Gaza and its tanks and drones guarded openings in the border fence to prevent more infiltrations, Palestinian militants continued firing barrages of rockets, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, ordered a “complete siege” on Gaza, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel.
Israel and Egypt have imposed various levels of blockade on the territory since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Israel’s health ministry says at least 545 people have been injured in the Palestinian attacks, according to the Reuters news agency.
Dozens of gunmen from the Islamist militant group Hamas appear to have infiltrated southern Israel in a surprise attack from the Gaza Strip
It comes as thousands of rockets were launched into Israel from Gaza, according to a Hamas leader, Mohammed Deif – “we’ve decided to say enough is enough”, he said
The Israel Defence Forces said “a number of terrorists” had infiltrated Israeli territory from Gaza
Israel’s security cabinet will meet at 1pm local time (11:00 BST), and the IDF has begun striking Hamas targets
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has posted a video statement saying “we are at war”
Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas has “made a grave mistake”, declaring that the “state of Israel will win this war”
Gun battles between Israeli and Palestinian forces are still under way in various locations in southern Israel, according to Israeli media
Hospitals in Israel say they are treating people injured in the surprise attacks – at least one person has died
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken part in what some are calling the biggest protest in the country’s history.
Protests against government plans for a radical overhaul of the judicial system have been running for 10 weeks.
Record numbers of demonstrators turned out in cities such as Haifa, while about 200,000 are believed to have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv.
Critics say the reforms will undermine democracy.
But Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says planned changes are better for the electorate.
Organisers said as many as 500,000 pro-democracy protesters took to the streets nationwide on Saturday, in what the Israeli Haaretz newspaper called “the largest demonstration in the country’s history”.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid told crowds in the southern city of Be’er Sheva that the country was facing “the greatest crisis in its history”.
“A wave of terrorism is hitting us, our economy is crashing, money is escaping the country. Iran just signed yesterday a new agreement with Saudi Arabia. But the only thing this government cares about is crushing Israeli democracy,” he said.
Tamir Guytsabry, a protester in Tel Aviv, told Reuters: “It’s not a judicial reform. It’s a revolution that [is] making Israel go to full dictatorship and I want Israel to stay a democracy for my kids.”
The protests against the judicial reforms have brought hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets.
The reforms aim to give the elected government decisive influence over the choice of judges and limit the ability of the Supreme Court to rule against the executive or strike down legislation.
The issue has caused deep divides in Israeli society and, significantly, has seen reservists – the backbone of Israel’s military – threatening to refuse to serve as a way of showing their opposition.
On Monday, in an unprecedented move, dozens of reserve fighter pilots in an elite Israeli Air Force squadron said they would not report for training. They later reversed course and agreed to attend and hold talks with their commanders.
On Thursday, protesters blocked roads and attempted to stop Mr Netanyahu from flying out of the country. He later took off for Rome.
The government has stood firm in the face of the uproar, claiming the protests are being fuelled by political opponents.
Critics say the planned reforms, which are already making their way through parliament, will politicise the judiciary and could lead to an authoritarian government.
Mr Netanyahu says the reforms are designed to stop the courts from overreaching their powers and that they were voted for by the Israeli public at the last election.
Israeli medics say, one person has been killed and 14 others wounded by two separate explosions that targeted busy bus stops in Jerusalem.
According to a report, the first blast was reportedly caused by a device left at a bus station on the city’s outskirts, as it wounded 11 people, one of whom died in hospital.
The second blast came close to a bus stop in another part of the city, which left three people with minor injuries.
Israeli police said the explosions were suspected Palestinian attacks.
This year has seen a spate of deadly gun and knife attacks targeting Israelis, triggering waves of Israeli military raids in Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank.
But the use of explosives in Jerusalem would be the most significant attack of its kind in years.
Five Palestinians, including several gunmen, have been killed in a major Israeli raid against a militant group in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian medical sources say, a sixth Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops who were attacked with stones in a protest against the raid.
The operation in the Northern City of Nablus targeted the recently formed Lion’s Den group.
According to report, the group killed an Israeli soldier in a shooting earlier this month.
The Israel Defense Forces, IDF, had locked down Nablus for the past two weeks amid an intensive search for the killer of 21-year-old Staff Sergeant Ido Baruch, shot dead in an ambush close to a nearby Israeli settlement.
There has been an intensification of violence between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank in recent weeks amid an ongoing Israeli operation to root out militants following a wave of deadly attacks against Israelis earlier this year.
BBC/Taiwo Akinola
Subscribe to our Telegram Channel and join our Whatsapp Update Group
Yair Lapid is poised to become Israel’s new prime minister, with parliament preparing to dissolve itself and trigger the country’s fifth election in less than four years.
Mr Lapid, the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party and Foreign minister, will take over from Naftali Bennett under an existing power-sharing deal.
They formed an unlikely eight-party coalition after last year’s election,
However, it collapsed last week, clearing the way for fresh polls.
It also creates an opening for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to return to office despite being on trial on corruption charges which he denies.
Mr Netanyahu, whose right-wing Likud party is predicted to remain the largest in the Knesset, was ousted by Mr Bennett and Mr Lapid last June, breaking two years of political stalemate.
Ahead of the vote to dissolve the Knesset, which has been delayed until Thursday morning, Mr Bennett told members of his right-wing Yamina party that he would not be standing in the upcoming election, his spokesman said. He will serve as alternate prime minister under Mr Lapid until then.
Mr Lapid, a 58-year-old former TV news anchor, will serve as caretaker Prime minister until an election is held in late October or early November.
He was tasked with forming a governing coalition after Mr Netanyahu and his allies were unable to secure a majority in the wake of the March 2021 poll.
Mr Lapid agreed to rotate the premiership with Mr Bennett as part of a deal that brought together the coalition. Mr Bennett had been due to hand over power to him in September 2023.
The government was the most diverse in Israel’s history, comprising eight parties from across the political spectrum, including those with ideologically opposing views. It also contained an independent Arab party for the first time since the state was established in 1948.
An 18-year-old man died on Saturday from injuries he sustained while trying to save his dog from drowning two days before Rishon Lezion, Israel.
The man jumped into a lake in the central city of Rishon Lezion on Thursday after his dog was swept into the water.
The youth then began struggling in the water himself, witnesses told Channel 12.
One of his friends jumped in to try to rescue him, but was unsuccessful.
He was treated at the scene by Magen David Adom paramedics, who deemed his condition very severe.
Medics said they found him unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing.He was put on a ventilator at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, and died on Saturday morning.
The dog survived.
The incident happened at Agam Hanakik, or Gorge Lake, an artificial body of water in the central city.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the dog and the man were swept into the water, but another lake feeds into Agam Hanakik, and from there, water flows outward to storage pools.
Sirens have sounded out across Israel to pay tribute to the millions killed during the Holocaust.
Report says, streets came to a standstill as pedestrians and drivers paused to mark the memorial day, which holds every year.
A remembrance ceremony also took place at Yad Vashem, Israel’s holocaust memorial centre, to commemorate the six million Jews who were murdered by Nazis during World War Two.
Five people have been shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in a suburb of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, in the third deadly attack of its kind in a week.
It happened in Bnei Brak, one of the country’s most populous ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas.
The gunman was shot dead by police, a paramedic at the scene said.
Israel security forces were on high alert after attacks by Israeli Arabs last Tuesday and Sunday, which left six people dead.
Footage from the scene in Bnei Brak showed the attacker dressed in black shooting at people with a rifle on a street and killing the driver of a passing car.
Police said an officer who shot the gunman was among the dead.
The attacker has been identified as a 26-year-old Palestinian from a village near Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, who had previously been jailed in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held an emergency security meeting and his security cabinet will convene on Wednesday.
“Israel is facing a wave of murderous Arab terrorism,” he said. “The security forces are operating. We will fight terror with perseverance, stubbornness and an iron fist.”
Former prime minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was “in the midst of a dangerous wave of terrorism that we have not seen for many years… Determined action must be taken to restore peace and security to the citizens of Israel”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the attack.
“This violence is unacceptable,” he said. “Israelis – like all people around the world – should be able to live in peace and without fear.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killings of the Israelis and warned that the attack might lead to escalation at a time when “we are striving for stability”.
However, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, praised the attack, saying: “We express our blessing to the Tel Aviv operation.”
Security had already been stepped up across Israel and in the West Bank in the wake of the two previous attacks.
The first was carried out by an Israeli Arab who had planned to join the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and had served a jail sentence for security crimes. The attacker drove his car into a cyclist, killing him, then stabbed three people to death outside a shopping centre in the southern city of Beersheba.
Five days later, two other Israeli Arabs opened fire at a bus stop in the northern city of Hadera, killing two 19-year-old police officers. IS said it was behind that attack. All three assailants were shot dead.
There had been fears of further incidents in the month ahead, when the Muslim festival of Ramadan, the Jewish festival of Passover and the Christian festival of Easter coincide in a rare convergence.
