Name: Israel–Hamas War News Updates: Oct. 13
Uploaded: 2023-10-14T15:14:44.000Z
Description: Friday marks the seventh day since the start of the Israel–Hamas war. At least 2,800 lives on both sides of the border have been taken since the Hamas terrorist group's attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

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Friday marks the seventh day since the start of the Israel–Hamas war. At least 2,800 lives on both sides of the border have been taken since the Hamas terrorist group's attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

The Israeli military said early Friday that more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, have been killed in Israel, and more than 3,000 have been injured.

Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas-backed health ministry reported late Thursday that 1,500 have been killed in Gaza, with over 6,600 injured, due to Israeli precision airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza in response to Hamas's attack. Israel has estimated that hundreds of Hamas terrorists are among the deaths in Gaza.

Separately, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-1500-bodies-of-hamas-terrorists-found-in-israel-as-it-claims-full-control-over-border-5507218">reported</a> on Oct. 10 that at least 1,500 bodies of Hamas terrorists lie dead in Israel, killed while fighting with Israelis and their soldiers since the start of the war.

Here are the latest updates on the war:
<h2>_____</h2>
<h2>Jill Biden Exchanges Letters With Sara Netanyahu Amid Israel–Hamas War</h2>
First Lady Jill Biden and Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, exchanged heartfelt letters expressing their solidarity and support amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister made the letters available to the public, describing them as “personal and moving.”

In a letter addressed to Ms. Netanyahu, the first lady expressed her deep concern for the people of Israel in the face of what she described as an "unconscionable terrorist attack."

The conflict, which has seen over 2,800 deaths reported on both sides of the conflict, has evoked heartfelt empathy from the first lady.

<span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span>
<h2>Asian Nationals Evacuate From Israel</h2>
A South Korean military plane evacuating 220 South Korean and other Asian nationals from Israel has departed Tel Aviv and was expected to land in South Korea later Saturday, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.

The people transported on the KC-330 military transport plane included 163 South Koreans, 51 Japanese nationals and six Singaporean nationals, the ministry said.

South Korea had also sent a civilian plane earlier this week to evacuate 192 South Korean nationals. About 470 South Koreans remain in Israel, most of them long-term residents who have chosen to stay.

No South Korean casualties have so far been reported from the violence in Israel and Gaza.

<span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span>
<h2>16 Palestinians Killed in West Bank, Health Ministry Says</h2>
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians killed Friday in the West Bank, bringing to 51 the total number of West Bank Palestinians killed since Hamas waged its brutal assault on Israel last Saturday.

<span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span>
<h2>Relatives of Abducted Israelis Plead for World's Help</h2>
Relatives of Israelis abducted during Hamas terrorists’ attack last weekend pleaded at the U.N. on Friday for the world’s help getting their loved ones home.

Speaking by video from Israel, Yoni Asher told diplomats at an Israel-organized event that he hasn’t slept or eaten since his wife and two small daughters vanished Saturday while visiting his mother-in-law in the country’s south.

His wife called to tell him that they were locked in a safe room after people came into the house and she heard gunshots, Asher said. He said he later saw a video of his wife and daughters, who are under 5 and 3, being loaded into a vehicle, and he tracked his wife’s phone to Gaza.

“I don’t know if I got any more tears left,” he said. “I’m exhausted, and I just want to approach whoever can hear me in the international community. Please bring back my baby girls.”

Hamas fighters took 150 hostages during Saturday’s surprise assault. Alana Zeitchik said a half-dozen of her cousins were snatched from a kibbutz. They were known to be alive as of Friday morning, she said.

“We don’t want more bombs or rockets or blood or tears,” said Ms. Zeitchik, who lives in New York. “We want our family back immediately. And we want peace.”

<span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span>
<h2>Biden Says Addressing Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Is a Priority</h2>
President Joe Biden said Friday that it’s a priority of his administration to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at an event in Philadelphia to promote a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel in the U.S., Mr. Biden paused to note the deteriorating situation for Palestinians as Israel continues to bombard the strip in retaliation for last weekend’s attacks on Israel.

Mr. Biden said he’s directed his team to work with the governments in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations and the United Nations to surge humanitarian relief to those impacted by the war.

“We can’t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do Hamas,” Mr. Biden said. “And they’re suffering as a result as well.”

Mr. Biden again lashed out at Hamas, saying the militant group in control of Gaza makes the terrorist group Al-Qaida “look pure.”
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>UN Security Council Meeting Behind Closed Doors</h2>
The U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors on Friday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war as Palestinians stream out of northern Gaza on orders from the Israeli military.

Friday’s meeting was scheduled before the evacuation order, which added still more urgency to the discussion. The U.N. has said the order affects about half Gaza’s population and could turn an already dire humanitarian crisis into a calamity.

“Moving more than 1 million people across a densely populated war zone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous — and, in some cases, is simply not possible,” Secretary-General António Guterres said, heading into the meeting.

He implored all parties “and those with influence over them” to do their utmost to enable humanitarian access to the besieged Gaza Strip, to release all hostages immediately and to protect civilians.

The council emerged without any collective message or action from another private session Sunday on the Israel-Hamas fighting. Divisions in the council, the U.N.’s most powerful body, where have sharpened amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Netanyahu Vows to Destroy Hamas, Says Gaza Offensive in Early Stages</h2>
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address late Friday.

Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people in a brutal rampage. Early Friday, Israel ordered half of Gaza’s population to evacuate their homes.

“This is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said. “We will end this war stronger than ever.”

“We will destroy Hamas,” he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Reuters Journalist Killed, 6 Wounded, in Shelling Near Israel-Lebanon Border</h2>
At least one journalist was killed, and six others were injured when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) artillery shells struck a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Reuters news agency confirmed in a statement on Friday that the reporter who died was Issam Abdallah, a videographer who was working for the agency in southern Lebanon to provide a live video signal.

"We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," Reuters said. "We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues," it added.

<em>Read more <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/reuters-journalist-killed-6-wounded-in-shelling-near-israel-lebanon-border-5509804">here</a></em>
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Syria Calls on World to Stop Israel's ‘Crimes’ Against Palestinians</h2>
Syria’s president on Friday called on countries of the world to stand together to stop “the crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people.”

Bashar Assad made his comments during a meeting in Damascus with Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who is on a regional tour that has taken him to Baghdad and Beirut.

Assad said the reason behind the latest wave of violence is that the Palestinian people have been prevented by Israel and Western countries from setting up their own state.

Assad said Syria stands by the “legitimate” rights of the Palestinian people.

Amirabdollahian later told reporters that Israel should stop the “war crimes it is committing before it’s too late.”

Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since the militant group Hamas launched a bloody incursion into the country's south on Saturday, killing hundreds.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Pro-Palestinian Students Briefly Clash With Police at Rally in Rome</h2>
A few hundred pro-Palestinian students clashed briefly with police in Rome on Friday as they tried to detour from a rally route that had been approved by authorities.

Helmeted police, using shields and batons, pushed back the surging students near Sapienza University when the protesters, many waving or clutching Palestinian flags, tried to head toward a rally being held by right-wing students, Italian new outlets reported.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Schumer Leading Bipartisan Group of Senators to Israel to Show 'Unwavering' US Support</h2>
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is headed to Israel this weekend to discuss what resources the United States can provide for its war against Hamas.

Mr. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is leading a bipartisan group of senators to the country “to show the United States' unwavering support for Israel,” his office said. Mr. Schumer is the first Jewish majority leader of the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States.

The visit comes as Congress is considering how much money and equipment to send to Israel and as two other high-ranking officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretry Lloyd Austin, have visited in recent days.

Schumer’s office said he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and senior opposition figure Benny Gantz, who are part of a newly formed wartime cabinet in Israel. His office has not released the names of the senators who will be traveling with him.

The majority leader just this week returned from a trip to China, where he pressured officials to condemn the brutal attack on Israel by Hamas.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Israeli Military Launches Drone at Hezbollah Targets</h2>
The Israeli military has announced that an Israeli drone is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Israeli Military Says It Has Carried Out Small Raids Into Gaza Strip</h2>
The Israeli military says for the first time that ground troops have been operating inside the Gaza Strip.

In a statement Friday, the army said troops had entered Gaza to battle terrorists, destroy weapons, and search for evidence about the missing hostages held by Hamas.

The announcement did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion of Gaza. Israel has been amassing troops along the Gaza border since last Saturday’s deadly incursion by Hamas terrorists.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>White House Meets Virtually With Families of Missing Americans</h2>
The White House hosted a virtual conversation on Friday with family members of 14 Americans who are unaccounted for after the Hamas attacks on Israel.

President Joe Biden addressed the families. Other participants included Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser; Roger Carstens, hostage affairs special envoy; John Bass, undersecretary of state; and Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East.
<h2><span style="font-size: 16px;">____</span></h2>
<h2>Israel Military Denies Allegations It Used White Phosphorus in Gaza</h2>
The Israeli military denied accusations Friday that it has used white phosphorus as a weapon in Gaza, after Human Rights Watch published a report alleging that Israel had deployed it several times in the recent Israel–Hamas war.

“The current accusation made against the IDF is unequivocally false,” a statement from the military said. “The IDF has not deployed the use of such munitions.”

_____
<h2>UN Security Council to Discuss Israel–Hamas War on Friday</h2>
The U.N. Security Council is set to meet behind closed doors Friday afternoon to discuss the Israel–Hamas war as Palestinians stream out of northern Gaza on orders from the Israeli military.

Friday’s council meeting was scheduled before the evacuation order was issued and added still more urgency to the discussion. The U.N. has said the order affects 1.1 million people, about half of Gaza’s population, and could turn an already dire humanitarian crisis into a calamity.

The council emerged without any collective message or action from another closed-door meeting Sunday on the Israel-Hamas fighting. At that meeting, the United States pressed unsuccessfully for a strong condemnation of Hamas from all 15 members of the U.N.’s most powerful body, where divisions have sharpened amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

_____
<h2>Egypt Calls on UN Security Council to Stop Evacuation in Gaza</h2>
In a statement Friday, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli army’s decision to tell some 1 million people in Gaza to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory.

It said the move “constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and will expose the lives of more than a million Palestinian citizens and their families to the dangers of remaining in the open without shelter.”

The evacuation order comes ahead of an expected ground invasion, hiking fears of a massive influx of refugees across the heavily fortified border into its territory.

In the statement, Egypt called on the United Nations Security Council, which is scheduled to meet Friday, to stop the evacuation.

_____
<h2>Evacuating Northern Gaza in 24 Hours Is 'A Tall Order,' White House Official Says</h2>
Warnings from Israel's military that more than 1.1 million civilians in northern Gaza should evacuate "southwards" in the next 24 hours are a "tall order," National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said, while avoiding criticism of the Israeli Defense Forces.

“We understand what they're trying to do: They're trying to move civilians out of harm's way and giving them fair warning. Now it's a tall order. It's a million people and very urban, dense environment. It's already a combat zone. So I don't think anybody's underestimating the challenge here of effecting that evacuation,” Mr. Kirby told CNN Friday.

The UN said the order for the mass evacuation was "impossible" without major humanitarian consequences.

____
<h2>US Defense Secretary: 'This Is No Time for Neutrality, or for False Equivalence'</h2>
A forceful U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pledged unwavering U.S. support to Israel in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack, stressing that “this is no time for neutrality, or for false equivalence or for excuses for the inexcusable.”

“In times like these, sometimes the best thing that a friend can do is just to show up and to get to work,” said Mr. Austin emphatically offering full U.S. support to Israel at a joint news conference.

The defense secretary, who is traveling to Israel today, offered a soft reminder to the Israelis that “this is a time for resolve and not revenge” as the IDF is under scrutiny for causing civilian casualties in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack.

____
<h2 class="sc-dfVpRl kvaBeP">Gaza Death Toll Rises to 1,799, Health Ministry Says</h2>
At least 1,799 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza from Israeli strikes, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The death toll includes 583 children and 351 women, according to the ministry.

An additional 7,388 people have been injured, including 1,901 children and 1,185 women, the ministry added.

_____
<h2>Abbas Says Displacement of Palestinians Would Amount to ‘Second Nakba’</h2>
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently in Jordan, emphasized his “complete rejection” of displacing people from Gaza, saying it would amount to a “second Nakba,” or catastrophe. That’s the term Palestinians use to describe their mass displacement from what is now Israel during the 1948 Mideast war surrounding its creation, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out.

The fate of the refugees and their descendants, who now number nearly 6 million and are scattered across the Middle East, is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.

_____
<h2>Hamas Says It's Launched 150 Rockets Toward Ashkelon and Sderot</h2>
A Hamas official said Friday that Hamas had launched 150 rockets toward the southern cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. Israel’s rescue service reported no major injuries.

_____
<h2>Biden to Speak With Families of US Hostages Held by Hamas</h2>
U.S. President Joe Biden told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he would speak Friday to families of U.S. hostages held by Hamas.

“They have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what’s happening. Deeply,” President Biden said. “We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It’s pure barbarism. And we’re going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them.”

The meeting is expected to take place virtually.

_____
<h2>Israel Urges Civilians to Flee Gaza City and Move South</h2>
Israel's military early Friday called for all civilians of Gaza City—more than 1 million people—to relocate south within 24 hours.

The Israeli military said it would operate "significantly" in Gaza City in the coming days as part of its full military retaliation against Hamas, and civilians would only be able to return when another announcement was made.

"Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the military said in a statement.

"Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians."

IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus said in a military operations update Friday morning that the Israeli military's intention "is to take all of Hamas’s military capabilities and strip them away."

"Our intention is that Hamas will no longer have any ability to strike harm kill any Israeli civilians," he said.

_____
<h2>Hamas Tells Gaza Residents to Stay Home as Israel Ground Offensive Looms</h2>
Mosques called on residents of the Gaza Strip not to leave their homes on Friday after Israel's military told all civilians, more than 1 million people, to relocate south ahead of an expected ground invasion that risks high casualties.

This may be the pivotal moment in fighting between the Israeli military and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which on Saturday launched the bloodiest attack on the country since the 1973 Arab–Israeli war.

As a ground invasion appears imminent, with Israeli tanks amassed near the border, both sides are engaging in psychological warfare.

"Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the military said.

Eyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, urged Arabs everywhere, and especially in countries that have borders with Israel, to support the people of Gaza.

“We tell the people of northern Gaza and from Gaza City, stay put in your homes, and your places. By carrying out massacres against the civilians, the occupation wants to displace us once again from our land,” he said.

“The 1948 displacement will not happen. We will die and we will not leave,” he said at a news conference held in Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

______
<h2>Hezbollah Legislator Says They Have Maintained Deterrence With Israel Despite Clashes</h2>
Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah said that the deterrence between the terrorist group and Israel has been maintained since a month-long war in 2006 that ended in a draw, despite clashes over the past week.

Mr. Fadlallah’s comments came minutes after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian held separate meetings with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and key ally Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Lebanon’s caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari said the Lebanese government is committed to supporting the Palestinians in Gaza but maintaining calm along the southern border with Israel to avoid a new war.

“At the same time, the government will study the possibility of being ready for—God forbid—a deterioration of the situation,” Mr. Makari said.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged shelling since Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel almost one week ago, but the clashes have remained limited and contained thus far.

_____
<h2>Israeli Military Denies Killing Hostages Held by Hamas</h2>
Top Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari denied that they have killed hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

“We have our own information and do not believe the lies of Hamas. We have verified information that reaches us,” Mr. Hagari said in an interview on Al Jazeera Arabic television. He denied that Israel has targeted civilian infrastructure, saying Hamas used hospitals and United Nations buildings as command centers by digging tunnels.

_____
<h2>Putin: Civilian Toll From Israeli Ground Attack in Gaza Would Be Unacceptable</h2>
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza would result in a level of civilian casualties that would be "absolutely unacceptable."

Mr. Putin was speaking after Israel's military called for all civilians of Gaza City to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks ahead of an expected ground invasion.

Mr. Putin said that using heavy weaponry in residential areas was "fraught with serious consequences for all sides."

"And most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable. Now the main thing is to stop the bloodshed," he said, speaking at a summit in Kyrgyzstan with other countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Mr. Putin said, however, that Israel had the right to defend itself after being subjected to "an attack unprecedented in its cruelty."

He called for collective efforts to secure an early ceasefire and stabilize the situation on the ground.

_____
<h2>Israel Says 'Deeply Disappointed' Over Lack of China Condemnation of Hamas Attack</h2>
Israel's foreign ministry on Friday said it expressed "deep disappointment" in a call with the Chinese envoy to the Middle East over China's lack of condemnation of Hamas's weekend attack.

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