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Israel-Hamas: IDF enters Gaza City, targets Hamas tunnels
Published 13 hours agoPublished 13 hours agolast updated 21 minutes agolast updated 21 minutes ago
Israeli officials said the army was “in the depths of Gaza City” in its fight against militant group Hamas. Meanwhile, G7 foreign ministers have called for “humanitarian pauses” in the conflict. DW has the latest.
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Israeli soldiers walking next to damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip
Israeli troops are conducting a ground operation in the Gaza StripImage: Israeli Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Skip next section What you need to know
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
G7 foreign ministers back “humanitarian pauses” in fighting in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has said the Israeli army reached deep into Gaza, where Islamist group Hamas “thought we would never reach”
Israeli military claims to have killed a key Hamas rocket maker
UN says more Palestinians are fleeing fighting in northern Gaza
Skip next section Israel’s army says it has destroyed 130 Hamas tunnels
32 minutes ago32 minutes ago
Israel’s army says it has destroyed 130 Hamas tunnels
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say they have destroyed 130 tunnel shafts belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the conflict with the Islamist militants began a month ago.
“Combat engineers fighting in Gaza are destroying the enemy’s weapons and are locating, exposing and detonating tunnel shafts,” the IDF said in a statement.
Israel says Hamas has a vast network of underground tunnels in Gaza.
The military released videos showing heavy equipment digging up tunnel entrances and lifting a concrete slab. Water and air supplies in the tunnels were evidence of planned longer stays, the military’s statement said. Some of the tunnels have electricity.
On average, they are 2 meters (6.5 feet) high and 1 meter wide, but some are large enough for vehicles and are built dozens of meters underground to withstand Israeli airstrikes, according to the military.
Israel targets Hamas tunnel networks in Gaza
01:51
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Skip next section Italy to deploy hospital ship off the coast of Gaza
38 minutes ago38 minutes ago
Italy to deploy hospital ship off the coast of Gaza
Italy is sending a hospital ship to waters off the coast of Gaza to help treat victims of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said.
The ship is leaving on Wednesday from the western Italian port of Civitavecchia, near Rome, with 170 staff, including 30 people trained for medical emergencies, the minister said.
He added that Italy was also working to send a field hospital to Gaza.
The ship will stop at Cyprus before continuing to the area closest to the Gaza Strip. Injured people will be brought on board for treatment and then returned to Gaza.
“We are the first to carry out such a humanitarian operation in this area and we hope that other countries will follow us,” Crosetto said.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands said it would also send a military ship towards Cyprus to assist in humanitarian aid operations for the Gaza Strip. The navy ship could also potentially be used for evacuations, Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said.
The naval vessel is scheduled to depart in mid-November and arrive in Cyprus around 10 days later. One Dutch naval unit is already stationed in Cyprus, including two transport aircraft. According to the minister, the aircraft could be used to bring medical supplies to the Gaza Strip.
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Skip next section UN chief says Gaza death toll shows something ‘wrong’ with Israel operation
45 minutes ago45 minutes ago
UN chief says Gaza death toll shows something ‘wrong’ with Israel operation
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told the Reuters news agency that the number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip shows that there is something “clearly wrong” with Israel’s military operation against Hamas.
“There are violations by Hamas when they have human shields,” Guterres told Reuters. “But when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the military operations, there is something that is clearly wrong.”
The UN chief also noted that the number of children killed in Gaza is particularly high.
“It is also important to make Israel understand that it is against the interests of Israel to see every day the terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people,” Guterres said. “That doesn’t help Israel in relation to the global public opinion.”
Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, since the Islamist militant group killed 1,400 people and took more than 200 hostages in a terrorist attack on October 7.
Israel has struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 10,500 Palestinians have been killed. That number cannot be independently verified.
Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Germany and several other countries.
Why aid organizations are insisting on a cease-fire in Gaza
04:19
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Skip next section Merkel calls for action against antisemitism in Germany
3 hours ago3 hours ago
Merkel calls for action against antisemitism in Germany
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for decisive action to combat antisemitism in Germany.
“The democratic majority of our state must remain vigilant,” she warned in a statement marking the 85th anniversary of the Nazis’ November Pogrom.
“The fight against all forms of hostility towards Jews — from the right, from the left and motivated by Islamism — is our state and civic duty,” Merkel emphasized. “Jews must be able to feel safe in Germany.”
The former chancellor added that it is legitimate to wish for a Palestinian state and to criticize the political actions of the German government or the state of Israel. However, no one should use this criticism as a cover “to act out their hatred of the state of Israel and of Jews,” she said.
Merkel also said that the memory and knowledge of the Holocaust must be passed on from generation to generation.
“We owe this to the victims, their descendants and all of us if we care about the well-being of our country. We must resolutely oppose the attacks on our open and pluralistic society,” she added.
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Skip next section Germany approves increase in armaments exports to Israel
4 hours ago4 hours ago
Germany approves increase in armaments exports to Israel
The German government has approved a massive increase in German arms exports to Israel, particularly air defense and military communications equipment.
As of November 2, German authorities have issued export licenses for nearly €303 million ($323 million) worth of weapons to Israel, according to data provided to news agencies by a government source. That’s nearly 10 times as many exports to Israel as Germany approved in all of 2022, when arms manufacturers sold about €32 million worth of weapons to Israel.
Nearly 85% of the 218 individual export licenses granted so far this year have been issued since the October 7 terror attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which Germany considers a terrorist organization.
“Following the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, the German government is prioritizing and deciding on applications for the export of military equipment to Israel due to the current situation,” the German Economy Ministry said.
Germany and Israel have longstanding ties in the defense industry.
