Israel-Hamas war: IDF 'dismantles' militants in north Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Turkey and Greece on Saturday to kick off a weeklong diplomatic push across the Middle East.

The goal of the trip — Blinken's fourth since October — is aimed at preventing the regional escalation of the war in Gaza.

"It is vital that we engage in this diplomacy now both for the sake of the future of Gaza itself and, more broadly, for the sake of the future for Israelis and Palestinians and for the region as a whole," Blinken said. 

"There is clearly a strong desire among the majority of people in the region for a future that is one of peace, of security, of de-escalation of conflicts, of integration of countries," he added. 

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reiterated calls for an immediate cease-fire that would allow the "uninterrupted" flow of aid into the besieged territory.

Later, in Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Washington and Athens stood together in pushing for peace in the region.

Blinken is set to visit a number of Arab countries next, including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

His tour will also include stops in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had completely dismantled Hamas’s "military framework" in the northern Gaza Strip.
The military killed around 8,000 Hamas militants in that area, Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), said.

"We are now focused on dismantling Hamas in the center of and south of the strip," he added.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that 22,722 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive. It does not not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties.

Israel has questioned the accuracy of the numbers in the past, given Hamas' control of authorities in Gaza, but the UN and other observers say they are broadly reliable.   

In the south, the majority of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians are fleeing the conflict into smaller areas in what aid organizations describe as a humanitarian disaster

Israeli says it aims to destroy Hamas' military capabilities and remove it from power in Gaza after militants stormed border defenses on October 7 and killed some 1,200 people in Israel and abducted around 250 others. 

US Central Command said on Saturday that it had shot down a drone launched from a Yemeni area controlled by Houthi rebels.

It said the aircraft was shot down over international waters in the Red Sea in the vicinity of multiple commercial vessels.

The Iranian-backed Houthi militants have stepped up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in protest against the Israel-Hamas war. 

Several shipping lines now prefer to sail around Africa to avoid the Red Sea.

The Houthis have vowed to continue attacks until Israel halts the conflict in Gaza and warned that they would attack US warships if the militia group itself was targeted.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told her Iranian counterpart that "Iran and its affiliates" must stop "destabilizing actions" that could spark a broader conflict in the Middle East amid the war in Gaza.

During a telephone call with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Colonna "delivered a very clear message: the risk of regional conflagration has never been so great; Iran and its affiliates must immediately cease their destabilizing actions. Nobody would win from escalation," according to a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Iran backs a broad network of militias and armed groups in the Middle East, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah's military wing are considered terrorist groups by several countries, including the US and the European Union.

The Lebanese Shiite militia group Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had fired a total of 62 rockets across the border to Israel the previous day.

The group called the massive wave of strikes its "first reaction" to the killing of a senior Hamas official in Beirut on Tuesday, for which it says Israel was to blame.

The Israeli military responded to the rockets with fighter jets and shelling. Israel has demanded Hezbollah leave the area close to the Israeli border and warned it would use military means if necessary.

The increasing intensity of the conflict in Lebanon has fed concerns that the war in Gaza could spread across the region.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was in Lebanon on Tuesday and called for an end to the escalation.

"It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East. It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict," Borrell said during a press conference in Beirut with Lebanon's foreign minister.

"I am sending this message to Israel too: Nobody will win from a regional conflict," he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed on Saturday the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

Blinken is in Turkey as part of a wider regional tour, amid the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry added in a social media statement that the two diplomats also discussed bilateral and regional issues, without going into details. It posted a photo of Blinken and Hakan shaking hands during the meeting.

Blinken also met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit. Talks were expected to focus on the Gaza war and Turkey's request for US fighter jets.

Turkey's stance on the war in Gaza has stood out from its NATO allies. Ankara has been vocally critical of Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Though many countries consider the Palestinian militant group Hamas a terrorist organization, including the US, Germany and the EU, Turkey does not. President Erdogan even argued that Hamas was not a terrorist group, but rather a "liberation group." 

The ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip has killed 122 people in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday.

Another 256 people were injured in that period, the ministry said.

The latest deaths bring the toll since the fighting started to 22,722 killed and 58,166 injured, the ministry said in its daily updates on casualties.

Israel has questioned the accuracy of the numbers in the past, given Hamas' control of authorities in Gaza, but the UN and other observers say they are broadly reliable. 

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is in Lebanon on Saturday, in a visit meant "to show support during these difficult times."

"[I] will have important meetings on the impact of the Gaza war on Lebanon and the region," Borrell said in a statement on social media.

His arrival coincided with Hezbollah and the IDF both saying on Saturday that they had struck targets across their disputed border.

Borrell and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is also in the region for another visit, on Friday launched a fresh diplomatic push to prevent the Gaza conflict spiling over in the region, including into Lebanon, the occupied West Bank and Red Sea shipping lanes near Yemen.

The Israel Defense Forces military said on Saturday they targeted a "terrorist cell" in Lebanese territory, from which attacks on Israelhad been launched.

Alerts were activated in the northern area of Israel, the IDF said in a social media statement. Around 40 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory in the north of the country toward the area of Meron.

Meanwhile, Lebanese group Hezbollah said it fired over 60 rockets at an Israeli military base, describing the barrage as an "initial response" to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut earlier in the week.

The Hamas member, Saleh Arouri, died in an alleged Israeli drone strike in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, fuelling further tensions on the disputed Israeli-Lebanese border. 

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed political party with a military wing, based in Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Germany while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group. Hezbollah has been an official part of successive Lebanese governments. 

Hezbollah and Israel regularly trade tit-for-tat rocket attacks over their border but experts considered Tuesday's drone attack unusual because it happened in a crowded suburb of the Lebanese capital, far from the border. Hezbollah has vowed revenge for the assassination. This has led to further concerns that the Gaza conflict may spark a wider regional war.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that "three months since the horrific 7 October attacks, Gaza has become a place of death and despair." 

Griffiths decried the deaths of "tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children" and said "medical facilities are under relentless attack."

He said a "public health disaster is unfolding," and warned that "famine is around the corner."

"Gaza has simply become uninhabitable. Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence — while the world watches on," Griffiths said.

"We continue to demand an immediate end to the war," Griffiths said, adding that "it is time for the parties to meet all their obligations under international law, including to protect civilians and meet their essential needs, and to release all hostages immediately."  

Hamas carried out terror attacks on Israel on October 7, in which over 1,100 people in southern Israel were killed, and over 200 people were taken hostage. Around half of the hostages are still being held in Gaza. In response, Israel launched a military operation against Hamas in Gaza, as well as instituting a blockade of food, water, power and medicine. 

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Israel and other governments.