Israel-Hamas war: Israel to step up strikes on Gaza in hours

The spokesman for Israel's military said the country planned to step up its air attacks as preparation for the next stage of its war on Hamas.

Asked about a possible ground invasion, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters the military was trying to create optimal conditions before launching one.

"We will deepen our attacks to minimize the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today," Hagari said.

Israel has ordered residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south to avoid being caught up in the conflict with the Islamist military group that launched an attack on Israel on October 7.

On Saturday, Israel's military said some 700,000 people had moved to southern areas of the territory.

Casualties were reported along the Israel-Lebanon border Saturday as the Israeli army clashed with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed. In Israel, two Thai farm workers were wounded, according to emergency services.

There are about 30,000 Thai laborers in Israel, with many working in the agricultural sector.

A senior Hezbollah official warned that the movement was ready to step up its involvement as Israel masses troops on the Gaza border, preparing a ground offensive against the militant group Hamas after its shock cross-border attacks on October 7.

"Let's be clear, as events unfold, if something comes up that calls for greater intervention by us, we will do so," Hezbollah second-in-command Naim Qassem said. 

Since October 7, exchanges of fire across the border have killed at least four people in Israel: three soldiers and one civilian.

In southern Lebanon, at least 23 people have been killed. All but four were combatants.

Israeli troops raided the West Bank home of a senior Hamas leader and detained members of his family, witnesses said.

Troops entered Saleh al-Aruri's home in Arura village, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Ramallah, at dawn on Saturday,

Among the 20 people arrested were one of his brothers and nine of his nephews, Mayor Ali al-Khasib told the AFP news agency.

In a statement, the Israeli army said the raid was jointly staged with the Shin Beth internal security service and resulted in the arrests of "dozens of Hamas members." 

Aruri is the deputy to Hamas' overall leader Ismail Haniyeh and one of the founders of the group's military wing. 

Israel has accused Aruri, who was named Haniyeh's deputy in 2017, of organizing several attacks. 

He spent almost 20 years in Israeli prisons and was freed in 2010 on condition that he go into exile. Now based in Lebanon, he is a key target for Israel following the October 7 attacks.

About 700,000 Palestinians have so far evacuated to southern Gaza, Israel's military said on Saturday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement that civilians remaining in Gaza City and the northern part of the Palestinian territory should move south of the Wadi Gaza nature reserve for their own protection, 

He warned that Israel will intensify attacks on Hamas military targets and government facilities in the north in the coming days.

The United Nations estimates that about 1.4 million people in the Gaza Strip have already been displaced from their homes during the Israeli counterattack that followed the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel.

More than 544,000 people have sought shelter in facilities run by the UN's Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

Others are sheltering with family or friends, according to the UN.

About 100,000 people joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London on Saturday, calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

Chanting "Free Palestine," holding banners and waving Palestinian flags, the protesters moved through London before massing at Downing Street, the official residence and office of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Many of the chants and banners contained strong anti-Israel slogans, and one protester held a banner with images of Sunak, US President Joe Biden, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the message "Wanted For War crimes."

Police had cautioned before the march that anyone showing support for Hamas — banned as a terrorist organization in Britain — would face arrest, and any incident of hate crime would not be tolerated.

The protest appeared peaceful and there were no immediate reports of any arrests.

Figures on Friday showed there had been a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offenses this month in Britain compared with the same period last year, while Islamophobic offenses were up 140%.

A large crowd gathered for a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the western German city of Düsseldorf on Saturday.

According to the authorities, around 5,500 people took to the streets.

However, police in Germany banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration that was scheduled for Sunday in the center of Berlin, the German news agency DPA reported.

Police have stopped several similar events in recent weeks, citing the potential of violence and antisemitic hate speech.

Some pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken to the streets anyway, resulting in clashes with police.

The Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt closed again on Saturday afternoon after 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were allowed to pass through and offload their cargo.

An agreement struck by Egypt, Israel and the United States earlier in the week had stipulated that 20 trucks would be allowed to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.

This figure was confirmed on Saturday by the AFP news agency, as well as Egypt's state-owned Al-Qahera News.

The trucks belonged to the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies.

Foreign passport holders in Gaza were not allowed to cross into Egypt.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has appealed "to everyone to distinguish between terrorists and the civilian population at all times."

Islamist group Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Germany, the US, the EU and others.

"For Germany, the security of the state of Israel is nonnegotiable," Baerbock told the Global Summit for Peace in Cairo.

"What is also clear is that the perpetrators of this terror do not speak for the Palestinian people," Baerbock said. "They speak only for themselves. They speak the language of terror."

Baerbock said Germany increased its humanitarian aid to Gaza by €50 million ($53 million).

She argued for a new peace process that would allow both sides to live in two independent states in the future.

"This may sound far away today, but only a just and lasting solution would also mean the ultimate defeat of Hamas and its playbook, which is based on a complete rejection of humanity, of diplomacy," she said.

Israel's Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor on Saturday called the Hamas terror attack on Israel a " turning point" for his country.

"We will completely destroy the infrastructure of Hamas . We will eliminate the leadership of Hamas," Prosor said at an event in Brunswick.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and various other governments.

Prosor also said that in many ways Hamas was worse than "Islamic State" which made it "a danger to all of us, not just Israel."

Prosor also called for decisive steps to be taken against Hamas supporters in Germany.

"The Hamas supporters are a Trojan horse of German democracy," Prosor said while also accusing Muslim associations in Germany of "deafening silence" following the events of two weeks ago.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to ban all Hamas activities in Germany and prosecute those involved with the group.

The pro-Palestinian group Samidoun is also being outlawed.

The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7 has risen to 4,385 dead and 13,651 wounded, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

The Palestinian territory's health authority also reported that 1,756 of the people killed were children and 976 were women.

DW cannot independently verify the figures.

Israel's armed forces began striking Hamas targets in Gaza after the militant group launched a large-scale attack on southern Israel two weeks ago.

Israeli authorities say the attack claimed the lives of more than 1,400, while more than 200 people were taken hostage.

Israel's army said humanitarian aid entering Gaza would not include fuel.

Aid shipments entering via the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would also only go to the southern areas of Gaza. Previously, Israeli forces directed Palestinian civilians to relocate to that area.

In a televised briefing, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that "the humanitarian situation in Gaza is under control."

The Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza expressed concern that the exclusion of fuel from humanitarian aid could affect the sick and wounded.

"We appeal to the international community and Egypt to work immediately to bring in fuel and emergency health needs before more victims are lost in hospitals," the statement said.

Hamas is considered to be a terrorist group by the US, the EU, Germany and other countries.

Meanwhile, the head of the UN's World Food Program said the flow of aid was insufficient.

"The situation is catastrophic in Gaza," Cindy McCain told the Associated Press. "We need many, many, many more trucks and continual flow of aid."

Before the latest uptick in fighting between Israel and Hamas, some 400 trucks were entering Gaza daily, she added.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told what has been dubbed the Cairo summit for peace that Palestinians "won't leave, we will remain on our land," during his opening address on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah II said Israel's bombing of Gaza was a "war crime" and also decried the response by the international community.

The participants at the Cairo summit include UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and leaders from Jordan, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

The international conference on the Middle East comes amid reports that Israel prepares a ground assault on Gaza, two weeks after the Hamas terror attack in the south of the country.

Israeli authorities say that 1,400 people were killed in that attack. Meanwhile the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said that 4,100 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory strikes.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged a "humanitarian ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas in a speech to world leaders at the Cairo Summit for Peace on Saturday.

Guterres also called for global action "to end this godawful nightmare."

He said Palestinians affected by the conflict needed "much more" than the 20 trucks of aid that began entering Gaza after the Rafah border crossing was opened on Saturday.

Previously, reports indicated there were over 200 trucks loaded with some 3,000 tons of aid waiting at the border.

A small, homemade bomb went off near the Israeli embassy in Cyprus on Saturday morning.

Police said a metal object containing "a small amount of pyrotechnic material" was detonated roughly 30 meters (100 feet) from the entrance to the building, which was not damaged.

Police arrested four suspects between the ages of 17 and 21. They face charges including attempted destruction of property with explosives, possession and use of explosives, and possession of a knife.

Local media reported that the detainees were Syrians. 

The embassy, which is located in a densely-populated part of Nicosia, was also the target of a botched car bomb in 1988 that killed three people at a nearby intersection.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the arrival of humanitarian aid in Gaza after the Rafah border crossing was opened on Saturday.

"It is good and important news that the first humanitarian aid is now being delivered to the people in Gaza," he said on social media.

"They need water, food and medicine — which will be provided. The German government continues to work through all channels to alleviate the suffering in this conflict."

United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths also said that the first aid convoy to Gaza "must not be the last."

Israeli authorities on Saturday urged citizens to leave neighboring Arab countries of Egypt and Jordan immediately.

Israel's Foreign Ministry published the travel advice issued by the country's National Security Council.

"Israel's National Security Council raises its travel warnings for Egypt (including Sinai) and Jordan to level 4 (high threat): recommendation not to travel to these countries and for those staying there to leave... as soon as possible," it said in a statement.

The notice comes days after Israel recalled its diplomats from Turkey as a security precaution following an earlier request for its citizens to leave as well.