IIsrael’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the secret service of failing to warn him about the war intentions of the Islamist Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip. In a now-deleted post on the online platform On the contrary, all security officials, including the head of military intelligence and the head of Shin Bet (domestic intelligence service), were of the opinion that the deterrence was working against Hamas and that Hamas was seeking an understanding.”
This assessment was presented to the Prime Minister and the government again and again until the outbreak of war, the X-Post said. Netanyahu responded with the statement Question from a journalist from the army station during a press conference on Saturday evening. He claimed that Netanyahu had been warned by the authorities of a growing threat of war.
Unlike leading representatives of the military, intelligence and Defense Minister Joav Galant, Netanyahu has so far persistently refused to admit responsibility for Israel’s failure on October 7th. Female soldiers, whose job is to constantly monitor enemy territory, reported that they had noticed and warned about threatening movements in the Gaza Strip over the weeks and months. However, these warnings were ignored by superiors.
All developments in the live ticker:
9:50 a.m. – Israel wants to prevent Starlink from being used in the Gaza Strip
Israel says it will do everything it can to prevent the use of the Starlink satellite communications system in the Gaza Strip. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi wrote this on Saturday evening on the online platform X. The reason was that the Islamist Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, would abuse the system for terrorist purposes. “There’s no doubt about it, we know it, and Musk knows it.”
X owner Elon Musk had previously announced that he wanted to use his company SpaceX’s satellite communication system to help restore interrupted communication with internationally recognized aid organizations in the Gaza Strip.
9:09 a.m. – Thousands break into UN aid warehouses
Thousands in the Gaza Strip have broken into their warehouses and distribution centers and looted them in search of “basic means of survival,” according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). “This is a worrying sign that public order is beginning to collapse after three weeks of war and a strict siege in the Gaza Strip,” the aid agency said.
8:19 a.m. – Israel’s army expands ground offensive
Israel’s army says it has once again attacked hundreds of positions belonging to the Islamist Hamas as it expands its combat operations in the Gaza Strip. As the military announced on Telegram on Sunday morning, warplanes had bombed more than 450 targets over the past day, including command centers, observation posts and launch pads for anti-tank missiles. In cooperation with their own ground troops, the Israeli combat units attacked terrorist cells that tried to attack and fire anti-tank missiles.
07:55 a.m. – Telecommunications in the Gaza Strip apparently restored
Internet and telephone connections were said to have been restored for many people in the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning. This was reported by the telecommunications company Paltel and the Internet monitoring group NetBlocks.org. Residents of the Gaza Strip had their telecommunications cut off for more than 24 hours since Friday evening amid heavy Israeli shelling. People couldn’t communicate with each other. Accordingly, no ambulances could have been called in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
06:52 a.m. – Israeli army again calls on people to leave Gaza City
Israel’s military is increasingly attacking the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip on the ground and from the air. “We are entering the next phase of our war against Hamas in Gaza. From the air, on land and at sea,” Israel’s army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement released by the military on Platform X on Sunday night published video.
“Hamas is using the people of Gaza as human shields,” Hagari said. They take up positions in mosques, schools and hospitals and operate in and under civilian buildings, he said. This is a war crime. Since the Israeli armed forces distinguish between civilians and terrorists, the military has already warned the population to stay away from Hamas bases.
Photo of the Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip
Source: X/Daniel Hagari
“Today we are increasing the urgency of this warning,” Hagari said. “Civilians in northern Gaza and Gaza City should temporarily move south to a safer area.” Humanitarian aid from Egypt and the USA would be made available there on Sunday, he concluded.
Hagari also published several photos on X that, according to him, show Israeli soldiers and tanks during the ground offensive. On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the start of the second phase of the war against Hamas.
5:53 a.m. – Palestinians report deaths in West Bank
According to Palestinian reports, three Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military in the West Bank. This is reported by the Palestinian Health Authority. This information cannot be independently verified.
02:45 a.m. – Red Cross calls for immediate de-escalation
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called for an immediate de-escalation in the war between Israel and Palestinian extremists in the Gaza Strip. “I am shocked by the unbearable extent of human suffering and call on the parties to the conflict to de-escalate now,” wrote ICRC chief Mirjana Spoljaric in one statement.
It is unacceptable that the civilian population in the Gaza Strip has no safe haven in the face of massive bombing by the Israeli Air Force. Adequate humanitarian aid is currently not possible, wrote Spoljaric.
According to the Red Cross, thousands of families in the Gaza Strip are forced to sleep in makeshift shelters or in the open air, with little food or water. Hospitals that were still functioning were “on the verge of collapse” because they were running out of supplies to care for the many sick and injured. Most sewage treatment plants are no longer in operation. Health care, water and electricity supplies must be restored immediately to save lives.
1:42 a.m. – According to the Hamas Ministry, more than 8,000 dead since the start of the war
According to the Ministry of Health there, the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war has risen to more than 8,000. Half of the fatalities were children, said the ministry run by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas. The information cannot be independently verified.