Israel-Palestine war: First week ends with over 2,500 Palestinians, 1,400 Israelis killed

Hamas has refuted claims that they targeted civilians and beheaded attacks when they attacked Israel on Saturday.

Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas political bureau spokesperson, made the statement to Al Jazeera. 

“Give us one picture that Hamas killed civilians, that Hamas killed children, that Hamas killed women. We don’t kill civilians,” he said.

The White House has issued a statement backtracking on claims that US President Joe Biden saw evidence of Hamas beheading children in southern Israel.
 

Displaced Palestinians have been forced to seek shelter in the courtyard of the al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, following an intense night of Israeli bombardment. 

With no shelter, food or electricity, families have gathered in schools and hospitals.

Officials in Gaza have warned against the potential risk of disease and infection spreading due to the lack of clean water and other basic essentials.

Hospitals have also been unable to treat the high volume of wounded patients. 

Medical staff say they are in desperate need of medication and that Israel cutting off electricity has hindered their efforts to treat people. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Israel, where he is set to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and other senior officials.

Before boarding his flight, he said that his travel to Israel is with “a very simple and clear message on behalf of the President of the United States and on behalf of the American people, and that is that the United States has Israel’s back".

Blinken is also set to travel to Jordan on Friday, where he will meet with senior Jordanian officials as well as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. 
 

Israel’s energy minister has said no basic essentials or humanitarian aid will be allowed into Gaza, until all Israeli hostages are released. 

The comments were made by Israel Katz on social media platform X.
 

Translation: Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. Humanitarian for humanitarian. And no one will preach us morals. 

Germany’s Chancellor said that the country will suspend all aid to the occupied Palestinian territories, pending review. 

The chancellor said that a review will be carried out to ensure it best serves regional peace and Israel’s security.

“Until that review is complete we will not make available any new development cooperation resources,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told legislators.

“Sadly, we can foresee the suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza strip likely growing further - but that too is the fault of Hamas and its attack on Israel.”
 

Jordan has sent its first aid delivery destined for Gaza since the start of the ongoing war.

A source from the Jordanian military told the Reuters news agency that the aid will be taken to Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, after which it would be transferred to authorities in Gaza should permissions be obtained.

Israel has cut off food, water and electricity supplies to Gaza, as its defence minister vowed to defeat the “human animals” living there.

The Rafah border crossing has been bombed by the Israelis on multiple occasions and Israel has also vowed to attack trucks delivering supplies to the area.

Israel has asked Germany for ammunition, according to German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who said he will be in contact with Israel to learn about more details of the request.

Pistorius also said that Germany will be allowing Israel to use two Heron drones the German air force has in use in the country.
 

Speaking to the Insider on Wednesday, army spokesman Major Nir Dinar said that the Israeli military will not “investigate the condition of bodies” and won't “comment publicly” about the claims that babies were beheaded by Hamas.

He further added that it would be "disrespectful for the dead” to provide proof of the conditions in which Israeli victims had died.

Multiple Israeli outlets have made claims that Palestinians decapitated Israeli infants during their assault on southern Israel on Saturday.

However, no proof has been provided of the claim, which is being used to rally support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Concerns about the accuracy of details in the stories were raised by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, who called for journalists to show caution in their reporting.

“Divulging unverified information risks to escalate tensions & endanger lives in a volatile context,” Albanese wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Israel’s bombardment has so far displaced 338,000 people in the Gaza Strip. 

Children have been some of the most affected.

Here, a young girl says she “just wants to go home” after having to shelter with her family in a school, where thousands of other Palestinians are staying, amidst continued Israeli airstrikes.
 

Al-Shifa Medical Hospital in Gaza has been overwhelmed this morning, following a night of heavy Israeli bombardment. 

A tent has been erected in the hospital’s courtyard to deal with the rise in wounded patients.

Medical staff have told Al Jazeera Arabic that they are running out of equipment and tools to help the high volume of people coming in, and are also struggling due to Israel cutting off water and electricity.

The hospital is now running on generators, which are not expected to last long. 

Israel unleashed a deadly bombing campaign on Gaza overnight, which has levelled neighbourhoods and residential areas.

Bodies are still being pulled out from under the rubble this morning. 

Emergency workers in Gaza have pulled the bodies of 18 people from the rubble of two shattered houses in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to local Palestinian media.

Most of those dead are children and women. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that hospitals in Gaza are turning into “graveyards” after equipment stopped working due to the lack of power.

Here, we take a look at the aftermath of the bombardment. 

Good morning Middle East Eye readers.

Here is our latest update, summing up events.

The war that has broken out between Israelis and Palestinians on Saturday continues to escalate as we enter the sixth day of fighting.

Israeli air strikes rain down on Gaza at the the dead of night did not stop, while rockets also continued to be fired into Israel and gun fights took place near Gaza.

Meanwhile, Gaza hospitals are turning into morgues and struggling to keep going without electricity.

Here are the key updates from the past several hours:

• The Israeli military has continued its campaign of overnight bombardment targeting residential areas, a tactic they have used extensively since the flare-up started. Palestinians reported new "massacres" in Jabalia refugee camp and other areas, which have resulted in the killing of at least 65 people. 

• The total Palestinian death toll in Gaza has reached at least 1,100 - with 60 percent of those killed being children and women. A further 5,339 Palestinians have been wounded. In the West Bank, at least 29 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces as tensions spike there, with armed settlers attacking Palestinian villages 

• Hospitals in Gaza are entering critical stages, with patients lying on the floor and medicine running out. This is after Israel cut electricity and fuel supply to Gaza, and prevented aid from entering the besieged strip.  

• The Israeli death toll has reached at least 1,300, including more than 200 soldiers, amongst them high-ranking commanders. More than 3,500 are wounded. There is no available data on the women and children killed. 

• Palestinian fighters are still managing to enter Israeli territory and clash with soldiers, despite the army saying they have "regained control". Palestinian rockets are also reaching as far as Tel Aviv and Haifa.

• Hamas has released footage aired on Al Jazeera Arabic purportedly showing the release of an Israeli woman and her children held captive by the armed group.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that the national unity government with opposition parties has been formed, and during his address vowed that "every Hamas member is a dead man".

• Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have spoken on the phone and both leaders discussed the need to address war crimes in Palestine.

Middle East Eye is going to continue providing you with up-to-date information around the clock. Be sure to check out our coverage elsewhere as well, including on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

At least 15 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a building in northern Gaza on Thursday morning after another heavy night of bombardment.

The strike in the city of Jabaliya also wounded dozens of others, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

The strike comes as the Gaza Strip is pounded by Israel with the International Committee of the Red Cross warning that hospitals in the besieged enclave are turning into “graveyards.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is talking to both Israel and Hamas about accessing an estimated 100-150 hostages in Gaza.

“The level of violence is still very high but we’ve asked for access,” Fabrizio Carboni, the regional director for the Near and Middle East for the Red Cross said.

“We ask also for the civilians who have been captured to have an opportunity to communicate with their family, to tell them that they are safe and well. We also ask that some people who have nothing to do in prison or shouldn’t be captured to be released.”

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday in Amman, Jordan, a senior Palestinian official said. 

Blinken will first travel to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet to discuss the hostage situation in the Gaza Strip and additional military aid to Israel following a surprise Hamas attack on the country.

He will also travel to Jordan and additional countries in the region. The US hopes to dissuade other armed groups in the region, such as Lebanese Hezbollah, from joining the conflict in Israel.