Israel-Hamas war updates: Iran tells Israel to stop before ‘it’s too late’
Here are all the developments from the Israel-Hamas war on Saturday October 14, 2023.
This page is now closed. For live updates from Sunday, go here.
This page is now closed. For live updates from Sunday, go here.
- Iran has warned Israel to immediately halt its “war crimes” against Gaza or it could face “a huge earthquake” of resistance.
- More than 320 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours, including many women and children killed in Israeli air raids on convoys fleeing Gaza City, according to health officials.
- The rising toll comes as Israel continues bombing Gaza a day after telling 1.1 million residents to head south ahead of a looming ground offensive following Hamas’s attack inside Israel last week.
- At least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed and 8,714 wounded in Israeli air attacks on Gaza. The number of people killed in Israel has reached 1,300, with more than 3,400 wounded.
- In the occupied West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the past week has topped 50. More than 1,000 have been wounded and hundreds arrested.
Thank you for joining us
That’s it from our live team today.
You can catch up with today’s events by reading our news stories here, here, and here.
You can also check out our piece from an overwhelmed hospital in northern Gaza with medical staff refusing to abandon their patients.
Thank you for joining us.
A look back at today’s events
We are going to bring our live coverage to an end soon. Here’s a summary of today’s main events:
- Iran has warned Israel to immediately halt its “war crimes” against Gaza or it could face “a huge earthquake” of resistance.
- The Israeli military has indicated its readiness to “expand the attack” on Gaza, saying it was planning a wide range of offensive operations, including “coordinated attacks from the air, sea and land”.
- At least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed and 8,714 wounded in Israeli air attacks on Gaza. The number of people killed in Israel has reached 1,300, with more than 3,400 wounded. In the occupied West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the past week has topped 50.
- Thousands of people have marched in London, UK, in solidarity with Palestinians. Rallies were held in several other UK cities, including Manchester.
‘Blank check to perform genocide’: Palestinian-American calls out US response
Amer Zahr, a Palestinian-American professor of law and an activist, says what Israel is doing to the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank is nothing new.
“We’re not shocked, this is what Israel has been doing to us for 75 years. It’s been committing genocide and apartheid on us continuously trying to get rid of us. Perhaps even just as disgustingly, the United States government has been supporting them all that time, including our current President Joe Biden who has basically given them a blank check to perform genocide on us,” Zahr told Al Jazeera.
“He’s not going to urge ‘restraint’ on the Israelis. He’s said Israel has an absolute right to defend itself – that’s a blank check to flatten residential buildings and to massacre people while they’re trying to escape. We’re at the lowest levels of depravity and international war crimes here when it comes to Israel, all supported joyfully by the president and, of course, many in the Congress as well.”
Rocket attacks on Israel continue
By Sara Khairat in West Jerusalem
A few hours ago, sirens went off in central and southern Israel – southern Israel, of course, being Israel south of the Gaza border.
Rockets were launched from Hamas towards Tel Aviv. There have been no reports of casualties. Now this, of course, has been happening pretty much every day for the last seven days since the Hamas attack on October 7.
We’ve also just, in the last half an hour, heard from the Israeli military saying that a few Palestinians have tried to come through tunnels so the words they keep using, which we’ve been using also, is “infiltrate” from Gaza into Israel. They haven’t specified how many of those have tried, but they’ve managed, they said, to stop them.
That just shows that this is still continuing even though the Israeli military has now full control of the southern part of Israel to the border with Gaza. Those infiltrations and rockets are still being fired.
Second US aircraft carrier to move to eastern Mediterranean
The USS Eisenhower will move to the eastern Mediterranean to join the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group that arrived there earlier this week, US officials told ABC News.
The presence of the USS Ford strike group in the eastern Mediterranean is intended as a deterrent to Iran and Hezbollah not to get involved in Israel’s war in Gaza, US officials said this week.
“These posture increases were intended to serve as an unequivocal demonstration in deed and not only in words of US support for Israel’s defence and serve as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who might be considering exploiting the current situation to escalate conflict,” a senior US defence official said.
“Those adversaries should think twice.”
Syria defence ministry says Aleppo airport out of service after Israeli strike
More information has come through on a reported Israeli strike on Syria’s Aleppo airport.
Syria’s defence ministry has said the strike put the airport out of service.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport, which led to material damage to the airport and it being out of service,” the ministry said.
Sources have told the Reuters news agency that strikes on the airports are intended to disrupt Iranian supply lines to Syria.
Iran warns of ‘far-reaching consequences’ if Israel not stopped
The Islamic Republic’s UN mission is demanding the international community to act to stop the ongoing bloodshed from Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza.
“If the Israeli apartheid’s war crimes & genocide are not halted immediately, the situation could spiral out of control & ricochet far-reaching consequences, the responsibility of which lies with the UN, the Security Council & the states steering the Council toward a dead end.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking to reporters in Lebanon, previously warned Israel to “stop before it’s too late”.
If the Israeli apartheid’s war crimes & genocide are not halted immediately, the situation could spiral out of control & ricochet far-reaching consequences—the responsibility of which lies with the UN, the Security Council & the states steering the Council toward a dead end.
— Permanent Mission of I.R.Iran to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) October 14, 2023
Gaza situation going from ‘terrible to catastrophic’: Corrrespondent
By Tareq Abu Azzoum in Khan Younis, southern Gaza
I am standing right now at Al Nasser Medical Hospital.
The medical teams inside this hospital are trying as much as they can to provide all different kinds of medical treatments for a wide range of people getting wounded by the ongoing Israeli air raids in different southern areas of the besieged enclave.
Medical treatment in Gaza is threatened to be suspended due to the ongoing closure of crossings and the ban on medical supplies.
Due to fuel supplies running out… every single aspect of people’s lives has been threatened … and it might deteriorate further amid the looming ground invasion. If this ground invasion is carried out, there will be more devastation for the medical sector.
Meanwhile, the hospital administration and even doctors are refusing to evacuate the hospitals as it will lead to great shortages in medical facilities and services for people residing in those areas. The humanitarian condition in the Gaza Strip is moving from terrible to catastrophic.
Israeli army and settler attacks surge in occupied West Bank
Rights activists say the spike in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is a calculated Israeli plan to force the displacement of the Indigenous population as the war on Gaza unfolds.
At least 55 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,100 others wounded in attacks in the occupied West Bank over the past week.
“They want to implement a third Nakba by spreading chaos and disrupting Palestinian institutions in more than one place, especially those that provide services to society,” says human rights activist Samir Abu Shams.
Read the full story here
‘Israeli aggression’ targets Aleppo airport: Syrian media
Syrian state news agency SANA has reported that “Israeli aggression” has targeted Syria’s Aleppo airport.
“The consequences of the aggression against Aleppo’s airport are being assessed at the moment,” the state news agency said, without further details.
The statement comes after Israel said it returned artillery fire after rockets were launched from Syria.
Thousands in London rally in solidarity with Palestinians
Thousands of people gathered in London and various UK cities to participate in pro-Palestinian protests.
Protesters making their way through the centre of the UK capital were closely monitored by an extensive police contingent consisting of more than 1,000 officers.
Comparable demonstrations were held in Manchester in the north of England, Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and other urban centres.
Israel officials indicate more time for Gaza people to flee
Government officials indicate more time will be given for Palestinian civilians to leave the north of Gaza ahead of an expected full-scale ground offensive.
Military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner did not say there is a deadline to leave north Gaza, but told a news briefing: “We have extended once again because we realised that there is a huge amount of people that need to get out. We are continuing to encourage the population in the north of the Gaza Strip and Gaza City to go south and get out of harm’s way.”
Foreign ministry spokesman Lior Haiat told the briefing that Israel is not demanding Palestinians leave Gaza – but just to get out of the north.
“We gave them [civilians] the time to do so and we will continue to give civilians time to leave the places that we think Hamas is using for its terrorist infrastructure,” Haiat said.
Iran FM meets Hamas’s chief Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has met with the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Qatari capital Doha, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
Qatar has taken on the role of regional mediator with the West in recent years.
Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Doha on Saturday after holding meetings with allies on trips to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon – including a meeting with the chief of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
Earlier in Beirut, Amir-Abdollahian discussed the situation in Gaza and the region with the top Hamas official in exile, Saleh al-Arouri, and the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, Ziyad Nakhalah, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV.
Israel faces the threat of a separate confrontation on its northern border with Lebanon and artillery exchanges have taken place with Hezbollah in recent days.
Biden pledged continued support for Israel in Netanyahu call: White House
The White House has released its readout of Biden’s call with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Abbas.
Biden reiterated “unwavering US support for Israel” during the call with Netanyahu as well as “US coordination with the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and others in the region to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food, and medical care”, according to the White House.
The readout did not specifically reference Gaza but added that Biden “affirmed his support for all efforts to protect civilians”.
In the call with Abbas, Biden “condemned Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel and reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination”, the White House said.
At least 724 children killed by Israel in Gaza: Rights group
At least 724 children were killed by Israeli shelling and air strikes in Gaza, Defence for Children International-Palestine says.
In the last 24 hours, seven Palestinian children – all boys – were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
‘Call of duty’: Medical staff refuse to abandon Al Awda Hospital
In addition to working around the clock to treat all the wounded, medical workers at the Al Awda Hospital have opened its doors to those fleeing the destruction and looking for what they hope is a safe place to shelter.
Many people are afraid to heed Israel’s demand they head south because convoys of evacuating people have been hit, and everyone in the hospital – doctors, patients, medics – is afraid if they try to leave they will be killed on the road.
And so they huddle together, sleep deprived and running dangerously low on food and water.
“We decided not to leave,” said Dr Nisreen al-Shorafa. “[We] have no way to know if we’re going to be bombed or not. We are absolutely right to heed the call of duty. As doctors, as nurses, all of us need to unite at times like this.”
Read the full story here.
Fire continues to be exchanged along Israel-Lebanon border
By Ali Hashem in Naqoura, Lebanon
The 120km (80-mile) border has been witnessing significant activities over the past few days. Today, there were attacks in Shebaa Farms that Lebanon regards as Lebanese territories.
Hezbollah just published a few minutes ago a video showing direct hits on several Israeli military positions and in Shebaa Farms. However, Israeli retaliation on the area led to civilian casualties. There were two people killed as reported.
Also earlier today, there was a drone attack by Israel on a group of fighters who were trying to infiltrate the border towards Israel. There are reports also of a suspicious aerial infiltration from the Lebanese side that was intercepted by the Israeli anti-missile system.
Ambulances being targeted by Israeli air attacks: Aid group
The Gaza programme manager for Medical Aid for Palestinians says ambulances in Gaza are being targeted by Israeli air raids.
“Sometimes ambulances can’t go immediately to the place because there is loss of communication, and you don’t know if they’re going to be targeted immediately or not,” Mahmoud Shalabi said.
” … to die during this time is better than to get injured, because your treatment is going to be delayed. So this is actually more merciful than being injured during these attacks.”
Can Hamas be ‘wiped out’ in an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza?
Israel has called up 350,000 reservists who will triple the size of the country’s fighting force.
Despite that, Zoran Kusovac, a military analyst, said the eradication of Hamas is not just a lofty goal – but nearly impossible.
“It’s a complete impossibility because it’s not like you can distinguish fighters from civilians. Of course, Israeli secret services have identified many of them. But in a situation where you’re fighting, it’s very difficult,” he told Al Jazeera.
The more extreme possible goal of Israel’s ground invasion is emptying the besieged enclave entirely, he said.
Read the full story here
Biden calls Netanyahu, Abbas as Israel prepares Gaza incursion
US President Joe Biden has held separate phone calls with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Netanyahu’s office said he told Biden that “unity and determination” were needed to achieve Israel’s combat goals against Hamas.
Abbas’s office said the Palestinian leader told Biden that he completely rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
Israel strikes back after rockets launched from Syria
Israel’s military has said it identified two launches from Syria that fell into an open area.
The military responded with artillery fire at a target in Syria, it said.
Intermittent rockets fired from groups in Syria have threatened to open another front in the conflict.
On Thursday, Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes had hit international airports in Damascus and Aleppo, damaging their runways and putting them out of service.
Rocket launches continue from Gaza
By Charles Stratford in Ashdod
Throughout the day there have been intermittent rockets launched from Gaza. I suppose it was about half an hour ago here that all the alarms went off.
And everybody ran to their shelters and there were at least two large explosions intercepted by the Iron Dome.
And it’s been a similar scenario in cities like Ashkelon and towns … very close to the Gaza border. We’ve also been looking at the gradual build-up of this amassing of troops and heavy weaponry in this region.
Gaza hospital evacuations ‘could be tantamount to a death sentence’: WHO
The United Nations health organisation has again condemned Israel’s order to evacuate 22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 inpatients in northern Gaza.
“Forcing more than 2,000 patients to relocate to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number of patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.
“Hospital directors and health workers are now facing an agonizing choice: abandon critically ill patients amid a bombing campaign, put their own lives at risk while remaining on site to treat patients, or endanger their patients’ lives while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity to receive them,” the WHO said.
Forty-five families wiped from Gaza civil registry: Ministry
All the living generations of 45 families have been wiped from the Gaza civil registry, the health ministry says.
At least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed and 8,714 wounded in Israeli air attacks on Gaza this week. Among the dead are 720 children.
The death toll will surge significantly if Israel launches a ground invasion into the besieged territory of about 2.3 million people.
Israel says bodies of hostages found during Gaza incursions
The Israeli military has found the bodies of some hostages abducted by Hamas during operations inside Gaza this week. It didn’t specify how many were discovered, however.
“We have found and located some bodies in the perimeter in the Gaza Strip of Israelis that were abducted,” spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner told a briefing.
Israel says at least 120 people were kidnapped. The Israeli military has since staged “localised” raids inside Gaza. Lerner said the bodies of hostages were found on “small, close-perimeter raids into the Gaza Strip”.