Israel-Palestine at war: live updates as almost 1,000 confirmed dead overall, US says it will send aircraft carrier
Israel has declared a ‘state of war’ after Islamist militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack and fired thousands of rockets into the country early on Saturday (7 October).
Gunmen were confirmed to have “infiltrated” the country from several locations on the Gaza Strip - a territory claimed by Palestine located at the southern border of Israel.
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Hide AdHamas military commander Mohammad Deif claimed responsibility for the attack - claiming '5,000' rockets had been fired into Israel. In a rare public statement, he declared “enough is enough” and urged Palestinians everywhere to fight.
Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his citizens "we are at war" as he promised "the enemy will pay a price he has never known."
So far the death toll across both sides stands at about 1,100.
Follow below for the latest updates.
Israel latest as Hamas fighters ‘infiltrate’ country from Gaza Strip
123,000 people have been displaced
The United Nations says the number of displaced people in Gaza has risen to more than 123,000 as a result of the fighting between Israel’s military and Hamas.
By late Sunday, retaliatory Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas attacks had destroyed 159 housing units across Gaza and severely damaged 1,210 others, according to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said a school sheltering more than 225 people took a direct hit.
Several Israeli media outlets, citing rescue service officials, said at least 700 people have been killed in Israel, including 44 soldiers.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 413 people, including 78 children and 41 women, were killed in the territory. An Israeli official said security forces had killed 400 militants and captured dozens more ahead of intensified bombardments on Monday.
Around 2,000 people have been wounded on each side.
US intervention
The US will send an aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, a US official says
History
Here's the background to the conflict, as explained by Imogen Howse
Jeremy Corbyn
Several years ago Jeremy Corbyn took back support he once expressed for Hamas - here Imogen Howse explains what he has said today about the situation
Lammy describes Hamas as 'terrorists'
David Lammy said he would not “mince my words” in describing Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
The shadow foreign secretary told a conference fringe event that Labour remains committed to a two-state solution.
“Hamas are seeking to undermine that. They are seeking to break that, they are approaching this with rockets and with terrorism.”
Asked whether Hamas should be described as terrorists, Mr Lammy said to applause: “I’m a parliamentarian. I hope one day to have the privilege of being foreign secretary. I don’t mince my words. I’m a lawyer by training. It’s a proscribed terrorist organisation.”
British casualty
A 20-year-old British man serving in the Israeli army has been killed in an attack by Hamas militants, his family have said.
Nathanel Young was serving with the Israeli Defence Services when he was killed on the Gaza border on Saturday.
His death comes after 26-year-old Jake Marlow, who went to the same London school at Mr Young, was reported missing while providing security at a music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, close to the Gaza border.
Gaby Shalev, from London, posted on Facebook: “We’re heartbroken to share that our little brother Nathanel Young was tragically killed on the Gaza Border yesterday.”
The former pupil at JFS Jewish school in Kenton, north London, had been living in the Bayit Shel Benji lone-soldier house in Raanana, according to the Jewish News.
The Foreign Office has been approached for confirmation of his death.
The death toll rises on the Israeli side
Israeli media outlets have said the death toll from Hamas’ wide-scale incursion has risen to 600.
Not the time
Whatever your affiliations, your background, your politics, your views on the Arab-Israeli conflict, now is surely not the time for flag-waving - on either side
Israel's army releases footage of its strikes on Gaza
And it has explained the operations it has undertaken
Cabinet member's pledge
A Cabinet minister said the UK would support Israel in whatever it decides is necessary to defend itself against Hamas attacks.
“We support their right of self-defence and will support them in whatever they decide to do to defend their country against terrorist attacks,” Transport Secretary Mark Harper told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.
“My own department is working closely with British airlines that fly in that part of the world to make sure they’ve all the information they have to make sure they can continue to keep their passengers safe.”
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