Israel-Hamas war: 45 killed in residential building bombing; 423,000 displaced in Gaza. Latest updates

At least 45 people were killed and dozens more injured after Israeli military bombarded a residential building in a densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, Gaza’s interior ministry said as fighting reaches its seventh day on Friday.

The Israeli military pulverized the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said on Thursday its complete siege of the territory — which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine — would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during a grisly weekend incursion.

International aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel prevented entry of supplies from Egypt to Gaza’s 2.3 million people even as the Israel-Hamas war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides.

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, whose government backs Hamas, has warned opening a “new front” against Israel would depend on Israel’s actions in blockaded Gaza.

Ground invasion in Gaza: The Israeli military prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza on Friday as it pounded the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas, news agency AP reported. Israel has made it clear that nothing would be allowed into Gaza until the release of around 150 hostages taken captive by Hamas during an unprecedented surprise attack on Saturday into Israel that also left hundreds killed.

2,800 killed on both sides: The Israel and Hamas war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides. Gaza’s health ministry has said 1,537 Palestinians, including 500 children and 276 women, were killed and 6,612 were wounded in ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the enclave. Meanwhile, the Israeli military bombarded a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens more, Gaza’s interior ministry said. The air strike hit the Shihab family house at the centre of the Jabaliya camp, interior ministry spokesperson Eyad Bozum told AP. The house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the air strike, Bozum said.

Over 423,000 people displaced in Gaza: More than 423,000 people have now been forced to flee their homes in Gaza, the United Nations said, as the number of displaced people had risen by an additional 84,444 people late on Thursday night, amid heavy Israeli bombardments.

Iran’s warning: Iranian minister of foreign affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said that if Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on “other fronts”, an apparent reference to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel is nervously watching Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border and has sent troop reinforcements to the area. Qassim Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said the group “will not allow Hamas’ destruction and won’t leave Gaza alone to face a ground incursion.”

First flight carrying Indians arrives in Delhi: The first charter flight carrying 212 Indians, including an infant, from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport landed in Delhi airport on Friday morning. The Indians left for the home country on a “first come first serve” basis, informed sources told news agency PTI.

The flight, which took off at 22:14 local time, was arranged to facilitate the return of those who were unable to do so because Air India had immediately suspended its flight on the day fighting began on October 7, and its commercial operation remains suspended till now. Those who are returning will not be paying any fare and the government is bearing the cost of their return.

There was a long queue of Indians, including students, at the airport to board the special flight being operated under ‘Operation Ajay’ from Tel Aviv.

Nepalis return home: More than 200 Nepali nationals evacuated from Israel returned home on Friday as the government worked to bring back the bodies of 10 Nepali students killed in the unprecedented attack by Hamas. Nepal’s foreign minister, Narayan Prasad Saud, accompanied 254 citizens on a plane chartered by the government. The returnees were welcomed home by family and friends at Kathmandu airport.

Iran President, Saudi Crown Prince hold first call: In a significant diplomatic development, Iran President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) held a telephone conversation and discussed the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. This conversation marked their first interaction since the restoration of diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported. The leaders engaged in the discussion on Wednesday, emphasising “the need to end war crimes against Palestine,” Iranian presidential political affairs aide, Mohammad Jamshidi posted on X.

Reactions from other countries: India on Thursday described the assault mounted on Israel by the Hamas militant group, which rules the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, as a “terrorist attack”, and said it has always backed direct negotiations for establishing a sovereign state of Palestine that can exist side-by-side with Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that “you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to. … We will always be there by your side.”

Britain’s government said it was deploying two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean within days to show support for Israel, offer “deterrence and assurance” and support humanitarian efforts.

Malaysian foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir slammed Israel’s “outrageous acts of cruelty” in cutting off food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip and said Malaysia will provide an emergency fund to help Palestinians.

Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point. However, it pushed back against proposals to establish escape corridors out of Gaza, saying an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave would have grave consequences on the Palestinian cause.

G-7 condemns Hamas: Finance ministers from the world’s most advanced economies condemned Hamas for its attack against Israel, as war in the Middle East added to the threats facing the global economy. “We unequivocally condemn the recent terror attacks by Hamas on the State of Israel and express our solidarity with the Israeli people,” the Group of Seven countries said in a statement on Thursday in Marrakech, Morocco, reported Bloomberg.