Israel-Hamas war: IDF ‘push through’ Gaza City outskirts – live

US president Joe Biden said there is a need for a humanitarian “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war after he was interrupted by a protester calling for ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Biden was speaking to a crowd of supporters in Minneapolis about his reasons for running for president in 2020 when a woman got up and yelled: “Mr President, if you care about Jewish people, as a rabbi, I need you to call for a cease-fire.”

“I think we need a pause,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden’s latest remark was a subtle departure for the president and top White House aides, who throughout the Mideast crisis have been steadfast in stating they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations in response to the 7 October attack by Hamas.

The White House has refused to call for a cease-fire but has signaled that the Israelis should consider humanitarian pauses to allow civilians to receive aid and for foreign nationals trapped on the strip to leave Gaza.

“This is incredibly complicated for the Israelis,” Mr Biden added. “It’s incredibly complicated for the Muslim world as well. … I supported a two-state solution, I have from the very beginning.”

A growing list of Israeli officials have accepted responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli communities during the Oct. 7 incursion that triggered the current Israel-Hamas war.

Following the horrific assault, which saw the deadliest day for Israelis since the country was established 75 years ago, Netanyahu has repeatedly sidestepped accountability. He has instead blamed others, in what critics say shows a leader thinking more about his own political survival than soothing and steering a traumatized nation.

“Netanyahu is fighting a personal battle of survival and that takes precedence over fighting Israel’s war against Hamas,” said Netanyahu biographer and journalist Anshel Pfeffer. “As part of that battle, he’s prepared to malign those who are now commanding Israel’s army and intelligence services.”

Israel’s top security brass, including the military chief of staff, the defense minister and the head of the domestic security agency Shin Bet, came forward and accepted responsibility for the blunder in the days after the attack.

Netanyahu, however, has not taken outright responsibility for the missteps that led up the horrific attack, despite serving as prime minister for 13 of the past 14 years. He says there will be time for investigations — after the war.

Israeli troops have pushed through the outskirts of Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

Palestinians in Gaza sheltering from an intensifying Israeli bombardment are running out of clean water and face growing health risks, with public services at a halt and hospitals closing.

In Khan Younis, in the south of the tiny, crowded enclave, nine-year-old Rafif Abu Ziyada said she was drinking dirty water and getting stomach pains and headaches.

“There is no cooking gas, there is no water, we don’t eat well. We are getting sick,” she said. “There’s garbage on the ground and the whole place is polluted.”

Health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave said on Thursday Israeli bombardment has killed 9,060 people including 3,760 children, and put several hospitals out of service – even as a mounting ground offensive increases casualty numbers.

Civilians ordered by Israel to leave the northern half of Gaza but also under bombardment in the south are facing ever worse conditions despite the start of some aid deliveries through the Rafah crossing with Egypt last week.

“Water is being used as a weapon of war. Many people are resorting to unsafe sources of water…Clean water in Gaza is either unavailable or available in very, very small quantities,” said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday the forced evacuation of hospitals in the Gaza Strip put the lives of hundreds of patients at risk.

“Twenty-three hospitals have been ordered to evacuate in Gaza City and north Gaza, and forced evacuation in these circumstances would put the lives of hundreds of patients in a life threatening situation,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will on Friday make his first public comments since the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel went to war, a speech which will be closely watched for clues on how the group’s role in the conflict might evolve.

A formidable military force backed by Iran, Hezbollah has been engaging Israeli forces along the border, where 50 of its fighters have been killed in the deadliest escalation since it fought a war with Israel in 2006.

But with the clashes so far mostly contained to the frontier, Hezbollah has drawn on a fraction of the firepower with which Nasrallah has been threatening Israel for years.

Many people in Lebanon are anxiously awaiting the 3pm speech, rattled for weeks by fear of a catastrophic conflict. Some say they are not making plans beyond Friday, believing his remarks will signal the chances of escalation.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it is “saddened and disturbed” by the loss of 33 journalists in the conflict, which first broke out on 7 October.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the journalists and media workers confirmed dead to-date include 28 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese national.

Another eight journalists have been reported injured and nine are reported to be missing or detained.

“CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes,” the CPJ said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the need to reinforce regional stability with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, the State Department said on Thursday.

“The secretary affirmed the importance of addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza, preventing further spread of the conflict, and reinforcing regional stability and security, including in Yemen,” in Wednesday’s meeting, the department said in a statement.

“He also emphasized the importance of working toward sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a shared priority of both the United States and Saudi Arabia.”

Eight Hungarian citizens with their two Palestinian family members have left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt today, the Hungarian foreign minister has said.

Peter Szijjarto said there had been 15 Hungarian citizens in Gaza, and all of them could have left Gaza, but only two families took on the journey and now “they are in complete safety on Egyptian territory”.

Yesterday, 335 foreign nationals and 76 severely injured Palestinians were evacuated via Egypt.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed on the need to scale up delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday.

“The leaders … discussed the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and agreed on the importance of urgently scaling up the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

“The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General agreed on the need to reinvigorate international efforts to reach a lasting resolution to the conflict and progress work towards a two-state solution.”

The two leaders met as they attended talks on the final day of the inaugural AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in England.