Israel-Hamas war: IDF 'strikes Syria' overnight
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its warplanes struck Syrian army infrastructure overnight in response to rocket fire from the country.
“Last night, a number of launches from Syria toward the southern Golan Heights were identified.
“In response, IDF (Israeli) fighter jets struck military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian regime in the area of Daraa overnight,” the military said in a statement.
It did not offer details of any casualties or damage caused by the air strikes on southern Syria.
04:07 PM GMT
Today's liveblog is now closed
Thanks for following today’s liveblog.
We will be back tomorrow with all the latest updates.
04:06 PM GMT
Netanyahu: 'Real effort' being made to return hostages in Gaza
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that a “real effort” was being made to return hostages held in Gaza but that it was too early to say how such a move would play out.
“This is a real effort,” Mr Netanyahu said in a meeting with families of the hostages, according to a statement released by his office.
“It’s too early to say how it will take place but efforts are being made in these days, in these moments, these very hours.”
03:35 PM GMT
Biden top official to meet Wednesday with Netanyahu ally
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is to meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Washington on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The source confirmed reports by the Axios outlet, which added the talks would cover Israel’s plans for after the conflict with Hamas ends.
A Sunday meeting of US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials produced a proposed framework for a new truce and hostage release.
02:54 PM GMT
Swedish police safely detonate ‘explosive device’ placed outside Israeli embassy
Swedish police have detonated what was believed to be an explosive device found outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
Embassy staff had notified police of the object, prompting a large response from law enforcement, police said.
Today we were subject to an attempted attack against the Embassy of Israel in Stockholm and its employees. We thank the Swedish authorities for their swift response. We will not be intimidated by terror.
— Ziv Nevo Kulman 🇮🇱🎗️ (@zivnk) January 31, 2024
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Nir Nevo Kulman, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, said: “Today we were subject to an attempted attack against the Embassy of Israel in Stockholm and its employees. We thank the Swedish authorities for their swift response. We will not be intimidated by terror.”
02:39 PM GMT
Houthis to target all British warships near Yemen ‘in self defence’
The Houthis have vowed to target all US and British warships operating in waters near Yemen in “self defence”, the militia announced on Wednesday morning.
Ameen Hayyan, the group’s military spokesman, said: “All American and British warships in the Red [Sea] ... will be targeted within the right of legitimate defence of our country.”
He added that all American and British warships participating in “aggression” against its country were targets.
It comes as the Iran-backed rebels fired “several” missiles at a US warship in the Red Sea on Wednesday morning, hours after the US military reported shooting down a missile.
“The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces, with the help of God Almighty, fired several ... naval missiles at the American destroyer USS Gravely in the Red Sea,” the Houthi statement said.
Earlier, US Central Command said the USS Gravely shot down a Houthi missile at about 11:30 pm (2030 GMT) on Tuesday – the latest in a series of such incidents in the Red Sea.
02:26 PM GMT
IDF discover weapons production site ‘belonging to Islamic Jihad’
The IDF has released photos of what it says is a weapons production site belonging to the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The site was found in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, Palestinians were seen fleeing the Khan Younis for Rafah as the Israeli military pushed deeper into the city.
02:11 PM GMT
Suspicious object found outside Israel embassy in Sweden
A potentially dangerous object has been found near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reports, citing police.
The object was found outside the embassy area and the national bomb squad is on its way to investigate it, a police spokesman said.
01:20 PM GMT
IMF project Gaza war will continue throughout spring
The International Monetary Fund has said its projections will work on the assumption that the Gaza war will continue with “high intensity” throughout the first quarter of 2024.
It also estimated that growth in the West Bank and Gaza has dropped to about -6 per cent for 2023 – a downgrade of 9 per cent from its projections at the beginning of October.
12:54 PM GMT
Ben-Gvir: Hostage deal would be ‘tantamount to a dissolution of government’
A deal in which Hamas releases Israeli hostages in return for jailed Palestinians accused of terrorism would be “tantamount to the dissolution of government”, Israel’s national security minister has said.
Speaking in the Knesset today, Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “We won’t allow thousands of terrorists to be released. The numbers presented [in the media] are meant to prepare the ground for another far-fetching deal.”
The far-right minister, who recently called for settlements to be built in Gaza, said that while Israel has a “moral obligation to return the hostages”, it has “an equal duty to provide security for its citizens.”
Mr Ben-Gvir dismissed the United States’ efforts to push for a hostage deal by saying that “real leadership looks years ahead, understands the meaning of its actions and doesn’t act according to pressure and impulses, even not when pressured by such a close friend as the United States.”
12:04 PM GMT
Pictured: Palestinians, who left their homes and took refuge in Rafah, are seen among the rubbles of the destroyed buildings
11:50 AM GMT
IDF 'strikes Syria' overnight
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its warplanes struck Syrian army infrastructure overnight in response to rocket fire from the country.
“Last night, a number of launches from Syria toward the southern Golan Heights were identified,” the military said in a statement.
“In response, IDF (Israeli) fighter jets struck military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian regime in the area of Daraa overnight.”
It did not offer details of any casualties or damage caused by the air strikes on southern Syria.
11:08 AM GMT
Israel 'floods Hamas tunnels'
Israel’s army has begun flooding Hamas’s network of tunnels as intense fighting rages in Gaza.
Israeli troops gave journalists a tour of a tunnel they said had been used as a Hamas command centre.
“Every war has its own characteristics, and I think that this war, its basic character is about that overground and underground manoeuvre,” Dan Goldfus, commander of the 98th Paratroopers Division, told reporters outside of the shaft.
“I think the enemy is on the run and is trying to put itself under the civilians as much as it can,” he added.
10:28 AM GMT
Pictured: Palestinians wait in long queues in front of bakeries for hours in order to buy bread in Deir al Balah, Gaza
09:58 AM GMT
Norway urges UNRWA donors to reflect on 'wider consequences' of cutting funding
Norway, a top donor to the UN’s Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), is urging countries that have cut funding to the agency to consider the consequences of their actions on the population in Gaza, its foreign minister told Reuters.
The Nordic country on Sunday said it would maintain its funding to UNRWA following accusations that some agency staff took part in the Oct 7 attack by Hamas, in contrast to several other countries that have paused payments.
“We are discussing the question of funding with other donors and will continue to do so in the coming days and weeks,” said Espen Barth Eide, adding Oslo was standing by its “strong commitment to the agency, and to the Palestinian people”.
“We urge fellow donor countries to reflect on the wider consequences of cutting their funding to UNRWA,” he said.
His comments come after the United States said that UNRWA needs to make “fundamental changes” before Washington will resume funding that was halted over Israeli accusations that some agency staff took part in the Oct 7 attack by Hamas.
09:36 AM GMT
World Health Organisation delivered essential medical supplies to hospital in Gaza
Amid ongoing heavy military operations in the vicinity of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, #Gaza, @WHO and partners were able to reach the hospital yesterday and deliver essential medical supplies for 1000 patients. The team had also planned to deliver food to the hospital,… pic.twitter.com/DiW16UangR
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 30, 2024
09:05 AM GMT
Pictured: IDF entering Gaza in a Merkava 4 tank
08:43 AM GMT
Body of dead Israeli policeman remains in Gaza
The Israeli police announced the death of a policeman in the Oct 7 Hamas attack and said his body is being held by militants in the Gaza Strip.
“Ran Gvili is no longer alive ... he was killed fighting against the enemy in the battle of (kibbutz) Alumim on Oct 7.
“His body was kidnapped and is being held by a terrorist organisation,” the force said in a statement.
Mr Gvili’s death brings to 29 the number of dead hostages whose bodies remain in the Palestinian territory, according to an AFP tally.
08:33 AM GMT
Lead of EU red sea mission will be known soon, says top diplomat
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said he was hopeful it could be decided later in the day which member state could lead the upcoming EU mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea, adding this operation could be launched before mid-February.
“We have to decide which country will take the command, where the headquarters will be and what navy assets the member states will provide,” he said before the start of an EU defence ministers meeting, adding he hopes that today it will be decided who will take the lead.
“Not all member states will be willing to participate but no one will obstruct (..) I hope that on the 17th of (February) the mission can be launched,” Mr Borrell said.
He added the operation will be named Aspides, “which means protector”.
08:32 AM GMT
Iran warns of decisive response to any type of attack
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s envoy to the United Nations, warned that Tehran would respond decisively to any attack on its territory, its interests, or Iranian nationals outside its borders, state media reported on Wednesday.
The comment from Amir Saeid Iravani comes a day after Joe Biden, the US president, announced he has decided how to respond to a drone attack by Iran-aligned Iraqi groups that killed US service members in Jordan, without elaborating.
Several Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been killed following Israeli strikes in Syria, with five members dying on Jan 20 and another two on Dec 25.
08:28 AM GMT
Britain set to deploy aircraft carrier to Red Sea
Britain is poised to send an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea to counter drone and missile attacks from Houthi rebels.
The Royal Navy is preparing to step in to replace USS Dwight D Eisenhower when it returns to America, as the Houthis warned of a “long-term confrontation” in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said on Tuesday that the UK may “co-operate with the Americans” and step in to “plug a gap” in the Red Sea.
Read more here
