Hamas releases purported footage of elderly hostage's death

Hamas has broadcast what appears to be the death of an elderly hostage kidnapped by the terror group.

Arye Zalmanovich, 86, was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he worked as a farmer, during Hamas’ October 7 attack.

Footage released by the group appears to show him lying on a hospital bed, wired up to a monitoring machine, and looking unwell.

Mr Zalmanovich utters the words: “I’m feeling not good.”

Another clip shows what appears to be his lifeless body, partially covered in a white sheet.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas since its fighters killed 1,200 people and dragged away 240 hostages during its attack last month.

10:04 PM GMT

Today's top stories

Our blog is now closed. Thanks for following, and we will be back tomorrow with another. In the meantime, here are today’s top stories:

• A first consignment of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt late on Friday after Israel agreed to a US request to allow in limited deliveries

• Hamas has broadcast what appears to be the death of an elderly hostage kidnapped by the terror group

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he sees all faiths as equal and rejected suggestions that his attacks on Israel had anti-Semitic undertones

• Israel says it has found a stash of mortars inside a kindergarten in northern Gaza

• Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s attempts to minimise civilian casualties were ‘not successful’

• A doctor at the Al Shifa hospital said that food and water were running out and that supplies provided by the Israeli military were ‘very, very minimal’

• The families of Israeli hostages and thousands of supporters have marched towards Jerusalem, increasing pressure on the government to secure the captives’ release

• The Hamas-run health ministry has said that 24 patients have died in the past two days at Al-Shifa hospital owing to power cuts, as Israeli forces search the facility for Hamas hideouts

09:42 PM GMT

Watch: Shirtless Israeli soldiers take part in 'insane' army base concert

09:23 PM GMT

First consignment of fuel enters Gaza

A first consignment of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt late on Friday after Israel agreed to a US request to allow limited deliveries to end a communications blackout that has halted aid convoys for two days.

UN agencies have spoken of an increasingly desperate situation for the 2.4 million Palestinians trapped inside the besieged enclave, which Israel has been pounding by land and air for the past six weeks.

The fuel delivery came as troops combed Gaza’s largest hospital in a search for the Hamas operations centre that Israel says lies hidden in bunkers beneath.

Some of Israeli’s far-right ministers have criticised the move to allow in fuel, with finance minister Bezalel Smotrich calling it a “scandal”.

09:07 PM GMT

US issues sanctions targeting Iran-aligned militia groups it says behind attacks

The US has issued sanctions targeting Iran-aligned militia groups, accusing them of being involved in attacks against them and its partners in Iraq and Syria.

The US State Department designated Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and its secretary general as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, while the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on six people affiliated with Kata’ib Hizballah in Iraq.

US and coalition troops have been attacked at least 58 times in Iraq and Syria since October 17 as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war. At least 59 US military personnel have been wounded in the attacks, though all have now returned to duty.

08:44 PM GMT

Gaza's once popular beach now an Israeli stronghold

Once a place of refuge from the enclave’s busy streets, Gaza beach has now been transformed into an Israeli military stronghold.

An image released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shows tanks and bulldozers massed on the northern seafront’s sands below blown-out apartment buildings. A scattering of troops can be seen guarding the area.

Prior to the war, the beach was a popular destination for Palestinians of all ages, who frequently flocked there in large numbers during summer months to relax in the sun, play and swim in the Mediterranean Sea.

It offered an escape from the enclave’s hot, dusty city centres, made even more uncomfortable by frequent long power outages.

“The sea is our only refuge in Gaza,” Umm Khalil Abu al-Khair, a 43-year-old mother of six, told Al Jazeera in late August, six weeks before the Israel-Hamas war broke out.

08:38 PM GMT

Gaza telecom services partially restored

Telecom services have been partially restored in the Gaza Strip after the entry of a limited quantity of fuel through UNRWA, Gaza’s main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal said in a statement on Friday.

Israel imposed a strict blockade on all goods entering Hamas-controlled Gaza when it launched a military campaign in response to the the Hamas attacks on October 7.

08:31 PM GMT

Mortars found in Gaza kindergarten, says IDF

Israel says it has found a stash of mortars inside a kindergarten in northern Gaza.

In footage circulated on Friday, the Israeli Defence Forces shows what appear to be around a dozen mortar bombs stacked in a pile and tucked in between two walls of a building.

The alleged discovery, which has not been independently verified, follows claims by Israel that it uncovered a Hamas tunnel shaft and weapons at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital complex on Thursday.

Hamas and medical staff have vigorously denied the allegation the hospital was being used as a command centre.

Isreal has yet to produce concrete evidence that the was a Hamas headquarters underneath the Al-Shifa hospital, a principle justification for storming the compound.

08:02 PM GMT

Watch: Activists stage protest at Fox News offices in New York

Anti-war activists have staged a protest at the offices of Fox News in New York over their coverage of the war in Gaza.

07:36 PM GMT

Five countries seek ICC investigation into Gaza war

Five countries, including South Africa and Bangladesh, on Friday called for an International Criminal Court investigation into the Israel-Hamas war that has left thousands of people dead, its chief prosecutor said.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti - all ICC members - had sought an investigation of “the situation in the state of Palestine”.

Mr Khan said in a statement that an investigation into events in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank started in March 2021 now “extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the attacks that took place on October, 2023”.

07:16 PM GMT

Israel draws Star of David in Hamas training ground in mark of victory

The Israeli army used tanks to draw a huge Star of David in the dirt of what was once a Hamas training ground in Gaza City.

Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the IDF, said fighters from the Golani Brigade held a ceremony in memory of their comrades killed in battle since the start of Israel’s retaliatory attacks in the Gaza strip.

In footage posted online, the tanks can be seen carving out lines on a large plot of land which when viewed from above show the Star of David. Blue and white flares, the colours of the Israeli flag, were also set off.

“The soldiers of the Golani Brigade held a battle formation on the spot as a sign of commemoration and remembrance in memory of the 72 martyrs of the Golani Brigade, their comrades who fell in the battles from the beginning of the fighting,” Mr Hagari said.

“In the place where the terrorist organization Hamas organized and trained its forces, Golani’s 13th and 51st battalions chose to deliver a clear message to the organization’s operatives,” he added.

06:45 PM GMT

'Killing children does not exist in Torah', says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he sees all faiths as equal and rejected suggestions that his attacks on Israel had anti-Semitic undertones.

The Turkish leader was making a sensitive visit to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that have been overshadowed by the soaring civilian toll of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

Mr Erdogan came under fire in Germany for his criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war, which was triggered by unprecedented Hamas attacks on October 7 that Israel said killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 239 taken hostage.

Mr Erdogan redoubled his criticism of Israel on Friday, arguing that “shooting hospitals or killing children does not exist in the Torah”.

06:07 PM GMT

'Israel close to dismantling Hamas's military system in northern Gaza'

Israel’s military says it is close to “dismantling the military system” set up by Hamas in northern Gaza.

Herzi Halevi, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) chief of general staff, told forces in the enclave there “remains work to be completed” but praised them for “approaching it successfully.”

“The IDF will continue in its operations within the Gaza Strip, and as far as we are concerned, more and more regions [will be targeted], systematically eliminating commanding officers and eliminating operatives, and eradicating the infrastructure,” he said.

Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas following the terror group’s October 7 cross-border attack.

05:45 PM GMT

Germany, Turkey leaders trade barbs over Israel-Hamas war

Germany and Turkey’s leaders traded barbs on Friday over Israel’s war on Hamas, with Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressing the country’s right to exist while Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded an end to Israel’s military operation.

President Steinmeier made clear Germany’s position that the unprecedented October 7 onslaught by Hamas on Israel was a “terror attack”, and Berlin viewed the group as a “terror organisation”.

A separate statement issued by the Turkish presidency on the talks said “Erdogan stated that Israel’s attacks on Palestinian lands must end and that the reaction from the whole world against human rights violations is important”.

Mr Erdogan has been increasingly critical of Israel’s war against Hamas, triggered by the group’s attack that Israel said killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with around 240 hostages taken.

05:23 PM GMT

UN stops delivery of food and supplies to Gaza amid communications blackout

The United Nations was forced to stop deliveries of food and other necessities to Gaza on Friday and warned of the growing possibility of widespread starvation.

Israel announced that it will allow for the first time two tanker trucks of fuel daily into Gaza for the UN and communications systems.

The amount is about half of what the UN said it needs to conduct lifesaving functions for hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza, including fueling water systems, hospitals, bakeries and its trucks delivering aid. It follows the collapse of internet and telephone services caused a lack of fuel.

Israel has barred entry of fuel since the start of the war, saying it would be diverted by Hamas for military means. It has also blocked food, water and other supplies except for a trickle of aid from Egypt that aid workers say falls far short of what’s needed.

04:56 PM GMT

Pictured: Palestinians gather their belongings after Israeli army's airstrike at Nuseirat Refugee Camp

04:32 PM GMT

Battle Lines podcast: Listen to our foreign correspondents discuss the latest in the Middle East

In this episode of Battle Lines, Senior Foreign Correspondent Sophia Yan, analyses some of the diplomatic moves made by Middle Eastern states close to the conflict.

Telegraph Global Health Reporter Lilia Sebouai updates us on the conditions In Gaza’s hospitals, and Foreign Reporter Verity Bowman talks us through the Israeli assault on the Al-Shifa hospital.

Plus Defence Editor Danielle Sheridan explains how the war in Israel and Gaza impacted British society on Armistice Day.

Listen here

03:58 PM GMT

'Two pro-Iran fighters killed in Israeli Syria strikes'

Israeli air strikes killed two pro-Iranian fighters near the Syrian capital Damascus early on Friday during raids targeting a Hezbollah arms depot and other sites near Syria’s capital, a war monitor said.

Israel has hit targets in Syria several times in the past weeks as regional tensions rise over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Citing a military source, Syria’s state news agency SANA earlier reported “material damage” from the strikes.

“At around 2:25 am, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights targeting several positions in the vicinity of Damascus,” SANA said.

03:37 PM GMT

Pictured: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue presidential palace in Berlin

03:19 PM GMT

Erdogan on 'difficult' German visit after Israel outbursts

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Berlin for talks with German leaders , in a highly controversial visit made more explosive by the Turkish leader’s branding of Israel as a “terror state”.

Mr Erdogan has been increasingly critical of Israel’s war against Gaza-rulers Hamas after the group launched a horror attack on October 7 that Israel said killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

While Chancellor Olaf Scholz travelled to Israel to offer Germany’s unconditional and unwavering support, Mr Erdogan has doubled down on his defence of the Islamists as “liberators” fighting for their land and previously accused Israel of committing war crimes with its bombardment and ground incursion in Gaza.

02:59 PM GMT

24 patients have died in past two days at Al-Shifa, claims Hamas-run health ministry

The Hamas-run health ministry has said that 24 patients have died in the past two days at Al-Shifa hospital owing to power cuts, as Israeli forces search the facility for Hamas hideouts.

“Twenty-four patients in different departments have died over the last 48 hours as vital medical equipment has stopped functioning because of the power outage,” said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.

02:49 PM GMT

Pictured: Funeral of 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano

Read: IDF recovers body of second Israeli hostage near Gaza hospital

02:15 PM GMT

Israeli hostage families near Jerusalem in march of solidarity and protest

The families of Israeli hostages and thousands of supporters have marched towards Jerusalem, increasing pressure on the government to secure the captives’ release nearly six weeks after Hamas terrorists abducted them and took them into Gaza.

The procession left Tel Aviv three days ago. Police blocked off parts of the main highway as the marchers began to ascend the foothills leading to Jerusalem.

They held up pictures of their loved ones, waved Israeli flags, and chanted “We won’t give up, we demand the hostages’ release!”

“Hear our shout. Bring them back home now,” said Yuval Haran, who walked with a placard showing seven members of his family who were taken hostage, including his three-year-old niece.

“How can you put a price on a three-year old girl? We need them back now, at any price.”

02:05 PM GMT

Food and water running out at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, says doctor

A doctor at the Al Shifa hospital said that food and water were running out and that supplies provided by the Israeli military were “very, very minimal”.

Doctor Ahmed El Mokhallalati told Reuters by telephone that Israeli forces were pressing on with searches of the hospital complex, but had “found nothing”. He also said no babies at the hospital had died since Israeli troops entered it.

Israel says Hamas has a command centre underneath the hospital, an assertion Hamas and hospital staff deny. Reuters has been unable to verify the situation at the hospital independently.

01:49 PM GMT

Pictured: Aftermath of Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

01:47 PM GMT

Five terrorists killed in West Bank refugee camp raid, claim IDF

Israel says it killed “five terrorists” during an overnight raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

“An armed terrorist cell that fired at Israeli security forces was struck by a (military) aircraft,” a statement said.

“In total, at least five terrorists were killed,” it added. Hamas said three of its fighters were killed.

The head of the Palestinian ambulance service said three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike in Jenin.

It comes amid growing concern about violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has surged.

01:06 PM GMT

Medical staff searched after Israeli raid on West Bank's Jenin

12:47 PM GMT

Israel says it will allow two fuel trucks a day in Gaza

Israel’s war cabinet has approved letting in two fuel trucks a day into Gaza to help meet UN needs, an Israeli official said on Friday.

The official, who declined to be identified, said the decision came after a request from Washington.

Allowing in the fuel, the official said, gives Israel extra room to maneuver in the international arena so it can continue its campaign to eradicate Hamas in Gaza.

The amount of fuel will give “minimal” support for water, sewage and sanitary systems in Gaza to prevent pandemics, the official said.

11:55 AM GMT

Pictured: An activist places a floral tribute on a pair of baby shoes symbolising Palestinians killed in Seoul, South Korea

11:31 AM GMT

World Health Organisation 'extremely concerned' about the spread of disease in Gaza

The World Health Organisation said it was very worried about the spread of disease in Gaza.

“We are extremely concerned about the spread of disease when the winter season arrives,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

He said that more than 70,000 cases of acute respiratory infections and over 44,000 cases of diarrhoea had been recorded, figures higher significantly higher than expected.

WHO has previously warned of “worrying trends” in the spread of disease in Gaza, where bombardments and a ground offensive have disrupted the health system, access to clean water and caused people to crowd into shelters.

11:07 AM GMT

Funeral taking place for female IDF soldier found dead in Gaza

The funeral of a 19-year-old Israeli soldier found dead in Gaza is taking place.

The Israeli military said troops had recovered the remains of kidnapped woman soldier Noa Marciano, 19, “from a structure adjacent to Al-Shifa hospital”.

It had confirmed her death this week.

10:27 AM GMT

Pictured: An IDF reservist walks past "Bring them home now" street art in Tel Aviv, Israel

10:17 AM GMT

Ambulance crews 'detained and searched' in Jenin, say Palestinian Red Crescent

Ambulance crews were “detained and searched” in Jenin, says the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it impeded their ability to help the injured and transport patients.

It comes as the Israeli army said it killed “five terrorists” during an overnight raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

10:03 AM GMT

'Impossible' to manage or coordinate humanitarian aid convoys, says UN

The United Nations said there would be no cross-border aid operation on Friday due to fuel shortages and a communication shutdown.

World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain said nearly the entire population was in desperate need of food assistance.

“Supplies of food and water are practically non-existent in Gaza and only a fraction of what is needed is arriving through the borders,” she said in a statement.

09:54 AM GMT

Israel-Gaza territory map

09:46 AM GMT

Angry families of Israeli hostages march to Netanyahu’s door

In the 41 days since his grand-daughter Naama Levy was kidnapped by Hamas, Shaul Levy has cycled, swum and run hundreds of miles.

The 78-year old is still an active triathlete, and in his daily 40-mile bike rides and mile-long swims, he reaches some peace of mind amid the stress.

“I exercise every morning, and afterwards I feel strong and good,” he said. “My grand-girl is also a triathlete, a strong woman, and I hope some of that energy goes to her too.”

For such a spry figure, the five-day march he is taking part in with other hostages’ families is not too hard a pull.

Covering 50 miles from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and stopping overnight in villages en route, the marchers are on course to be outside prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s house by Saturday.

Read more from Colin Freeman here

09:11 AM GMT

Pictured: A Palestinian walks near a destroyed vehicle at the site of an Israeli strike

09:10 AM GMT

'People are facing the immediate possibility of starvation'

“People are facing the immediate possibility of starvation,” the United Nations World Food programme has warned.

Gaza is now receiving only 10 per cent of its needed food supplies daily, and dehydration and malnutrition are growing with nearly all of the 2.3 million people in the territory needing food, said Abeer Etefa, a Mideast regional spokeswoman for the programme.

With few trucks entering Gaza and no fuel to distribute the food “there is no way to meet the current hunger needs,” she said.

“The existing food systems in Gaza are basically collapsing.”

08:45 AM GMT

Israel claims it killed 'at least five terrorists' in Jenin raid

The Israeli army said it had killed “at least five terrorists” during an operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces carried out an operation in a refugee camp in the city overnight Thursday-Friday, and the military said in a statement that, “In total, at least five terrorists were killed.”

08:35 AM GMT

Grant us access to Al-Shifa, says UN human rights chief

The UN human rights chief has called for Israel to grant his team access to the Al-Shifa hospital to investigate competing claims.

Israel claims that Hamas has a command and control centre under the hospital - an allegation that Hamas and hospital staff deny.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told CNN: “We need to look into this by having access. We cannot rely on one or the other party when it comes to this.”

He said the situation needs an “independent international investigation, because we have different narratives.”

08:18 AM GMT

US concerned over hospital strikes after Jordan's Gaza facility hit

The United States on Thursday said it had “deep concern” over a strike on a Jordanian military hospital in Gaza that wounded seven people, voicing opposition to hitting health facilities, but without directly blaming Israel.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi “to share his deep concern for the Jordanian medical personnel injured outside the Jordanian Field Hospital while providing critical medical care in Gaza,” the State Department said.

Mr Blinken, who was attending an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco, “reiterated that civilians and medical personnel at hospitals must be protected,” a statement said.

Earlier in Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “We don’t want to see hospitals struck from the air.”

“We reiterate the obligations under international humanitarian law for all parties to take key precautions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and all possible steps to mitigate civilian harm,” Mr Miller told reporters.

Neither Mr Miller nor the statement explicitly condemned the strike or said who was responsible.

07:57 AM GMT

Hamas terrorist who paraded festivalgoer’s body in Gaza has been killed, says her mother

A Hamas terrorist who paraded a German festivalgoer’s body through Gaza has been killed, the victim’s mother has said, as she called for a hostage deal to free those still being held by the terror group, reports James Jackson.

Shani Louk, a 22-year-old Israeli-German dual citizen, was murdered by Hamas at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct 7.

Louk’s mother, Ricarda, 53, said that one of the men who later took her daughter’s body through Gaza in the back of a pickup truck had been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Read more here

07:42 AM GMT

Body of Israeli hostage found near Al-Shifa hospital

The body of an Israeli mother-of-five taken hostage by Hamas was recovered by Israeli troops from a building near the Al Shifa hospital, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday.

Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old pensioner with breast cancer, was killed by the terror group in the Gaza Strip after being abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

“We didn’t manage to reach her in time,” he said.

Mrs Weiss’s body was found in a building adjacent to Al Shifa which contained an array of weapons including Kalashnikov rifles and RPGs, the IDF said.

Read more from Ben Farmer and Tony Diver here

07:40 AM GMT

Communications down in Gaza

The two telecoms companies in Gaza said all services in the territory were down as energy supplies had run out.

Israel refuses fuel imports, saying Hamas could use them for military purposes.

07:37 AM GMT

Pictured: Israeli army raid West Bank Jenin refugee camp

07:36 AM GMT

Netanyahu: Attempts to minimise civilian casualties 'not successful'

Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s attempts to minimise civilian casualties were “not successful”, as he accused Hamas of preventing civilians from moving to safer locations.

The Israeli Prime Minister told CBS: “Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn’t have any because we’re doing everything we can to get the civilians out of harm’s way, while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way.

“So we send leaflets, (we) call them on their cell phones, and we say: ‘leave’. And many have left.”

07:29 AM GMT

Israel carries out 'building by building' searches at Al-Shifa

Israeli troops carried out building-by-building searches at Gaza’s main hospital.

The Al-Shifa hospita has become a focal point for Israeli operations in northern Gaza since soldiers raided the complex on Wednesday, hunting for a command centre they say terror group Hamas operates there.

Hamas and hospital managers deny that charge, and there has been international concern about several thousand people - including wounded patients and premature babies - believed to be trapped inside.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.