An Israeli commander was killed in "an encounter with a terrorist," the country's military confirmed.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Steinberg was the commander of the Nahal Brigade, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said. A spokesman said: "It was allowed to be published that the commander of the Nahal Brigade, the late Lt Col Jonathan Steinberg, was killed today in an encounter with a terrorist near Kerem Shalom."
The development came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the country is "at war" after the militant Hamas group launched an unprecedented attack and crossed borders on paragliders armed with guns.
The Hamas group fired thousands of rockets as dozens of fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea, catching the country off guard on a major Jewish holiday. An unprecedented development saw Hamas fighters using paragliders to get over the border from Gaza into Israel. Remarkable footage released by the Al Qassam Brigades showed soldiers with guns on motor-powered hang gliders before they boarded pick-up trucks and motorbikes to infiltrate an Israeli settlement.
This live blog has now closed, please follow here for latest updates.
Six-year-old dies after driver ploughs into people waiting at bus stop
Sadiq Khan is fearful the events in Israel may lead to an increase in hate crime in London.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Mayor of London said: "Tragically, we know that violence in the Middle East can lead to a rise in hate crime in London."
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan voiced his concern (PA)The Metropolitan Police is aware of a "number of incidents" related to the Israel conflict, it has said in a statement.
As a result, the force has increased policing patrols across parts of London, Sky News reports.
It is also aware that today's attacks may lead to protests over the coming days. The statement said: "We remain in contact with partners and community leaders to listen to any concerns.
"Anyone who experiences threatening behaviour or is worried about their safety is urged to contact police. We will ensure that an appropriate policing plan is in place in order to balance the right to protest against any disruption to Londoners."
Israel Defense Forces confirmed the death of one of its commanders in a message on X, formerly known as Twitter tonight.
The tweet reads: "The Commander of the Nahal Brigade, COL Jonathan Steinberg was killed today during a confrontation with a terrorist. COL Steinberg, 42 years old from Kibbutz Shomria. The IDF sends its heartfelt condolences to his family and will continue to support them in this difficult time."
The Commander of the Nahal Brigade, COL Jonathan Steinberg was killed today during a confrontation with a terrorist.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 7, 2023
COL Steinberg, 42 years old from Kibbutz Shomria. The IDF sends its heartfelt condolences to his family and will continue to support them in this difficult⦠pic.twitter.com/zHyNjzg8My
An Israeli commander has been killed in an "encounter with a terrorist", the country's military has confirmed.
Woman falls to death from 60ft-high flat window putting up Christmas decorations
Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Steinberg was the commander of the Nahal Brigade, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
"It was allowed to be published that the commander of the Nahal Brigade, the late Lt. Col. Yonatan Steinberg, was killed today in an encounter with a terrorist near Kerem Shalom," a spokesman said.
The 42-year-old was on his way to "an exchange of fire" being conducted by his troops at the time he was killed, the statement continued.
"The IDF shares in the family's grief and will continue to accompany it," it concluded.
Speaking in a live TV address, US President Joe Biden has reiterated his earlier pledge that his country stands with Israel and will "not ever fail to have their back".
"We'll make sure they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves," he says.
He says "thousands of rockets" have rained down on Israeli cities and Hamas has killed "innocent" people.
"In the face of these terrorist assaults, Israel has the right to defend itself and his people, full stop," he adds.
"There's never justification for terrorist attacks and my administration's support for Israel's security is rock solid and unwavering."
US President Joe Biden delivers a televised address (Getty Images)Foreign Office has warned Brits not to travel to some parts of Israel after Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets at Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip today.
The unprecedented attack, which happened during a major Jewish holiday, has killed at least 150 people in Israel. Reacting to this, Foreign Office, known in full as Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office recommends no Brits travel to Gaza, the Sheba’a Farms and Ghajjar and to anywhere near the border with Lebanon, and the east of Metula, including the northern edge of the town and anywhere near the border with Syria in the northeast.
For more information, read our story in full.
The health ministry has said at least 232 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
Earlier today, the figure stood at 198 so there's more fatalities tonight.
The latest figures suggest least 1,610 people have been injured in the strikes.
Footage shared on X, formely known as Twitter, appears to show 150 missiles get launched from Gaza towards Tel Aviv.
Hundreds have viewed the clip since it was posted online at around 8pm local time in Israel.
ردا٠عÙÙ Ùص٠اÙبرج اÙسÙÙÙ Ùسط ٠دÙÙØ© غزة.. Ùتائب اÙÙسا٠تÙجÙ٠اÙآ٠ضربة صارÙØ®ÙØ© ÙبÙرة بÙ150 صارÙخا٠صÙب ت٠أبÙب#Ø·ÙÙاÙ_اÙØ£Ùص٠pic.twitter.com/HbeskplVmc
— ØسÙÙÙÙ ÙÙÙÙÙسÙÙÙØ·ÙÙÙ ÙÙ (@FilasN17824) October 7, 2023
Hamas' media has said Israeli planes have bombed the house of the group Gaza chief Yehya Al-Sinwar.
Yehya Al-Sinwar's home in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip was targeted by the planes, it added.
It also said no casualties have been reported.
Gaza's militant Hamas rulers attacked Israel by air, land and sea today. Millions of Israelis in the country's south awoke to the searing sound of incoming rockets and the inevitable thud of impact. Air raid sirens wailed as far north as Tel Aviv. Israel's anti-rocket interceptors thundered in Jerusalem.
And in an unprecedented escalation, armed Hamas fighters blew up parts of Israel's highly fortified separation fence and strode into Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier, terrorizing residents and trading fire with Israeli soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies were scrambling to respond to the rapidly changing events. Within just nine hours, some 40 Israelis and nearly 200 Palestinians were confirmed dead, with the numbers expected to rise.
Here are some key takeaways from the multi-pronged attack that has suddenly plunged Israel into war;
1. Hamas claimed its fighters had taken several Israelis captive in the enclave, releasing gruesome videos of militants dragging bloodied soldiers across the ground and standing over dead bodies, some of them stripped to their underwear. It said that senior Israeli military officers were among the captives.
2. In a dramatic escalation unseen in decades, Hamas also sent paragliders flying into Israel, the Israeli military said. The brazen attack recalled a famous assault in the late 1980s when Palestinian militants crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel on hang-gliders and killed six Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army belatedly confirmed that soldiers and civilians had been taken hostage in Gaza, but refused to provide further details.
3. Hamas officials cited long-simmering sources of tension between Israel and the Palestinians, including the dispute around the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and remains at the emotional heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Competing claims over the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have spilled into violence before, including a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in 2021.
4. Hamas statements have also cited the expansion of Jewish settlements on lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state and Ben-Gvir's efforts to toughen restrictions on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. More recently, tensions have escalated with violent Palestinian protests along the Gaza frontier. In negotiations with Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations, Hamas has pushed for Israeli concessions that could loosen the 17-year blockade on the enclave and help halt a worsening financial crisis that has sharpened public criticism of its rule.
5. The eruption of violence comes at a difficult time for Israel, which is facing the biggest protests in its history over Netanyahu's proposal to weaken the Supreme Court while he is on trial for corruption. The protest movement, which accuses Netanyahu of making a power grab, has bitterly divided Israeli society and unleashed turmoil within the Israeli military. Hundreds of reservists have threatened to stop volunteering to report for duty in protest at the judicial overhaul.
(APAImages/REX/Shutterstock)At least 100 Israelis have been killed following the surprise incursion by Hamas, medics in the country have said.
A Hamas spokesman says, meanwhile, that the group is holding dozens of captive Israeli soldiers.
And New York Mayor Eric Adams, whose city is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, called the attack a “cowardly action by a terrorist organization.”
Israel's opposition leader has offered to form a joint emergency government, it is understood.
Yair Lapid, an Israeli politician. says he has made the offer to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier, he said: "Our people were awoken by the sounds of sirens, shooting & explosions. The rocket attacks against innocent civilians are relentless. The whole world must stand with Israel as we defend ourselves from terror."
Mr Netanyahu and top security officials convened for an emergency meeting earlier today.
Yair Lapid arrives at the Israeli President residence (ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)A medical aid group has said a nurse and an ambulance driver have been killed in Israeli strikes on two hospitals in Gaza.
The retaliatory attacks injured several people and damaged as oxygen station as well, Medecins Sans Frontieres said.
"Following the escalation between Israel and Gaza, Israeli forces struck the enclave's Indonesian hospital and an ambulance in front of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza," it said.
The organisation has been supporting the two hospitals since 2021 and 2011 respectively.
"The scale of this new round of hostilities must not be underestimated, with Palestinian and Israeli authorities reporting massive casualties all over Israel and Gaza," it added.
Health officials in the Gaza Strip have said 198 Palestinians have died following the strikes.
Hamas' armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades destroy a tank of Israeli forces in Gaza City (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Rishi Sunak has said Israel has "an absolute right to defend itself" and the country's prime minister said it was "at war" after at least 70 people were killed during attacks by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip.
The UK Prime Minister said the Government is in contact with Israeli authorities after Hamas sent fighters across the border and fired thousands of rockets in what it said was a new operation.
Israel's premier Benjamin Netanyahu said the group would "pay a price that it hasn't known until now" as he called up reservists.
Joe Biden has issued a statement on the Hamas attack.
He said his administration's support for Israel's security is "rock solid and unwavering".
After speaking to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Biden said he has made it clear that the US stands ready to offer "all appropriate means of support" to his country.
He also warned against any other hostile party to Israel seeking to take advantage of the attack, and said his team are tracking the situation closely.
A militant from Hamas' armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades hold a Palestinian flag as they destroy a tank of Israeli forces in Gaza City, Gaza today.
Photographs are emerging quickly from the area, with most showing the extent of the violence.
Hamas' armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades hold a Palestinian flag (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)The Israeli military says that Gaza's militant Hamas rulers are holding Israeli civilians and soldiers captive in the Palestinian enclave, marking major escalation in the fighting.
The military confirmed Hamas claims that its fighters had kidnapped a number of Israelis after they infiltrated Israel's highly fortified separation fence and stormed into Israeli communities in the country's south.
The army did not offer further details, declining to comment on how many Israelis had been seized.
Dozens of Palestinian militants trying to infiltrate the country by sea have been killed by Israeli navy forces, the country's Defence Forces (IDF) has said.
"The warriors of the sea arm eliminated dozens of terrorists in the southern maritime space and on the coastline," it wrote in a statement.
"In the early hours of the morning, the sea arm's fighters conducted a naval pursuit and eliminated dozens of terrorists who tried to reach Israeli territory."
It also claimed to have destroyed "two rubber boats, two other vessels and an agricultural tool".
Around 50 Israeli hostages are currently being held by Hamas gunmen, according to Israel's N12 news channel.
It is believed the hostages are being held in the Be'eri kibbutz.
The kibbutz is located in southern Israel, in the north-western Negev desert - near the eastern border with the Gaza Strip.
At least 100 Israelis have been killed in the Hamas attack, the country's N12 news outlet has reported. The latest official figure on the number of injured is 545, although a report suggests as many as 740 have been injured so far.
Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus celebrate on Saturday (AFP via Getty Images)Health officials have said the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip has risen to 198. Officials added at least 1,610 people had been injured in the strikes. Israel launched what it called "Operation Sword of Iron" in response to Hamas's incursion, which began with massive rocket strikes early this morning.
Several Israelis have reportedly been taken back to Gaza as hostages. Hamas released videos on their social media accounts apparently showing Israelis captured by its fighters. In some videos, which can't be verified, civilians appear to have been taken as hostages to the Palestinian territory.
Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian from Kibbutz Kfar Azza into the Gaza Strip (AP)
Israeli media is reporting that at least 40 Israelis have been killed so far, with a further 740 people wounded by Hamas soldiers. The figures are being broadcast by the local N12 news channel, but there has been no official update on the toll. The latest official figures count 22 Israeli deaths and a further 545 injured.
Residents in the Gaza Strip flee their homes to move away from the border with Israel (AFP via Getty Images)
Today's outbreak of so-called war happened practically 50 years to the day of the 1973 War. On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish Calendar, on October 6 1973, Israel’s enemies launched a surprise attack. Comparisons to one of the most traumatic moments in Israeli history sharpened criticism of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who had campaigned on more aggressive action against threats from Gaza. Political commentators lambasted the government over its failure to anticipate what appeared to be a Hamas attack unseen in its level of planning and coordination.
The UK's Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Gaza. It has updated its current advice to advise against all but essential travel to:
FCDO's updated map shows green areas (which it says to check advice before travelling to), orange areas (to which only essential travel is advised) and red areas (which are to be avoided at all costs) (FCDO)The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has called for the immediate release of hostages by Hamas. He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "News of civilians taken as hostages in their homes or to Gaza are appalling. This is against international law. Hostages must be released immediately."
Israeli authorities have still not commented on the allegations that hostages have been taken by Hamas.
Videos have shown Hamas fighters attempting to reach Israel on small boats and in a never-seen-before development, a number of fighters appeared to have crossed the border using paragliders. An IDF spokesperson said Hamas fighters had infiltrated from "land, sea and air," the Times of Israel reported.
Palestinians take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the border fence (AFP via Getty Images)
Middle East expert Avi Melamed has told Sky News that while today has come as a surprise, it is a reaction to years of oppression.
He said: "The world community has done nothing to stop an occupation that has become the longest in modern history. Britain is saying that Israel has the right to defend itself. What about the rights of Palestinians to defend themselves? We are the ones who are under occupation. We are the ones who are under siege. We are the ones who are displaced. So what you see today is a reaction to all this oppression. But it definitely took us by surprise.
"Palestinians have one of three options: either to emigrate or die or accept a life of subjugation to Israelis. What you see today is the Palestinian reaction... It's a resistance because everything else has failed. Peace processes were stopped. Israel refuses even to negotiate with Palestinians."
Local news channel N12, citing hospital sources, is reporting that 22 Israelis are dead and over 300 are injured.
