Israel-Hamas war live: EU leaders to call for Gaza ‘humanitarian pause’; Biden redoubles efforts on two-state solution

Israeli troops with armoured vehicles conduct limited ground raid in Gaza strip – report

Rory Carroll

Israeli troops with armoured vehicles have attacked Hamas targets in a ground raid in the Gaza strip, Israeli army radio said on Thursday.

The report described it as a “relatively large” ground incursion, suggesting it was the biggest foray since Israel started massing forces outside the enclave in advance of a planned full-scaled invasion.

Tanks and infantry vehicles struck “numerous Hamas terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts” throughout Wednesday night before exiting Gaza and returning to Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing army radio.

Since the conflict erupted on 7 October Israeli Defence Forces have made several incursions to probe Hamas positions and gather information about hostages.

AP: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have decided to stay in their homes in northern Gaza despite Israeli warnings that they face grave danger if they don’t move south.

They say evacuation doesn’t make sense considering the relentless bombardment of southern Gaza, where Israel has repeatedly urged the more than million residents of northern Gaza to seek refuge.

They face appalling conditions in overcrowded shelters and persistent shortages of food and water in the south. The presence of some 350,000 civilians in the northern area could further complicate a likely Israeli ground offensive.

Daniel Hurst

Australian foreign minister Penny Wong has acknowledged “widespread suffering” of civilians in Gaza but has stopped short of saying Israel’s siege amounts to collective punishment of Palestinians, during a fiery Senate committee hearing.

Wong was challenged by the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John to concede that Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip met the “textbook definition of collective punishment”.

The industry minister, Ed Husic, said last week that Palestinians were being “collectively punished for Hamas’s barbarism”, a view backed by fellow frontbencher Anne Aly.

But Wong said she would use her own words to describe the “extraordinarily difficult and complex and distressing crisis” in the Middle East.

“We acknowledge the terrible suffering of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip,” she told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.

EU leaders to call for Gaza ‘humanitarian pause’

Lisa O’Carroll

The EU is expected to unanimously back a call for “humanitarian pauses” of the shelling in Gaza to allow food, water and medical supplies to reach Palestinians on multiple occasions.

But the unity came after what one diplomat described as “difficult discussions” between member states who have spent days arguing over what terminology to use in relation to Israel’s right to defend itself.

Earlier drafts of an official declaration to be signed off at a summit of leaders in Brussels on Thursday proposed a call for “a humanitarian pause” to allow “rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need”.

The singular term “pause” was deemed too close to the phrase “ceasefire” for several member states – thought to include Germany, Austria and the Czech republic – who were concerned it might weaken the message around Israel’s right to defend itself.

It appeared that the compromise was “pauses” which could mean a humanitarian corridor could be opened up on multiple occasions to allow vital supplies in and possibly refugees out.

But even with agreement there are conflicting views. One diplomat said they “didn’t care” whether “pause” or “pauses” was in the official communique for the summit but were concerned about handing Hamas an opportunity.

“If the pause is too long it will help Hamas to recover and attack again,” they said.

The difficulty agreeing the language reflects one of the most damaging episodes for the EU in many years.

Joe Biden has called for an immediate end to Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, as Israel kept up its strikes on Gaza in preparation for a long promised ground invasion.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the president said US support for Israel’s defence was ironclad, but criticised the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank by some Israelis.

“I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank … pouring gasoline on fire is what it’s like.

“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they [the Palestinians] are entitled to be, and … it has to stop now.”

Biden stressed that all parties need to think about the way forward in the region once the Gaza crisis is resolved.

“Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity and peace,” Biden said.

“When this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next. And in our view, it has to be a two-state solution. It means a concentrated effort from all the parties – Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders – to put us on a path toward peace,” Biden said.

This is the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

Our top story this morning: the EU is expected to unanimously back a call for “humanitarian pauses” of the shelling in Gaza to allow food, water and medical supplies to reach Palestinians on multiple occasions.

But the unity came after what one diplomat described as “difficult discussions” between member states who have spent days arguing over what terminology to use in relation to Israel’s right to defend itself.

Earlier drafts of an official declaration to be signed off at a summit of leaders in Brussels on Thursday proposed a call for “a humanitarian pause” to allow “rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need”.

Meanwhile, in his remarks on Wednesday, US president Joe Biden stressed that all parties need to think about the way forward in the region once the Gaza crisis is resolved.

“When this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next. And in our view, it has to be a two-state solution. It means a concentrated effort from all the parties – Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders – to put us on a path toward peace,” Biden said.

Elsewhere:

• The Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, said Israeli airstrikes have killed 6,546 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, including 2,704 children. The figure includes 756 people – 344 of whom were children – killed in the last 24 hours, it said, adding that 17,439 had been wounded in total. Joe Biden, the US president, said he accepted “innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war … [But] I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”

• Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military was “getting prepared” for the ground invasion of Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities. In a televised statement, the Israeli prime minister said his war cabinet was “working around the clock” to reach victory.

• Israel has agreed to a request to let the US get its air defences to the region before an expected ground invasion of Gaza, according to a report, which said the Pentagon is working to deploy systems to protect US troops in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

• The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, met senior international criminal court (ICC) officials in The Hague on Wednesday. Maliki’s visit came a day after he deplored inaction by the UN security council. The Palestinian Authority is controlled by Fatah and partially governs the West Bank; it also claims Gaza but has no control there.

• The World Health Organization on Wednesday called for Hamas to provide proof of life of the hostages it is holding and release them all on health grounds. The WHO said the International Committee of the Red Cross should be allowed immediate medical access to ascertain their health status.

• Relief efforts in Gaza will be forced to stop on Wednesday night unless fuel supplies get in, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned. Hospitals, bakeries and water pumps may also cease to function. Oxfam accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Gaza civilians.

• A school sheltering Palestinians in Gaza sustained “severe collateral damage” due to a “close proximity strike”, UNRWA said. One civilian was killed and 44 more were injured, including nine children, it said. The UN says about 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now internally displaced.

• An Al Jazeera correspondent’s entire immediate family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Wael al-Dahdouh had fled with his family to the Nuseirat camp after Israel warned those in the northern half of the territory to leave. Al-Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in the airstrike late on Tuesday, which came amid an overnight surge of deadly Israeli attacks.

• A Red Cross mission to assess the state of Gaza’s hospitals has described scenes of chaos and exhaustion in the face of a total blockade, a critical fuel shortage and relentless Israeli bombing.

• The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “shocked” by what he called the Israeli government misrepresenting his remarks to the UN to suggest he had justified the Hamas attacks of 7 October. Israel has called for his resignation and moved to withdraw travel visas for UN officials.

• Israel has “wholeheartedly” rejected Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s assertion that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. Erdoğan told MPs from his party that Hamas “is a liberation group, mujahideen, defending their lands”. Erdoğan also announced he had cancelled a planned trip to Israel.

• The prime minister of Qatar has said he hopes there will soon be a breakthrough in negotiations it is leading for the release of hostages held by Hamas, although his government has warned that an Israel invasion could jeopardise those efforts.

• The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has called for pauses to the fighting to let humanitarian aid reach those in need. Sunak in the Commons on Wednesday expressly avoided backing a total ceasefire.

• Emmanuel Macron said he believed it would be an “error” if Israel launched a “massive” ground incursion into Gaza. The French president was holding talks in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who also urged efforts “to avoid a ground invasion”.

• Israel’s blockade hollowed out Gaza’s economy and left 80% of its inhabitants dependent on international aid even before the current crisis erupted, the UN has said. It said a “decades-long” blockade had left two-thirds of Gaza’s population living in poverty and unemployment at 45%.

• The US has expressed deep disappointment at the UN security council after Russia vetoed its latest draft resolution upholding the right of Israel to “collective self-defence” and for “humanitarian pauses” to let aid into Gaza.