Israel defence minister tells troops they will soon see Gaza "from the inside" Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian territory “from the inside”, according to his office. A statement from his office quoted Gallant as saying: You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come. His remarks suggest a ground invasion could be nearing. Israel’s military have previously said that its forces were deployed across the country, increasing operational readiness for the next stages of the war, “with an emphasis on significant ground operations”. It is 2:00 am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here is where things stand: Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian territory “from the inside”. Gallant urged the forces to “get organised, be ready” for an order to move in, suggesting an Israeli ground invasion could be nearing. Israel is likely to launch a bloody ground assault on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, the former prime minister Ehud Barak said in an NBC interview. The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it’s ready, Israel’s economy minister, Nir Barkat, said in an interview with the US’s ABC network. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after Joe Biden’s whirlwind visit to Israel on Wednesday. Biden said Israel had agreed to allow the opening of the Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing to deliveries of desperately needed food, water and medical supplies on condition that the humanitarian assistance was not diverted by Hamas for its own use. The Rafah crossing is not expected to open Friday for a convoy of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, CNN reported, citing multiple sources. “I would not put money on those trucks going through tomorrow,” one source told the news outlet. US officials now expect the first convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid will cross into Gaza from Egypt this weekend, possibly Saturday, the report says. Egyptian state media earlier reported that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would be opened on Friday to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It comes after Israel, the White House and Egypt confirmed that limited aid will be allowed to travel into Gaza through the crossing. The source told CNN that the situation is “really volatile” and that there are a lot of other details to make sure the aid is sustained, not a one off. The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has said Gaza “needs aid at scale and on a sustained basis”. Lack of access to water is one of the biggest challenges in Gaza, according to the international charity Action Against Hunger, which is warning of “a health crisis on the brink of explosion”. The UN estimates that there are fewer than 3 litres of water per person each day for the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, half of whom are children who are most at risk from water shortages and diarrhoeal infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) said its trucks were “loaded and ready to go” as soon as the Rafah crossing was opened – “hopefully tomorrow”. The WHO director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the agency was “gravely concerned about the health and wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, who are suffering from bombardment and siege” and about the attacks on healthcare in both Gaza and Israel. Eight Palestinians were killed in an ongoing Israeli military operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s police said an officer was also killed during clashes. At least 21 journalists have been killed since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, the majority in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The CPJ reported that, as of this Thursday, 17 Palestinian, three Israeli, and one Lebanese journalist had died since Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October, followed by the ongoing bombardments of Gaza by Israel. Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have condemned the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza as they met in Cairo for talks on the Israel-Hamas war. Sisi and King Abdullah also warned of the dangers of a regional spillover. The US state department has issued a worldwide caution alert advising American citizens overseas “to exercise increased caution”. The US state department cited “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against US citizens and interests”. The US and British embassies in Beirut have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon while flights “remain available” as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over the Israel-Hamas war. Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon. Israel is counting on the UK’s “continuous support” in what will be a “long war” with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told Rishi Sunak, as the two leaders met in Tel Aviv. Sunak flew to Saudi Arabia later on Thursday in efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and prevent a wider regional conflict. Sunak and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “agreed to coordinate action” to avoid any further escalation in the region, Downing Street said after a meeting. The UK prime minister “encouraged” Saudi Arabia to use its influence to “support stability” in the region, a No 10 spokesperson said. At least nine British nationals are confirmed to have died and a further seven are missing after the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, a Downing Street spokesperson has said. The US state department said 32 Americans have been killed in Israel. Eleven US citizens remain unaccounted for, Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the state department, said at a news conference on Thursday. The Philippines embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed the death of another Filipino national, bringing the country’s death toll to four. The US president, Joe Biden, will address the nation later today to discuss the US’s response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the war in Ukraine, less than 24 hours after returning from Tel Aviv to offer Israelis support and aid for Palestinians in a trip upended by a hospital blast in Gaza. A second plane of humanitarian aid from the EU was due to land in Egypt on Thursday afternoon to help people in Gaza, a spokesperson for the European Commission said. Together with a flight yesterday, it will amount to 54 tonnes of humanitarian aid including hygiene and sanitation products, food, water and shelter. More than 60 international charities – including Action Aid UK, Bond, Cafod, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK – have signed a statement calling on the UK government to step up its efforts to secure an urgent ceasefire in Israel and Gaza. The US intelligence community assesses that there likely were between 100 and 300 people killed in the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to unclassified intelligence. The US National Security Council said on Wednesday that the US government assessed that Israel “was not responsible” for the Gaza hospital blast. The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza. This is Helen Sullivan taking over our live coverage. I’ll be with you throughout the night. The Lebanese civilian killed on the border with Israel on Thursday was a member of the media, the Lebanese army said in a statement. The statement reads: A journalist team of seven people covering news... near the Israeli enemy’s al-Abad site outside the town of Hula, was targeted with machine guns by enemy members, killing one and injuring another. Earlier, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (Unifil) said one person had been killed after civilians were caught in cross-border fire in Lebanon’s south. Germany is stepping up its support for Palestinian civilians in Gaza with emergency humanitarian aid amounting to €50m (£43.6m), foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said. The aid will support international organisations such as the World Food Programme, the UN’s children agency (Unicef) and the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa), Baerbock told journalists in Amman on Thursday. Baerbock, during a joint press conference with her Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, said: This crisis situation, which was acutely triggered by the terrible terrorist attacks by Hamas, also means a catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. Here’s more on the reports that the Rafah crossing may not open tomorrow for humanitarian aid to get to the Gaza Strip, despite earlier reports that Egypt was preparing to open its side of the crossing on Friday morning. Rafah crossing not expected to open Friday - report The Rafah crossing is not expected to open Friday for a convoy of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, CNN reported, citing multiple sources. “I would not put money on those trucks going through tomorrow,” one source told the news outlet. Egyptian state media earlier reported that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would be opened tomorrow to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It comes after Israel, the White House and Egypt confirmed that limited aid will be allowed to travel into Gaza through the crossing. The source told CNN that the situation is “really volatile” and that there are a lot of other details to make sure the aid is sustained, not a one off. They said: These people have been waiting for food, for medicine and for water. If they’re told 20 trucks are coming in and we don’t know when is next it’s going to create a really dangerous situation. If I were in that situation, if I didn’t think there would be more trucks, I’d do everything I could to get what’s inside. US officials now expect the first convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid will cross into Gaza from Egypt this weekend, possibly Saturday, the report says. Israel security officials have signalled their readiness to embark on a ground offensive into Gaza that they say will be far more comprehensive and ferocious than any previous conflict with Hamas. Following a Hamas attack on 7 October that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, Israel has called up 360,000 reservists, and amassed a huge army around Gaza’s narrow coastal strip, while reinforcing defences on the northern border against the possibility of an attack from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Joe Biden left Israel after a day of talks on Wednesday, saying that US and Israeli officials had discussed “alternatives” to a mass ground offensive into Gaza, which will almost certainly cause large-scale civilian casualties. More than 3,000 Palestinians have already died in the enclave from the past 12 days of aerial bombardment. Israeli officials however are adamant that they have no choice but launch a massive assault, codenamed Operation Swords of Iron. Over the past 16 years since the militant movement seized power in Gaza, they argue, Israel has fought three significant conflicts with Hamas, but they said those campaigns were aimed at keeping Hamas in check rather than destroying it. “The strategy was to have a longer gap every time between the different conflicts, but it failed and it cannot happen any more,” a senior Israeli security official said. So the only conclusion is that we have to go in, we have to go in and clean it and to eliminate Hamas from the roots, not only militarily, but also economically, its administration. Everything should go away. “That’s the idea now and we are getting prepared for that,” the official said, and warned: It won’t be clear cut and it won’t be as short as we would like as Israelis. It will be a prolonged campaign. It will take time. Lebanese civilian killed while caught in exchange of fire on Israeli border A Lebanese civilian was killed on Thursday near the border with Israel and seven people were rescued after being stranded during an exchange of fire. The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (Unifil) said Lebanese forces requested assistance to bring back seven people stranded along the border with Israel during a “significant” exchange of fire. It said it had urged the Israeli military to suspend fire to facilitate the rescue operation, and Israel complied, allowing Lebanese troops to recover the seven. Tragically, one person lost his life during this incident and the others were successfully rescued. A Lebanese security source said the Lebanese civilian was killed by Israeli fire and another person was wounded, Reuters reported. The incident was around Hula, which lies in an area across the border from the village of Manara, the source said. Hezbollah said it fired rockets at an Israeli position in Manara and that Israel responded with shelling. Israeli jets struck three people in Lebanon who attempted to launch anti-tank missiles toward Israel, the military said in a later statement. The head of the Israel Defense Forces’ southern command said Israeli forces are finalizing their preparations before a ground invasion of Gaza. Maj Gen Yaron Finkelman, speaking to troops near the Gaza border, said the expected ground offensive in the Gaza Strip will be “long and intense”, the Times of Israel reported. “We are going to beat them in their territory,” he said. It’s going to be difficult, long and intense. Biden to deliver primetime address tonight on Israel, Ukraine The US president, Joe Biden, is set to deliver a primetime address tonight at 8pm eastern time (0000 GMT on Friday) in which he will discuss the US response to the wars between Israel and Hamas, as well as Ukraine and Russia. Biden’s remarks follow a brief visit to Tel Aviv in which he met with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the visit, Biden pledged support for Israel in its fight against Hamas but cautioned Israel to not be “consumed by rage”. He also urged Israel to “not repeat” the same mistakes the US made after 9/11. Biden’s speech comes as the House of Representatives remain in a weeks-long limbo as Republicans struggle to decide on a speaker. With the House essentially shut down and unable to pass legislation, Biden is expected to face hurdles in his likely additional requests for funds for both wars. We will be following Biden’s speech live on the blog, so stay tuned. A US state department official working on global arms transfers has resigned, citing his opposition to the Biden administration’s decision to continue military assistance to Israel. In a letter posted on LinkedIn, Josh Paul said that when he had joined the bureau of political-military affairs more than 11 years ago, he had made a promise to himself that he would stay “as long as I felt the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do”. He wrote: I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain. He described the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October as “not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities”. But I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people – and is not in the long-term American interest. Paul said that he could not work to support a set of policy decisions that include “rushing more arms to one side of the conflict”, which he believes to be “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse”.