Top Israeli officials vowed to punish the Gaza Strip following an unprecedented and deadly incursion into Israel by Hamas.
Israel formally declared war on Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for Saturday’s surprise attack. The hostilities so far have killed around 700 people in Israel and 493 people in Gaza, according to authorities on each side.
READ MORE: What Israel’s declaration of war means, and other takeaways from the weekend’s fighting
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel.
Israel’s military scoured the country’s south for remaining militants and pounded Gaza from the air. Rockets launched from Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, set off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
“I ask you to stand firm because we are going to change the Middle East,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told authorities from southern Israel. “I know you have been through terrible and difficult things. What Hamas will go through will be difficult and terrible … We have only just begun.”
UN leader ‘distressed’ by Israel’s plans for a Gaza siege
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres says he’s “deeply distressed” by Israel’s announcement of a complete siege on the Gaza Strip.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities. Now, it will only deteriorate exponentially,” Guterres said at a news conference Monday.
He spoke after the Israeli defense minister said he had ordered a cutoff of electricity and deliveries of food, fuel and other supplies to the territory.
Guterres called for U.N. access to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. He pressed the international community to provide immediate support for the humanitarian effort.
Turkey’s leader holds calls with Palestinian, Israeli presidents
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held back-to-back telephone calls with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, according to Erdogan’s press office.
Erdogan and Abbas discussed the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. “President Erdogan stated that Turkey is making every effort to end the conflicts in the region and ensure calm as soon as possible” a statement from his press office said.
In his call with Herzog, “President Erdogan emphasized that any step that could harm the people of Gaza collectively and indiscriminately will further increase the suffering and spiral of violence in the region.” the presidential office statement said.
Erdogan also told his Israeli counterpart that its “necessary to act with common sense and that establishing tranquility in the region as soon as possible is of great importance for the well-being of the entire region.”
European leaders and U.S. president plan to discuss Israel
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he and French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the situation in Israel with U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak late Monday.
Scholz, who was hosting Macron at a joint German-French Cabinet retreat in Hamburg, called Hamas’ attack on Israel “barbaric.” But he added that Germany, France, the U.S. and the U.K. agree that there must not be a “conflagration” in the region, and “no one should further fuel terror in this situation.”
Macron pledged his “full support and solidarity for Israel.” He spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time in three days and spoke spoke over the weekend with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
International aid group warns of ‘utter disaster’ in Gaza
The secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, an international aid organization, warns that the Israeli government’s vow to besiege and blockade the Gaza Strip would spell “utter disaster” for the more than 2 million Palestinians living in the small territory.
Jan Egeland’s comments came after Israel’s defense minister ordered a “complete siege” on Gaza after an unprecedented incursion by Hamas fighters into Israel early Saturday. Israel formally declared war on Sunday and has since retaliated against Hamas for the attack.
“There is no doubt that collective punishment is in violation of international law. It’s clear as that.” Egeland told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “If and when it would lead to wounded children dying in hospitals because of a lack of energy, electricity, and supplies, it could amount to war crimes.”
Egeland also slammed donor countries for halting humanitarian assistance to Gaza after the unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on Saturday.
France reports uptick in antisemetic acts
French police have arrested 10 people in connection with antisemitic acts that were reported since the latest fighting between Israel and Hamas militants began.
The 20 reported incidents included threats to synagogues or people frequenting Jewish stores, the interior minister said Monday.
Prosecutors have also opened 44 investigations into antisemitic hate speech online or posts glorifying terrorism in connection with the violence, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin’s office.
While France’s sees sporadic acts targeting Jews or Muslims, Darmanin said the number of antisemitic incidents since Saturday was ″dramatic.″
France has the world’s largest Jewish population after Israel and the U.S.
Two French citizens are confirmed dead in Israel following the outbreak of violence. At least eight others are missing or believed held hostage, according to a lawmaker who represents French people abroad.
Militant group says it sent gunmen into Israel from Lebanon
A Palestinian militant group claims it sent four gunmen across Lebanon’s border into Israel as part of the Hamas-led attack that started over the weekend.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement that seven Israeli soldiers were wounded in Monday’s cross-border operation.
The Israeli Defense Forces reported earlier that its troops shot and killed several gunmen who crossed into the country from Lebanon. Israel also intensified shelling of southern Lebanon in response to the incident.
The Lebanese military called on residents of border towns to “take the utmost precautions.” Families in several towns in southern Lebanon started fleeing north as the Israeli shelling continued.
UN agency near capacity for displaced Palestinians in Gaza
The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, says it is near maximum capacity in accommodating internally displaced people in Gaza.
The agency’s director of external communications, Tamara Alrifai, said Monday that nearly 137,000 people have sheltered so far in over 70 U.N. schools around Gaza. Alrifai said the agency can host up to 150,000 people at up to 79 schools around the territory.
She added there is fuel in Gaza that could last for up to 10 days.
Families near Lebanon-Israel border flee under shelling
Families in several border towns in southern Lebanon have started fleeing north as Israeli shelling continues in the area.
An Associated Press team saw several cars packed with people and belongings departing Monday. “We tried to flee Ait el-Shaab to Rmeish, but they told us everyone has to stay in their area,” a man said as he and his family tried to flee.
Israeli shelling intensified after four militants crossed over the border and clashed with Israeli Defense Forces troops on Monday. Several rockets were fired from near the Lebanese border earlier. A Hezbollah spokesperson denied the militant group’s involvement in the operation.
Arab League schedules meeting at request of Palestinians
Arab foreign ministers plan to convene Wednesday in Cairo for a meeting on the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki said the ministers would discuss Arab efforts to “stop the Israeli aggression” on Gaza.
The meeting was called by the Palestinians.
French citizens confirmed dead in Israel-Gaza fighting
Two French citizens have been confirmed dead in the fighting, the French Foreign Ministry said Monday, without elaborating. Several others (or dual citizens) are unaccounted for believed missing or held hostage.
European Union suspends payments to Palestinians
European Union Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said Monday that the bloc is suspending “all payments immediately” to the Palestinians because of what he called he called the “scale of terror and brutality” during the attacks of Hamas against Israel.
The surprise announcement by Varhelyi came just hours after EU officials stressed that no EU money had been going to Hamas and that contacts had been frozen for 16 years. The EU considers Hamas a terror group.
U.S. senator welcomes China’s new statement on Hamas attack
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer says he is grateful for a strengthened statement from China condemning the killing and kidnapping of Israeli and foreign civilians by Hamas.
During a bipartisan congressional visit to Beijing, Schumer had said earlier Monday that he was very disappointed by China’s failure to strongly condemn the militant group’s attack on Israel or to express sympathy for the country and its people.
Schumer led a delegation of six senators to China for talks aimed at stabilizing ties following a sharp deterioration in recent years over trade, U.S. support for self-governing Taiwan, human rights and other issues.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that China is “deeply saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the conflict between Palestine and Israel.”
State Department: 9 Americans are among the dead in Israel
The U.S. State Department said Monday that at least nine American citizens have been killed in the weekend Hamas attacks on Israel, raising the toll from four.
The State Department says an undetermined number of American citizens remain missing and unaccounted for. It is not clear whether the missing had been taken hostage, were killed or are in hiding.
The State Department is in touch with families “and providing all appropriate consular assistance,” spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Israel reports killing gunmen who came from Lebanon
Israeli troops shot and killed several gunmen who crossed into the country from Lebanon, the Israeli Defense Forces said without specifying the number of people killed nor their alleged affiliation.
Local media quoted Hezbollah officials on Monday as denying their involvement in the border incident. Iran-backed Hezbollah has praised key ally Hamas for its unprecedented weekend incursion into Israel but not said if it would attempt to join forces.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, four gunmen crossed Lebanon’s southern border into Israeli territory from the border town of Dahaira before coming across an IDF position.
Israeli and Lebanese troops deployed in large numbers over the weekend along the U.N-demarcated Blue Line border that separates the two countries.
Hezbollah fired rockets Sunday at Israeli positions in disputed territory in southern Lebanon. Senior Hezbollah official Hashim Safieddine later said the volley was intended to “send a message.”
In response, Israel shelled the positions where the rockets came from.
Russian minister and Arab League chief meet in Moscow
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit met Monday in Moscow but did not announce any immediate steps in response to the violence in Israel and Gaza.
“As for mediation efforts, first of all the parties themselves must stop hostilities. Everything else can be decided later in a normal, non-military situation,” Lavrov said following the meeting.
Before speaking with Russia’s top diplomat, Aboul Gheit said: “We completely reject violence from both sides. … We demand the creation of political perspectives and fair solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
