<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel says it has launched a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/israel-hamas-conflict" rel="" target="_blank" title="major military operation"><span>major military operation</span></a><span> in the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a negotiating team to remain in Qatar for indirect talks with the militant group.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Defence Minister Israel Katz said Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with "great force". Netanyahu had vowed to escalate pressure with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The military operation in the Palestinian territory came a day after US President Donald Trump concluded his Middle East trip without a visit to Israel. There had been hope that his visit could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has prevented for more than two months.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/tornadoes-storm-us-multiple-states-multiple-people-dead-disaster/8fde477a-a7c6-424f-8474-47d2ba58b776" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>At least 27 dead as storms, tornadoes tear through US states</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An Israel official said that Netanyahu was in constant contact throughout the day with the negotiating team in Doha, Qatar, and US envoy Steve Witkoff, and instructed the team to remain there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't authorised to discuss the sensitive negotiations with the media.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamas, which released an Israeli-American hostage as a goodwill gesture before Trump's trip, insists on a deal that ends the war and leads to the withdrawal of Israeli forces – something Israel said that it won't agree to.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel's army said on social media it wouldn't stop until the hostages are returned and the militant group is dismantled. Israel believes as many as 23 hostages in Gaza are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of them.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/israel-launches-new-military-operation-in-gaza-strip/8ed04b8a-e889-448d-8d40-8cc2827742ec" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-latest-a-russian-drone-strike-in-northeastern-ukraine-kills-9-people-officials-say/019f6544-e226-4184-8f8a-066a2a695b74" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Russian drone strike in Ukraine kills 9 people, officials say</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than 150 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It said more than 3000 have been killed since Israel broke a January ceasefire on March 18.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Saturday afternoon, an Israeli strike killed at least four children in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. Seven others were wounded in the strike, which hit a house. A later strike in Jabaliya killed four, the hospital said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is unacceptable. Until when? Until we all die?" asked a sweating Naji Awaisa as he and others fled Jabaliya with their belongings down streets lined with shattered buildings. Smoke from airstrikes rose in the distance.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/man-who-stabbed-author-salman-rushdie-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison/5921bded-f3a6-4f9c-a837-850969f527e0" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Man throws final insults as he is jailed for 25 years for stabbing famous author</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Airstrikes around Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed 14 people, with the bodies arriving at al-Aqsa hospital. One strike on a house killed eight people, including parents and four children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A strike hit outside a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, killing four, the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There was no immediate Israeli comment on the strikes. A separate statement said that the military had killed dozens of fighters while dismantling an "underground route" in northern Gaza.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hundreds of protesters rallied on Saturday night in Tel Aviv, some holding photos of Palestinian children killed in Gaza, with others demanding a deal to end the war and bring all hostages home.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Let me be crystal clear. All of Israeli society, left, right, secular, religious, stands united in calling for a hostage deal. To miss this moment for a deal would be a betrayal of history, a stain that will never fade," Dalia Kushnir-Horn, sister-in-law of hostage Eitan Horn, told the crowd.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Month three of Israel's blockade</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gaza is in the third month of an Israeli blockade with no food, water, fuel or other goods entering the territory of more than two million people. Food security experts say Gaza will be in famine if the blockade isn't lifted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organisation that has US backing to take over aid delivery said that it expects to begin operations by the end of the month, after what it described as key agreements with Israeli officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation identified several US military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and security contractors to lead the effort.</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2023/10/07/23/12/hamas-attack-on-israel-conflict-escalates-in-pictures"><img alt="" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/GaJjiFxljgHhrs3TeIm0_z8n7lM=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fa6355205-e9b5-4174-93d4-a673adb6fd9c" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/GaJjiFxljgHhrs3TeIm0_z8n7lM=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fa6355205-e9b5-4174-93d4-a673adb6fd9c 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/IcX-wg3_-dIKPDfcXUs-K8Q--bY=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fa6355205-e9b5-4174-93d4-a673adb6fd9c 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">Civilians flee in Rafah as Israel pushes ahead with its offensive</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2023/10/07/23/12/hamas-attack-on-israel-conflict-escalates-in-pictures">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Many in the humanitarian community, including the UN, said that they won't participate, because the system doesn't align with humanitarian principles and won't be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, said Friday that there's already an aid delivery plan with 160,000 pallets of supplies ready to move: "It is ready to be activated – today – if we are simply allowed to do our jobs."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1200 people and abducting 251 others. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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