Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz have decided to create an emergency cabinet in order to strengthen security decision-making in the face of the ongoing battle with Hamas.
The Gaza Strip's lone operating power plant has now run out of fuel, owing to Israel's continuous "complete siege" of the enclave and its more than two million inhabitants.
As missiles rain down on Israel and the Gaza Strip for the seventh day in a row, the dead toll rises.
The Israeli military says it is assembling troops near the Gaza Strip in response to a deadly multipronged offensive by the Palestinian militant group Hamas over the weekend.
The U.S., whose State Secretary Antony Blinken is due to arrive in Israel on Thursday, is discussing a possible humanitarian corridor from the Gaza Strip with Egypt, amid U.N. concerns over damage against civilians. The Hamas terrorist offensive of Saturday also targeted civilian sites, including a music festival.
Rippling into the financial sphere, the Israeli crisis could affect the oil markets, a top Russian official warned. Crude prices are typically sensitive to political turbulence in the Middle East, where much of the world’s oil production is based.resident Joe Biden said his administration warned Iran to be careful after Hamas’ attacks on Israel.
After listing aid the U.S. is sending to Israel, Biden “made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful.”
The president made the remarks at a roundtable of Jewish leaders at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
Sources tell NBC News that U.S. intelligence shows Iranian leaders were surprised by Hamas’ attack on Israel, but White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that Iran was “complicit” in the attack because it has backed Hamas for decades.
Biden called the attack by Hamas “pure cruelty.”
“I would argue it’s the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” Biden said.