Days of intense violence. Inside gaza, it looks every bit as if palestinians are feeling the full force of Israeli Military power. Israel says hamas is responsible for the suffering of gazas civilians. And its retaliation for the hamas attack is only just begun. Hamas has threatened to start killing its israeli hostages. The air strikes rolled on, hour after hour. Palestinian armed groups, undeterred, kept up their own barrage of israel. 0ur bbc team was in ashkelon in southern israel, not far from the gaza border when a salvo came in. Ashkelon is so close to gaza that there is no more than a ten second warning. Israel is moving in more fire power. The next stage of the offensive against hamas looks certain to be a Ground Offensive, much bigger than other incursions since hamas took over in gaza in 2007. Lines of cars outside a Military Base on the road to gaza were parked by reservists as they reported for duty, getting ready, saying their goodbyes. Parents came to the base for a few
Step against hamas at this hour. The idf confirms it has taken over control of the gaza side of the rafah border crossing. It connects the war torn territory to egypt. Officials say the operation was very precise and very limited, and say it was only in specific areas of eastern rafah. This is the first significant military action israel has taken in that part of the enclave, where more than a million palestinians are taking refuge. Israel claims the gaza side of the crossing was being used for terror activity. The idf says hamas fired mortars toward israels border from the area of the crossing over the weekend. Four idf soldiers were killed, several others were hurt. Israel says the operation is not yet over. 20 hamas militants were reportedly killed today while israel was taking control of the gaza side of the crossing. Three Terror Shafts were also apparently found in the area, and many questions still remain right now. And right now, its not clear if humanitarian aid is still being
Nearly 1600 were wounded after the retaliatory action into the gaza strip. Dozens of Israeli Soldiers and civilians are being held hostage, as part of an unprecedented attack by Palestinian Militants on israeli territory. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is at war. His government says the Palestinian Militant Group hamas launched more than 2,000 rockets into the country, killing at least 100 people, ani and wounding nearly a thousand. Officials in the gaza strip say at least 198 people have been killed there, in retaliatory israeli strikes. an12 in retaliatory israeli strikes. The barrage of rocket fire from gaza into israeli territory began just after dawn, with explosions heard on the streets of ashkelon. Sderot is one of the towns thought to have been infiltrated by militants. With the latest on this fast escalating conflict, heres our middle east correspondent Yolande Knell and a warning that you may find some of her report upsetting. Israeli partygoers f
Are we now . Its been a busy few hours. Where are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon is are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon is from are we now . Yes, The Big Story so far this afternoon is from the far this afternoon is from the capital, london, where sadiq khan is in a really good place. Let me show you the latest up to date numbers, which show that the incumbent is on 560,000 votes, just about. Susan hall, the conservative, is on 386,000, thats about half the constituencies having counted. That is a big lead. I should say that the areas weve had in, some of them are very proud labour. But the thing that really matters here, that makes us think it is a slam dunk for sadiq khan is this. The swing that we are seeing across london from the conservatives to labour. Its been slightly different in different parts of the city, but overall, the average at the moment, 3. 7 swing from conservative to labour.
House of the United States House Of Representatives is hereby declared vacant. Mccarthys cardinal sin, say his critics, was working with President Biden and the democrats on a last minute Budget Agreement to avoid a Government Shutdown last weekend. Lets take a closer look at the lawmakers who want to take his place. Jim jordan of ohio was first elected to congress in 2007. And on friday morning his bid got a major boost. Former Preident Donald trump Writing On Truth Social jordan is one of trumps biggest congressional allies, receiving the president ial medal of freedom from trump in a closed door ceremonyjust days after the 6 january capitol riot in 2021. Jordan is 59 years old. He currently chairs the Housejudiciary Committee where he launched several investigations into President Biden, his son hunter, and the fbi. He is also a founder and former chairman of the ultraconservative House Freedom caucus and was among more than 100 republicans who voted against 300 million in aid for u