Israeli troops, tanks launch ground attack on Gaza as authorities say over 7,000 killed

Israeli forces carried out a ground attack on Gaza as Arab leaders spoke out against Israel bombarding the enclave in response to Hamas' 7 October attacks.

An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip, in a position near the Israel-Gaza border. Source: AAP / Tsafrir Abayov/AP

Key Points

• Israeli forces carried out a ground atack on Gaza.
• Gaza authorities say over 7,000 killed since 7 October, but others dispute figure.
• Arab leaders spoke out against Israel's bombardment of Gaza in its war against Hamas.

Israeli forces carried out their biggest Gaza ground attack overnight in their war with Hamas as anger grew in the Arab world over Israel's relentless bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Israeli troops were still preparing for a full ground invasion, while the US and other countries urged Israel to delay, fearing it could ignite hostilities on other Middle East fronts.

The UN agency providing aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza said it may soon have to shut down operations if no fuel reaches the Hamas-ruled territory amid a desperate need for shelter, water, food and medical services.

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Israel has bombarded the densely populated Gaza Strip following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israeli communities. Israel says Hamas killed some 1,400 people including children, and took more than 200 hostages, some of them infants and older adults.

Gaza's health ministry said on Thursday that 7,028 Palestinians had been killed in the retaliatory air strikes, including 2,913 children.

The US State Department said Washington knows that a significant number of people have died in Gaza but does not have independent confirmation of numbers, and it does not trust figures released by Hamas.

The Israeli military has also said Hamas figures cannot be trusted, but has not provided its own assessment. Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra rejected statements questioning the figures.

Palestinians cry outside a hospital in Deir Al-Balah, south of the Gaza Strip. Source: AAP / Hatem Moussa/AP

The ministry on Thursday published a document which it said contains the names of all the victims who have been identified and their ID numbers.

Israeli army radio said the military had overnight staged its biggest incursion into northern Gaza of the current war. Armoured vehicles crossed the fortified border and blew up buildings, a military video showed.

"Tanks and infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts," it said.

Palestinians said Israeli air strikes pounded the territory again overnight and people in central Gaza reported intensive tank shelling all night.

US strikes two Syrian facilities

The US military carried out strikes on Thursday against two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and groups it backs, the Pentagon said.

"These precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

"These Iranian-backed attacks against US forces are unacceptable and must stop," Austin said.

Biden has sent a rare message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Tehran against targeting US personnel in the Middle East, the White House said earlier on Thursday.

Arab countries condemn Israel attacks

With no sign of a let-up in Gaza, the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates condemned what they called the targeting of civilians and violations of international law.

Their joint statement said Israel's right to self-defence did not justify breaking the law and neglecting Palestinians' rights. The Arab ministers condemned forced displacement and collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza.

They also criticised Israel's occupation of Palestinian areas and called for more efforts to implement a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict - an idea at the heart of long-moribund peacemaking.

Yocheved Lifshitz speaks to the media outside Ichilov Hospital after she was released by Hamas last night, on October 24, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Last night, two hostages taken by Hamas on October 7th, Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz, were released to the Red Cross within Gaza and returned to Israel. This followed the release of two other hostages, both US nationals, who were released on Saturday. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images) Source: Getty / Alexi J. Rosenfeld

"The absence of a political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has led to repeated acts of violence and suffering for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and the peoples of the region," it said.

Support for Israel came from European governments.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday will send a clear signal of backing for Israel.

"We can be certain that the Israeli army will respect the rules that arise from international law in everything it does," Scholz said.

But reflecting divisions within the bloc, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned Israel against starving Gaza.

Concerns for hostages taken by Hamas

Concern also grew over the fate of more than 200 hostages seized by Hamas in the 7 October assault and taken to Gaza.

An off-duty Israeli soldier walks by an installation of blindfolded giant teddy bears adorned with photos of Israelis held captive in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel. The installation represents 200 people who were abducted by Hamas militants. Source: AAP / Oded Balilty/AP

A spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said on Thursday about 50 captives had been killed in Gaza due to Israeli strikes. He gave no further details and Reuters was unable to verify the numbers.

Israel says there are 224 hostages, whose presence complicates any Israeli ground invasion. This includes a number of foreign passport holders. Hamas has freed four captives since Friday.

A Qatari negotiator told Sky News that a pause in fighting could help get more hostages released in coming days.

Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al Khulaifi said: "It's a very, very difficult negotiation ... With the bombing continuing every day, our task becomes more difficult. But despite that we remain hopeful."

Gaza critically low on fuel

Around midday on Thursday, Nasser hospital officials said, Israel bombed an area not far from an UNRWA shelter for displaced people, killing at least 18 people.

Israel said its forces had struck a Hamas missile launch post in the Khan Younis area that was next to a mosque and kindergarten. It was unclear whether the two sides were referring to the same incident.

Many Palestinians are sheltering in Khan Younis hospitals, schools, homes and refugee camps and on the street after Israel warned them to leave their homes in the north.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it urgently needed fuel to maintain life-saving humanitarian operations in Gaza. Israel has refused to let in fuel with aid shipments, saying it could be seized by Hamas.

The Israeli military says Hamas is holding large reserves of fuel for its own operations and for tunnel ventilation which could be used by hospitals.

More than 613,000 people made homeless by the war are sheltering in 150 UNRWA facilities across the shattered territory.