Live updates | Day 8 of the latest Israel-Hamas war

    Jersualem, Oct 15 (AP) Israel's military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came Friday on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza. Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear that Israel ultimately hopes to push Gaza's people out through the southern border with Egypt.
    Currently:
    1. People are struggling to flee from northern Gaza while also grappling with a growing water crisis after Israel stopped the flow of resources to the Gaza Strip
    2. No decision on a ground offensive has been announced, although Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border
    3. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing one and wounding six
    4. The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7
    5. United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has assured Israel: "We have your back"
    Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
    MONITOR SAYS ISRAEL ATTACKS AIRPORT IN NORTHERN SYRIA
     BEIRUT — A Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet say Israel's military has attacked the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo, putting it out of service.
    Al-Watan daily said the Saturday night strike hit the runway of Aleppo airport — putting it out of service just hours after it was fixed following a similar Israeli strike on Thursday.
    The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that the strike also hit the runway at Aleppo airport.
    The attack on Aleppo airport came shortly after a rocket was reportedly fired from Syria into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
    On Thursday, Israeli struck the runways in Aleppo and Damascus International Airport. Aleppo was fixed within a day before it was again targeted Saturday.
    There was no immediate comment from Israel's military, which rarely confirms such strikes.
    WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SENDS SUPPLIES FOR GAZA
     A planeload of World Health Organization supplies has landed at Egypt's el-Arish airport and is destined for Gaza when humanitarian access across the border is possible, the UN said Saturday.
    The cache includes enough basic essentials for 300,000 people and enough trauma medicines and materials for 1,200 wounded, the UN said in a release. It called for opening the Rafah border crossing immediately to humanitarian deliveries.
    "The critically injured, the sick and the vulnerable cannot wait," the world body said.
    ISRAEL SAYS IT IS STRIKING MILITARY TARGETS IN SYRIA
    TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says it is striking targets in Syria after air raid sirens went off in two villages in northern Israel and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
    In a statement, the military did not say what set off the sirens. It said it was firing artillery to strike back.
    The incident is the latest in a continued flare-up along Israel's northern border with Lebanon and Syria after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli communities set off a war with Israel.
    FAMILIES OF ISRAELI HOSTAGES SAY SOME OF THEIR LOVED ONES NEED MEDICINE
     TEL AVIV, Israel — The relatives of Israelis taken captive by Hamas are demanding Saturday that the militant group allow in medicine to hostages who require it, saying their loved ones are suffering.
    "Every day without her medication is torture. She's being tortured," said Yifat Zailer, who said her kidnapped 63-year-old aunt has Parkinson's disease. She was taken along with several other family members, Zailer said.
    In its assault on southern Israeli communities, Hamas militants captured dozens of Israelis and some foreign or dual nationals, including children, women and the elderly, dragging them into the Gaza Strip.
    Israeli military spokesman Read Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday Israel had so far identified 126 captives. Their fate becomes more complicated as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza.
    GERMANY TO START EVACUATING CITIZENS FROM ISRAEL
     BERLIN — The German army will start evacuating its citizens from Israel with military airplanes. German news agency dpa reported that two A400M military transports were on their way from Germany to Israel on Saturday evening and further flights were planned, according to the German defense ministry.
    In recent days, the German government helped with the evacuation of around 2,800 German citizens and their family members from Israel following Hamas' attack on the country a week ago.
    So far, they were predominantly flown out by civilian airplanes or brought across the border to Jordan by buses. German carrier Lufthansa stopped its scheduled flights from Israel at the beginning of the week, but it deployed a limited number of evacuation flights which ended on Saturday.
    More than 100,000 residents of Israel hold dual German and Israeli citizenship.
    HEZBOLLAH FIGHTER DIES DURING EXCHANGE WITH ISRAELI TROOPS    BEIRUT — Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group says one of its fighters was killed during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops on Saturday.
    Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV identified the dead fighter as Ali Youssef Alaaeddine. It gave no other details, saying his death happened "during the Zionist aggression on south Lebanon today."
    Alaaeddine is the fourth Hezbollah fighter killed since tensions increased along the Lebanon-Israel border following the deadly attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel October 7. The war has since claimed at least 3,200 lives.
    ERDOGAN'S SON JOINS PRO-PALESTINIAN MARCH IN ISTANBUL
     ISTANBUL — The son of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated in a large pro-Palestinian march in Istanbul on Saturday. Bilal Erdogan was accompanied by former Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and former speaker of Turkish parliament Mustafa Sentop.
    "Let us make clear our side, we should at least let our feelings be heard," Erdogan told The Associated Press.
    The crowd of over 1,000 people carried Palestinian and Turkish flags while chanting slogans criticizing Israel and the United States.
    Speaking to the AP, Sentop said, "Everyone with a conscience, regardless of race or religion, are displaying their sentiments toward this genocide."
    JAPANESE CHARTER FLIGHT WITH EVACUEES LEAVES ISRAEL
     TOKYO — Japan's Foreign Ministry says a Japanese government-arranged charter flight carrying eight Japanese nationals in Israel departed from Tel Aviv and was expected to arrive in Dubai on Sunday.
    Fifty-one other Japanese nationals were separately evacuated by South Korea's military aircraft, along with 163 South Koreans and six Singaporeans.
    About 1,250 Japanese nationals were in Israel as of October 2022, according to government data.
    LEBANESE STATE MEDIA SAYS ISRAELI SHELLING HAS KILLED 2 IN CHEBAA    BEIRUT — Lebanon's state news agency says Israeli shelling of a Lebanese border village killed a man and his wife.
    The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along Lebanon's border with Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops.
    National News Agency said Khalil Hachem and his wife, Rabad Akoum, were killed in the shelling of the Lebanese border village of Chebaa.
    Hezbollah said its fighters struck several Israeli military positions in the disputed Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba hills in the afternoon. It added that hours later, Hezbollah gunmen fired rockets and shells toward an Israeli position in the area inflicting damage.
    ISRAELI MILITARY ANNOUNCES IT IS PREPARED FOR COORDINATED' OFFENSIVE
     JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has prepared a "coordinated" offensive in the Gaza Strip involving air, ground and naval forces.
    In a statement on its website Saturday night, the army said it is "preparing to implement a wide range of offensive operative plans."
    Israel has ordered roughly half of Gaza's population to evacuate their homes ahead of an expected ground offensive in response to a brutal cross-border Hamas attack.
    Israel has not said when the offensive will begin.
    HAMAS OFFICIAL SAYS PALESTINIANS WILL NOT MIGRATE TO EGYPT
     BEIRUT — A top official with the militant Hamas group says the people of Gaza will not migrate from the strip to Egypt.
    In a televised speech Saturday, Ismail Haniyeh said that "all the massacres" will not break the Palestinian people.
    "There will be no migration from Gaza to Egypt," he said, adding that "our decision is to stay in our land."
    Haniyeh said Israel suffered a "strategic strike" and that last week's attacks by Hamas that have killed more than 3,200 are an indication the end of Israel's occupation is near.
    Haniyeh said the aim of Hamas is to liberate the land and set Palestinian prisoners free, and that the blockade in Gaza be lifted.
    
    HEAD OF GAZA'S LARGEST HOSPITAL SAYS 35,000 PEOPLE ARE SHELTERING IN HOSPITAL COMPLEX
     GAZA CITY, Gaza — Medical officials say an estimated 35,000 have crammed into the grounds of Gaza City's main hospital, seeking refugee ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive.
    Mohammad Abu Selim, general director of Shifa Hospital, confirmed that massive crowds had thronged the building and the courtyard outside. Shifa is the largest hospital in the entire Gaza Strip.
    "People think this is the only safe space after their homes were destroyed and they were forced to flee," said Dr. Medhat Abbas, a Health Ministry official. "Gaza City is a frightening scene of devastation."
    The Israeli military has ordered roughly half of Gaza's population, including all of Gaza City, to evacuate as it prepares to send in ground forces.
    Israel has been bombing Gaza into rubble for the past week, killing more than 2,200 and counting in response to a cross-border Hamas attack.
    
    30 TURKISH CITIZENS HAVE EVACUATED FROM ISRAEL, TURKEY SAYS
     ISTANBUL — The Turkish government says it has successfully evacuated 30 citizens out of Israel.
    Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking to reporter alongside his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, said the citizens were among roughly 300 people with dual Turkish-Israeli citizenship in Gaza. He reiterated Turkey's condemnation of "any attack aimed at innocent civilians."
    The Israeli Embassy in Turkey announced on social media Thursday that one Turkish citizen had been killed in Hamas' attack and that another citizen could not be reached.
    DEATH TOLL OF ROMANIANS IN ISRAEL RISES TO 4
     BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday that two more Romanian citizens have been killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, bringing the total number of Romanians who have died since Hamas attacked Israel a week ago to four.
    All four of the deceased held duel Romanian-Israeli citizenship and resided in Israel. The ministry also said Saturday that another duel citizen is missing and that the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv is communication with the Israeli authorities over the matter. (AP) CK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)