October 10, 2023 - Israel-Hamas war news

Israel’s defense minister said he has “released all restraints” on the Israel Defense Forces' troops in their fight against Hamas.

“Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors — we will eliminate him at the height of our power and without compromise,” Yoav Gallant told soldiers during an inspection of the front line along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The minister visited the IDF’s Gaza division headquarters in the Re’im military base. He also spoke to Shaldag fighters, paratroopers and soldiers at kibbutz Be’eri, one of the sites Hamas first targeted over the weekend. 

“We will be back here, in Be’eri, in a few months, and the situation will be different. We will settle the kibbutz to the last meter, and what happened in Gaza will not happen,” Gallant said. 

Airstrikes have been Israel’s primary retaliation measure so far in Gaza, with jets repeatedly pounding the heavily populated 140 square mile coastal strip, turning multiple buildings to rubble, displacing tens of thousands of people and sending waves of injured Palestinians to overwhelmed hospitals.

The death toll in the West Bank since Saturday has now risen to 21 killed and 130 injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

The West Bank is led by the Palestinian Authority. The Fatah party, a rival faction to Hamas, is the political backbone of the Palestinian Authority.

The deaths occurred in clashes due to Israeli “aggression” and many of the victims were shot, the ministry said.

Clashes erupted in several parts of the occupied West Bank amid a closure that was imposed by the Israeli army following Hamas' attack in southern Israel Saturday morning.

The streets of Ashdod have been deserted since Hamas launched its surprise attack on Saturday morning.

But the unmistakable sounds of the war are constant in this Israeli city, about 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of Gaza.

An intense and near continuous thunder of explosions has been heard from the Gaza Strip for more than 48 hours now. At the same time, rockets are being launched from the Gaza Strip.

When that happens, the sirens go off, giving residents about 45 seconds to find a shelter. Most of the buildings in Ashdod were built in the 1990s, during the city’s huge expansion following a wave of immigration from the Soviet Union. That means most apartments are equipped with shelters — a requirement for all buildings built here after 1993.

The vast majority of restaurants and cafes are shut, the sprawling beaches are closed and most people are staying inside.

For days now, the city has seen a heavy military presence and tensions are running high. At one point on Tuesday evening, about two dozen soldiers could be seen running outside and spending about 15 minutes patrolling a street in the city center before returning to one of the hotels that have become their hub.

Israeli soldiers killed three terrorists during a gun battle in the Ashkelon Industrial Area on Tuesday night, the IDF said.

 CNN crew heard a helicopter gunship and heavy machine-gun fire during the fight. The soldiers were also backed by an unmanned aerial vehicle, according to the IDF.

Flames broke out at the scene and fire crews are heading there, the IDF said. Israeli troops continue to search the area.

Ashkelon is just north of the Gaza Strip.

Germany will evacuate citizens from Israel on Thursday and Friday, the country's Foreign Office announced Tuesday. 

German airline Lufthansa will operate several special flights from Israel at the request of the Foreign Office. Citizens registered with the German crisis prevention list “ELEFAND“ will be informed Thursday morning about how to book tickets for the special flights with Lufthansa, the Foreign Office said. 

It was unclear how many German citizens or dual nationals are currently in Israel. 

Rockets were launched from Syria into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday.

The rockets landed in open areas, the IDF said.  

The IDF did not immediately provide details on damage or injuries. 

A Syrian eyewitness, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity for security reasons, said three rockets were launched in the direction of the Golan Heights.

According to the media activist group Shaam News Network, 12 rockets were launched from various Syrian locations close to the Israeli border. Of these, eight rockets landed inside Syria, while four flew toward the Golan Heights. It was not immediately clear where they landed.  

The Golan Heights is under Israeli government control and is considered to be occupied territory by the international community. 

Inside his apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Noy Leyb says he couldn’t sleep Friday night after news of Hamas’ surprise attack in Israel reached him as he was getting ready for bed after Shabbat dinner. 

The Israeli-Canadian, who has lived in the US for three years, watched in horror as Israelis were being kidnapped and killed in a surprise attack by Hamas terrorists. 

Then, he packed his bags.

He booked the first flight he could find back to Israel and arrived Sunday evening, seeing that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservists were being called to fight.

Leyb, 32, is the co-founder and COO of BachPlace, a tech startup in New York. He was born and raised in Canada and says he moved to Israel at age 18 to volunteer with the IDF. 

Leyb says he is a machine gunner in an elite paratroopers unit. He and his two brothers have returned to base and are preparing for war. 

In his military vest, he’s carrying his yarmulke and Star of David. 

“I’m feeling, first of all, proud and happy to be here. And also nervous,” he said. “I think everyone, including myself, is scared. You know, we don't want to be here. There’s just that feeling of just having to be there for our country and for our people. And it's just feeling that it's my duty, you know. I don't know how to describe it. It’s my calling and it's why I initially volunteered for the IDF instead of going to school right away. And it's my responsibility.”

The State Department has "been in conversation with various (airline) carriers to encourage them to consider resuming travel in and out of Israel."

"We'll continue to do that," spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday.

He noted that the Department has "been in contact with a number of American citizens in Israel" who wish to depart and urged them to take advantage of the flights that are operating.

"The airport is still open. There are flights that are getting out of the airport in Tel Aviv. And so we encourage people to try to avail themselves of those options," Miller said. 

After Israel formally declared war on Hamas, multiple airlines canceled flights in and out of Tel Aviv, home to Israel’s largest international airport.

Iran is “complicit, in a broad sense,” in Hamas’ attack on Israel, there is no intelligence that indicates Tehran specifically offered support for the unprecedented assault, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

Sullivan told reporters that the administration was engaged with its Israeli counterparts and “looking back through our intelligence holdings to see if we have any further information on that,” adding, “If there's an update to that, I'll share it with you.” 

Pressed on why Israel was unable to anticipate Hamas’ attack on Israel, Sullivan referred questions to Israeli officials.

For America’s part, he said, “We did not see anything that suggested an attack of this type was going to unfold any more than the Israelis did.”