Israel expands Gaza offensive, Erdogan says 'Netanyahu no different from Hitler': Top points
More than 20,900 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Nearly 1,200 people have been killed on the Israel side.
An Israeli artillery seen near the Israel-Gaza border (Credits: Reuters)
The Israeli military has expanded its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to the densely populated urban refugee camps in the central part of the territory. The country's forces also raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, killing at least six Palestinians, the Associated Press quoted the Palestinian health authorities as saying.
Meanwhile, sirens sounded repeatedly in northern Israel on Wednesday as rockets fired from Lebanon pummeled the towns of Rosh Hanikra and Kiryat Shmona in a major escalation of violence along the restive border, as Israel's top general vowed that the country's military was prepared to battle the Hezbollah terror group, even as heavy fighting persisted in Gaza.
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Israeli forces pounded central Gaza by land, sea and air and Palestinian authorities reported dozens more deaths, with the UN health agency saying thousands of people were trying to flee the fighting. This comes as the country remains resolved to wipe out the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in response to the militant group's October 7 attack on Israel, despite international calls for a ceasefire and easing of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli planes carried out three strikes in Al Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing seven people and wounding several others, medics said late on Wednesday. According to the UN World Health Organisation, its staff had seen tens of thousands of people fleeing heavy strikes in Khan Younis and the Middle Area on foot, on donkeys or in cars. Makeshift shelters were being built along the road, it said on Wednesday.
Intensifying his criticism of Israel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. In a speech at an award ceremony, Erdogan also suggested that the United States was complicit in the deaths of 20,000 people in Gaza, for "supporting" Israel.
"We watched Israel's Nazi camps in the stadiums, right? What is this? Remember they used to talk about Hitler in a weird way? How are you different than Hitler?" Erdogan said in reference to a video aired on Turkish televisions that appeared to show Israeli soldiers rounding up half-naked men in a stadium in Gaza.
In response to Erogan's remarks, Netanyahu took to X and said, "Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us."
"The IDF, which is the most moral army in the world, is fighting to eliminate the most abhorrent and brutal terrorist organization in the world, Hamas-ISIS, which has committed crimes against humanity, and which Erdogan has praised and whose leaders he hosts."
Benjamin Netanyahu's post on X The Israeli military has claimed of uncovering more of Hamas's tunnels inside and around multiple hospitals within Gaza. "The Rantisi Hospital is just another terrorist stronghold used to connect and transfer terrorists and weapons throughout Gaza to be used against Israelis," the Israel Defense Forces said.
Six Palestinians were killed by a drone strike during an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Wednesday, one of the latest examples of rising violence since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Israeli military said its forces came under attack by terrorists who threw explosive devices at them during a counter-terrorism operation. The attackers were struck by an Israeli Air Force aircraft, it said.
The confrontation took place in the Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, a flashpoint city on one of the main crossing points into the West Bank.
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after they briefly blocked entrance roads to airports in New York and Los Angeles while demonstrating against Israel, forcing some travellers to set off on foot to bypass the jammed roadway.
Thirty-six people were taken into custody at LAX, where demonstrators became unruly, news agency Reuters quoted the Los Angeles Police Department as saying. Most of those detained were booked on rioting charges and at least one was arrested for battery on a police officer, according to a statement.
Airport police said the entrance to the complex was reopened within about 45 minutes with "no impacts to fights," the Los Angeles City News Service reported.
An apparent explosive-laden drone crashed in the southern Golan Heights, the Times of Israel quoted local authorities as saying. In a statement to residents of the Golan, authorities said the "hostile unmanned aircraft" was located by Israel Defense Forces troops. No injuries were reported in the attack. The drone was believed to have been launched from Syria.
Later, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-backed paramilitary groups, claimed responsibility for launching the drone that crashed near the moshav of Eliad in the southern Golan Heights.
A statement from the terrorists said they carried out the attack using "appropriate weapons", the Times of Israel reported.
During a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed on the need to work towards a durable ceasefire "with the help of all regional and international partners." France will also work with Jordan in the days ahead on humanitarian operations in Gaza, Macron told Netanyahu.
Earlier, Netanyahu's office said he spoke by phone with Macron to discuss the repeated attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, cross-border skirmishes between Israeli forces and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and the ongoing war in Gaza against Hamas.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Macron for France’s involvement in defending freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, and its willingness to assist in restoring security to Israel’s border with Lebanon," a statement from the Netanyahu's Office read.
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has said the head of Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group could be Israel’s next target. Touring Israel’s border with foreign ambassadors, Cohen said Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, "must understand that he's next."
He also said Hezbollah must respect a 2006 UN ceasefire that calls on the group to withdraw from the border area. "We will operate to make the most of the diplomatic option. If it doesn't work, all options are on the table," Cohen said.
Israeli TV on Wednesday released a purported recent photo of Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif. According to The Times of Israel, the photo was obtained by Israeli forces amid the ongoing war in Gaza. However, the authenticity of the photo could not be verified.
According to reports, Deif's legs and an arm are missing, the result of an Israeli airstrike, one of at least five failed Israeli attempts on his life. In the photo published by Channel 12, the man purported to be Deif appears to be missing an eye, which reports have previously said the arch-terrorist lost in an assassination attempt.
Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif released by Israeli media (The Times of Israel)