Israel Palestine news LIVE: ‘Hamas beheaded babies’ Israeli Defence League claims coroner confirmed – with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expected to visit Jewish state today

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and Iran’s president spoke by phone about the war between Israel and Hamas, Saudi state media said this morning, their first call since a surprise rapprochement in March.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call on Wednesday from the Iranian leader, Ebrahim Raisi, during which they discussed ‘the current military situation in Gaza and its environs’, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

Prince Mohammed told Raisi that Riyadh is ‘communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation’, SPA said. He also stressed ‘the kingdom’s firm position towards supporting the Palestinian cause’, it said.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today condemned ‘all acts of terrorism and brutality’ following the Hamas attack on Israel.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex added that they were ‘supporting our partners and organisations on the frontlines in Israel to provide the urgent aid needed’.

In a message posted on their Archewell website under the title ‘with heavy hearts’, the couple said: ‘At The Archewell Foundation, with Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, we stand against all acts of terrorism and brutality.

‘We are supporting our partners and organisations on the frontlines in Israel to provide the urgent aid needed, and to help all innocent victims of this unconscionable level of human suffering.’

Israel is targeting an underground system of tunnels in Gaza with its airstrikes, according to Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman.

The network was built and populated by Hamas, enabling them to hide from Israeli forces in the event of an attack.

‘What Hamas has done since they took control almost 20 years ago was to build a network of tunnels from Gaza City and under Gaza City all the way down to Khan Yunis and Rafah,’ Conricus said, according to the BBC.

He explained that the Gaza Strip needs to be thought of in two layers – one for civilians at ground level, and a subterranean level underneath. ‘What we are trying to do now is get to that second layer that Hamas has built,’ he said.

His comments come as Israel gears up to launch an offensive into the enclave, and a rescue mission to free Israeli hostages.

The Hamas -run Gaza Strip is a tiny enclave, measuring 25 miles long and no more than seven miles wide, surveilled continually by Israel, surrounded by its guns.

But rescuing – or even locating – more than 150 hostages hustled there by Palestinian militants who overran Israel’s southern border on Saturday will be a daunting task.

Gaza’s densely populated terrain, its network of underground tunnels and the sheer numbers of men, women and children taken captive present Israel with the most complex hostage crisis that the country has ever faced.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has weighed in on the conflict, blaming Iran for backing Hamas to grow into the terrorist body that carried out the attack on Israel.

He also attacked Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for his ‘shameful’ silence on the attacks – that left at least 1,300 Israelis dead – and urged him to clearly condemn Hamas’ actions.

‘Where is the clear condemnation of the terrorist violence by the autonomous (Palestinian) Authority and by its president, Mahmoud Abbas?’ Scholz said in an address to parliament. ‘Their silence is shameful,’ he said.

On Iran, Scholz said: ‘While we have no firm proof that Iran operationally supported this cowardly attack, it is clear to us all that without Iranian support Hamas would never have been able to launch this unprecedented attack.’

He also pledged Germany’s full support to Israel, pointing to his country’s history and ‘responsibility stemming from the Holocaust’.

‘For Germany at the moment, the only place is at Israel’s side,’ he said. ‘Our own history, our responsibility stemming from the Holocaust, make it an everlasting duty to stand up for the existence and security of the state of Israel.’

A top Israeli official has said the siege of Gaza will not end until hostages – taken into the enclave by Hamas terrorists – are freed.

Energy Minister Israel Katz said no ‘electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter’ until those who were kidnapped on Saturday are returned home.

Israel stopped the supplies into the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked on Saturday, and has vowed to wipe out the group.

All signs are pointing to an immanent Israeli invasion of the territory, home to two million people, which is it also shelling.

The chief executive of easyJet has said the British airline wants to restart flights to Israel as soon as possible, but that it could not currently say when this would happen.

‘That is obviously something that we want to do as soon as possible but we cannot say now,’ CEO Johan Lundgren told reporters on Thursday.

The airline suspended its Tel Aviv routes on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has arrived in Israel in a show of American support for the country after Saturday’s Hamas terrorist attacks.

Blinken is expected to visit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington closes ranks with its ally that has launched a withering air campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip since the attacks.

The top US diplomat will also try to help secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas – some of whom are Americans – and safe passage of Gaza civilians out of the densely-populated enclave ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion.

Four of Britain’s top lawyers have complained to Ofcom over the BBC‘s refusal to label Hamas ‘terrorists’ after its attacks on Israel.

The corporation last night defended its decision not to describe Hamas militants as ‘terrorists’ in its coverage of the deadly attacks in Israel, despite receiving a huge backlash from politicians and those within the Jewish community.

The broadcaster’s refusal continues despite King Charles condemning the ‘barbaric acts of terrorism’ while the Prince and Princess of Wales spoke of their distress following ‘Hamas’s terrorist attack’.

Instead, the BBC refers to Hamas as a ‘militant’ group and described the slaughter of civilians as a ‘militant’ attack.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis accused broadcasters of trying to ‘wilfully mislead’ by not using the word terrorist, while Defence Secretary Grant Shapps called on the corporation to ‘get the moral compass out’ and Labour leader Keir Starmer urged the broadcaster to ‘explain’ its reasoning.

Lord Wolfson KC, Lord Pannick KC, Lord Grabiner KC and Jeremy Brier KC have now accused the BBC of failing to show impartiality ‘beyond doubt’ by describing Hamas in ‘more sympathetic terms’ as ‘militants’.

The four senior lawyers signed a letter calling on Ofcom to investigate. In a letter seen by the Telegraph, they said: ‘On 7th October 2023, Hamas launched a large invasion of the State of Israel which resulted variously in the slaughter, rape and abduction of over a thousand Israeli citizens. There is nothing controversial about that. It is a fact.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the sixth day of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Israel continued to pound Gaza on Thursday, vowing to ‘destroy’ Hamas after the militants’ unprecedented surprise attack on Saturday, slaughtering civilians.

Thousands of people on both sides have died, with Israel responding to the killings with a massive bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Israel has massed its military forces around the besieged Palestinian enclave in what appears to be preparation for a possible ground invasion, and an attempt to rescue Israeli hostages who were taken back across the border by terrorists.

Here’s what you need to know this morning:

Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed more than 1,300 people and wounded over 2,700 in Israeli cities, towns and kibbutz communities
In Gaza, health officials said 1,200 people had been killed and 5,600 wounded
Israel launched an ‘extensive attack’ on Hamas targets in Gaza overnight, which carried on into Thursday morning
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to ‘crush and destroy’ Hamas with the support of a new war cabinet that includes a longtime opposition critic
Israel’s military appears to have confirmed reports that babies were beheaded by Hamas terrorists in a Kibbutz close to the Gaza Strip where some 108 bodies were found
Hamas claimed that four captives died in Israeli strikes and threatened to kill the others if civilian targets were bombed without advance warning from Israel
Hamas claimed that four captives died in Israeli strikes and threatened to kill the others if civilian targets were bombed without advance warning from Israel
It said it fired 5,000 rockets in an offensive it branded ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ and ruled out negotiating a prisoner swap with Israel as ‘the military operation is still ongoing’
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called the attack by Hamas the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust as the number of U.S. citizens killed in the fighting ticked up to at least 22
Other countries have also seen casualties, including Britain, with 17 UK nationals either missing or confirmed dead
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel