Israel-Hamas war live updates: Here’s what happened on Oct. 13

10:17 p.m. ET

Hate incidents across Canada prompt schools, places of worship to tighten security

The Toronto Police Service charged a young man and two teenage boys in connection with a hate crime investigation into an incident at a Jewish high school as the war in the Middle East intensified and demonstrations spread around the globe.

Authorities in Canada ramped up security at protests, places of worship and schools this week in response to Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip. The air strikes, and the attack on Israel by the militant Islamist group Hamas last weekend that sparked the crisis, have killed hundreds on both sides and provoked fear and anger far beyond Israel’s borders.

On Friday, Toronto police said in a statement that they had charged three people who allegedly went to Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto on Thursday and were asked to leave by security officers. Police allege the trio passed a group of Jewish students as they were leaving the school, and that one suspect made “threatening remarks.”

Two of the three people charged are youths, and their identities are protected under the law. The third is 20-year-old Enes Boydak. The charges include uttering threats, and intimidation by threats of violence. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

In a separate statement, the Toronto Police Service said it is also looking for a man who “left hateful writing on the front of a mosque” early Thursday afternoon. Police said the suspect is about 30 years old and that the incident is being treated as a hate-motivated offence. Police said they believe the suspect was also involved in a previous incident at a mosque, on Oct. 6.

Several school boards, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, asked staff members to remain vigilant on Friday to ensure that students and employees felt safe and comfortable. At the Peel District School Board, west of the city, all exterior doors to schools, except for main entrances, were kept locked.

Continue reading …

– Carrie Tait, Caroline Alphonso and Frédérik-Xavier Duhame

8:57 p.m. ET

Israeli troops launch raid into Gaza as pressure escalates on besieged territory

Israeli troops, backed by tanks, have launched the first raids into the besieged Gaza Strip since their government declared war on Hamas, ratcheting up the pressure on the densely populated Palestinian territory after a week of bombing strikes and a military order to evacuate Gaza’s northern half.

The troops, seeking to capture rockets and find clues about Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, soon pulled back. But the raids on Friday were another sign that Israel is moving closer to its widely expected ground invasion to occupy all or part of the strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised statement on Friday night, said the air strikes Israel has been directing at Gaza for the past week were “only the beginning.”

The Israeli army confirmed on Friday that it had told the residents of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to move to southern Gaza “for their own safety and protection.” It said “military operations” are planned in Gaza City, and that its residents will not be permitted to return until a future announcement.

The United Nations said the Israeli order had provided only 24 hours for the complete evacuation of about 1.1 million people – nearly half of the 2.3 million population of the Gaza Strip. The same order also applied to UN officials and the thousands of people sheltering in UN schools, shelters and clinics, it said.

Thousands of Palestinians headed south after the order, travelling by truck, motorcycle, donkey cart or overcrowded car. But an Israeli air strike killed 40 people and injured 150 as they tried to leave northern Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.

International humanitarian agencies are warning that Israel’s evacuation order will cause panic and chaos, with potentially devastating consequences for more than a million people.

Continue reading …

– Geoffrey York in Jerusalem and Mark MacKinnon in Ramallah, West Bank

7:27 p.m. ET

Fourth Canadian missing from Israel is a senior with roots in Toronto

A fourth Canadian is among the hundreds missing in Israel following last weekend’s attacks by Hamas.

Canadian Judih Weinstein texted her family early on Saturday morning to say she and her partner, Gadi Haggai, were under attack as rockets roared overhead, according to family.

The couple had gone on a walk near their home in the Nir Oz kibbutz, a short distance from Gaza, when Hamas militants ambushed the community. Roughly 100 people, or 30 per cent of the population, was slaughtered, said their nephew Arad Haggai in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

“It was like a massacre, a medieval massacre,” he said. “Judih said that Gadi was badly wounded and got shot and she got shot,” he said. “Since then, nobody has heard from them or know where they are.”

Mr. Haggai said his aunt, 72, and uncle, 73, met in Israel and have been living in the peaceful Nir Oz kibbutz for nearly 30 years, but Ms. Weinstein has roots in Toronto. He described them as “very peaceful people” who were supportive of a two-state solution. They have four adult children.

Some of the people killed in Nir Oz are unrecognizable because of the wounds, said Mr. Haggai, making it difficult for locals to determine who is among the deceased. He said identities are slowly being confirmed.

Aside from the horrors, it’s the helplessness that is gnawing away at the family as they search for answers on whether the couple is dead or alive – or potentially hostages of Hamas. Mr. Haggai said he’s angry and that the “barbaric act” by Hamas won’t resolve anything.

“It’s not going to help anyone,” he said. “Just blood-thirsty murder.”

– Alanna Smith

6:02 p.m. ET

Friends and families mourn the loss of Canadians killed by Hamas in Israel

Friends and family have confirmed that at least three Canadians were killed last weekend when Hamas militants conducted a series of brutal attacks in Israel.

Two Canadian men were killed by Hamas gunmen who ambushed a music festival in southern Israel, according to their loved ones in Canada. And an Israeli Canadian mother of two was killed in her kibbutz, a communal farming settlement, an Ottawa Jewish group said.

You can click here to read what we know so far about the three people that friends and family in Canada are mourning.

– The Canadian Press

5:55 p.m. ET

Canada’s justice and public safety ministers say there’s ‘no place’ for championing violence

The RCMP says it’s aware of social media posts threatening the Jewish community in Canada, calling it a time for “increased vigilance,” while public safety and justice ministers from across the country said no one should be pushing for violence or supporting terrorism.

“Canadians have the right to feel safe to practise their faith and express their beliefs,” said a joint statement issued Thursday by federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice and public safety, who were gathered for a meeting in Bromont, Que.

“There is no place for supporting terrorism or advocating for violence in Canada.”

The statement was framed as a response to “calls for global protest and unrest” from Hamas, which Canada lists as a terrorist organization.

– The Canadian Press

5:25 p.m. ET

One man, two teenage boys charged in hate crime investigation at Jewish high school

The Toronto Police Service has charged a man and two teenage boys after officers launched a hate crimes investigation related to an incident at a Jewish high school.

Authorities across Canada have heightened security around demonstrations and facilities like schools as the conflict in the Middle East escalates. TPS on Friday said it charged three people who, on Thursday, allegedly went to Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto before being asked to leave by security.

TPS, in a statement Friday, alleged the trio passed a group of Jewish students as they were leaving the school and one suspect made “threatening remarks.”

Police charged 20-year-old Enes Boydak, along with a 17-year-old and 14-year-old whose identities are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, with uttering threats/property damage; uttering threats/death of bodily harm; intimidation by threats of violence; and mischief interference with enjoyment of property. The three had bail hearings scheduled for Friday morning, according to TPS, which did not detail the outcoming of those sessions.

TPS said when a suspected hate-motivated offence is reported, a divisional investigator will lead the investigation, the hate crime unit will be informed, and specialized officers will provide support as necessary. If an alleged criminal offence was believed to have been motivated by bias, prejudice or hate, police will consult with the Crown. If the person is convicted of the offence, the judge will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence, TPS explained.

Hate speech offences require the attorney-general’s consent, TPS noted. “Members of the hate crime unit will provide assistance and support to the divisional investigators in seeking the attorney-general’s consent to lay these charges, if applicable. These charges are often laid at a later time,” TPS said.

– Carrie Tait

4:55 p.m. ET

Palestinians flee south in response to Israel’s calls to evacuate

Palestinians fled in a mass exodus Friday from northern Gaza. As air strikes hammered the territory throughout the day, families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City.

Hamas’ media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people. The Israeli military said its troops had conducted temporary raids into Gaza to battle militants and hunted for traces of some 150 people abducted in the Hamas attack.

In the week-old war, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that roughly 1,900 people have been killed in the territory – more than half of them under the age of 18, or women. The Hamas assault last Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said.

– Associated Press

4:10 p.m. ET

How Hamas secretly built a ‘mini-army’ to fight Israel

Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel six days ago – unprecedented for the group in its planning and scale – was a devastating demonstration of the military expertise it has gained since seizing control of Gaza in 2007.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” said Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official, adding that the group had long drawn on money and training from Iran and Iranian regional proxies like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, while bolstering its own forces in Gaza.

Difficulties in importing weapons meant that over the past nine years “we developed our capabilities and are able to manufacture locally,” said Baraka, who is based in Lebanon.

In the 2008 Gaza war, Hamas rockets had a maximum range of 40 km (25 miles), but that had risen to 230 km by the 2021 conflict, he added.

Today the secretive and sprawling organization is unrecognizable from the small Palestinian group that issued its first leaflet 36 years ago protesting at Israeli occupation, according to Reuters interviews with 11 people familiar with the group’s capabilities, including Hamas figures, regional security officials and military experts.

– Reuters

3:53 p.m. ET

An Israeli father worries for his missing child

Because of the fracture in her right leg, Karin Journo had talked herself out of going to the Tribe of Nova music festival and sold her ticket. But a week before Hamas militants turned the party into a killing ground, she bought another.

The 24-year-old French-Israeli airport worker who loved to travel had learned that a bunch of her friends were going to celebrate the departure of one of them to the United States. She didn’t want to miss out.

Video shot that night showed her waving her arms to the thumping beats, though she was rooted to the spot by the grey protective boot that encased her right foot and calf all the way up to her knee.

It made her easy to recognize in subsequent video footage filmed as Hamas started to launch its deadly attack.

Sheltering behind a car with a friend, her face was marked with worry. With explosions echoing in the background, she looked around anxiously in another. In a final video, she is seen sitting just outside the open door of an ambulance, wearing a brown hoodie borrowed from a friend. Two people were laid out inside the vehicle, not moving.

At 8:43 that Saturday morning she sent a final text to her loved ones, according to her father, Doron Journo: “To the whole family, I want to say that I love you a lot, because I am not coming home.”

“Since that message, we have heard nothing. We don’t know if she is dead, if she is in Gaza. We know nothing,” the father says.

“My daughter didn’t go to war,” he says. “She just went to dance.”

– The Associated Press

2:35 p.m. ET

Netanyahu says week-long Gaza counteroffensive ‘only the beginning’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address.

“This is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said. “We will end this war stronger than ever.”

“We will destroy Hamas,” he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation.

– Associated Press

2:14 p.m. ET

Israeli military says troops make first ground raids into Gaza

Israel said its infantry and tanks had carried out raids inside the Gaza Strip on Friday, its first announcement of a shift from an air war to ground operations to root out Hamas fighters a week after their deadly rampage in southern Israel.

Some Gaza residents were abandoning homes on Friday to escape from the path of an Israeli onslaught, after Israel ordered more than a million people to leave the northern half of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. Hamas told them not to go.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said troops backed by tanks had mounted raids to attack Palestinian rocket crews and seek information on the location of hostages taken by Hamas.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has shifted its Gaza centre of operations and some staffers to the territory’s south, but many of the world body’s 13,000 Gaza workers have chosen to remain in the north to continue helping people there, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday.

Several thousand residents could be seen on roads heading out of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, but it was impossible to tell their numbers. Many others said they would not go.

Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City, the biggest city, as air strikes continued to hammer the territory.

Hamas’ media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people.

– Reuters, Associated Press

1:55 p.m. ET

Fighting between Israel and Hamas could spread to the West Bank as at least 11 die following protests against Israeli army

The young man, his head completely covered, except for his eyes, by a black-and-white checkered keffiyeh, crept forward, slingshot in hand. He fired a stone in the direction of the Israeli troops, then ducked back behind a barricade of burning tires.

Soon afterwards, there was the crack of gunfire, followed by the hiss of tear gas canisters.

The scene at the al-Bireh checkpoint, on the outskirts of the Palestinian capital of Ramallah, could have been from another Friday protest, in another time during Israel’s decades-long military occupation of the West Bank. But such incidents have taken on new danger as Israel prepares to invade the Gaza Strip in the wake of last Saturday’s bloody rampage through southern Israel by Hamas militants.

The all-out war consuming Israel and Gaza could consume the West Bank in chaos as well, a senior Palestinian official told The Globe and Mail amid Friday’s clashes in Ramallah and other West Bank cities.

At least 11 people were killed, and dozens of others were injured, as largely peaceful protests following Friday were followed by violent demonstrations targeting the occupying Israeli army. The Palestinian Red Cross Society said many of the injured had been struck by live ammunition or shrapnel from bullets.

Continue reading.

– Mark MacKinnon in Ramallah, West Bank

1:40 p.m. ET

Rafah border crossing may open to Canadians stuck in Gaza Saturday

Canadians stuck in Gaza may be able to leave through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Saturday, federal officials said at a press briefing on Friday.

There may be an opportunity to leave between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, said Julie Sunday, the assistant deputy consular, security, and emergency management minister. However, she cautioned that the border crossing opening is not yet confirmed and it could still change.

“There is a lot of uncertainty around this,” Ms. Sunday said.

On Friday, Israel issued an evacuation order for residents in northern Gaza, telling them to leave their homes within 24 hours. The warning affects more than one million people. Hamas, however, has told the residents of Gaza to stay in their homes, even as Israel dropped leaflets on Gaza to announce the evacuation order.

Humanitarian organizations have warned the evacuation will cause chaos and be calamitous for the civilians caught in the middle of the war.

The federal government is working with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to ensure that Canadians, permanent residents and their family members will be able to leave, Ms. Sunday said.

Communications with Canadians stuck in Gaza is becoming more difficult, Ms. Sunday said. Electricity is cut off, which is affecting telecommunications and there have been reports of internet interruptions. The logistics will be even more complicated because there may be a very narrow window to notify Canadians about the border crossing opening, she said.

About 150 individuals in Gaza have identified themselves with the government, the majority of them are Canadians, the officials said. However, they said there are also some mixed families that will make documentation more difficult.

She said those 150 people who have said they want help to leave Gaza are being pro-actively added to the list of people who are approved to leave should the border crossing open.

-Marieke Walsh, Steven Chase

1:17 p.m. ET

York University condemns statement from student unions

York University “unequivocally condemns” a statement from its student unions that expressed solidarity with Palestine, which the school says promotes violence against unarmed civilians.

The York Federation of Students, which represents 50,000 students at the Toronto university, released a statement Thursday that portrayed Hamas’ attacks on Israeli citizens as a “strong act of resistance” by Palestinians after decades of oppression and violence by Israel, adding that “resistance against colonial violence is justified and necessary.”

“Recently, in a strong act of resistance, the Palestinian people tore down and crossed the illegitimate border fence erected by the settler-colonial apartheid state of so-called Israel. These resistance efforts are a direct response to the ongoing and violent occupation of Palestine,” the student unions’ statement said.

The statement also condemned Israel’s retaliatory air strikes in Gaza, and a blockade preventing the entry of food, fuel, water and medicine in the region, after Hamas militants killed more than 1,300 people in southern Israel last weekend.

In a post on social media platform “X” on Friday, York University condemned “the inflammatory statement” shared by the three students unions, which also includes the York University Graduate Student Association and the Glendon College Student Union, a graduate school of public and international affairs.

“Freedom of expression has limits and comes with responsibilities. It must never reach into promoting or justifying violence against unarmed civilians,” the university said. “To suggest otherwise is abhorrent and does not reflect the views of York University, nor the perspective of many thousands of York University students.”

The school called on the student unions “to immediately clarify that they firmly reject any acts of violence or discrimination against Jewish students or other members of the community, and to reaffirm their commitment to non-violence and the safety of all of their members.”

Representatives from the unions did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Richard Robertson, manager of research at B’nai Brith Canada, the country’s oldest independent Jewish Human Rights organization, said nothing justifies the barbaric acts of terror committed by Hamas against innocent human beings.

“Spreading false narratives and utilizing inflammatory rhetoric, during a time of heightened tension on the campus, does a disservice to all students and is unbecoming of those who have been elected to be leaders on campus,” he said in a statement

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, a member of the party’s Jewish caucus, said the student groups’ statement was “absolutely appalling” and said the university needs to take more accountability for its student union other than denouncing it

Judy Zelikovitz, vice-president of university and local partner services at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said it is “deeply disturbing” that student groups are trying to justify and legitimate the brutal torture and murder of Jewish civilians.

– Laura Stone

Open this photo in gallery:

12:33 p.m. ET

Journalist killed, six wounded in southern Lebanon

An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing one Reuters news videographer and leaving six others injured.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the dead journalist and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car.

Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, were among the wounded. In a statement, Reuters confirmed one of its news videographers, Issam Abdallah, was killed. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area.

The Associated Press is not naming the other outlets whose journalists injured until they make public statements on the matter.

The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and members of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.

The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturday’s attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel.

Journalists from around the world have been coming to Lebanon out of concern that war might break out between Hezbollah and Israel.

– Associated Press, Reuters

‘Don’t stop, don’t stop’: Inside a Supernova festivalgoer’s escape from the Hamas concert attack

11:36 a.m. ET

U.S. cities bolster security ahead of expected protests, despite lack of credible threats

Police across the United States are on high alert over the possibility of attacks by Hamas supporters, but the U.S. government says it so far has no specific information any violence is planned.

Khaled Meshal, a former Hamas leader, issued a video statement calling on the group’s supporters to “head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday,” Reuters reported. Meshal is based in Qatar, the wealthy Persian Gulf petrostate that hosted last year’s FIFA World Cup.

The Department of Homeland Security told reporters in a briefing that it does not have any intelligence to suggest there is currently a threat to the U.S. But it convened a call with 4,000 police officers across the country to tell them to be on guard.

Around Washington, which is patrolled by a half-dozen police forces with sometimes overlapping jurisdictions, some new security measures were apparent.

At the Capitol, police erected low barricades. These were the roughly waist-high, bike rack-style fences commonly used for crowd control around the city rather than the 3.6 metre-tall barriers used in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

The Metropolitan Police Department said it would be more visible around the city’s religious buildings and had been in touch with community leaders throughout the week.

The Montgomery County Department of Police, which patrols a section of the U.S. capital’s Maryland suburbs, said it had “taken steps to enhance the safety of our Jewish community,” including posting officers around religious buildings.

It said there were “no known threats” in the area so far.

– Adrian Morrow, Washington, D.C.

11:20 a.m. ET

Latest map showing fighting in the Israel-Hamas war

Israel-Hamas war

As of Oct. 13

Rocket strikes by Hamas

Israeli air strikes

Military base

Clashes

Closed bordercrossings

1

2

WEST

BANK

Tel Aviv

Jerusalem

DEAD

INJURED

Israel

Gaza

1,300

1,537

3,300

6,612

Israel Defense Forces estimate

1,500 Hamas killed in Israel

Closed

military

zone

Mediterranean

Sea

Ashkelon

Zikim

Israeli-ordered

evacuation zone

3

Sderot

Gaza

City

Wadi Gaza

Kfar Aza

4

Nahal Oz

Refugee

camps

Be’eri

GAZA

STRIP

Netivot

Re’im

ISRAEL

Kisufim

Ofakim

Magen

Rafah

Sufa

Kerem Shalom

EGYPT

8 KM

1

Syria: Israel strikes Damascus and Aleppo airports, main conduits for Iranian arms to Hezbollah.

2

Israel: Hamas rocket attacks reduced to 200-400 per day to conserve stockpile for long war.

3

Gaza City: Israel hits 750 targets. 6,000 bombs dropped since Oct. 7.

4

Wadi Gaza: Israel orders all residents north of river – around 1.1 million people – to head south “for their own safety.”

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC

NEWS; OPENSTREETMAP; REUTERS

Israel-Hamas war

As of Oct. 13

Rocket strikes by Hamas

Israeli air strikes

Military base

Clashes

Closed border crossings

1

2

WEST

BANK

Tel Aviv

Jerusalem

DEAD

INJURED

Israel

Gaza

1,300

1,537

3,300

6,612

Israel Defense Forces estimate

1,500 Hamas killed in Israel

Closed

military

zone

Mediterranean

Sea

Ashkelon

Zikim

Israeli-ordered

evacuation zone

Sderot

Gaza

City

Wadi Gaza

3

Kfar Aza

4

Nahal Oz

Refugee

camps

Be’eri

GAZA

STRIP

Netivot

Re’im

Kisufim

ISRAEL

Ofakim

Magen

Rafah

Sufa

Kerem Shalom

EGYPT

8 KM

1

Syria: Israel strikes Damascus and Aleppo airports, main conduits for Iranian arms to Hezbollah.

2

Israel: Hamas rocket attacks reduced to 200-400 per day to conserve stockpile for long war.

3

Gaza City: Israel hits 750 targets. 6,000 bombs dropped since Oct. 7.

4

Wadi Gaza: Israel orders all residents north of river – around 1.1 million people – to head south “for their own safety.”

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS;

OPENSTREETMAP; REUTERS

Israel-Hamas war

As of Oct. 13

Rocket strikes by Hamas

Israeli air strikes

Military base

Clashes

Closed border crossings

1

Mediterranean

Sea

ISRAEL

2

Ashkelon

Closed military zone

WEST

BANK

Tel Aviv

Zikim

Jerusalem

Israeli-ordered

evacuation zone

Sderot

Gaza

City

3

Kfar Aza

Wadi Gaza

4

Nahal Oz

Refugee

camps

Be’eri

GAZA

STRIP

Netivot

Re’im

Kisufim

Khan

Younis

Ofakim

Magen

Rafah

DEAD

INJURED

Sufa

Israel

Gaza

1,300

1,537

3,300

6,612

Kerem Shalom

EGYPT

Israeli Defense Forces estimate

1,500 Hamas killed in Israel

8 KM

1

3

Syria: Israel strikes Damascus and Aleppo airports, main conduits for Iranian arms to Hezbollah.

Gaza City: Israel hits 750 targets. 6,000 bombs dropped since Oct. 7.

2

4

Israel: Hamas rocket attacks reduced to 200-400 per day to conserve stockpile for long war.

Wadi Gaza: Israel orders all residents north of river – around 1.1 million people – to head south “for their own safety.”

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS; OPENSTREETMAP; REUTERS

11:14 a.m. ET

Israeli evacuation call in Gaza hikes Egypt’s fears of a mass exodus of refugees into its territory

Israel’s call Friday for half of the Gaza Strip’s population to evacuate south is hiking Egypt’s fears of a massive influx of refugees across the heavily fortified border into its territory.

Since Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel sparked a massive retaliation in Gaza, Egypt’s leadership has frantically tried to negotiate the entry of humanitarian aid through its crossing into the Palestinian territory – partially in hopes of averting an exodus into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Officials say its efforts have received no response from Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to visit Cairo over the weekend and Egyptian officials are expected to discuss the entry of aid with him.

– Associated Press

10:48 a.m. ET

Saudi Arabia puts Israel deal on ice amid war, engages with Iran, sources say

Saudi Arabia is putting U.S.-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice, two sources familiar with Riyadh’s thinking said, signalling a rapid rethinking of its foreign policy priorities as war escalates between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

The conflict has also pushed the kingdom to engage with Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took his first phone call from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as Riyadh tries to prevent a broader surge in violence across the region.

The two sources told Reuters there would be a delay in the U.S.-backed talks on normalization with Israel that was a key step for the kingdom to secure what Riyadh considers the real prize of a U.S. defence pact in exchange.

Until Iran-backed Hamas sparked a war on Oct. 7 by launching a devastating attack on Israel, both Israeli and Saudi leaders had been saying they were moving steadily towards a deal that could have reshaped the Middle East.

– Reuters

10:20 a.m. ET

Air Canada halts flights to Israel until end of October

Air Canada says it’s cancelling all direct flights to and from Tel Aviv through the end of the month.

The suspension extends one in place since Oct. 8. Canada’s largest airline says it’s monitoring the Israel-Hamas war and will resume its routes from Toronto and Montreal when the situation stabilizes.

Air Canada says passengers whose trips through Oct. 31 were cancelled can opt for a refund or rebooking.

– Canadian Press

10 a.m. ET

Israeli military denies allegation it’s using white phosphorus in Gaza

The Israeli military said on Friday it has made no use of white phosphorus in its Gaza war this week, in an apparent denial of a Human Rights Watch report.

“The current accusation made against the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false,” it said in a statement.

– Reuters

9:15 a.m. ET

US Defense Secretary Austin meets with Israeli leaders, reaffirms support

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli leaders that “we have your back” as he reaffirmed U.S. support in the first week of their war against the militant Hamas group. He voiced little public criticism of their unprecedented demand that some one million civilians evacuate northern Gaza.

Austin, the second high-level U.S. official sent by President Joe Biden to visit Israel in two days, was seeing firsthand some of the weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel after it was attacked. He stressed that “this is a time for resolve and not revenge, for purpose and not panic and for security and not surrender.”

The defence secretary’s quick trip to Israel from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defence ministers meeting, came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict.

– Reuters

8:55 a.m. ET

Joly arrives in Israel

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is visiting Israel, where she met with Canadians in Tel Aviv waiting for flights to Athens and is meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen Friday.

“My thoughts are with all civilians impacted by the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which has also taken a toll on communities at home in Canada and around the world,” the minister said in a statement. “My priority is to meet with partners and see first-hand the evolving situation on the ground so that Canada can provide the support most needed at this critical time.”

– Steven Chase, Marieke Walsh

8:30 a.m. ET

RCMP aware of social media threats to Jewish community, calls for vigilance

The RCMP says it’s aware of social media posts threatening the Jewish community in Canada, calling it a time for “increased vigilance.”

The statement comes as several Canadian polices forces, including in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, say they have upped patrols in response to the Israel-Hamas war but have not identified any specific local threats.

A spokesperson for the Mounties declined to answer further questions about the social media threats, including whether the force was investigating.

The statement says any threats are taken seriously and investigated as warranted.

The Ontario Provincial Police issued a statement Friday morning saying it was aware of “global online threats of violence regarding the situation in the Middle East.”

– Canadian Press

7:30 a.m. ET

Supporters of Palestinians and Israel protest and pray as war intensifies

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and beyond on Friday in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas assaults.

Jewish communities in France and elsewhere were also holding rallies in solidarity with Israel after the cross-border Hamas assault from Gaza, the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country’s 75-year history.

France and Germany banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations and several Western countries said they had stepped up security at synagogues and Jewish schools fearing that protests could lead to acts of violence.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to rise up in protest against Israel’s bombardment of the blockaded coastal enclave, calling on them to march on Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem and to confront Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.

– Reuters

7:27 a.m. ET

Joly departs for Israel today

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly departs for Israel on Friday to reaffirm Canada’s support for the country and to discuss humanitarian aid and other issues in the wake of Hamas’s attack, the federal government said.

Joly will also visit Greece and Jordan as part of her trip before returning Sunday, her office said in a statement.

– Reuters

7:13 a.m. ET

Hezbollah says calls for it not to intervene in war ‘will have no effect’

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Friday that the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying the party was “fully ready” to contribute to the fighting.

“The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect,” he told supporters gathered in the southern Beirut suburb.

The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border multiple times in the past week.

– Reuters

6:35 a.m. ET

Israeli evacuation order in northern Gaza will cause chaos and calamity, humanitarian workers say

Humanitarian workers are warning that Israel’s evacuation order in northern Gaza will cause panic and chaos, with potentially devastating consequences for more than one million people.

The Israeli army confirmed on Friday that it had told the residents of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to move to southern Gaza “for their own safety and protection.” It said “military operations” will take place in Gaza City and its residents will not be permitted to return until a future announcement.

Israeli air strikes have been hitting Gaza since last Saturday when Hamas militants killed more than 1,300 people in southern Israel, and there are widespread expectations of an Israeli ground operation to occupy all or part of Gaza.

The United Nations said the Israeli order had provided only 24 hours for the complete evacuation of about 1.1 million people – nearly half of the 2.3 million population of the Gaza Strip. The same order also applied to UN officials and the thousands of people sheltering in UN schools, shelters and clinics, it said.

The UN believes that this massive evacuation is impossible “without devastating humanitarian consequences,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Friday.

He said the UN is appealing for the evacuation order to be rescinded. Otherwise, it could “transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,” he said.

– Geoffrey York, Jerusalem

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6:25 a.m. ET

Israeli diplomat attacked in Beijing

A staffer at Israel’s embassy to China was attacked Friday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The diplomat is in a stable condition after being stabbed by an unidentified man on a street in Beijing. He was not near the embassy, which is in a tightly policed area of the Chinese capital, at the time of the attack.

A video purportedly from the scene shared online, which The Globe and Mail cannot independently verify, shows two men grappling on the ground before one stabs the other repeatedly in the upper torso. Blood can be seen on the ground as the attacker, a balding man dressed in white, limps away.

The cause of the attack is unclear. The Israeli statement said an investigation is under way.

– James Griffiths

3:38 a.m. ET

Hamas armed wing says 13 captives killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours

Hamas armed wing Al Qassam Brigades said in a statement that 13 captives were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours.

The statement said six of the hostages were killed in strikes on two separate locations in the Northern district and seven more died in strikes that hit three locations in the Gaza district.

– Reuters

2:10 a.m. ET

UN says more than 400,000 people displaced in Gaza, appeals for $300-million

The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said early on Friday that more than 400,000 people had fled their homes in the Gaza Strip and 23 aid workers had been killed since the start of Israeli retaliatory strikes in response to a deadly Hamas incursion.

The agency launched an appeal for nearly $294=million to help about 1.3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank, of which nearly half was programmed for food aid as supplies run out.

– Reuters

12:13 a.m. ET

Israel orders unprecedented evacuation of 1 million in Gaza as possible ground offensive looms

Israel’s military told some one million Palestinians on Friday to evacuate northern Gaza and head to the southern part of the besieged territory, an unprecedented order applying to almost half the population ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group.

The U.N. warned that so many people fleeing en masse – with just a 24-hour deadline – would be calamitous. Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel nearly a week ago and has fired thousands of rockets since, dismissed it as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes.

The evacuation order, which includes Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked widespread panic among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli air strikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide blackout.

– Associated Press

12:01 a.m. ET

Human Rights Watch says Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza, Lebanon

Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury.

Asked for comment on the allegations, Israel’s military said it was “currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza.” It did not provide comment on the rights watchdog’s allegations of their use in Lebanon.

Israel has been bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in southern Israeli towns that killed at least 1,300 people this week. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has also traded barbs with Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

Human Rights Watch said it verified videos taken in Lebanon on Oct. 10 and Gaza on Oct. 11 showing “multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border.”

It provided links to two videos posted on social media that it said show “155 mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signalling.” Both show scenes near the Israel-Lebanon border, it said.

The group did not provide links to videos showing their alleged use in Gaza. Palestinian TV channels have broadcast video in recent days showing thin plumes of white smoke lining the sky over Gaza that they say was caused by such munitions.

Reuters could not independently verify the rights group’s accounts.

Israel’s military in 2013 said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions used during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups.

The military at the time did not say whether it would also review use of weaponized white phosphorus, which is designed to incinerate enemy positions.

White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smokescreens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings.

Because it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions, but it can cause serious burns and start fires.

White phosphorus is considered an incendiary weapon under Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons. The protocol prohibits using incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians, although Israel has not signed it and is not bound by it.

– Reuters

More coverage

• Mélanie Joly visits Israel as evacuation flights begin, number of missing Canadians grows
• Canadians trapped in Gaza with no safe way out await help from Ottawa
• Canadian schools, synagogues, community centres ramp up security after Hamas attack in Israel
• Israelis near Lebanon border fear a widening war if Hezbollah attacks
• Blinken calls on Israel to minimize civilian deaths ahead of expected ground invasion of Gaza