Jerusalem, October 29: The Israeli military intensified airstrikes in Gaza including near its largest hospital while thousands of people desperate for food and basic items broke into aid warehouses in the besieged enclave. Internet and phone connectivity were restored for many people on Sunday after Israeli strikes had knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday called the 3-week-old Israel-Hamas war a fight for Israel's existence and said "Never again" is now.” He announced a “second stage” in the war and said Israel is determined to bring back 229 hostages taken by Hamas during its bloody October 7 rampage. Israel-Palestine War: Israeli Opposition Leader Asks Benjamin Netanyahu To Withdraw Comments on Blaming Security Forces for Hamas Attacks.

The Palestinian death toll passed 7,700, most of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during a surprise incursion by Hamas militants, including at least 310 soldiers, according to the Israeli government. Four of the 229 hostages have been released.

Here's what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

UN CHIEF REITERATES APPEAL FOR A HUMANITARIAN CEASE-FIRE

KATHMANDU, Nepal — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has reiterated his appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and called for an unconditional release of all hostages and the delivery of sustained relief to the people in the territory.  Israel-Hamas War: Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Khalid Bin Salman Al Saud To Visit White House for Talks With US Officials As Gaza Ground Operation Expands.

Guterres, who is on an official visit to Nepal, condemned the “appalling attacks perpetrated by Hamas” and said “there is no justification, ever, for the killing, injuring and abduction of civilians.” He also said he regretted Israel's move to intensify its military operations in Gaza. He also reminded Israel and Hamas about their obligations under international humanitarian law. “I have always been consistent in my call for strict compliance of the well-established principles and rules of international humanitarian law. The protection of civilians is paramount,” he said.

“The laws of war establish clear rules to protect human life and respect humanitarian concerns. Those laws cannot be contorted for the sake of expediency. The world is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe taking place before our eyes,” he added.

WHO RESTORES CONTACT WITH A TEAM IN GAZA

CAIRO — The head of the World Health Organization says they managed to communicate with the agency's team in Gaza after internet and phone connectivity in the enclave were gradually restored.

“They said the last two nights were extremely tense with a lot of airstrikes - without fuel, water, electricity, connectivity and safe shelter to evacuate to,” Tedros Adhanom wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He added that the WHO team, like others in Gaza, remain unsafe and called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the agency has 30 employees in Gaza.

PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT SAYS ISRAEL ORDERS GAZA HOSPITAL TO EVACUATE

JERUSALEM — A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent says Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City received two calls from Israeli authorities Sunday morning demanding it evacuate.

A statement released by the organisation said that the calls constituted a “clear and direct threat that the hospital must be evacuated at once, otherwise PRCS holds full responsibility for the lives of everyone inside the hospital.” Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said that since Sunday morning, Israeli airstrikes have been increasing in the area, reaching buildings as close as 50 metres. She said that 12,000 people are currently sheltering in the hospital. The intensive care unit is predominantly occupied by children injured in the latest airstrikes. “Most of them are connected to oxygen machines,” she said. “Evacuating them would be killing them.”

The Israeli military did not comment immediately Sunday. The military has told some 1 million people to evacuate to the southern part of the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion. WHO said it's impossible to evacuate patients without endangering their lives. Hospitals across Gaza are already operating at maximum capacity due to the injuries from unrelenting bombardment, and are unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number of patients, while sheltering thousands of civilians, the UN agency said.

UN SAYS THOUSANDS BREAK INTO GAZA WAREHOUSES TO TAKE FOOD

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says thousands of people broke into its Gaza aid warehouses to take food and other “basic survival items.” Thomas White, the agency's director in Gaza, said Sunday that the break-in was “a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down” after three weeks of war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers. The agency, known as UNRWA, provides basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza. Its schools across the territory have been transformed into packed shelters housing Palestinians displaced by the conflict.

IRANIAN-BACKED IRAQI MILITIA SAYS IT HIT BASE HOUSING US FORCES IN SYRIA

DAMASCUS, Syria — An Iranian-backed Iraqi militia says it launched drone strikes on a base housing US forces in eastern Syria. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has claimed responsibility for a series of strikes on US forces in Iraq and Syria over the past two weeks, claimed responsibility on Sunday for the latest attack. The group has said the attacks are in retaliation for US support for Israel.

According to the Pentagon, as of Friday there had been at least 20 attacks on US bases and personnel in Iraq and Syria since October 17, and 21 US personnel were injured in two of those assaults when drones targeted al-Assad airbase in Iraq and al-Tanf garrison in Syria.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)