Biden says Israel ‘has a duty to respond’ to attacks – as it happened

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Over 260,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, as heavy Israeli bombardments from the air, land and sea continue to hit the Palestinian enclave, the United Nations said.

Fierce fighting has left thousands dead on both sides since Hamas launched a surprise assault on Saturday, spurring Israel’s reprisal bombing campaign.

“Over 263,934 people in Gaza are believed to have fled their homes,” said UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in an update Tuesday, warning that “this number is expected to rise further”.

It said that around 3,000 people had been displaced “due to previous escalations”, prior to Saturday.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, US president Joe Biden said Hamas does not represent the “legitimate aspirations” of Palestinian people and says the US “stands with Israel”.

Confirming that some US citizens are part of the many currently being held hostage, Joe Biden called the assault by Hamas militants that more than 1,200 people dead an “act of sheer evil”.

Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the US from 2009-2013, told the BBC he had never seen a speech as unequivocal in its support for Israel.

“I have never heard a speech like President Biden just gave at the White House,” he said.

You can watch the video below:

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The death toll in Israel now stands at more than 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, Kan, the public broadcaster, reports.

It is an increase of 200 people since the last toll was confirmed.

The Gaza health authority has put the death toll in the enclave at 900 since Saturday.

A flight carrying 192 South Koreans from Tel Aviv has arrived at Incheon Airport South Korea, Reuters reports.

570 South Koreans are estimated to be staying long-term in Israel while around 230 are staying short-term, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry on Wednesday.

The Ben Gurion Airport was “crowded” and “hectic,” said Jang Jeong-yoon, a 62-year-old who was on board the Korean Air flight home after travelling to Israel to take part in the festival of Sukkot.

“As flights were cancelled or delayed, there was fear and people were rushing to leave the country,” she said.

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Some relatives of those on board the plane were seen waiting at Incheon Airport early Wednesday morning.

Around 60 South Koreans who were visiting Israel moved to Jordan on Tuesday, according to the foreign ministry.

No South Korean casualties had been reported, foreign minister Park Jin said on Tuesday. Many of the short-term South Koreans travellers were visiting the country for a pilgrimage.

Korean Air has cancelled flights departing from Incheon to Tel Aviv on Monday and Wednesday and expects future flights to be irregular.

The US is talking with Israel and Egypt about the idea of a safe passage for Gaza civilians as Israel strikes the enclave after a deadly Hamas attack over the weekend, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.

“We are focused on this question, there are consultations going on,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

“But the details of that are something that are being discussed among the operational agencies and I don’t want to share too much of that publicly at this time,” Sullivan said.

“We do not deliberately target civilians,” Sullivan said of the US and Israel, when asked about civilian casualties in Gaza in the Tuesday press briefing.

“We work to make sure that our military operations are conducted consistent with the rule of law and the law of war,” he added.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 900 Palestinians were killed and up to 4,600 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the blockaded enclave since Saturday. Gaza is 40km (25 miles) long by 10km (6 miles) wide and is home to 2.3 million people.

More now in Israel’s exchanges of fire with Syria, via AFP:

Israel’s military on Tuesday said it had responded with artillery fire from the Golan Heights after munitions were launched toward territory it has occupied since 1967.

“Soldiers are responding with artillery and mortar shells toward the origin of the launching in Syria,” an Israeli military statement said, on the fourth day of a war with Gaza-based Hamas militants that has sent regional tensions soaring.

The military said there had been “a number of launches from Syria into Israeli territory”.

A military spokesman told AFP it appeared to have been mortar fire.

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This was the first exchange of fire between Israel and Syria since Hamas carried out an unprecedented assault on Israeli territory from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Fears of another front opening in the conflict have grown after days of clashes with militants on the northern border with Lebanon.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria, the shells were fired by “Palestinian factions working with the Lebanese Hezbollah”.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967. Its 1981 annexation of the strategic area is not recognised by the United Nations.

The South China Morning Post reports that 28 Hong Kong residents have asked for help getting home from Israel, and that 16 have managed to leave. The rest face uncertainty amid cancelled flights, in particular from Cathay Pacific.

“The news came as flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways cancelled flights from Hong Kong to Israel’s Tel Aviv on Tuesday and Thursday and the Immigration Department said it had already handled 28 requests for help as of 5pm,” the SCMP reports, as “Cathay Pacific said it would decide on Friday about flights on Sunday to Tel Aviv”.

There are indirect flights available for now, according to SCMP.

Meanwhile Airlines for America, a trade group representing major US carriers, said on Tuesday it remains in discussions with government agencies about flying between America and Israel, both to repatriate American citizens and to bring Israeli reservists back. “The situation in Israel is rapidly evolving, and our carriers continue to make individual assessments about operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports,” a spokesperson told Reuters.

Israel faces the threat of a multi-front war after clashes with Syria and Lebanon, Agence France-Presse reports.

On Tuesday, for the first time since the Hamas attack, there was an exchange of fire between Israel and forces in Syria, after Israel’s military said munitions were fired towards the Golan Heights it has occupied since 1967.

There have also been three days of clashes with militants on the northern Israeli border with Lebanon.

On Tuesday, mourners in the southern Lebanese village of Khirbet Selm carried two caskets, draped in yellow Hezbollah flags, with the bodies of two fighters it said were killed in Israeli strikes a day earlier. A third fighter was also killed, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said.

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Israeli officials said a senior Israel Defence Forces officer and two soldiers were killed in a clash with gunmen who entered Israel from Lebanon on Monday afternoon. The Israeli army said no Israeli injuries were reported in Tuesday’s clashes with Hezbollah.

On Tuesday, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades claimed a fresh salvo of rocket fire from south Lebanon towards Israel, the Israeli army said, adding it retaliated with artillery fire.

11 Oct 202321.16 EDT

Two Filipino nationals killed in Israel

Rebecca Ratcliffe

Two Filipino nationals have been killed following Hamas’ assault on Israel, the Philippines Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo has said.

In a statement posted on social media, he said: “The Philippines condemns the killing of two Filipino nationals and all other acts of terrorism and violence as a result of Hamas actions against Israel. The Philippines is ready to work with other countries towards a long-lasting resolution to the conflict, in accordance with pertinent UN Security Council Resolutions and the general principles of international law. The Philippine government will continue to provide all possible assistance to distressed Filipinos nationals in Israel and Palestine.”

Just a note to say that I am not entirely sure, but I as far as I can tell, Darje Tupah, the neighbourhood mentioned by the Israeli Air Force, is a mistranslation of al-Daraj, the name of the Gaza neighbourhood. If you happen to know, please get in touch: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.

The Israeli Air Force has announced that fighter jets hit 70 targets in “Darje Tupah”, or or al-Daraj, Gaza, on Tuesday night. They said Hamas had directed attacks against Israel from the neighbourhood.

“Dozens of IAF fighter jets attacked more than 70 targets throughout Darje Tupah in Gaza tonight. The Darje Tupah area serves as a terrorist nest for the terrorist organisation Hamas and from where many activities against Israel are carried out,” the Air Force wrote.

Israeli strikes hit homes in Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Younis on Tuesday, Hamas-affiliated media said.

A strike on a home in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood killed five people, according to a medical official who spoke to Reuters.

Residents appealing for help on social media said many buildings had collapsed, sometimes trapping as many as 50 people inside with rescue workers unable to reach them.

The United Nations said more than 180,000 Gazans had been made homeless, many huddling on streets or in schools.

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At the morgue in Gaza’s Khan Younis hospital on Tuesday, bodies lay on the ground on stretchers with names written on their torsoes, Reuters reports. Medics called for relatives to pick up bodies quickly because there was no more space for the dead.

A municipal building was hit while being used as an emergency shelter. Survivors there spoke of many dead.

“No place is safe in Gaza, as you see they hit everywhere,” Ala Abu Tair, 35, who had sought shelter there with his family after fleeing Abassan Al-Kabira near the border.

Israel’s military said its forces, backed by a helicopter and drones, clashed with militants inside Israeli territory late on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Soldiers killed three militants in the incident in Ashkelon, starting a fire in an industrial area close to an oil terminal located just over 10 km (6 miles) from the Gaza Strip that has been shut in the wake of the attacks, it said.