Israel says it will deny Gaza electricity, water and fuel until Hamas frees the hostages it captured during a weekend siege that saw 1,200 Israelis killed. At least 150 hostages were captured by Hamas during the shock attack and taken back to Gaza. Israel has retaliated by launching devastating bombing raids over Gaza. 

So far, 338,000 people living in Gaza have been displaced and 1,354 have been killed and 6,049 have been wounded according to figures released by Gaza's Health Ministry. On Wednesday, the last remaining power station in Gaza ran out of fuel, which means the area is now relying on generators to provide its people with power.  

On Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross released a statement warning that Gaza was likely to run out of fuel within a few hours, but Israel's Energy Minister, Israel Katz, says the country's armed forces will continue their air raids and blockade until their demands are met.

In a post published on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: "Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. Humanitarian for humanitarian. And no one will preach us morals."

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Blinken visits Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel on Thursday on a trip to show solidarity with Israel, help prevent the conflict from spreading and push for the release of hostages, including American citizens.

He will also visit Jordan on Friday to meet King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority that operates limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas, whose Fatah movement lost control of the Gaza Strip to its Hamas rivals in 2007, has not condemned the attacks on Israel, has blamed the escalation on the neglect of Palestinian grievances, and has called for Palestinians outside Gaza to resist the Israeli military.

Israel could launch ground assault

Israel formed a new unity government on Wednesday, bringing opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into his cabinet.

The country has called up hundreds of thousands of reservists in preparation for what could be a ground assault on Gaza. No decision to enter Gaza has yet been made "but we're preparing for it", military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht said early on Thursday.

The conflict has torn up diplomacy in the region, just as Israel was preparing to reach an agreement to normalize ties with Saudi Arabia, the richest Arab power, and months after Riyadh resumed ties with its regional rival Iran.

Tehran has celebrated the Hamas attacks but denied being behind them. U.S. President Joe Biden said a deployment of military ships and aircraft closer to Israel should be seen as a signal to Iran to stay out of the conflict.

Egyptian President urges humanitarian corridor

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed in phone call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the need to ensure regularity of humanitarian relief services and aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the Egyptian presidency said in statement on Thursday.

Egypt said on Thursday it was directing international aid for the besieged Gaza Strip to Al Arish airport in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The nearby Rafah crossing between Sinai and Gaza remained open, the statement said, adding that Egypt had asked Israel to avoid targeting the Palestinian side of the crossing after strikes that prevented normal operations there.

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