Jerusalem, Nov 3 (AP) Here's what is happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

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TARGETED ATTACKS ON MILITANT CELLS IN GAZA CITY HAVE STARTED, ISRAELI ARMY SAYS

Jerusalem: The Israeli military said ground troops continued to exchange fire with Hamas militants Friday in Gaza, as Israeli aircraft killed numerous Hamas militants exiting tunnels.

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Footage released by the military showed troops and tanks advancing through grassland toward bombed out buildings as smoke clouds from airstrikes rose in the distance.

The military said it encircled Gaza City on Thursday and was beginning to launch targeted attacks within the city Friday to target militant cells.

MENTAL HEALTH CARE A KEY NEED IN ISRAEL FOLLOWING HAMAS' OCT 7 ATTACK, WHO OFFICIAL SAYS

Geneva: Israelis are clamouring for better mental health care following the devastating Oct 7 attack by Hamas militants, a top World Health Organisation official said Friday.

Dr Hans Kluge, the head of WHO Europe, which counts Israel but not Palestinian areas in its region, said his trip to Israel this week on an invitation from Israeli leaders had three priorities: To mourn in solidarity with Israelis, listen to families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and to explore options for more aid for injured or sick Palestinians in Gaza.

While a small amount of aid has been ferried into Gaza and some evacuees were allowed to leave through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, Kluge said prospects for that aid to move through crossing points between Israel and Gaza were “not on the table” for now.

Kluge, who met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the health minister and others, said the country wants to build “the strongest mental health system in the world”.

“The main needs within Israel - which was expressed by everyone, the president, the first lady, the health care workers we met, the new minister of health, whom I met - is mental health, mental health, mental health,” Kluge said in an interview a day after returning to WHO Europe headquarters in Copenhagen.

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU RULES OUT CEASE-FIRE UNTIL HAMAS FREES HOSTAGES

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, saying he will press ahead with a devastating military offensive until hostages held by the Hamas militant group are released.

Netanyahu spoke shortly after meeting Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who pressed Israel for a temporary pause in its offensive to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Blinken also urged Israel to do more to protect civilians from its attacks.

In a statement, Netanyahu said Israel is continuing with “all of its power” and “refuses a temporary cease-fire that doesn't include a return of our hostages”.

Hamas kidnapped about 240 people in its Oct 7 cross-border attack that triggered the Israel-Hamas war. The attack killed about 1,400 people, while over 9,200 Palestinians in Gaza have died in Israeli strikes that began the same day, according to Palestinian health officials.

BLINKEN URGES ISRAEL TO DO MORE TO PROTECT GAZA CIVILIANS, INCREASE AID

Tel Aviv: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said more needs to be done to “protect Palestinian civilians” in Gaza and that, without that, there will be “no partners for peace”.

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday, Blinken also said, “we need to substantially and immediately increase the sustainable humanitarian assistance” into Gaza.

He said it was critical to restore the path toward a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, calling it the only “guarantor” of a safe and democratic Israel and independent Palestine. He said work on that must begin “not tomorrow, not after today, but today”.

Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Friday for his third trip to Israel since the war began with Hamas' incursion into Israel on Oct 7. Blinken will also visit Jordan and may make additional stops in the region before travelling to Asia early next week.

He met Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials to urge them to do everything possible to protect civilians caught in the fighting, while underscoring Israel's right to defend itself.

“We stand strongly for the proposition that Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself, and to make sure that October 7 should never happen again,” Blinken said.

“How Israel does this matters and it is very important that when it comes to the protection of civilians who are caught in the crossfire of Hamas' making that everything to be done to protect them and to bring assistance to those who so desperately need it.”

US President Joe Biden has called for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting in order to arrange the evacuation of dual citizens and foreigners still trapped in Gaza as well as to try to secure the release of more than 240 hostages Hamas is holding.

HEZBOLLAH LEADER THREATENS AN ESCALATION OF BORDER FIGHTING

Beirut: The leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group said Friday that his powerful militia is engaged in unprecedented cross-border fighting with Israel and threatened escalation.

Hassan Nasrallah's widely anticipated speech was his first since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, sparked by the Palestinian militants' deadly Oct 7 incursion into southern Israel.

Nasrallah stopped short of announcing that Hezbollah is fully engaging in the war but said the fighting on the Lebanon-Israel border would “not be limited” to the scale seen until now.

The speech came a day after the most significant escalation in clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the border since the war started, and on the same day as a visit to Israel by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge protections for civilians in the fighting with Hamas.

Nasrallah praised the Hamas attack four weeks ago on farming villages and military posts in southern Israel. More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel in the attack by Hamas, a Hezbollah ally.

“This great, large-scale operation was purely the result of Palestinian planning and implementation,” Nasrallah said, suggesting his militia had no part in the attack. “The great secrecy made this operation greatly successful.”

Since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has taken calculated steps to keep Israel's military busy on its border with Lebanon, but not to the extent of igniting an all-out war. (AP)

(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)