World News | Updates | Intense Bombardments Strike in Southern Gaza as the War Rages on

Jerusalem, Oct 17 (AP) Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

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HAMAS' MILITARY WING SAYS TOP COMMANDER KILLED BY ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE

Jerusalem: Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed top militant commander, Ayman Nofal.

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Nofal is the most high-profile militant to be killed so far in Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip. Residents said the barrage of Israeli airstrikes levelled an entire block of homes and caused dozens more casualties.

The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas hideouts, infrastructure and command centres.

AT LEAST 16 JOURNALISTS KILLED IN GAZA AND ISRAEL SINCE THE WAR BEGAN

Jerusalem: The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based watchdog, says at least 13 Palestinian journalists in Gaza and three journalists in Israel have been killed since the war erupted. Several Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Tuesday, said the group.

Some Palestinian journalists were killed when Israeli airstrikes struck their homes in the Gaza Strip or the area housing their offices in the Rimal neighbourhood, in central Gaza City.

Others were killed while reporting on the evacuations of Palestinian houses under Israeli bombardment. Some were freelancers and others worked for local outlets. One of them worked for the Hamas-linked Al Aqsa Radio.

Three Israeli journalists, meanwhile, were killed during the brutal Oct 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including an editor for Israeli public broadcaster Kan, an editor for Hebrew-language daily Ma'ariv and a photographer for the Hebrew-language Israel Hayom newspaper.

The CPJ count did not include the death of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah, who was killed on Friday in south Lebanon when an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border. Six other journalists were injured.

SOUTHERN GAZA HOSPITAL SAYS IT HAS RECEIVED EVACUATION ORDER

Gaza Strip: A hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah says it has received two Israeli warnings to evacuate even though it is in the area where Israel told civilians to take refuge.

Sohaib al-Hams, director of the Kuwaiti Specialist Hospital, said staff will not abandon the facility, which continues to receive patients amid relentless Israeli airstrikes.

“We will not leave our places and we will not let our people down,” al-Hams said in a video on the hospital's official Facebook page, adding that Gazan hospitals are the final red line after Israel crossed all the others.

Israeli army spokesman were not immediately available for comment on the order.

US RESPONDS TO HOSTAGE VIDEO BY URGING IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL HELD

Washington: The United States has responded to Hamas' release of a hostage video by calling on the group to immediately release all hostages.

“There should be no reason for them to have any hostages in the first place," said US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on American TV Tuesday.

Asked if he believed the woman in the video, identified as 21-year-old Mia Schem, was being treated well, Kirby said she was “probably forced” to record the message.

“There's no question in my mind that that woman gave that video testimony under duress, probably forced to do it,” Kirby said on NBC's “Today".

"It's a propaganda video much more than it is proof of life or, certainly, proof of concept for Hamas. It's despicable, deplorable that they would take these hostages and then advertise how well they're treating them when they're the ones who hurt them in the first place.”

FOREIGN PASSPORT-HOLDERS WAIT FOR RAFAH CROSSING TO OPEN

Rafah: Dual Palestinian nationals' hopes to leave the Gaza Strip were dashed for a third straight day as the border remained closed.

Jameel Abdullah, a Swedish passport holder, said he had been told by his embassy to return to the border, but after waiting many hours he turned back toward Gaza where Israeli airstrikes continue to pound densely populated residential areas.

“We come to the border crossing hoping that it will open, but so far there is no information,” he said, with the echo of bombs falling in the distance.

“We plead with the Egyptian people to look at us with compassion because frankly we are in a very dangerous place. There is shelling all around us, and even if I wanted to return home (to Gaza), I would be risking my life.” (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)