Israel-Hamas war live: Biden calls for Israel and Ukraine funding in address; Gaza hospitals

Israel’s consent for Egypt to let in food, water and medicine provided the first possible opening in its seal of the territory. Many Gaza residents are down to one meal a day and drinking dirty water, the AP reports.

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Egypt and Israel were still negotiating the entry of fuel for hospitals. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas has stolen fuel from UN facilities and Israel wants assurances that won’t happen. The first trucks of aid were expected to go in Friday.

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The Gaza Health Ministry pleaded with gas stations to give fuel to hospitals and a UN agency donated some of its last fuel.

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The agency’s donation to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, would “keep us going for another few hours,” hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said.

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With the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in Rafah closed, the already dire conditions at Gaza’s second-largest hospital deteriorated further, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel of Nasser Hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis. Power was shut off in most of the hospital and medical staff were using mobile phones for light.

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At least 80 wounded civilians and 12 dead flooded into the hospital after witnesses said a strike hit a residential building in Khan Younis. Doctors had no choice but to leave two to die because there were no ventilators, Qandeel said.

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“We can’t save more lives if this keeps happening,” he said.

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These are the most recent death tolls from Gaza and Israel:

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The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 were injured, and another 1,300 people were believed buried under rubble, authorities said.

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This toll includes 477 people it said were killed in a hospital explosion. This figure is disputed by US intelligence, which estimates the toll was between 100 and 300 people.

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More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion. 203 others were abducted, and between 100 and 200 are missing, the IDF said.

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““We do not know if they are dead and their body is somewhere in Israel or somewhere in the Gaza strip whether in the hands of Hamas or other terrorist organisations or not in the hands of anybody, or if they are held hostage,” IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said.

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In an interview with CNN, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus has said that 203 Israelis are being held hostage by Hamas.

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He added that there are “between 100 and 200 Israelis that are still unaccounted for.”

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“We do not know if they are dead and their body is somewhere in Israel or somewhere in the Gaza strip whether in the hands of Hamas or other terrorist organisations or not in the hands of anybody, or if they are held hostage,” he said.

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US forces in the Middle East are facing increasing threats.

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Earlier, the Associated Press reported that a Navy warship shot down missiles appearing to head toward Israel on Thursday.

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The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer in the northern Red Sea, intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen. The action by the Carney potentially represented the first shots by the US military in the defense of Israel in this conflict, the AP reports.

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Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters the missiles were “potentially” headed toward Israel but said the US hasn’t finished its assessment of what they were targeting.

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A US official said they don’t believe the missiles — which were shot down over the water — were aimed at the US warship. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations that had not yet been announced.

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But an array of other drone attacks over the past three days did target US bases, including one in southern Syria on Thursday that caused minor injuries and the drones and rockets that targeted Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq.

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Reuters: Drones and rockets targeted on Thursday evening the Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts US and other international forces in western Iraq, and multiple blasts were heard inside the base, two security sources said.

The Iraqi military said it closed the area around the base and started a search operation. It was not clear yet whether the attacks caused casualties or damages, said the sources.
Rockets have hit another military base hosting US forces near Baghdad’s international airport, Iraqi police said on Thursday, without providing further details.

The latest attacks take to four in the past 24 hours targeting Iraqi military bases that hosts US forces in Iraq.

US military forces in Iraq were targeted on Wednesday in two separate drone attacks, with one causing minor injuries to a small number of troops even though the US military managed to intercept the armed drone.

Last week, Iraqi armed groups aligned with Iran threatened to target US interests with missiles and drones if Washington intervened to support Israel against Hamas in Gaza.

The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, and 900 more in neighbouring Syria, on a mission to advise and assist local forces in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized swathes of territory in both countries.

Ain al-Asad air base is located in the western Anbar province.

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In his address Biden sought to link Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip who attacked Israel to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to annihilate a neighbouring democracy,” he said.

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Meanwhile China is ready to maintain communication and coordination with Russia to cool down the Israel-Palestinian crisis, its Middle East special envoy said after meeting with his Russian counterpart this week.

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The remarks were reported in Chinese state media.

China and Russia share the same position on the Palestinian issue, Zhai Jun said after meeting with Russia’s special representative for Middle East and African countries in Doha, Qatar on Thursday.

He said China is saddened by the humanitarian crisis, and is ready to play a “positive role in the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks”, as well as the “genuine implementation” of the two-state solution, state media said.

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That speech is now over. Let’s recap:

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As expected, Biden used his second-ever Oval Office address to appeal to Americans for their support for tens of billions of dollars of funding for Israel and Ukraine.

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Biden said he would send an urgent funding request to Congress, which is expected to be roughly $100bn over the next year. The proposal, which will be unveiled on Friday, includes money for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, humanitarian aid and border management.

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Throughout the address, he made comparisons between Israel and Ukraine, Hamas and Putin. He stressed, however, that Israel should not make the same “mistakes” made by the US after 9/11 when, he said, Americans were “blinded by rage”.

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Biden said, “As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace, we cannot give up on a two-state solution”, and that, “The US remains committed to Palestinians’ right to dignity and to self-determination. The acts of Hamas don’t take that away.”

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“Hamas and Putin represent different threats,” Biden said. “But they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy.”

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Biden said:

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n

That’s why tomorrow I’m going to send to Congress and urgent budget request to fund America’s national security needs to support our critical partners including Israel and Ukraine. It’s a smart investment that will pay dividends for American security for generations.

n

Help us keep American troops out of harm’s way. Help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful, more prosperous for our children and grandchildren. In Israel, we must make sure that they have what they need to protect the people today and always.

n

The security package I’m sending to Congress and asking Congress to build is an unprecedented addition to our security that will sharpen Israel, qualitatively wonderful qualitative military edge that we have committed to, that military edge.

n

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Biden says that the US was “blinded by rage” after 9/11 and “made mistakes”. He urges Israel not to do the same.

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“As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace, we cannot give up on a two-state solution,” Biden says.

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“In Israel we must make sure they have what they need to protect their people today and always,” he says.

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The funding request will be sent to Congress tomorrow.

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The funding will be used to, “Sharpen Israel’s qualitative military edge,” he says. It will make sure the Iron Dome defence system continues to function, and will “sent a message to other hostile actors in the region.”

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Biden says, “Making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed is vital for America’s national security.”

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Walking away from Ukraine or Israel increases the risk of global chaos, he says.

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He wants to use funding to make the Middle East, “more stable, connected to its neighbours … [with] more predictable markets, more employments, less grievances, less war, he says.”

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Biden says, “We’re pursuing every avenue to bring hostages home”. He says there is no higher priority.

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“We’re facing an inflection point in history,” Biden says as he opens his speech. What we do today will determine outcomes for decades to come, he says.

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Biden is about to begin his second-ever Oval Office address.

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US Presidents traditionally reserve speeches from the solemn setting of the Oval Office for moments of key national significance, Reuters explains.

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Biden’s only previous address from there was in June when he hailed a deal with Congress to avert what would have been a catastrophic US default.

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But Congress has now been paralysed for more than two weeks as divided Republicans struggle to elect a House speaker – in turn holding up aid.

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You can watch Biden’s speech live below – the speech is set to start in five minutes’ time.

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As we wait for that address to start, Agence France-Presse reports that the US intelligence community has estimated there were likely 100 to 300 people killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli Al-Arab hospital in Gaza, according to excerpts of a document seen Thursday by AFP.

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The toll estimate is lower than the nearly 500 deaths that health authorities in the Hamas-ruled enclave originally described.

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An unclassified US intelligence assessment, provided to AFP by a Capitol Hill source, estimates the number of people killed at the hospital Tuesday night at the “low end of the 100-to-300 spectrum.”

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“We are still assessing the likely casualty figures and our assessment may evolve, but this death toll still reflects a staggering loss of life,” the document said.

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“The United States takes seriously the deaths of all civilians, and is working intensively to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the document said.

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The White House said Biden will unveil a new funding request this week believed to be as much as $100 billion.

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It may include $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, sources told Reuters, as well as billions for Asia and US border security.

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It is only the second prime-time Oval Office address in the Democratic president’s nearly three years in office; in June he cheered the end of a debt ceiling standoff.

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The speech comes as Israeli officials signal their readiness for a ground offensive.

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US president Joe Biden is expected to use his primetime address, which starts in a few minutes’ time, at 8pm Eastern Time, to try to sell Americans on the need to spend billions more dollars on Israel and Ukraine, even as the US House of Representatives, without a leader, cannot approve new spending on the two wars, Reuters reports.

“Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel,” Biden wrote in a social media post listing topics for his White House speech. “The need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine.”

He added: “We are at a global inflection point that is bigger than party or politics.”

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We’ll bring you the latest from that speech as it happens – stay tuned.

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This is the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war with me, Helen Sullivan.

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The US president, Joe Biden, is set to deliver a primetime address on Thursday night, in half an hour’s time, at 8pm Eastern Time (0000 GMT on Friday) in which he will discuss the US response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

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Biden’s remarks follow a brief visit to Tel Aviv in which he met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Biden is expected to use the speech to sell Americans on the need to spend billions more dollars on Israel and Ukraine, even as the US House of Representatives, without a leader, cannot approve new spending on the two wars.

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We’ll bring you that address live as it happens, as well as other news throughout the day.

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Here are the other key recent developments:

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n

• Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian territory “from the inside”. Gallant urged the forces to “get organised, be ready” for an order to move in, suggesting an Israeli ground invasion could be nearing.

n

• Israel is likely to launch a bloody ground assault on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, the former prime minister Ehud Barak said in an NBC interview. The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it’s ready, Israel’s economy minister, Nir Barkat, said in an interview with the US’s ABC network.

n

• Trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after Joe Biden’s whirlwind visit to Israel on Wednesday. Biden said Israel had agreed to allow the opening of the Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing to deliveries of desperately needed food, water and medical supplies on condition that the humanitarian assistance was not diverted by Hamas for its own use.

n

• The Rafah crossing is not expected to open Friday for a convoy of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, CNN reported, citing multiple sources. “I would not put money on those trucks going through tomorrow,” one source told the news outlet. US officials now expect the first convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid will cross into Gaza from Egypt this weekend, possibly Saturday, the report says. Egyptian state media earlier reported that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would be opened on Friday to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It comes after Israel, the White House and Egypt confirmed that limited aid will be allowed to travel into Gaza through the crossing. The source told CNN that the situation is “really volatile” and that there are a lot of other details to make sure the aid is sustained, not a one off.

n

• The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has said Gaza “needs aid at scale and on a sustained basis”.

n

• Lack of access to water is one of the biggest challenges in Gaza, according to the international charity Action Against Hunger, which is warning of “a health crisis on the brink of explosion”. The UN estimates that there are fewer than 3 litres of water per person each day for the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, half of whom are children who are most at risk from water shortages and diarrhoeal infections.

n

• The World Health Organization (WHO) said its trucks were “loaded and ready to go” as soon as the Rafah crossing was opened – “hopefully tomorrow”. The WHO director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the agency was “gravely concerned about the health and wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, who are suffering from bombardment and siege” and about the attacks on healthcare in both Gaza and Israel.

n

• Eight Palestinians were killed in an ongoing Israeli military operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s police said an officer was also killed during clashes.

n

• At least 21 journalists have been killed since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, the majority in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The CPJ reported that, as of this Thursday, 17 Palestinian, three Israeli, and one Lebanese journalist had died since Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October, followed by the ongoing bombardments of Gaza by Israel.

n

• Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have condemned the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza as they met in Cairo for talks on the Israel-Hamas war. Sisi and King Abdullah also warned of the dangers of a regional spillover.

n

• The US state department has issued a worldwide caution alert advising American citizens overseas “to exercise increased caution”. The US state department cited “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against US citizens and interests”.

n

• The US and British embassies in Beirut have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon while flights “remain available” as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over the Israel-Hamas war. Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon.

n

• Israel is counting on the UK’s “continuous support” in what will be a “long war” with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told Rishi Sunak, as the two leaders met in Tel Aviv. Sunak flew to Saudi Arabia later on Thursday in efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and prevent a wider regional conflict.

n

• Sunak and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “agreed to coordinate action” to avoid any further escalation in the region, Downing Street said after a meeting. The UK prime minister “encouraged” Saudi Arabia to use its influence to “support stability” in the region, a No 10 spokesperson said.

n

• At least nine British nationals are confirmed to have died and a further seven are missing after the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.

n

• The US state department said 32 Americans have been killed in Israel. Eleven US citizens remain unaccounted for, Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the state department, said at a news conference on Thursday. The Philippines embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed the death of another Filipino national, bringing the country’s death toll to four.

n

• The US president, Joe Biden, will address the nation later today to discuss the US’s response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the war in Ukraine, less than 24 hours after returning from Tel Aviv to offer Israelis support and aid for Palestinians in a trip upended by a hospital blast in Gaza.

n

• A second plane of humanitarian aid from the EU was due to land in Egypt on Thursday afternoon to help people in Gaza, a spokesperson for the European Commission said. Together with a flight yesterday, it will amount to 54 tonnes of humanitarian aid including hygiene and sanitation products, food, water and shelter.

n

• More than 60 international charities – including Action Aid UK, Bond, Cafod, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK – have signed a statement calling on the UK government to step up its efforts to secure an urgent ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.

n

• The US intelligence community assesses that there likely were between 100 and 300 people killed in the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to unclassified intelligence. The US National Security Council said on Wednesday that the US government assessed that Israel “was not responsible” for the Gaza hospital blast.

n

• The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.

n

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Key events

Julian Borger

On a visit to Cairo, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, said: “We need food, water, medicine and fuel now. We need it at scale and we need it to be sustained, it is not one small operation that is required.”

The threat of a ground assault on top of the constant airstrikes, now threatens to cut off even this slim lifeline to Gaza at any moment.

“There will be many injured who will lose their lives if sufficient fuel, medical supplies and life-saving aid is not delivered to hospitals in Gaza which are full of injured civilians from the continuous bombing and Israeli airstrikes,” said Riham Jafari, the communications and advocacy coordinator at ActionAid Palestine.

“Insufficient aid will cause health disasters and starvation as patients with chronic diseases and pregnant women and their infants will be unable to receive the medical care and nutrition they need, and this will endanger their lives. We know that the 20 trucks of aid currently promised is simply not enough.”

Julian Borger

Humanitarian agencies have stockpiled life-saving supplies on the Egyptian side of the border, waiting for the crossing to open. The UN aid chief, Martin Griffiths, told the UN security council on Wednesday that the organisation sought to bring aid deliveries to Gaza back to 100 trucks a day, the level before the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Griffiths told the security council: “There is simply nowhere to go for civilians to escape the destruction and privation, both of which grow by the hour as missiles continue to fly and essential supplies, including fuel, food, medical items, water run low.

“Due to the scarcity of water, UNRWA [the UN relief agency] in some locations … is being forced to ration down to providing one litre of water per person per day. Bear in mind that the minimum by international standards should be 15 litres, and they’re getting one – and they’re the lucky ones.”

Julian Borger

Israel security officials have signalled their readiness to embark on a ground offensive into Gaza that they say will be far more comprehensive and ferocious than any previous conflict with Hamas.

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, visited troops on the Gaza border on Thursday, telling them: “You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come.”

“I am tasked with leading us to victory,” Gallant told the soldiers. “We will be precise and forceful, and we will keep going until we fulfil our mission.”

Soon after Gallant’s statement, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, broadcast a video of himself with troops near the border also promising victory. At a meeting with his visiting British counterpart, Rishi Sunak, Netanyahu said: “This is our darkest hour.”

Israeli officials are adamant that they have no choice but launch a massive assault, codenamed Operation Swords of Iron. Over the past 16 years since the militant movement seized power in Gaza, they argue, Israel has fought three significant conflicts with Hamas, but they said those campaigns were aimed at keeping Hamas in check rather than destroying it.

“The strategy was to have a longer gap every time between the different conflicts, but it failed and it cannot happen any more,” a senior Israeli security official said. “So the only conclusion is that we have to go in, we have to go in and clean it and to eliminate Hamas from the roots, not only militarily, but also economically, its administration. Everything should go away.”

“That’s the idea now and we are getting prepared for that,” the official said, and warned: “It won’t be clear cut and it won’t be as short as we would like as Israelis. It will be a prolonged campaign. It will take time.”

Navy warship shot down missiles appearing to head toward Israel

US forces in the Middle East are facing increasing threats.

Earlier, the Associated Press reported that a Navy warship shot down missiles appearing to head toward Israel on Thursday.

The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer in the northern Red Sea, intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen. The action by the Carney potentially represented the first shots by the US military in the defense of Israel in this conflict, the AP reports.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters the missiles were “potentially” headed toward Israel but said the US hasn’t finished its assessment of what they were targeting.

A US official said they don’t believe the missiles — which were shot down over the water — were aimed at the US warship. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations that had not yet been announced.

But an array of other drone attacks over the past three days did target US bases, including one in southern Syria on Thursday that caused minor injuries and the drones and rockets that targeted Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq.

Some more analysis, via Reuters: By lumping the priorities together in one package, Biden is testing whether Republican lawmakers can be persuaded to set aside their opposition and go along with spending on Ukraine, whose 20-month-old war with Russia has absorbed billions of dollars already in US weapons with no end in sight.

Any funding measure must pass both the Democratic-led US Senate, where additional aid has bipartisan support, and the Republican-led House, which has not had a speaker for 17 days.

Conservative Jim Jordan, an ally of former President Donald Trump, vowed to continue his bid for House speaker after failing to win majority support among Republicans.

House Republican lawmakers in recent weeks nearly brought government to a halt over chronic budget deficits and $31.4tn in debt, threatening to slash government spending across the board.

About four in 10 respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week said the US should support Israel’s position in the conflict when given a range of options. Nearly half said Americans should remain neutral or not be involved.

In a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll earlier this month, roughly the same proportion agreed with a statement that Washington “should provide weapons to Ukraine.”

Some analysis from the Associated Press: Ahead of his address, Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to stress that the US remained committed to backing Kyiv, the White House said.

And a senior White House official said Biden continued to develop his remarks on Thursday after working with close aides throughout the week, including on his flight home from Israel. The official declined to be identified ahead of the president’s speech.

Biden faces an array of steep challenges as he tries to secure the money. The House remains in chaos because the Republican majority has been unable to select a speaker to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted more than two weeks ago.

In addition, conservative Republicans oppose sending more weapons to Ukraine as its battle against the Russian invasion approaches the two-year mark. Biden‘s previous request for funding, which included $24 billion to help with the next few months of fighting, was stripped out of budget legislation last month despite a personal plea from Zelenskiy.