Israel says its forces have discovered what it calls an operational tunnel shaft inside of the al-Shifa Hospital Complex in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces released a video of the tunnels a day after Israel's special forces entered the complex.

Sderot

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel is 'at war' following a surprise attack from Gaza by Hamas militants.

Israel-Gaza War

Israel says Hamas built tunnels under hospital

Israeli forces intensifying their search of the Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, seeking evidence of a Hamas presence, including an alleged command center at that site. The sprawling medical complex is spread out, you're going to see it right here, over a large area, and it includes several buildings. The Gaza Health Ministry says thousands of people remain on the grounds of the compound taking shelter from the fighting. Gaza officials also say more than 600 patients are still on site. Israel says its forces have discovered what it calls an operational tunnel shaft inside of that hospital. Here's a look at some of the video that Israel released of the tunnel. Hamas and Gaza officials deny that militants have been operating there, though. Israel says, though, it found, among that tunnel, it also found weapons and explosives at various locations, including automatic rifles found next to an MRI machine. So it is important to note, as of right now, these images have not been independently verified. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, as Israeli troops conduct their operations, they're doing what they can to protect civilians. We're doing this very gingerly, because we're trying to do the moral thing, the right thing, to deprive Hamas of having this safe zone in a hospital, but at the same time to neutralize its use as a command center for terrorists. And so far, we've achieved it, and I'm glad to say that we've been able to do that. The IDF also reporting it has found the bodies of two hostages at that al-Shifa site. It says the body of an Israeli soldier who was abducted by Hamas was recovered by IDF troops from a structure near that hospital. Military officials also say that this woman, a 65-year-old woman who was kidnapped during the October 7th attack on Israel, has been found dead near the hospital as well. They didn't provide any information on how or when she was killed, but they do say that the body has been identified and her family has been informed. International correspondent Sarah Coates once again in Tel Aviv with more. Look, there are growing fears in the region and also internationally that Israel's military campaign on the Gaza Strip could be widening, with the Defense Minister Yoav Galant announcing that the next phase is underway. Now this is residents in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip have been reporting that leaflets are being dropped on their homes, urging them to evacuate immediately and move even further south. But look, aid groups down in the south working in that region say they are stretched too far. They say that there could potentially be a massive outbreak of infectious diseases. They say hunger and starvation could become the next problem. Now we do know that around a hundred trucks went through the Rafah crossing yesterday carrying essential goods. That was like food, medical aid, also water. But the World Food Program says so far only 10% of the necessary food that has been needed has entered the coastal enclave, so certainly a grave situation down in the south. Now in other parts of the region, in the West Bank, Israel carried out a raid on Jenin refugee camp in the late hours, the early hours of this morning. We do understand at least five Palestinians have been killed in an apparent drone strike. Many others wounded, while pictures coming in from the ground were showing health care workers being marched out of a hospital as it was surrounded by Israeli forces. Now the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has come out to warn Israel that this could potentially become a next front, saying that Israel needs to now take affirmative steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank and also confront the rising levels of settler violence. Sarah Cote, Scripps News, Tel Aviv.

Hong Kong's first district elections saw a turnout of 27.5 percent, the government said Monday, a record low for a race that had shut out all opposition candidates. China has barred pro-democracy candidates from entering the race this year, reserving the ballot for "patriots."

Sha Tin

Hong Kong elections witness record low turnout

Elon Musk has reinstated far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on the social media platform X, a year after vowing never to let him return. Jones, who claimed that a December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and six educators was a hoax, was banned from the platform in 2018 for violating its "abusive behavior policy."

Mountain View

Elon Musk lifts X ban on far-right conspiracist Alex Jones

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is warning the escalation in hostilities along the Israeli border could widen. The Israeli army has carried out multiple air strikes on frontline villages in some of the fiercest bombardment yet. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah is also stepping up attacks against Israeli military outposts. 

Beirut

Violence escalates between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah

The Federal Government has announced its new migration strategy, which plans to reduce migrant intake by raising requirements for international students and some workers to get a visa, including minimum English language requirements.

Canberra

Government announces crackdown on migration

As Israeli troops move closer to the centre of Khan Younis, Gaza, and residents attempt to find safety, the UN warns that half of Gaza’s population is starving.



More people flee Gaza as UN warns of mass starvation

In the final days of COP28, finding greener ways to produce clean drinking water is a big topic of conversation, but the pressure is on for an official statement about fossil fuels.

Dubai

Climate Crisis

Drinking water, fossil fuels lead COP28 agenda in final days

Residents as far south as Mackay are being warned to brace for damaging winds as Cyclone Jasper continues to track toward the coast. It's expected to cross as a Category Two on Wednesday.

Mackay

North Queensland residents prepare for Cyclone Jasper landfall

The competition to follow Annastacia Palaszczuk as Queensland Premier is heating up after her announcement that she's retiring from politics at the end of this week. 

Brisbane

Race to replace Queensland Premier heats up

Israeli tanks battled their way to the centre of Khan Younis in a major new push into the heart of the main city in the southern Gaza Strip which is sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled other parts of the enclave. 

Israeli tanks reach center of Khan Younis

Three Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have been arrested, just before voting began in a "patriots only" district election that has marginalised formerly popular opposition figures in the city amid a national security clampdown.

Shenzhen

Hong Kong activists arrested in city's 'birdcage' election

Foreign investors who leave their homes vacant will be slugged with a six-fold increase to penalties as the Federal Government seeks to free up more housing stock.

Foreign investors to be penalised for leaving homes vacant

The Federal Government is set to unveil a major new migration strategy tomorrow that aims to dramatically cut Australia's intake.

Government plans to 'drastically cut' migration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease, making one of them the first treatment in the United States based on the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR gene editing technology.

Maryland

US approves two gene therapies for sickle cell disease

Israel bombing of the Gaza Strip has intensified in an expanded phase of its war against Hamas. This is after the United States wielded its U.N. Security Council veto to shield its ally from a global demand for a ceasefire.

Jerusalem

Intensified fighting in Gaza as U.S. vetoes ceasefire

EU lawmakers and policymakers have reached a deal on rules regulating the use of artificial intelligence, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on the X social platform.

Brussels

Rise of AI

EU reaches landmark deal to regulate AI threat

The U.S. has vetoed an emergency resolution at the UN security council — triggered by the secretary-general with a rarely-used power to force a vote — for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to allow more aid into the area.

New York

United States vetoes UN vote on immediate Gaza ceasefire

Israel's military says it has struck 450 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, roughly double the figure it's typically reported since the end of the truce with Hamas. It marks a new expansion of the war.

Israel ramps up airstrikes on Gaza targets amid new phase

Russians and Belarusians who qualify in their sport for the Paris 2024 Olympics can take part as neutrals without flags, emblems or anthems at the event next year, the International Olympic Committee has ruled.

Paris

IOC rules Russian athletes can compete at Paris Olympics

Cyclone preparations are underway in north Queensland. Communities in North Queensland are bracing for Category Four Jasper to approach mainland Queensland by mid-next week.

Townsville City

North Queensland braces for Category Four cyclone

The Hamas-run health ministry reported 40 dead in strikes near Gaza City on Friday, and dozens more in Jabalia and the main southern city of Khan Yunis. So far, the fighting in the Palestinian enclave has left 17,487 people dead, according to the ministry's latest published figures. 

Hamas health ministry says over 17,000 dead in Gaza

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told soldiers who had fought in Ukraine that he would run for the top job again in the 2024 election - a move that will allow the former KGB spy to stay in power until at least 2030. 

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russia's Putin tells soldiers he will run for president again

Ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his strongest public criticism of Israel's conduct of the war on Hamas in south Gaza, said there was a gap between the government's declared intentions to protect civilians and the casualties.

Washington

U.S criticizes Israel over Gaza civilian toll

2023 has been declared the hottest year in recorded history a month earlier than scientists would usually confirm the evidence. Temperatures are now nudging one and a half degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, giving the UN climate talks in Dubai a heightened sense of priority.

Council of the City of Sydney

Scientists confirm 2023 is the hottest year on record

The Department of Justice filed new criminal charges against U.S. President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, indicting him for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending millions of dollars on a lavish lifestyle. 

Delaware

Hunter Biden hit with new charges for tax evasion

Two months since the initial Hamas attack on southern Israel, doctors in Gaza are treating many times the number of patients they are equipped to handle, and a UN official says there is no safe place for humanitarian operations to continue.

Israel pushes deeper south as war with Hamas passes 2 months

Emergency authorities are on alert as severe Tropical Cyclone Jasper intensifies in the Coral Sea. The category four system is continuing its gradual march towards the North Queensland coast, but its exact path remains uncertain.

Tropical Cyclone Jasper strengthens off Queensland coast

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited Greece and met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday. The two leaders agreed to reboot their relations, establishing a roadmap designed to usher in a new era of closer ties between the two NATO allies but historical foes. 

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Israel-Gaza War