Israel-Hamas war live: 199 Hamas hostages held in Gaza, IDF says

Hamas and other Palestinian militants are holding 199 hostages in Gaza, the Israeli military has said.

Previous estimates had put the number of hostages at 130.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a military spokesperson, did not specify whether that number includes foreigners, or say who is holding them. Most are believed to be held by Hamas.

The families have been notified, he said.

It is “almost inevitable” that the operation in Gaza will see an “innocent civilian population that is very badly affected”, the UK’s armed forces minister James Heappey has said.

“I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, I’m afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

“It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just don’t think there’s any point pretending otherwise.”

Asked about the possibility of opening the Rafah crossing into Egypt for people fleeing Gaza, Mr Heappey welcomed the prospect but said it is important to “sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality”.

Several UN-flagged trucks were leaving the southern Gaza Strip in the direction of a meeting point of the Palestinian enclave’s borders with Israel and Egypt, a Reuters employee has said.

The trucks initially appeared to be en route to the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border but their course later appeared to take them in the direction of Kerem Shalom, an Israeli border crossing close to the Egyptian frontier.

The UK is encouraging Israel to ensure it balances military and humanitarian efforts, armed forces minister James Heappey has said.

Asked whether the government supports the blockade of water, medical supplies and power from Gaza, he told LBC: “I think what we are recognising is that there is military necessity rubbing up against humanitarian necessity and what we’re saying to Israel is that they need and are, need to show the balance between those two imperatives.”

Echoing US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Mr Heappey said democracies hold themselves to a “higher standard” and “of course we are encouraging Israel to make sure it does hold itself to that higher standard”.

He added: “It is the devil’s own choice that Israel has got to make but for my money they are balancing correctly the need to preserve innocent human life as best they possibly can while accepting that the adversary that they will soon launch an attack on, uses humans and shields and deliberately seeks to hide within civilian population and infrastructure.”

A Hamas official has told Reuters that there is no truth to reports about the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt or a temporary ceasefire.

Egyptian security sources had previously told Reuters that an agreement had been reached to open the border crossing to allow aid into the enclave from 9am local time.

More than 400,000 Palestinians have taken shelter in UN schools and buildings, say UN agency.

The UNRWA, the UN’s Agency for Palestine Refugees, added that they are mourning the loss of 14 of their colleagues since Israeli air strikes began.

They wrote in a post on X: “At least 400,000 people are now displaced in our schools & buildings in Gaza.

“Old people, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities are just being deprived of their basic human dignity. This is a total disgrace.”

The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks since October 7 has risen to 2,750, according to the Gaza health ministry.

This has increased from the 2,670 Palestinians reported to have been killed last night. They added that 9,700 Palestinians have now been wounded in the attacks.

The number of Israelis killed in Hamas’ military operation stands at 1,400.

Israel has activated a plan to evacuate residents of 28 villages within 2 km of the Lebanese border, the military said on Monday following hostilities with Hezbollah in parallel to the spiraling war in Gaza.

One of the villages, Shtula, came under a Hezbollah missile attack on Sunday. Israeli media said a civilian was killed Reuters reports.

Malaysia does not agree with Western pressure to condemn Palestinian militant group Hamas, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday, amid widespread outrage over this month’s deadly attack on southern Israel.

Western and European countries have repeatedly asked Malaysia to condemn Hamas in meetings, Anwar said, without providing details.

“I said that we, as a policy, have a relationship with Hamas from before and this will continue,” Anwar told parliament. “As such, we don’t agree with their pressuring attitude, as Hamas too won in Gaza freely through elections and Gazans chose them to lead.”

Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause and has advocated for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.