Biden again dials Netanyahu as Hamas claims 200 killed in 24 hours in Gaza

US President Joe Biden on Saturday spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Israeli Defence Forces continued their ground operation in northern Gaza.

After the call, Biden said he did not ask for a “cease-fire” during his chat with the Israeli PM. Netanyahu’s office said that the prime minister “made clear that Israel would continue the war until achieving all its goals”.

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported 201 deaths in the past 24 hours across the territory, updating the death toll since the start of the war to 20,258, most of them women and children.

Israel also announced the death of five soldiers.

Here are the top developments concerning the Israel-Hamas war:
The Israeli chief military spokesperson said that its forces had achieved almost complete operational control of northern Gaza and were preparing to expand the ground offensive to other areas in the Strip, with a focus on the south.

The IDF also struck several areas in Lebanon which it termed “launches”.

In a post on X, IDF said, “Earlier today, a number of launches were identified crossing from Lebanon toward various areas in northern Israel. In response, the IDF struck the sources of fire. Additionally, throughout the day, IDF artillery struck a number of areas in Lebanon. A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck a military command centre belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation”.

“Furthermore, due to the launches fired from Lebanon toward Manara, an IDF soldier in reserves was moderately injured from the shrapnel,” it added.

Also, on Saturday, the Israeli military said that its troops arrested hundreds of alleged militants in Gaza over the past week and transferred more than 200 to Israel for further interrogation, providing details on its policy of mass roundups of Palestinian men. The army said more than 700 people with alleged ties to the terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have so far been sent to Israeli lockups.

Meanwhile, the Hamas on Saturday said that it had lost contact with a group it said was responsible for five of the Israeli hostages due to Israeli bombardment. However, an Israeli military spokesperson described the statement as “psychological terrorism” from Hamas.

In addition, health officials and Hamas media said an Israeli air strike on a house in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed three people including a journalist of Hamas’ Aqsa TV channel and two relatives.

On Saturday, an Israel-affiliated merchant vessel in the Arabian Sea off India’s west coast was struck by an unmanned aerial vehicle, causing a fire.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the United States and its allies continued to commit “crimes” in Gaza, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Notably, Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history, displacing nearly 85 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and levelling wide swaths of the tiny coastal enclave.

More than a half million people in Gaza– a quarter of the population– are starving, according to a report this week from the United Nations and other agencies.