‘No’: Palestinian spokesman’s shocking answer

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has made a surprise high-security visit to the West Bank, meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom has refused to formally condemn Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and instead slammed the US for failing to be an “honest mediator” in the war.

Follow on for our latest updates throughout the day.

‘No’: Palestinian spokesman’s shocking answer

A top Palestinian ambassador has refused to formally condemn Hamas’ bloody, surprise attack on Israel and instead called on the US to “empower the state of Palestine that will be able to protect its people.”

In an interview on CBS News’ Face The Nation on Sunday, anchor Margaret Brennan pointed to the Israeli government’s withholding of some tax revenues after it claimed the Palestinian Authority has not condemned Hamas adequately and the group’s October 7 massacre on Israel that left hundreds of civilians dead.

Pressed by Ms Brennan on if he wants to condemn Hamas and its attacks, Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot, responded, “No”.

Dr Zomlot added that he wanted to “clear the record”, specifying his role and the authorities of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO as they pertain to that role, and that the role of the United States in the conflict should be as “peacemaker.”

Ms Brennan asked again about the Hamas attack, saying, “Do you want to clear the air and condemn it?”

The ambassador again dodged the question and demanded the United States “de-designate” the PLO as a terrorist organization.

When Ms Brennan asked a third time, Dr Zomlot deflected again.

On her fourth attempt, Ms Brennan reiterated that “on that specific condemnation it would just be a very quick answer.”

Again, Dr Zomlot specifically answered, “No.”

Dr Zomlot went on to say that he does not consider the conflict to be a war, because “a war does not happen between the occupied and an occupier” and “only happens between two sovereign states.”

During the interview, he also slammed the US for failing to be an “honest mediator” in the Israel-Hamas war after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“We need to see the US playing the role of an honest mediator, not adopting the Israeli narrative,” the ambassador said.

Dr Zomlot, who also served as the last Palestinian ambassador to the US, described Mr Blinken’s meeting with Abbas as tense.

“Our president demanded an immediate ceasefire to the atrocious, murderous assault by Israel on our civilians and people. This is not a war against Hamas,” he said.

“It’s clear since it started that it’s a war against our people, not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank.”

He wrapped up his appearance by decrying civilian deaths in Gaza but without doing so for the deaths that occurred in the October 7 terror attack, during which hundreds of Israeli and international civilians, including babies, were kidnapped and tortured, civilian homes were invaded and families slaughtered, and a revellers at a musical festival were massacred.

Hamas says Gaza death toll tops 10,000 as Israel steps up war

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 10,000 people, the Hamas-run health ministry said Monday after nearly one month of bombardment by Israel whose offensive against Palestinian militants showed signs of intensifying.

Determined to destroy Hamas whose October 7 attack left 1,400 dead in Israel, most of them civilians, and saw over 240 hostages taken according to Israeli officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed no letup despite mounting calls for a ceasefire.

Hundreds of overnight strikes pushed the death toll in Gaza to 10,022, mostly women and children, a spokesman for the health ministry told a press conference.

Two paediatric hospitals and Gaza’s only psychiatric hospital were hit, the ministry said, after the director of another hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza reported he had counted 58 dead.

“These are massacres! They destroyed three houses over the heads of their inhabitants — women and children,” one resident, Mahmud Meshmesh, told AFP.

“We have already taken 40 bodies out of the rubble,” he said as crowds prayed around corpses wrapped in white shrouds.

The Israeli military accuses Hamas of building tunnels underneath hospitals, schools and places of worship in Gaza to hide fighters, store arms and ammunition, and plan attacks — charges the militant group has denied.

Ground forces with tanks have flooded the northern half of the Gaza Strip and tightened an encirclement of Gaza City, effectively splitting the territory in two.

Israel’s ally the United States sent its top diplomat Antony Blinken on a whirlwind Middle East tour that wrapped up on Monday in Turkey, where again his host pressed for an Israeli ceasefire, which Washington has declined to endorse.

The heads of major United Nations agencies issued a joint statement also calling for a ceasefire inside the territory of 2.4 million people where an Israeli siege has cut off most water, food and fuel supplies.

“It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,” the statement said. The Israeli army said on Monday it had pounded Gaza with “significant” strikes on 450 targets, having said last week it had already hit over 12,000. It also reported seizing a Hamas command post and killing a Hamas commander accused of helping organise the October 7 attacks and planning future incursions.

“We will take the fight to Hamas wherever they are — underground, above ground,” Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said, referring to Hamas tunnels, and repeating calls for civilians to leave the urban war zone.

“We will be able to dismantle Hamas, stronghold after stronghold, battalion after battalion, until we achieve the ultimate goal, which is to rid the Gaza Strip — the entire Gaza Strip — of Hamas.”

Hamas using cheap drones carrying bombs

Hamas is using cheap but highly effective drone warfare in its fightback against Israel’s advance and sophisticated military tactics in Gaza.

The Palestinian terrorist group has also revealed it used weaponised amateur drones to help facilitate its surprise attack on Israel on 7 October.

Questions have swirled for weeks over how militants were able to take Israeli intelligence services by surprise, with some light now being shed on the use of drones.

Non-military quadcopter drones, made in China, dropped explosive devices on surveillance towers near Israeli border towns, it’s been revealed.

The country’s so-called ‘electronic fence’ was considered impenetrable before the attacks.

Videos shared online by Hamas show cheap drones attacking Israeli troops from above, with one clip showing a grenade being dropped on a group of soldiers.

Another clip shows a drone dropping an explosive device on an Israeli MK4 tank.

In another video, Lebanese terror group Hezbollah can be seen launching a ‘kamikaze drone’ – a device with bombs strapped to it – at an Israeli army border post.

Hamas has said it too has kamikaze drones, which can hover in the air for long periods of time before being crashed into targets.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw a boom in cheap drone warfare, with remodelled commercial devices and inexpensive amateur ones being fitted with weapons.

Ukraine has even bought cardboard drones from an Australian manufacturer, making it simple and cost effective to take to the skies.

In response, Russia’s struggling army has also deployed weaponised drones.