Israel will not be providing basic utilities to Gaza City until all Israeli hostages are released.

Taking to social media Israel's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Israel Katz did mince his words on the future of those in Palestinian territory.

"Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home," Katz said. "Humanitarian for humanitarian. And no one will preach us morals."

Israel shut the power off to Gaza in an attack on Hamas terrorists hiding in the city.

Approximately 150 people are believed to be held hostage by Hamas terrorists, including the 17 missing Americans, according to AP.

The Israel Defense Forces claim a Hamas terrorist was found carrying a flag of the Islamic State terror group.

In a post on social media Thursday morning, the Israel Defense Force shared a picture of a black and white flag with Arabic writing on it along with the caption:

"Hamas brought ISIS flags to massacre Israeli children, women and men. Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization. Hamas is worse than ISIS."

The flag was found among the equipment of Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Safa in southern Israel, i24 News reported, citing IDF spokesperson and Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari

Hagari also said ISIS flags were found on the bodies on the uniforms of killed terrorists.

An Irish-Israeli woman was confirmed to be one of the hundreds killed in the "senseless and barbaric" Hamas terrorist massacre at the music festival over the weekend.

Kim Damti, 22, was last seen at the Supernova music festival in Southern Israel on Saturday when Hamas terrorists launched their attack.

Damti's death is being mourned throughout the country.

"As a nation we are united in mourning for Kim Damti. This vibrant young Irish-Israeli woman was struck down in her prime with her adult life ahead of her," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on X, formerly Twitter. "Her death & the deaths of more than a thousand other citizens of Israel & from around the world, was senseless and barbaric."

"Kim gave happiness and joy to her family and those around her," he added. "As we learn of her death, we pause to think of her, her family in Israel and Ireland and of all those now grieving in countless other nations."

Around 260 dead bodies have been discovered at the music festival following the attack.

"Anyone looking at the photo of Kim in the media over the last few days will have been struck by the radiance and energy in her expression; a young 22-year-old woman with a whole life ahead of her, full of promise," Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said.

LONDON - The British government on Thursday ordered families of its diplomats in Israel to leave the country as a "precautionary measure" following attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, leading Israel to declare war and order a siege on Gaza.

The British foreign office said in a statement that its diplomats would remain on active duty in the country.

"We are temporarily drawing down dependants of staff at our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate in Jerusalem as a precautionary measure," the statement said.

"Our Embassy and Consulate remain fully staffed and continue to provide consular services to those who require assistance."

The British government has advised against all non-essential travel to Israel, and the foreign office said it had made its decision about the dependents of diplomats "in line" with that advice.

Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip in retribution for the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, when hundreds of gunmen poured across the barrier fence and rampaged through Israeli towns on Saturday.

British airlines including British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic have suspended flights between the United Kingdom and Israel citing security concerns.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the horrifying discovery of babies that had been beheaded" by Hamas terrorists inside Kibbutz Be’eri earlier this week.

IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said more than 100 body bags were removed from the community which once housed 1,000 people.

"Today many body bags were evacuated from the kibbutz including those of children and including those of babies," Conricus said during his daily morning briefing. "We got very, very disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded."

"The scenes are out of a zombie movie, it's a war zone, and I've heard a seasoned war correspondent who after walking there described it as the worst thing he has ever seen nothing less." Conricus said.

"I admit it took us some time to really understand and verify that report, and it was hard to believe that even Hamas could perform such a barbaric act."

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he has seen “confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children” in southern Israel, but the White House later walked back the commander-in-chief’s claim.

An Irish father living in Israel revealed the agonizing joy he had when he learned his 8-year-old daughter was killed by Hamas terrorists while she attended a sleepover in the Be'eri Kibbutz.

"They just said, we found Emily, she's dead and I went yes," Thomas Hand told CNN on Wednesday. "I went yes, and smiled because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew. The best possibility that I was hoping for."

Hand added that his daughter's death was better than any other situation that could have happened.

"She was either dead or in Gaza, and if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza that is worse than death, that is worse than death," the grieving father said. "The way they treat you, they have no food, they have no water."

"She'd be in a dark room with Christ who knows how many people and terrified every minute, hour, day and possible years to come," he cried out. "So death was a blessing and absolute blessing."

At least 1,203 Palestinians have been killed and an additional 5,763 are injured, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.

The tolls increased by 103 and 424 respectively since the ministry's last update Wednesday evening.

Israeli forces have yet to provide an updated toll Thursday morning, but the IDF's website lists that at least 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas while 3,000 were injured.

The number of dead is expected to continue to increase as air strikes continue to rain down throughout the region as Israel confirmed it is "conducting a large-scale strike" on Hamas targets in Gaza, six days after the initial attack from the terrorist organization.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv Thursday morning during his mission to the Middle East to display Washington's solidarity with Israel.

Blinken met with Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on the tarmac of Ben Gurion Airport as he stepped off his plane.

President Biden sent the United States' top diplomat to help secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas — including the at least 17 Americans missing and feared captured by the terrorists.

"I'm going with a very simple and clear message ... that the United States has Israel's back," Blinken told reporters on the tarmac in Washington DC on Wednesday.

During his trip Blinken will visit with senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to discuss further boosting military support.

Blinken is also scheduled to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday.

Harkening back to ancient times, the Jewish people are uniting – and fasting for deliverance for the besieged Israelis on Thursday.

Horrified by the inconceivable carnage at the hands of Hamas terrorists that claimed 1,200 Israeli lives and some 100 hostages, the Jewish community that normally connects over food is connecting over abstention.

“We have a traditional practice for moments like this one: ta’anit tzibbur [Hebrew for communal fast] – a fast that draws in the entire community to unite for deliverance for those in crisis,” Hadar Institute said on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

The Upper West Side-based Jewish educational institution, which on Wednesday spearheaded the fast, invoked the scores of Israeli hostages – “infants, toddlers, entire families, the elderly and Holocaust survivors” – noting “we have a religious and communal obligation to stand up for the victims and to cry out to God.”

READ MORE

Donald Trump on Wednesday called Hezbollah “very smart” hours after the Lebanese-based terror group fired missiles at Israeli troops – and in separate remarks the former president implied Hamas would never have attacked Israel if he was in the White House.

During a rally in West Palm Beach, Fla., Trump, 77, blamed Israeli and US government officials for Wednesday’s attack from the Iranian-backed terror group, which came days after Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip stormed the Israeli border, killing hundreds of civilians, including women, children and the elderly.

The former president accused the Biden administration and Israeli officials of publicly pointing out the vulnerabilities of the Jewish state, speculating that those comments incited Hezbollah’s attack.

“Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people, can you imagine, national defense people, and they said, ‘Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack from the north, because that’s the most vulnerable spot,’” Trump told the crowd. “I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart.”

READ MORE

South Africa is ready to help mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, drawing on its experience at conflict resolution, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.

Ramaphosa also called for the immediate and unconditional opening of "humanitarian corridors" in the Middle East so that aid can get to people who urgently need it, in the wake of days of Israeli air strikes on Gazan targets in retribution for a weekend attack by Hamas terrorists.

"We remain gravely concerned at the devastating escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the atrocities committed against civilian populations. We call for the immediate cessation of violence and the exercise of restraint," Ramaphosa said in a statement.

"South Africa stands ready to work with the international community and to share our experience in mediation and conflict resolution as we have done on the continent and around the world."

A senior Hamas naval operative was targeted as part of the Israeli Air Force's overnight attacks on the terrorist group.

The IAF said it struck Hamas naval operative Muhammad Abu Shamla's residence, which was "used to store naval weapons designated for terror against Israel, in the Rafah Brigade.

The IAF also announced "waves of strikes" that targeted Nukhba elite forces of the Hamas terrorist group by hitting command centers used by the "operatives who infiltrated the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip last Saturday."

"The Nukhba elite forces were one of the leading forces that infiltrated the State of Israel in order to carry out murderous acts of terror against its citizens," the IAF said.