THE Gaza conflict raged for a 27th day today after the October 7 attacks when Hamas militants stormed the border, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 240 others, Israeli officials say.

Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Palestinian territory and sent in ground troops, with the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza saying 9,061 people have been killed, including 3,760 children.

Here are five key developments from the past 24 hours.

More Gaza evacuations

More foreign passport holders and dual nationals from Gaza crossed into Egypt today, the second day the Rafah crossing was opened to people seeking to flee the war-torn territory.

Gazan crossing official Wael Abu Mohsen said “two buses carrying 100 passengers holding foreign passports” entered the terminal in the morning, with the group later crossing into Egypt. Officials there could not immediately confirm their numbers.

Egyptian and Palestinian officials both said 400 foreigners and dual nationals were expected to cross on Thursday, alongside between 60 to 100 of the sick and wounded.

Cairo said it would help evacuate “about 7,000” foreigners and dual nationals from Gaza, carrying passports from more than 60 countries.

Jabalia deaths

Gaza’s Hamas government said today 195 people had been killed in two days of Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, the biggest in the Palestinian territory.

Its government press office said officials “have recorded 195 martyrs, 120 missing under the rubble, and 777 wounded” at the camp on Tuesday and yesterday.

The Israeli army said Tuesday’s strike killed a Hamas commander but the French government said it was “deeply concerned about the very heavy (civilian) toll” and the UN Human Rights Office described the strikes as “disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes”.

West Bank bloodshed

Unrest has also spike in the occupied West Bank in tandem with the war in Gaza, with three Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire today and an Israeli killed in a Palestinian shooting attack, according to first responders.

Two Palestinians were shot dead during an Israeli raid in El-Bireh near the city of Ramallah, while a third was killed in the northern town of Qalqilya, the Health Ministry said.

A 14-year-old Palestinian also died of gunfire injuries sustained on Monday, it added, saying around 130 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with troops or Jewish settlers since October 7.

The Israeli victim died when his car came under fire near Einav settlement in the northwest of the territory.

Biden backs ‘pause’ 

US President Joe Biden, responding to a heckler at a Minnesota campaign event last night, said there should be a humanitarian “pause” in the war to get the hostages out.

The White House has previously called for “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid to be delivered but has so far refused to discuss a ceasefire, believing it would exclusively play into the hands of Hamas.

Tomorrow, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks in Israel and then visit other regional capitals as Washington seeks “urgent mechanisms” to reduce tensions, his office said.

Wounded trapped in Gaza

More than 20,000 wounded people are still trapped in Gaza, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), despite a tiny handful of evacuations of “severely injured” people to Egypt.

“There are still over 20,000 injured people in Gaza with limited access to healthcare due to the siege,” MSF said. – AFP, November 2, 2023.