Hamas demands Palestinian prisoners' release in exchange for Israeli hostages | 10 points

Israel said it was "expanding" its ground offensive into Gaza, with a senior military official describing the operation as "significant". Hamas vowed to respond to Israel's attacks with "full force".

In exchange for releasing Israeli hostages, Hamas has demanded the release of all Palestinians held in Israel's prisons. "The price to pay for the large number of enemy hostages in our hands is to empty the (Israeli) prisons of all Palestinian prisoners," Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

The Hamas spokesman made the remarks during a broadcast by the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television channel.

Israel on Saturday said its long-promised ground offensive against the Hamas militants controlling the Palestinian enclave had begun and that its forces are still in the field. Gaza was largely cut off from the outside world as Israel's military expanded the ground offensive.

A video tweeted by online news outlet Visegrad24 shows Israeli tanks firing towards the Gaza side and a loud explosion is heard.

"The forces are still in the field and continuing the war," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

Amid the war, internet and phone services were down in Gaza as Israel ramped up its military operations in the region. The blackout has resulted in 2.3 million people being cut off from the outside world and each other, according to The Times of Israel.

Here are the latest developments of the Israel-Hamas war:

• Following reports that a shell hit a UN peacekeepers' base in south Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) said, "The shell did not explode. Several of our other positions have also sustained damage in the past three weeks."

  The UNIFIL also said that it asked "all parties to immediately cease fire", news agency AFP reported.

Gaza was under an almost complete communications blackout, with internet and phone services cut for more than 12 hours by Saturday morning. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israel had cut communications.

The Israeli military said that it has expanded ground operations in Gaza. "The forces are still in the field and continuing the war," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a news briefing.

Hagari earlier said Israeli fighter jets were carrying out strikes on tunnels dug by Hamas and other infrastructure

He also reiterated his call for Palestinians to move towards southern Gaza as Israel widened its ground offensive in the northern part of the coastal enclave.

• Two Israeli officials told Axios that the decision to expand its ground assault in Gaza was made by the Israeli war cabinet on Thursday night after no breakthrough was achieved on the possible release of hostages held by Hamas.

  The Israeli military said it killed Asem Abu Rakaba, the head of Hamas's aerial array, who helped to plot the surprise attack on Israel and commanded the terrorists who infiltrated the country on paragliders.

  In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said Rakaba was also responsible for the drone attacks on Israeli military posts.

• The armed wing of Hamas said its fighters were clashing with Israeli soldiers in Gaza's northeastern town of Beit Hanoun and in the central area of Al-Bureij.

  "The Al-Qassam brigades and all the Palestinian resistance forces are completely ready to confront (Israel's) aggression with full force and frustrate its incursions," Hamas said in a statement early on Saturday, Reuters reported.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and described the resolution passed by the UN General Assembly as "despicable". In a tweet, Cohen said Israel "intended to eliminate Hamas just as the world dealt with the Nazis and the Islamic State".

• India on Friday (local time) abstained in the UN General Assembly from voting on a draft resolution submitted by Jordan, that called for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas war, as it did not make any mention of the terrorist group Hamas.

  The draft resolution also called for unhindered humanitarian access in Gaza and was co-sponsored by more than 40 countries, including Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan, Russia and South Africa.

  Besides India, countries that abstained included Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Ukraine and the UK.

  Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi said Israel's ground operation in northern Gaza would result in a "humanitarian disaster".

• As frequent explosions from Israeli strikes lit up the sky over Gaza at night, The Palestine Telecommunications Company, Paltel, said there was "a complete disruption of all communication and internet services" due to Israel's ground operations, according to Associated Press.

  The Palestine Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian organisation founded by Yasser Arafat's brother, Fathi Arafat, said it was not able to reach out to its medical teams and operations rooms due to the blackout. In a statement, the Red Crescent said it feared that people would no longer be able to contact ambulances or hospitals.

  Other aid groups, including the World Health Organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières and Unicef said they had lost all contact with their staff in Gaza.

• When asked about Israel's expanded ground operations in northern Gaza, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said he would not draw "red lines" for Israel.

  “We’re not drawing red lines for Israel. We’re going to continue to support them but since the very beginning we have, and will continue to have, conversations about the manner that they are doing this,” Kirby was quoted by The Times of Israel as saying.

• US and Israeli officials told ABC News that the Israeli ground assault in northern Gaza was not the expected large-scale offensive Israel had been planning to launch on the Palestinian enclave in the past three weeks.

  Israel has been carrying out bombardments on Gaza since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on the country by land, air and sea, on October 7.

• Since the war broke out, over 1,400 people have been killed in Israel while more than 7,000 people have lost their lives in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

  Hamas has kidnapped more than 200 people, including children, and held them captive in Gaza since then.