Israel-Gaza war live: Gaza without Hamas is a ‘delusion’, says militant group’s leader | Israel-Gaza war

Welcome to our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war – I’m Adam Fulton and I’ll be with you for the next couple of hours.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has said any plan for post-war Gaza that does not involve the Palestinian militant group is “a delusion”.

He said in a televised speech: “Any arrangement in Gaza or in the Palestinian cause without Hamas or the resistance factions is a delusion.”

The comments from the militant group’s most senior political leader came a day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he would not allow “the entry into Gaza of those who … support terrorism and finance terrorism”.

Netanyahu said later that the military would fight on, telling soldiers in Gaza over radio: “I say this in the face of great pain but also in the face of international pressures – nothing will stop us.”

Haniyeh, however, said he was open for talks for ending the Israeli assault and “putting the Palestinian house in order both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”.

More on that story shortly. In other news as it just passes 7am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv:

• The White House went on the defensive over President Joe Biden’s comments to Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” and that Netanyahu should change his hard-right dominated government. US security spokesman John Kirby tried to play down the remarks when asked if Biden’s comments were the official position of the US government.

• Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant acknowledged the differences with the US but said he was confident the two sides would find a way for Israel’s military operation to continue. Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen said earlier that his country would continue its war in Gaza “with or without international support”.

• The Biden administration is delaying the sale of more than 20,000 US-made rifles to Israel over concerns about attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, two sources familiar with the matter have said. The state department sent an informal notification for the sale to Congress several weeks ago but the sale has not gone ahead, despite being cleared by Senate and House committees.

• Israel has announced its worst combat losses in six weeks after an ambush in the ruins of Gaza, saying on Wednesday that 10 of its soldiers had been killed over the past 24 hours. Two senior Israeli commanders and seven other soldiers were killed by Hamas in a complex ambush in the Gaza City suburb of Shejaiya, in one of the most lethal incidents for Israeli soldiers during the two-month-long war.

• The head of the United Nations relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said conditions in Gaza were “a living hell”. Philippe Lazzarini told a meeting of the UN global refugee forum in Geneva that his third visit to Gaza since 7 October was distressing. “There is no more food to buy, even for those who can pay. In the shops, the shelves are empty,” he said. Lazzarini’s comments came amid fears of a rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis in the territory as heavy winter rains and cool weather hits the region.

• Israel’s army website was briefly hacked on Wednesday by a pro-Palestinian group that warned of more attacks against Israeli forces, including further cyber-attacks.

• Family members of Israeli hostages held in Gaza say they are “shocked” by a report that Israel’s war cabinet has decided against sending the head of Mossad to Qatar for negotiations on a new hostage deal and are demanding an “immediate explanation” from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Times of Israel is reporting.

• US president Joe Biden was “moved” by a White House meeting with families of some of the eight US hostages being held by Hamas, said John Kirby, the US security spokesman. Secretary of state Antony Blinken was also present. Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters: “It was a terrific meeting and conversation.”

• A United Nations study said economic cost of the war on Arab neighbours Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan could rise to at least $10bn (£7.9bn) this year and push more than 230,000 people into poverty. The cost for the three states in terms of loss of GDP may amount to $10.3bn, or 2.3%, and could double if the conflict lasts another six months, the UN development program (UNDP) paper saus.