Israel-Palestine conflict: Death toll nears 2,200; blackout in Gaza; Biden calls Hamas attacks 'sheer evil'

The latest Israel-Palestinian war reverberated around the world Tuesday as foreign governments tried to determine how many of their citizens were dead, missing or needing medical help or flights home.

Numerous countries also offered to mediate an end to the fighting, which already has killed at least 2,200 people, according to authorities on both sides. The death toll was expected to grow as Israel pummelled the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and sent Palestinians fleeing into UN shelters. The conflict that started on Saturday has entered Day 5 (October 11), and here's what we know:

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition has agreed to form an emergency unity government with opposition politicians following the deadliest Palestinian militant attack in Israeli history, his ruling Likud Party said on Tuesday.

The main opposition leaders, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid and former Defence Minister Benny Gantz, had agreed in principle to join a unity government following the surprise attack on Saturday by the group Hamas.

Netanyahu and Gantz met on Wednesday and were "finalising the details", Gantz's office said in a statement without elaborating.

The Hamas' armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, said it was still fighting inside Israel on Wednesday, as Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles assembled in large numbers just north of Gaza. and Hamas' armed wing.

Electricity in Gaza went out on Wednesday after the sole power station in the blockaded Palestinian enclave stopped working, Hamas media reported. Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday afternoon, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, the Energy Ministry said according to AP.

Israeli airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris. The bombardment raged on even though militants are holding an estimated 150 people dragged from Israel into Gaza — soldiers, men, women, children and older adults.

Israeli shelling hit southern Lebanese towns on Wednesday in response to a fresh rocket attack by powerful armed group Hezbollah, as cross-border violence extended into a fourth day. Hezbollah said it had fired precision missiles at an Israeli position in response to the killing of its members in Israeli shelling earlier this week, pledging "decisive" responses to attacks on Lebanese territory, especially deadly ones.

Israel vowed to escalate its response to an attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas with a ground offensive. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking to soldiers near the Gaza fence, said: "Hamas wanted a change and it will get one. What was in Gaza will no longer be."

"We started the offensive from the air, later on we will also come from the ground. We've been controlling the area since Day 2 and we are on the offensive. It will only intensify."

Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal called for protests across the Arab world on Friday in support of the Palestinians, in a recorded statement seen by Reuters. "[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday, the Friday of Al Aqsa Flood," Meshaal, who is currently the leader of Hamas's diaspora office, said.

More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict, an Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson said Wednesday, up from 1,000 previously reported. "The death toll is a staggering 1,200 dead Israelis," IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said in a video message, adding that "the overwhelming majority of them" were civilians.

Biden called the Hamas attacks "an act of sheer evil" and said Washington was rushing additional military assistance to Israel, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish the Iron Dome aerial defence system. Biden also despatched his top diplomat Antony Blinken to Israel, who will deliver "a message of solidarity and support," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Twenty Thai nationals have been killed in the conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas, the kingdom's government said Wednesday, up from the previous toll of 18. The foreign ministry said the number of Thais held hostage had increased by three to 14, based on unofficial reports from Thai citizens in Israel.

Israeli troops have killed at least 1,000 Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated from Gaza, and have reinforced all communities in Israel as hostilities spread to other fronts, the military said on Wednesday. Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also said that among Hamas targets destroyed in a Gaza counter-offensive was an advanced system for tracking aircraft.

Australia has organised two special flights to bring back citizens from Israel, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday. The first flight will leave on Friday, the second on Sunday, and will travel from Ben Gurion airport to London, according to Albanese.

• Palestinians move from place to place, only to discover nowhere is safe