World leaders express concerns over Israeli attacks on Gaza

More state and international leaders are warning against a possible Israeli ground incursion of the Gaza Strip, as scenes of corpses piling up due to unrelenting air strikes and people begging for life-saving supplies fuel mounting concerns about an escalating civilian toll and humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The Arab League and African Union said in a joint statement that the planned ground incursion of Israel forces into Gaza "could lead to a genocide of unprecedented proportions". Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was the latest leader on Oct 17 to say that the crisis in Gaza could turn into genocide if Israel's conflict against Palestinian groups continued.

United States President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Oct 18, the White House has announced. Biden earlier said that Israeli occupation of Gaza will be "a mistake", but analysts noted that he did not criticize or even mention a possible Israeli invasion into Gaza.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed the need for immediate efforts to put an end to Israeli attacks against Gaza, in separate phone calls he made to his Russian and Turkish counterparts, according to a report from Xinhua News Agency.

Leaders have also reiterated their calls for a ceasefire over troubling concerns that the current situation could spark a regional conflict.

In the last 24 hours from Oct 16, the United Nations said that 108 Palestinians have been killed, bringing the cumulative fatality toll in the Gaza Strip to 2,778, citing the Ministry of Health in Gaza. In addition, it said, hundreds are missing and believed to be trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings following the Israeli air strikes. More than 4,000 have been killed from both sides overall and some 16,000 injured.

Also on Oct 16, a UN agency noted that Palestinian armed groups in Gaza "continued firing rockets indiscriminately towards Israeli population centers", including at the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem metropolitan areas. New Israeli fatalities were unavailable during the past 24 hours.

On Oct 17, at least 71 people have been killed in an overnight bombardment, according to Al Jazeera. The heaviest bombardments happened in the south of Gaza, in the Khan Younis, Rafah and Deir el-Balah areas. Israel officials earlier ordered civilians from north Gaza to evacuate to the south as it readies for a ground invasion with a mission to take out Hamas.

On Oct 16, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths expressed deep concern about the worrying humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the fate of Israeli hostages, while also anticipating "good news" regarding aid access into southern Gaza from Egypt.

"Aid access is our overwhelming priority. And we are in deep discussions hourly with the Israelis, with the Egyptians, with the Gazans about how to do that," said Griffiths.

Egypt alleged on Oct 16 that Israel was not cooperating with the delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry it does not wholly control, the Rafah Crossing Point, leaving hundreds of tons of supplies stuck, Reuters and Al Jazeera reported. Egypt reportedly said the border was not officially closed but was made inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in the Middle East region to speak with Arab leaders about the situation in Gaza, had earlier said that the US and Israel had agreed to develop a plan to enable humanitarian aid from donor nations to reach civilians in Gaza, including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm's way.

According to the White House, Biden is traveling to Israel to "demonstrate his steadfast support for Israel" and to consult on next steps. Biden will also travel to Amman, Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

At a press conference organized by the Consulate General of Israel in Hong Kong and Macao on Oct 17, Consul-General Amir Lati said the latest conflict is "a war on the peaceful existence of us (Israel) as a nation."

"I want to emphasize here one thing that I think is a misconception. We declared war on the Hamas organization. We are not in a war with the Palestinian people," Lati told the media.

"We have our rights and we have our obligation to defend our citizens, and to take all necessary measures to protect our citizens while, of course, being committed to international law in military operations," he added, also confirming Biden's upcoming visit to Israel.

Hamas released on Oct 17, via their Telegram channel, a video of a female French-Israeli hostage. It was the first released video of about 200 hostages abducted by the group to Gaza since Oct 7. According to the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas, there are about 200 to 250 Israeli captives held in Gaza, some of whom have perished during Israeli bombings.