2nd aid convoy heads to Gaza from Egypt as Syria, Lebanon report Israeli airstrikes

The latest:

• Second humanitarian aid convoy heading to Gaza. Canadian officials say it's a "small fraction" of what's needed.
• Israeli militarydrops leaflets on Gaza, renewing warning toPalestinians to move south.
• Israel says Hamas deputy chief killed inGaza Strip; overnight strikes hit targets in West Bank, airports in Syria, Sunday air strikes hit the outskirts of a town in Lebanon.
• Israel Defence Forcesconfirms 212 hostages held in Gaza as ground offensive looms.
• U.S. defencesecretary orders moredefence systems to Middle East.

A second convoy of aid trucks entered the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, heading towardthe Gaza Strip, according to Egyptian security and humanitarian sources at Rafah.

More than a dozen aid truckscarrying medical and food supplies had been inspected by UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, the sources said.

The convoy is the second humanitarian aid shipment allowed to cross into the territory sinceIsrael cut supplies to Gaza as part of its response to the deadly rampage and kidnappings carried out by Hamasmilitants in southern Israel on Oct. 7. On Saturday, 20 trucks entered Gaza.

Canadian Foreign Affairs MinisterMlanie Joly and Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen welcomed the news in a joint statement Sunday afternoon, but said this aid is "a small fraction of what is needed."

"We urge all parties to continue allowing the rapid, sustained and unimpeded access of essential life-saving humanitarian assistance, while simultaneously allowing for Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families to leave," reads the statement.

WATCH |World Food Program director calls for 'sustained safe passage' of aid trucks:

'People are starving to death in Gaza,' director of World Food Program says

12 months ago

Duration 7:15

As the second convoy of aid trucks heads into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, says it's not enough. 'We need sustained safe passage for our trucks and other trucks.... People are starving to death.'

In a separate development in the two-week-old conflict, Palestinians said they had received renewed warnings from Israel's military to move from north Gaza to the south of the strip, with the added warning that they could be identified as sympathizers with a "terrorist organization" if they stayed put.

The message was delivered in leaflets marked with the Israel Defence Forces name and logo from Saturday and sent to people via mobile phone audio messages across the narrow 45-kilometre-long territory.

"Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organization," the leaflet said.

Israel has pounded Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas, the Palestinianmilitant group that controls the territory,launched its Oct.7 attacks. Israel has massed troops and armour on the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive.

On Sunday, the leaders of Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. released a joint statement reiterating their support for Israel's "right to defend itself against terrorism." Additionally, they called for theadherenceto humanitarian law and theprotectionof civilians, without naming any specific party involved in the fighting.

Israel has previously warned Palestinians to move south, although Palestinians said they had not previously been told they could be considered "terrorist" sympathizers if they did not. Palestinians also say making the journey south remains highly risky amid airstrikes and say areas of the south have also been hit.

Israelsays an estimated 700,000 people living in Gaza have already fled, but hundreds of thousands remain in the north. The Palestinianssay they are are rationing food and water, whileDoctors Without Borders says the territory's health-care system is "facing collapse" and that "there is no safe place in Gaza."

Ibrahim Alagha, his wife and their children are from Ireland and were visiting Gaza when the war began. They were forced to take shelter at Ibrahim's parent's house in Khan Younis, along with dozens of others.

"We have a very critical level of water left. We barely manage to get a single meal a day. On top of that, we have a lot of children who get terrified whenever there is an explosion or a bomb coming down," he told CBC News on Sunday.

"The situationis getting worse and worse every day."

Israel confirmed on Sunday morning that 212 people, captured in the Hamas militant attack 15 days ago,are being held hostage in Gaza. Two American hostages werereleased by Hamas on Friday the first hostages released since the kidnappings on Oct. 7.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that the death toll in the enclave has reached 4,385, while 13,561 people have been wounded. This death toll includes 29 UN employees, according to aUNRWAupdate on Sunday.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack,according to the Israeli government.

WATCH |Canadian Israeli man focused on getting capturedfamily back:

This Canadian Israeli man's family are being held hostage by Hamas

12 months ago

Duration 6:38

Aharon Brodutch's sister-in-law and her three kids were kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The Canadian Israeli man says he's just focused on getting his family back.

Strikes hit targets in West Bank, Syria

Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza overnight and into Sunday, as well as two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants, as the war with Hamas threatened to spiral into a broader conflict.

Israeli forces killed at least five people early Sunday in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Two were killed in an airstrike on a mosque in the town of Jeninoccupied by Palestinian refugees, which has seen heavy gun battles between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops over the past year.

The Israeli military said the mosque compound belonged to Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who had carried out several attacks in recent months and were planning another one.

Sunday's fatalities brought the death toll in the West Bank to 90 Palestinians since the war broke out, according to the Health Ministry.

Syrian state media meanwhile reported that Israeli airstrikes have targeted the international airports in the capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo.

It said the strikes killed one person and damaged the runways, putting them out of service. Israel has carried out several strikes in Syria, including on the airports, since the war began.

Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but says it acts to prevent Hezbollah and other militant groups from bringing in arms from their patron, Iran, which also supports Hamas.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah said six of its fighters were killed Saturday, and the group's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, warned that Israel would pay a high price if it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Israel struck Hezbollah targets early Sunday in response to rocket fire, the military said. Lebanese state media NNA reported that Israeli fighter jets launched an air strike on the southern outskirts of Aitaroun town late Sunday.

Israel also announced evacuation plans for another 14 communities near the border with Lebanon. Kiryat Shmona, with a population of more than 20,000 people, was told to evacuate last week.

WATCH | Exploring Hamas militants'use oftunnels:

Inside Hamas's vast and complex tunnel network beneath Gaza

12 months ago

Duration 6:42

Journalist Isobel Yeung was given rare access to the labyrinth of tunnels under Gaza in 2021 that some believe Hamas uses as a command centre. She spoke to Hamas militants about how they use the tunnels for a documentary produced for Vice News. #Israel #Gaza #Hamas

U.S. orders defence systems to Middle East

For days, Israel has been on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas's brutal Oct. 7 rampage through a series of Israeli communities. Tanks and troops have been massed at the Gaza border, waiting for the command to cross.

Israel's military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the country had increased airstrikes across Gaza to hit targets that would reduce the risk to troops in the next stage of the war.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced late Saturday he was sending additional air defence systems to the Middle East as well as putting more troops on prepare-to-deploy orders.

Austin said the U.S. would be delivering a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, battery along with additional Patriot missile defence system batteries "to locations throughout the region to increase force protection for U.S. troops."

Austin said he had also placed additional forces on prepare-to-deploy orders, "part of prudent contingency planning" as the U.S. and others brace for the potential of a wider regional conflict and as Israel prepares to launch a ground offensiveinto Gaza.

WATCH | Examiningthe potential strategies on both sides as ground offensivelooms:

Examining the Israel-Hamas war

12 months ago

Duration 25:58

Hamas is isolated in the Gaza Strip but it's not alone who stands with whom in the Israel-Hamas war. And with the threat of a ground invasion looming, Andrew Chang examines the potential strategies on both sides.

Bases in Iraq and Syria have been repeatedly targeted by drones in the days since a deadlyhospital blast in Gaza City, and the destroyer USS Carney intercepted land attack cruise missiles in the Red Sea shot from Yemen on Thursday.

The Oct. 17 explosion at al-Ahli hospital has been among themost hotly disputed events of the Gaza war.The Gaza Health Ministry has put the hospital death toll at471. An Israeli official saidit appeared to be "several dozen."A U.S. intelligence report estimated the number of those killedto be "probably at the low end of the 100 to 300 spectrum."

Hamasaccused Israel of carrying out an airstrike on the hospital. Israel denied that, saying the blast was caused by a Palestinian rocket falling short after being launched at Israel.

Canada and its allies, U.S. and France, said their investigations conclude the blast was caused by a misfired rocket from within Gaza, corroborating Israel's account. Independent U.K.research group Forensic Architecture and the British Channel 4 News have said their analyses cast doubt on these claims.