Israeli forces and Hamas fighting house-to-house battles in Gaza – as it happened

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Countries supporting Israel with arms have a permanent stain on their reputation", the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a major aid agency, has said in a statement.

While condemning the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas and demanding the release of hostages held by the militant group, Jan Egeland said Israel's military campaign can in no way be described as self-defence." He said:

The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age. Each day we see more dead children and new depths of suffering for the innocent people enduring this hell ...

Countries supporting Israel with arms must understand that these civilian deaths will be a permanent stain on their reputation.