Israel stepped up its offensive on the Gaza Strip today in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas, pounding neighborhoods with airstrikes and expanding the mobilization of reservists to 360,000.

The military said it had regained effective control over the Gaza border and areas Hamas attacked in the south of Israel.

The war, which has claimed at least 1,900 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. The weekend attack that Hamas said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation has inflamed Israel’s determination to crush the group’s hold in Gaza.

New exchanges of fire over Israel’s northern borders with militants in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday pointed to the risk of an expanded regional conflict.

Here’s what is happening on Day 4 of the conflict:

2 BRAZILIANS KILLED IN ATTACKS BY HAMAS, FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS

Two Brazilian citizens were killed as the result of the Hamas attack on Israel, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry identified the deceased as Ranani Nidejelski Glazer and Bruna Valeanu.

The ministry said in a separate statement that three people with dual Brazilian-Israeli citizenship were missing after they disappeared at a music festival outside of Kibbutz Re’im.

Shiran Galante said her best friend, Brazilian native Karla Stelzer Mendes, 42, and her long-time boyfriend, Gabi Azulay, who were both at the festival, have been missing since Saturday.

Galante said she last heard from her friend just after 8 a.m. on Saturday. Stelzer had just escaped a shelter that had become a target for Hamas militants and found refuge in a nearby wooded area, Stelzer told her. Stelzer sent a text message at 8:18 a.m. to her 20-year-old son, Galante said. That was the last anyone heard from her.

“We tried everything, authorities, everything we could and much more, but we have no answer,” Galante told The Associated Press via text messages from Israel.

2 BRAZILIANS KILLED IN ATTACKS BY HAMAS, FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS

Two Brazilian citizens were killed as the result of the Hamas attack on Israel, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry identified the deceased as Ranani Nidejelski Glazer and Bruna Valeanu.

The ministry said in a separate statement that three people with dual Brazilian-Israeli citizenship were missing after they disappeared at a music festival outside of Kibbutz Re’im.

Shiran Galante said her best friend, Brazilian native Karla Stelzer Mendes, 42, and her long-time boyfriend, Gabi Azulay, who were both at the festival, have been missing since Saturday.

Galante said she last heard from her friend just after 8 a.m. on Saturday. Stelzer had just escaped a shelter that had become a target for Hamas militants and found refuge in a nearby wooded area, Stelzer told her. Stelzer sent a text message at 8:18 a.m. to her 20-year-old son, Galante said. That was the last anyone heard from her.

“We tried everything, authorities, everything we could and much more, but we have no answer,” Galante told The Associated Press via text messages from Israel.

2 FILIPINOS KILLED IN ATTACKS BY HAMAS, FOREIGN SECRETARY SAYS

MANILA, Philippines >> Two Filipinos have been killed as a result of the attacks by Hamas militants on Israel, where thousands of Filipinos live and work, said Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo.

Manalo condemned the killings in a brief statement he posted Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, but did not provide other details, including the circumstances of the deaths and the identities of the victims.

“The Philippines condemns the killing of two Filipino nationals and all other acts of terrorism and violence as a result of Hamas actions against Israel,” Manalo said.

He added that the Philippines is ready to work with other countries toward a long-lasting resolution to the conflict, in accordance with a U.N. Security Council resolution.

CANADA PLANNING TO AIRLIFT CANADIANS FROM ISRAEL

OTTAWA, Ontario >> Canadian citizens will be flown out of the country from the Tel Aviv, Israel, airport in coming days in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, Canada’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

The government plans to conduct the evacuation using aircraft from the Canadian Armed Forces, and is working on other options for people who are unable to reach the airport in Tel Aviv, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The post did not mention those Canadians who are believed to be trapped in Gaza after Israel closed off the Hamas-controlled territory.

Canada is trying to determine how many of its citizens are among the dead or missing. Friends and family have confirmed that 22-year-old Ben Mizrachi from Vancouver and former Montreal resident Alexandre Look, who recently celebrated his 33rd birthday, were two of the hundreds killed while attending a music festival in southern Israel.

SON OF MISSING ITALIAN-ISRAELI CITIZENS THINKS THEY WERE KIDNAPPED

A son of two Italian-Israeli citizens unaccounted for after Hamas’ incursion into Israel believes they were kidnapped by Hamas militants.

Eviatar Moshe Kipnis, 65, who has an autoimmune disease and uses a wheelchair, and his wife, Lilach Lea Havron, 60, were holed up in their safe room on Saturday morning at their home in the Kibbutz Be’eri, Nadav Kipnis told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He said that was the last time he and his brother Yotam heard from them.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani briefed parliament about the incursion on Tuesday, identifying the two Italians by name and saying they were “probably taken hostage.”

The family also has lost contact with Havron’s sister and her extended family who lived nearby. All together, 11 people from two family households at the kibbutz are unaccounted for, including children ages 3, 8 and 12, Nadav Kipnis said.

The family has been working ever since to try to draw attention to their plight, hoping in particular that the Kipnises’ Italian citizenship will bring diplomatic pressure to bear.

CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS ISRAEL TO SHOW SUPPORT

PRAGUE >> Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky visited Israel on Tuesday to show his country’s support after the Hamas attack and brought more than 30 Czech nationals home from Israel on his plane, the Foreign Ministry said.

Lipavsky met his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, and President Isaac Herzog, the Ministry said.

“Israel is one of us, the attacks and kidnappings unleashed by Hamas terrorists are an attack on all of us,” Lipavsky said in a statement.

Lipavsky also met the relatives of a woman kidnapped by Hamas.

AUSTRALIA SAYS 1 OF ITS CITIZENS DIED IN HAMAS ATTACK

CANBERRA, Australia >> A 66-year-old Sydney-born woman is the first known Australian to die in the Hamas attack on Israel, Australia’s government said Wednesday.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said Galit Carbone was killed Saturday at the Be’eri kibbutz near Gaza.

O’Neil told Seven Network television that Carbone’s death was a “senseless act of violence … and the Australian government condemns it in the strongest possible terms.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong is leading government efforts to help an estimated 10,000 Australians in Israel who want to leave.

BIDEN SAYS U.S. CITIZENS AMONG HAMAS HOSTAGES, AGAIN CONDEMNS HAMAS ATTACK

WASHINGTON >> President Joe Biden on Tuesday confirmed that U.S. citizens are among the hostages captured by Hamas as he condemned the militant group for the “sheer evil” of its shocking weekend assault on Israel.

“Our hearts may be broken but our resolve is clear,” said Biden, who compared the brutality of the Hamas militants to that of the Islamic State terrorist group.

He added: “Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow as we always have.”

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation on the ground.

Twenty or more U.S. citizens are unaccounted for, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday. He said he did not know precisely how many citizens are being held hostage, or their conditions. Biden confirmed earlier Tuesday that 14 Americans have been killed in the bloody Hamas incursion.

In his comments Tuesday, the president made only a glancing reference to the suffering that innocent Palestinians are enduring from Israel’s barrage of retaliatory fire on the Gaza Strip, where the Hamas attack was launched.

PORTUGUESE CITIZEN AND STUDENT IN TEL AVIV FOUND DEAD

JERUSALEM >> Rotem Neumann, who was identified as missing in an Associated Press story yesterday, was found dead Tuesday, her cousin, Tomer Neumann, said. Rotem, a 25-year-old Portuguese citizen and a student in Tel Aviv, had been missing for at least three days by the time her body was found.

Neumann was at the Teva festival, one of several music festivals near the Gaza border that was invaded by militants in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Rotem first called her parents from the festival when she heard rocket fire, Tomer said. That was the last time the family heard from her. Rotem then got into a car with friends and drove north, seeking shelter. The car soon encountered trucks filled with militants, shooting at them with machine guns. Panicked, they turned around and started going in the opposite direction. Militants with guns crowded the roads south, too.

They climbed out of the car and began running east, away from the border, piling into a concrete shelter they found at Kibbutz Re’im. Rotem sent a message to a friend there, sharing with him her location so he could take shelter.

Militants soon peppered the shelter with bullets. Bodies have been found in the area around the shelter, Tomer said, though it was not immediately clear if Neumann’s body had been discovered at the site.

ISRAEL SHELLS SYRIA AFTER ROCKETS HIT OPEN LAND IN GOLAN HEIGHTS

The Israeli military said it shelled Syria on Tuesday after rockets hit open land in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

The military did not accuse any group of the rocket attack.

The Syrian government did not comment. However, Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a Palestinian faction conducted the rocket attack from Syrian territory.

U.S. INTELLIGENCE DIDN’T SEE ATTACK COMING, SECURITY ADVISER SAYS

WASHINGTON >> U.S. intelligence did not pick up signs of the Hamas attack on Israel, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

“We did not see anything that suggested an attack of this type was going to unfold any more than the Israelis did,” Sullivan told reporters.

As other White House officials have done in recent days, Sullivan also reiterated that the U.S. government has also not seen any direct linkage between Iran and the Hamas attack over the weekend.

“While Iran plays this broad role — sustained, deep and dark role — in providing all this support and capabilities to Hamas, in terms of this particular, gruesome attack on Oct. 7, we don’t currently have that information,” Sullivan said.

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE GOING TO ISRAEL ON URGENT MISSION

WASHINGTON >> U.S. President Joe Biden is dispatching his top diplomat to Israel on an urgent mission to show U.S. support after the unprecedented attack by Hamas militants, the State Department said Tuesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will leave Wednesday and is expected to arrive Thursday to deliver a message of solidarity and support, and will “talk about what additional resources we can give them,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday.

GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS DEATH TOLL HAS RISEN TO 900

GAZA CITY >> Israeli airstrikes since Saturday have resulted in 900 deaths in Gaza, including 260 children and 230 women, with an additional 4,500 individuals wounded, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said Tuesday.

The airstrikes have caused the deaths of 150 members of 22 families, six health workers, and eight journalists, while 15 health workers and 20 journalists have been wounded, the ministry said.

>> RELATED STORY: Israel pounds Gaza neighborhoods as people scramble for safety

Airstrikes on residential neighborhoods have displaced approximately 140,000 citizens to U.N. shelters and hospitals, the ministry said. The U.N. is reporting that at least 200,000 residents have been displaced.

The strikes have targeted nine health institutions, including the Ministry of Health building, the Rimal Clinic, and the International Eye Center, and bombed 15 ambulances, the ministry said.

The situation is further complicated by fuel shortages and electrical outages affecting generators, the ministry said.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT COMPARES GAZA TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS

BOGOTA, Colombia >> Colombian President Gustavo Petro angered Jewish groups after he compared the Gaza strip to a World War II concentration camp.

Responding to a video where Israel’s Defense Minister announced a “complete siege” of Gaza, that includes cutting off electricity and water supplies to the enclave, Petro wrote on his X account Monday that “no democrat in the world should accept that the Gaza strip be turned into a concentration camp.”

His comments were rejected by the World Jewish Congress, which wrote on X that Petro’s remarks were “an insult to the six million victims of the Holocaust and to the Jewish People”.

Colombia’s Confederation of Jewish Communities also criticized Petro for not condemning Hamas’ attacks on Israeli citizens.

U.S. SAYS SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES WORKING WITH ISRAELIS

WASHINGTON >> U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that a small group of U.S. special operations forces is now working with the Israelis to help with planning and intelligence in their counteroperations against Hamas.

“We also have the ability to rapidly deploy other resources into the region,” Austin said.

Austin released the information to reporters traveling with him to a Ukraine contact group meeting in Brussels.

8 FRENCH CITIZENS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN ISRAEL, OFFICIALS SAY

The number of French people killed in Israel has risen to eight — with 20 unaccounted for — the French Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Several of those are believed held hostage.

The ministry previously confirmed the deaths of four other French citizens killed in the Hamas militant attacks in Israel. At the time, the ministry said another 13 French citizens were missing and that some of them have “very likely” been kidnapped, including a 12-year-old boy.

French media identified the boy by his first name, Eitan, and reported that he lived with his family in the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel. Le Parisien newspaper quoted an aunt as saying that the boy was captured Saturday by Hamas militants who took him away on a motorbike.

ISLAMIST GROUP IN BANGLADESH RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIANS

DHAKA, Bangladesh >> Some 1,000 members of Islami Andolon Bangladesh, an Islamist group seeking to establish Sharia law in Bangladesh, rallied Tuesday in the South Asian nation’s capital, Dhaka, denouncing “Israeli aggression” on Gaza.

They marched through streets in front of the nation’s main Baitul Mokarram Mosque in downtown and chanted anti-Israeli slogans amid police guard.

“All the Muslim countries including Qatar have been united for the Palestinians to protect (them) and get back their land. Everything must be done to achieve this,” Moulana Syed Mosaddek Al Madani, a leader of the group, said. “We, the Bangladeshi Muslims, raise our voice so that the brothers in Palestine go ahead. And we, the Muslims of Bangladesh, are with you.”

Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation of more than 160 million people, but its legal system is based on British common law.

CARRIER STRIKE GROUP ARRIVES IN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS

The Ford carrier strike group has arrived in the far Eastern Mediterranean, within range to provide a host of air support or long-range strike options for Israel if requested, but also to surge U.S. military presence to prevent the now four-day-old war with Hamas from spilling over into a more dangerous regional conflict, a U.S. official told the Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the arrival ahead of an official announcement.

The Pentagon has said that the U.S. warplanes, destroyers and cruisers that sailed with the Ford will conduct maritime and air operations which could range from intelligence collection and interdictions to long-range strike.

Along with the Ford, the U.S. is sending the cruiser U.S.S Normandy and destroyers U.S.S Thomas Hudner, U.S.S Ramage, U.S.S Carney, and U.S.S Roosevelt, and augmenting regional Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.

ERDOGAN: U.S. DEPLOYMENT TO REGION COULD LEAD TO “MASSACRES”

ANKARA >> Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Israel’s blockade of Gaza saying cutting off electricity and water is against the Palestinians’ human rights.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Tuesday, Erdogan criticized U.S. plans to send an aircraft carrier to the region, saying the deployment could lead to “massacres.”

“What is the U.S. aircraft carrier doing in Israel? What is it coming to do? It will take down Gaza by striking the surrounding areas and start committing serious massacres,” he said.

The Turkish leader reiterated his offer to mediate between the sides and said he would continue his efforts to end the war. He said he also would hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres later on Tuesday.

6 ROCKETS WERE FIRED INTO NORTHERN ISRAEL, LEBANESE OFFICIAL SAYS

BEIRUT >> A Lebanese security official said six rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel Tuesday evening.

The officials said it was not immediately clear who fired the rockets from the area of the Lebanese southern village of Qlaileh. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. A statement from UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, also confirmed the rocket fire and urged “everyone to exercise restraint at this critical time.”

Officials from the Hezbollah militant group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said they had no information on the rockets.

The firing of the rockets from southern Lebanon came a day after three Hezbollah fighters were killed along the border and an Israeli army officer as well.

X PROMISES ‘HIGHEST LEVEL’ RESPONSE ON POSTS ABOUT ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, says it is trying to take action on a flood of posts sharing graphic media, violent speech and hateful conduct about the latest war between Israel and Hamas.

X said it’s treating the crisis with its highest level of response.

But outside watchdog groups say misinformation about the war abounds on the platform that billionaire Elon Musk bought last year. Musk himself has recommended unreliable accounts posting about the war. And his job cuts since taking over Twitter last year have left fewer people responsible for taking action on posts that violate the platform’s policies.

RU.S.SIAN DEATH TOLL IN HAMAS ATTACKS RISES TO 4

MOSCOW >> Russia’s embassy in Israel said the number of Russian citizens killed in the latest Israel-Palestinian war has risen to four.

The embassy’s spokesperson Marina Ryazanova told the Russian state news agency Tass that the victims had dual Israeli and Russian citizenship. She said six others remain missing.

Previously, two Russian citizens were believed to have been killed and four were missing, according to Anatoly Viktorov, Russian Ambassador to Israel.

EL-SISSI URGES A CEASE-FIRE IN LATEST WAR BETWEEN HAMAS AND ISRAEL

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt said Tuesday the ongoing escalation between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza “is very serious,” warning of repercussions on the region’s “security and stability.”

El-Sissi, whose government maintains ties with Israel and Hamas, said they have intensified their efforts to reach a cease-fire of the ongoing war, according to the state-run MENA news agency.

“We are communicating with all international and regional parties in order to reach an immediate cessation of violence and achieve de-escalation,” he was quoted as saying.

The Egyptian leader affirmed his country’s position on establishing a “just and comprehensive peace” based on the two-state solution.

RED CROSS OFFICIALS WORKING TO GAIN ACCESS TO PRISONERS, INCLUDING ISRAELI HOSTAGES

JERU.S.ALEM >> An official at the International Committee of the Red Cross says his organization has been in touch with both Hamas and Israeli officials about accessing prisoners, but so far have had no access to them.

Fabrizio Carboni, the regional director for the Near and Middle East for the ICRC, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that included the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas during their unprecedented incursion into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

“The level of violence is still very high but we’ve asked for access,” Carboni said from Geneva. “We ask also for the civilians who have been captured to have an opportunity to communicate with their family, to tell them that they are safe and well.”

UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CONDEMNS ALLEGED MASS KILLINGS IN ISRAEL

The United Nations human rights chief said Tuesday Israel’s announcement of a “complete siege” of Gaza would exacerbate the “already dire” humanitarian situation in the strip, as he condemned alleged mass killings and executions by Palestinian militants.

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement that such siege “risks seriously compounding the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the capacity of medical facilities to operate.”

Türk also said he was “deeply shocked and appalled by allegations of summary executions of civilians and, in some instances, horrifying mass killings by members of Palestinian armed groups.”

“It is horrific and deeply distressing to see images of those captured by Palestinian armed groups being ill-treated, as well as reports of killings and the desecration of their bodies,” he said.

He called on Palestinian militant groups to “immediately and unconditionally release all civilians who were captured and are still being held.”

PUTIN SAYS THE LATEST GAZA WAR IS A RESULT OF U.S. POLICY FAILURES

MOSCOW >> Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday described the latest Israel-Palestinian war as a result of failed U.S. foreign policy.

Speaking at the start of his talks with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al>>Sudani, Putin said in his first comment on the war that “many will agree with me that this is a vivid example of the failure of the U.S. policies in the Middle East.”

He added that the U.S. has “tried to monopolize the settlement, but, regrettably hasn’t bothered to search for compromises that would be acceptable to both parties and, just the opposite, sought to enforce their own view of how it should be done, exerting pressure on both parties.”

Putin said the U.S. has failed “to take vital interests of the Palestinian people into account,” ignoring U.N. General Assembly resolutions envisaging the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS’ STAFF CONCERNED ABOUT DWINDLING SUPPPLIES IN GAZA

CAIRO >> The head of Doctors Without Borders for the Palestinian territories said he is concerned their team in Gaza will soon run out of medical supplies now that the enclave’s borders have closed.

Leo Cans told The Associated Press that he is particularly concerned about the supply of surgical equipment, bandages, antibiotics and fuel. The group, otherwise known as MSF, are currently operating from Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

“We are just running on the stock we have,” Cans said. The group had previously brought in all its supplies through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing.

In Gaza, MSF has 300 local staff and 23 international workers, he said.

GERMANY INVESTIGATING KIDNAPPING OF ITS CITIZENS IN ISRAEL

BERLIN >> German prosecutors are investigating after German citizens were apparently kidnapped in the attack by Hamas on Israel.

The federal prosecutor’s office said in an emailed statement that the investigation of unknown members of Hamas on suspicion of hostage-taking, murder and membership in a foreign terrorist organization was opened on Tuesday.

The German Foreign Ministry has said it has to assume that an unspecified number of German-Israeli dual citizens were among those kidnapped by Hamas on Saturday.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that Germany is working closely with Israel to determine how many citizens were kidnapped and how they might be freed.

It is standard practice for German prosecutors to open an investigation when the country’s citizens are harmed abroad.

INDIA’S MODI REITERATES SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL

NEW DELHI >> Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he had spoken with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone and thanked him for “providing an update on the ongoing situation.”

“People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour,” Modi wrote on X, the social media platform, and said India strongly condemns terrorism in all forms.

During the Cold War, India didn’t have open relations with Israel and leaned heavily in favor of the Palestinians. The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992. Ties between the two countries have grown under Modi, who became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in 2017.

2 RUSSIAN CITIZENS WERE KILLED IN HAMAS ATTACKS IN ISRAEL

MOSCOW >> Russia’s ambassador to Israel said that two Russian citizens have been killed in of the latest Israel-Palestinian war.

Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov didn’t name the victims, saying in remarks broadcast by Russia’s state Channel 1 that the embassy isn’t aware of the circumstances of their deaths and hasn’t contacted their families yet.

Viktorov said that four other Russian citizens remain missing. He said the embassy has no information confirming Hamas’ claim that several Russian citizens were among the hostages it has taken.