US President Joe Biden To Make Wartime 'Solidarity' Visit To Israel Tomorrow As Gaza War Enters Eleventh Day: Highlights

The Israeli military on Monday (16 October) night conducted air strikes on military targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist movement, an ally of Palestinian terror outfit Hamas, in Lebanon.

This comes as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has entered eleventh day.

Here are the highlights of the latest developments surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict:

'Don't test us,' Netanyahu warns Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned Tehran and Lebanese terror outfit Hezbollah not to test Israel.

This comes as the Iran-backed Hezbollah has fired rockets in the border areas of Israel. In retaliation, Israel struck several targets of the Lebanese terrorist outfit.

“We have a message for Iran and Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said in a speech at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament.

“Do not test us in the North. Do not repeat your previous mistake, because the price you will pay will be much worse," he said.

Biden to visit Israel tomorrow

US President Joe Biden will make a wartime visit to Israel tomorrow to show his support for the Jewish nation after the 7 October Hamas terror attacks that killed over 1,300.

He will be the first head of state to visit Israel since the conflict began.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Biden will use the trip to reaffirm US “solidarity with Israel” along with Washington’s commitment to the Jewish state’s security.

Biden will assert that Israel has an “obligation” to defend itself and act to prevent future attacks, Blinken said.

US helps defeat Russia-backed UNSC resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

The United States on Monday helped defeat a Russian-backed Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war.

In her speech explaining the decision to vote against the resolution, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield blasted Russia for failing to even mention Hamas in the document.

“By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians. It is outrageous, it is hypocritical, and it is indefensible,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

“We agree that this council should take action, but we have to get it right. And we’ll work intensively with all members on the council to do so,” the US ambassador said.

“Hamas set the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in motion, and we cannot allow this council to unfairly shift the blame to Israel and excuse Hamas for its decades of cruelty. Period," Thomas-Greenfield added.

Only five member states supported Russia's resolution, with the resolution falling without the US needing to veto it. A resolution at the UNSC requires nine votes in favour in order to be approved.

Hamas says over 200 held hostage in Gaza

There are currently between 200 and 250 prisoners in Gaza, terror group Hamas' military spokesman Abu Obeida has said.

He noted that there is no definitive count, due to “security and practical difficulties,” but affirmed that 200 of them are in the hands of Hamas following the terror group’s massive onslaught on 7 October.

In a televised statement, he said that about 50 others are held by other “resistance factions and in other places.