Swords of Iron: What happened on day 10?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden will reaffirm US solidarity with Israel and make clear that Israel has the right and duty to defend its people from Hamas, Blinken said.

The US President will continue to coordinate with Israeli partners to secure the hostages' release from Hamas, the US secretary said, and also noted that the US and Israel agreed on a plan that will allow aid to reach Gazan civilians.

"If Hamas blocks humanitarian aid from reaching civilians, we'll work to prevent it from happening again," the Secretary of State said.

Speaking with the Egyptian President

Biden earlier spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and discussed the need to preserve stability in the Middle East during a phone call on Monday, the White House said.

A billboard in support of US President Joe Biden seen in Israel, October 11, 2023 (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

Biden and Sisi also discussed ongoing efforts to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, the White House said.

A British man once accused of being a member of an Islamic State cell dubbed The Beatles pleaded guilty in a London court on Monday to three terrorism offenses.

Aine Davis, 39, was arrested at London's Luton Airport last August after being deported to Britain from Turkey, where he had been convicted of membership of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Israel Police will expand the use of emergency standby squads to cities across the country, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Monday.

The decision expands upon a previous decision to establish volunteer squads in other areas threatened by terrorists, such as.

As part of the expansion, Israel Police will set up some 347 new standby squads, made up of 13,200 police volunteers.

The IDF carried out strikes against dozens of Hamas operational headquarters across the Gaza Strip, as well as one mortar launcher, the Israeli military said Monday.

Among the headquarters destroyed was the one used by killed Nukhba commander Ali Qadi, who was successfully targeted in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday.

צה"ל ממשיך לתקוף ברצועת עזה.

בשעות האחרונות הושמדו עשרות מפקדות מבצעיות ועמדות שיגור של פצצות מרגמה. בנוסף, הושמדה מפקדתו הצבאית של עלי קאצ'י, אחד מהמפקדים בכוח הנח'בה של ארגון הטרור חמאס שחוסל לפני מספר ימים >> pic.twitter.com/zSJdvU7BLu

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 16, 2023

A number of Hamas terrorists were killed by airstrikes targeting a Hamas military complex in the Strip, the IDF added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday discussed Israeli attacks on Gaza and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in a call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.

The source provided no further information.

Turkey has said it was ready to mediate the conflict and that it was in contact with the terrorist Hamas group on the release of civilians being held hostage by the group. It has also sent humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is currently held in Egypt while borders are closed.

WATCH: New footage shows Hamas terrorists entering the kibbutz of Be'eri on October 7, where approximately 150 Gazan terrorists murdered, kidnapped and wounded Israelis.

(CREDIT: via @MaarivOnline) Read more: https://t.co/8Ekrq7Ygbl pic.twitter.com/jU0YvPX4VX

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) October 16, 2023

The United States is already militarily involved in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday in a televised press conference.

"Iran considers that the United States is already militarily involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians," Kanaani said, when asked about whether Iran would engage if the United States get involved in the conflict.

Pope Francis' representative in the Holy Land said on Monday he was willing to exchange himself for Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas and held in Gaza.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, made his comment in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy.

"I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part," he said.

"The first thing to do is to try to win the release of the hostages, otherwise there will be no way of stopping (an escalation). We are willing to help, even me personally," he said.

Israeli physicians concerned with the health of the more than 150 abducted and missing Israelis aged nine months to 90 years old held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza say they need urgent medical care and treatments. 

The doctors who call themselves the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and is headed by Prof. Hagai Levine – chairman of the Israel Association for Public Health Physicians – has sent a list of the illnesses they suffer from and what lifesaving medications they urgently need to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva. 

“Many of the abducted and missing civilians are in life-threatening conditions and in urgent need to treatment and lifesaving medication or injuries. Based on initial and partial intake from their families, many of them need immediate humanitarian intervention due to their medical conditions including cancers, Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular diseases, heart failure, and type-2 diabetes,” the document says. 

“There are also many wounded – whose limbs have been amputated or raped by terrorists – or patients with special needs such as autism, dementia. They are prone to immediate death as they are not receiving essential medications and treatment. They are at risk for severe complications, and they undergo unimaginable suffering. They need urgent care by medical teams. In addition, they are all under mental stress that can worsen diseases in a population of infants, children, elderly and people with chronic conditions,” the forum wrote. 

A detailed database of over 150 people – Israelis and dozens of foreigners – was sent on October 14th to ICRC contact person, with an update later. This is not the complete number of people, they wrote.