Israel at war: What happened on days 21-22?

The Israel Defense Forces have entered the Gaza Strip and are operating on the ground with support from troops in the air and at sea, Israel's political and military leadership said Saturday night.

"Last night, additional ground forces entered Gaza, marking the beginning of the second stage of the war, whose goal is to destroy the military and political capabilities of Hamas and to bring our kidnapped citizens back," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an evening briefing. 

"We are only at the beginning of the road. The war will be tough and long," the prime minister said. But he stressed, "We are prepared for it. This is our second War of Independence. This is our mission, our purpose in life, and together we will prevail."

Netanyahu said that not only do "the people and the leadership stand behind our soldiers," but also the international community is rooting for Israel. 

"Our partners understand that if Israel doesn't win, they will be next," he said. "Many around the world understand well that Israel is not only fighting its war but a war for all of humanity, a war of humanity against barbarism."

The negotiations to release the hostages held by Hamas have seen "significant progress,” sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday.

According to the CNN report, the source noted, “Negotiations are going very well. We have a breakthrough.”

 US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Friday that the world has reached a "perilous moment" in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

She also stressed: "The United States has made clear, in both public and private conversations, that as Israel exercises its right ... to defend its people against a terrorist group, it must do so in line with the rules of war."

Israel Police arrested a Beersheba man earlier this week in connection with the theft of a caravan left in the Re'im parking lot after the Nova party massacre, according to a police spokesperson.

The man allegedly arrived at the scene of the party near Re'im, a closed military zone, on October 11, asking army personnel if he could help in locating bodies.

Army personnel obliged and allowed him access to the site, ostensibly for helping to locate bodies. It was only later that the theft was reported leading Israel Police to open an investigation into the stolen caravan.

The caravan had been left in the parking lot in the aftermath of the massacre on October 7.

On Friday afternoon, the Ashkelon municipality spokesperson said there were several reports of casualties in the wake of the latest rocket attack on the city.

An update from Israel Fire and Rescue quickly followed detailing three main sites where rockets had struck in Ashkelon.

The first site was a direct hit on a building, at approximately the ninth floor. Firefighters commenced search and rescue operations in order to both evacuate people who may be trapped or injured and to disconnect energy sources.

The second site of a rocket impact was a construction site. Similarly, firefighters began a search for workers. The Fire and Rescue spokesperson noted that they had intelligence that foreign workers were inside the building.

A third rocket slammed into a ground-level house. Again, firefighters began conducting a search of the house as well as of nearby homes. 

There is not yet any information about potential casualties that may have resulted from the rocket strikes.

Qatar told the US it was open to reconsidering the presence of Hamas in Qatar once a crisis is resolved to secure the release of scores of hostages taken to Gaza by the Palestinian terrorist group, a senior US official said on Friday.

The understanding, first reported by the Washington Post, was reached at a meeting in Doha this month between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the official said.

There was no immediate response from Qatari officials to the news on Friday.

The Gulf state, in coordination with the US, is leading mediation talks with Hamas and Israeli officials over the release of more than 200 hostages captured in the Palestinian group's October 7 cross-border attack.

The Hamas terrorist organization uses Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as a command and control center, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said Friday during a briefing. 

He also confirmed that there is fuel in Gaza hospitals, sharing two recorded conversations by Gazans on the subject and letting listeners know that “this information has been shared with members of the intelligence community. They have been given all of this and more and accepted it.”

A medical team and 10 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Friday via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, carrying water, food and medicine, a Palestinian border official told Reuters.

"This Friday morning, a medical delegation consisting of 10 foreign doctors entered, in addition to 10 trucks entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing, carrying water, food and medicine, bringing the total number of trucks since the beginning of the war to only 84 trucks," the official said.

Detailed negotiations were taking place with Israel in a bid to secure more humanitarian crossings into the Israeli-besieged enclave, Lynn Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian Territory, told a press briefing in Geneva.

"In addition to the technical issues and the security issues, there are political issues as well," Hastings said. "And there's a certain amount of pressure on the government of Israel in terms of its domestic politics."

Terrorists fired rockets from Lebanese territory towards IDF positions in the areas of Avivim and Misgav Am in Israel's north, the IDF said on Friday.

No casualties were reported among IDF personnel.

Israel responded with artillery strikes targeting the sources of rocket fire in Lebanon.