Live updates | Israel escalates its bombardment in the Gaza Strip

Israel is escalating its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants. The war is rapidly raising the death toll in Gaza, and the U.S. fears the fighting could spark a wider conflict in the region.

Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the Hamas attack on Israeli towns on Oct. 7. The aid convoys allowed into Gaza so far have carried a fraction of what's needed, and the U.N. said distribution will have to stop if there's no fuel for the trucks.

The war, in its 18th day Tuesday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Health Ministry said at least 5,791 Palestinians have been killed and 16,297 wounded. In the occupied West Bank, 96 Palestinians have been killed and 1,650 wounded in violence and Israeli raids since Oct. 7.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, according to Israeli officials, mostly civilians who died in the initial Hamas rampage. In addition, 222 people including foreigners were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, Israel's military has said. Four of those have been released.

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Here’s what’s happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

AUSTRALIA SENDS 2 MORE TRANSPORT JETS TO MIDDLE EAST IN CASE EVACUATION NECESSARY

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia said it sent an additional two air force transport jets to the Middle East in case citizens of the country need to be evacuated should hostilities escalate.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said Wednesday that three aircraft were now in the region.

“All of this is a contingency and the purpose of it is to be supporting Australian populations that are in the Middle East if, in fact, this conflict gets worse,” Marles told Nine Network television.

Marles did not say where the aircraft were sent other than they were not in Israel. He urged Australians who want to return home to take commercial flights now rather than wait for a possible military evacuation.

Australia has helped hundreds of Australians leave Israel aboard chartered flights and was working toward helping 79 leave Gaza.

RATING AGENCY S&P CHANGES ISRAEL CREDIT OUTLOOK FROM ‘STABLE’ TO ‘NEGATIVE’

NEW YORK — Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s says it is changing its outlook on Israel’s credit rating to “negative” from “stable” as the country fights a war against Hamas in Gaza in response to the militant group’s devastating attack.

S&P said Tuesday it was revising the outlooks on its long-term foreign and local-currency ratings on Israel, citing the war, its potential to escalate into a broader regional conflict and the impact that could have on the country’s economy.

S&P left Israel’s credit rating unchanged at AA-. The agency’s highest rating is AAA. By revising the outlook, S&P is raising a warning flag signaling that a rating downgrade could happen in the future.

Credit ratings firms Fitch and Moody’s have taken similar actions.

OFFICIAL SAYS CANADA DOESN'T BELIEVE HAMAS WOULD RESPECT A CEASE-FIRE

OTTAWA, Ontario — Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said Tuesday that Canada’s government does not believe Hamas would respect a cease-fire in its conflict with Israel.

“I have no expectation that a terrorist organization would respect international law or any call for a cease-fire,” Blair said before heading into a Cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said afterward that Canada supports the idea of “humanitarian pauses,” temporary halts to fighting, allowing for aid to get into Gaza safely and people to leave.

Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction, and Blair said it is a threat as long as it exists.

"I think (Israel has) a right to defend themselves against that terror threat,″ Blair said. “And quite frankly, Hamas has to be eliminated as a threat, not just to Israel but to the world.″

Canada has listed Hamas as a terrorist group since 2002 and has no dealings with any of its leaders.

ISRAELI FM RENEWS VOW TO CRUSH HAMAS. PALESTINIAN FM SAYS IT IS ‘COLLECTIVE HUMAN DUTY’ TO STOP THE BLOODSHED

UNITED NATIONS — Israel is vowing again to destroy Hamas, rejecting calls for a cease-fire from the U.N. chief, the Palestinians and many countries at a high-level U.N. meeting and saying the war in Gaza is not merely its own but “the war of the free world.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also dismissed calls for “proportionality” in the country’s response to Hamas’ surprise attacks Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people. More than 5,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, according to its Health Ministry.

Cohen told the U.N. Security Council the proportionate response to the Oct. 7 massacre is “a total destruction to the last one of the Hamas,” calling the extremist group “the new Nazis.”

“It is not only Israel’s right to destroy Hamas. It’s our duty,” he said.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said he came to the meeting “to stop … the ongoing massacres being deliberately and systematically and savagely perpetrated by Israel.”

“Over 2 million Palestinians are on a survival mission every day, every night,” he added.

Under international law, al-Maliki said, “it is our collective human duty to stop” the Israeli attacks and bloodshed.