Commander of the Darj Tafah battalion of Hamas, Rafat Abbas and the commander of combat and administrative assistance, Tarek Maruf, have been killed using fighter jets, it said adding that Rafat Abbas’ deputy, Ebrahim Jedeva, was also killed. “The battalion is considered to be the most significant brigade of the Hamas,” IDF said.Israel army yesterday said it had sent tanks, troops and armoured bulldozers into the enclave in a “targeted raid” on Wednesday night that destroyed multiple sites before withdrawing.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — amid the growing calls to temper the ferocious bombing campaign — said Israel had been “raining down hellfire on Hamas” and killing “thousands of terrorists”. He said his war cabinet and the military would determine the timing of a “ground offensive” with the goal to “eliminate Hamas” and “bring our captives home”.Hamas’ armed wing said Israeli strikes have killed almost 50 of the 222 hostages its operatives seized during the attacks. Hamas has released four hostages so far. The Palestinian group released two elderly Isreli women on Monday citing “compelling humanitarian” reasons, after mediation by Qatar and Egypt. Their release comes days after a US mother and daughter were freed.The US military struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups today. The strikes in Syria follow a direct warning from President Joe Biden to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against the strikes on US troops. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, however,  sought to distance the Syria strikes from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.  US forces have been attacked more than a dozen times in Iraq and Syria in the past week by what Washington suspects are Iran-backed groups. Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardments, mostly civilians and many of them children.International alarm has increased amid growing shock about the scale of human suffering inside the besieged Palestinian territory where Israel has cut off most water, food, fuel and other basic supplies.European Union leaders called for “humanitarian corridors and pauses” to get aid into Gaza as the United Nations warned “nowhere” in the territory is safe from Israel’s retaliation for bloody Hamas attacks.The October 7 attacks saw Hamas operatives pour from Gaza into Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and kidnapping 224 more. Israel has retaliated with relentless strikes that Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said have killed more than 7,000 people, also mainly civilians.

The overall air quality in Delhi continues to remain in the ‘Poor’ category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 249 on Friday morning, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.

As per the latest data from SAFAR, the air quality around Delhi University was recorded at 307 (Very Poor) in the morning hours today while the IIT area in New Delhi was at 273, and that in Lodhi Road was recorded at 218 either of which falls in the ‘Poor’ category.

Further, according to the data, Noida recorded an AQI of 208 (Poor) and Gurugram 252 (Poor).
India Meteorological Department in a statement on Delhi’s AQI forecasted predominant surface wind likely from Northwest/Northeast directions in Delhi with wind speed 04-16 kmph, resulting in mainly clear sky and mist in the morning on October 27, Friday.

To mitigate pollution, water was sprinkled through an anti-smog gun in the Anand Vihar area on Thursday.

As stubble burning continues in parts of Punjab and Haryana, air quality in the national capital has worsened in the past few days. According to data, over 2,500 cases of stubble burning have been reported this year so far. However, farm fire numbers are better than those of the previous two years.

The second phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was implemented in Delhi to reduce the effect of increased pollution.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is a set of guidelines and measures implemented to combat air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India, which includes Delhi and its surrounding areas.

As per a government release issued by the Ministry of Environment, under GRAP-2 restrictions in Delhi NCR, there will be a ban on the use of coal and wood-fired stoves, the frequency of CNG and electric buses will be increased, regular cleaning of roads and a sprinkling of water on them to be done, traffic police personnel to ensure there are no traffic jams so that pollution can be controlled.

The Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms that are easy to understand. There are six AQI categories, namely Good Satisfactory, Moderately Polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.

When the Air Quality Index ranges from 201 to 300, it will be termed ‘poor’ and classified under Stage 1 restrictions. AQI levels between 301-400 is called ‘very poor’ and falls under Stage 2. When AQI is 401-450 it is termed ‘severe’ and falls under Stage 3.

The US military struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday.

“The precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” he said in a statement.

One US citizen contractor died from a cardiac incident during the attacks, and 21 US military personnel suffered “minor injuries, but all have since returned to duty,” Austin added. 

The strikes in Syria follow a direct warning earlier Thursday from President Joe Biden to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against the strikes on US troops, the White House said on Thursday.

“There was a direct message relayed. That’s as far as I’m going to go,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, declining to say how it was delivered.

In his statement, Austin sought to distance the strikes against facilities used by the IRGC in Syria from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas members in Gaza.  

“These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend US personnel in Iraq and Syria,” he said. 

“They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict,” he added.