A stationary cable car, an abandoned tourist van, empty roads -- the scene around Rosh Hanikra, an Israeli seaside kibbutz bordering Lebanon, looked like still life if not for the goats grazing languidly under the hot wind.

The kibbutz has over the years seen its share of rockets launched by Hezbollah militants from Lebanon, but this time, it has become a ghost town over fears that it could be the target of an Islamist incursion like the deadly attack by Hamas fighters in southern Israel.

Osher and Michael Waknin wanted to celebrate friendship, love and freedom. The twins in their 30s "organised parties all over Israel... They were always happy kids," their sister said.

Their last party, however, became the scene of horrific tragedy when it was targeted by the Hamas gunmen who launched the worst attack on Israel in its 75-year history.

Yet before the incomprehension that became terror under the rattle of automatic weapons, the festival had opened as a huge success.

It's early morning when 30-year-old Syrian Adem Ahmed walks across a railway bridge that starts in Poland and ends in Germany.

Moments later, he and 21 fellow Syrians are detained by German federal police, after the government stepped up border checks to combat a surge in illegal migrant crossings.

"The smuggler who was supposed to drop them off in a lorry on German soil probably fled when he saw the police and left them on their own," said federal police spokesman Jens Schobranski.

Israeli strikes knocked Syria's two main airports out of service on Thursday, Syrian state media said, in the first such attack since a weekend Hamas onslaught on Israel triggered fierce fighting.

Israeli strikes have repeatedly caused the grounding of flights at the airports in the capital Damascus and northern city Aleppo, both of which are controlled by the government of war-torn Syria.

The "simultaneous" strikes "damaged landing strips in the two airports, putting them out of service", state media said, citing an unidentified military source.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on a visit Thursday that the United States will "always" back Israel but said the Palestinians also have "legitimate aspirations" not represented by militant group Hamas.

"You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself," Blinken said during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as war raged between Israel and Hamas.

"But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side."

Elon Musk's social media platform X has defended itself against claims from the European Union that it is failing to tackle disinformation around the violence in Israel and Gaza.

The firm's CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote that the platform had "taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content" and removed hundreds of accounts linked to Gaza militant organisation Hamas, which attacked Israel on Saturday.

Dan Schwarzfuchs has led the emergency unit in southern Israel's biggest hospital for almost a decade, but the rhythm of wounded rushing in since Hamas's bloody weekend assault was unimaginable for him.

"The moment we finished treating a patient and transferred the person to the operation room or to intensive care, another wounded would immediately take their place," Schwarzfuchs, 60, told AFP.

"The floor of the entire trauma unit was covered in blood, we didn't stop cleaning it."

The International Energy Agency said on Thursday the risk of oil supply disruptions due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas is limited but that it stands ready to intervene in markets if necessary.

The Paris-based agency, in addition to its analysis and advisory roles, coordinates the release of emergency stocks held by its 31 mostly advanced-economy member nations.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is in contact with Hamas and Israel to try to facilitate the release of hostages taken into Gaza, the organisation said Thursday.

The ICRC also believes that the humanitarian situation inside the Gaza Strip will very quickly become "unmanageable" without a way to get supplies into the besieged territory and distribute them.

Benjamin Netanyahu's government had divided Israel with its controversial judicial reforms, but he now presides over a country which is united in its demand for a definitive reprisal against Hamas.

This sudden change in politics stems directly from the collective trauma caused to Israeli society by the bloody and unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday, in which it killed at least 1,200 people and kidnapped dozens more.