Israel's defence minister announced that the Hamas militant group has started a war against Israel and pledged that "Israel will win".

Following a security cabinet meeting at the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Hamas "made a grave mistake" in launching barrages of rockets into southern and central Israel in its surprise morning attack.

In one of the most serious escalations in years between Israel and the militant group that rules Gaza, Hamas gunmen crossed the border fence at several places and infiltrated Israeli communities.

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"The state of Israel will win this war," Gallant said.

Earlier, on Saturday morning (approx. 3pm AEST), Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented infiltration into southern Israel, firing thousands of rockets into the country as the ruling Hamas militant group announced the beginning of a new operation.

Israel began striking targets in Gaza in response, setting the stage for what was likely to be a new heavy round of fighting between the bitter enemies.

The Australian Government swiftly issued information online for Aussies caught up in the situation to get emergency consular assistance, while Israel's equivalent of The Red Cross, The Magen David Adom, immediately offered advice on what to do when a Red Alert sounds.

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Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be uniformed Palestinian gunmen inside the Israeli border town of Sderot.

A video from Gaza showed what looked like the lifeless body of an Israeli soldier being trampled by an angry crowd shouting "God is Great."

Another video appeared to show Palestinian militants dragging away a live Israeli soldier on a motorcycle.

Other videos showed a crowd of Palestinian men dancing around and atop an Israeli tank that was on fire.

The authenticity of the videos could not immediately be verified.

The elusive leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, announced the beginning of what he called "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm."

"Enough is enough," he said in the recorded message, as he called on Palestinians to join the fight. He said Hamas had fired over 5,000 rockets into Israel.

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Salah Arouri, an exiled Hamas leader, said the operation was a response "to the crimes of the occupation."

He said fighters were defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The Israeli military confirmed an infiltration had occurred in several locations near the Gaza border in southern Israel. It ordered residents to remain indoors.

"The military declares a state of war alert," it said in a statement. "In the last hour, the Hamas terrorist organisation had begun a massive shooting of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, and terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory in a number of different locations."

It said Hamas "will face the consequences and responsibility." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top security officials held an emergency meeting.

Israel has built a massive fence along the Gaza border meant to prevent infiltrations. It goes deep underground and is equipped with cameras, high-tech sensors and sensitive listening technology. The infiltration marked a major accomplishment — and escalation — by Hamas.

The sound of outgoing rockets whooshing through the air could be heard in Gaza and sirens wailed as far away as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during an early morning barrage that lasted for over two hours.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue agency said a 70-year-old woman was critically injured when a rocket hit a building in southern Israel. Elsewhere, a 20-year-old man was moderately injured by rocket shrapnel, it said.

As the rocket attacks continued throughout southern and central Israel, millions of Israelis were instructed to stay near bomb shelters in their homes and apartment buildings.

The army said residents next to Gaza should stay in their homes due to the "security incident".

The launches came after weeks of heightened tensions along Israel's volatile border with Gaza, and heavy fighting in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel has maintained a blockade over Gaza since Hamas, an Islamic militant group that opposes Israel, seized control of the territory in 2007.

The bitter enemies have fought four wars since then. There have also been numerous rounds of smaller fighting between Israel and Hamas and other smaller militant groups based in Gaza.

The blockade, which restricts the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, has devastated the territory's economy. Israel says the blockade is needed to keep militant groups from building up their arsenals. The Palestinians say the closure amounts to collective punishment.

The rocket fire comes during a period of heavy fighting in the West Bank, where nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids this year.

Israel says the raids are aimed at militants, but stone-throwing protesters and people uninvolved in the violence have also been killed.

Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets have killed over 30 people.

The tensions have also spread to Gaza, where Hamas-linked activists held violent demonstrations along the Israeli border in recent weeks.

Those demonstrations were halted in late September after international mediation.

An alleged paedophile who has been held in custody in Queensland since August 2022 has been attacked in prison after being named publicly for the first time since Queensland's law change.

An inmate threw boiling water at Ashley Paul Griffith's face at the Wolston Correctional Centre in Brisbane on Friday.

Sources told 9News there may have been jam inside the boiling water, in an attempt to further harm Griffith, as it would stick to his skin at boiling temperatures.

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He is receiving treatment at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

The attack comes days after the alleged child predator was named for the first time after changes to Queensland laws around identifying sex offenders came into effect on October 3rd.

Griffith is facing more than 1600 charges against 91 children, including 136 rape charges, 604 counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16, and 613 counts of child exploitation material.

The alleged attack is being investigated by the Corrective Services Investigation Unit.

An alleged drunk driver has crashed into several parked cars in Melbourne overnight.

The 33-year-old man from Tarneit allegedly blew five times the legal limit after crashing his Toyota SUV into three cars in Aintree, in Melbourne's west at 12.30am today.

Police allege the driver provided a breath test reading of 0.253. 

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Three cars, including a Toyota Camry sedan and a Mazda SUV, were damaged in the crash. 

Police expect to charge him with drink driving and traffic offences.

No one was injured in the crash. 

An alleged gunman is on the run after one man was fatally shot and another was injured in Melbourne.

Multiple shots were fired outside a Craigieburn shopping centre on Mindrock Avenue just after 3pm.

Police say a man was killed at the scene. He has not been formally identified.

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While a second man was seriously injured and has been taken to hospital.

Police have established a crime scene and are in the early stages of the investigation.

No arrests have been made. 

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In January, Elise Stapleton underwent a routine surgery to treat endometriosis, which she had suffered for years.

During the procedure, doctors made an alarming discovery: the 36-year-old Melbourne woman had a 2.2-centimetre tumour in her bowel.

Doctors made the decision there and then to remove what they could of the cancerous growth.

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Stapleton said she was in "complete and utter shock" when she awoke after surgery to be told had bowel cancer.

"I did not suspect any type of bowel cancer, I thought I'm far too young," Stapleton told 9news.com.au

"I just thought this is endo, it has to be and bowel cancer did not cross my mind."

Stapleton is sharing her story in support of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, which has just made a world-first discovery.

Over the past five years, a team led by Dr Lisa Mielke and PhD candidate Marina Yakou have been examining immune cells – known scientifically as gamma delta T cells – in the large bowel.

More specifically, Mielke said, they were investigating the interaction between the microbiome or bacteria in the gut and immune cells.

"So we have looked at bowel cancer tumour samples," Mielke said.

"We found that the abundance of these immune cells was correlated with better patient outcomes and better survival."

But then they made an unexpected and novel discovery.

They isolated a gene on the immune cells dubbed TCF-1, which appeared to be suppressing the killer instinct of the immune cells.

"So these (immune cells) are killer T cells, so they should be able to recognise and kill tumours," Yakou told 9news.com.au

"However that gene (TCF-1) had acted like a break on the immune cells to really suppress their function and their ability to defend against cancer."

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In the lab, the team "disabled" the gene.

This in turn reactivated the immune cells to recognise bowel cancer and essentially "go in for the kill".

"So when we deleted TCF-1 … we saw these amazing and really incredible killing properties that came out of immune cells," Yakou said.

"So we saw a remarkable reduction in tumours as a result of that."

The discovery has been published to in the prestigious journal, Science Immunology.

And while they have made a "molecular" finding, Mielke said it was a big step towards the development of more targeted bowel cancer interventions.

"We now think we can target the immune (gamma delta T) cells within the large bowel, and develop new drugs for them specifically," she said.

"So that we can enhance treatment options for bowel cancer patients in the future."

Those treatments are urgently needed considering the rise of the disease, particularly among younger Australians.

Bowel cancer rates in younger people have been rising since the 1980s.

In fact, there has been a more than 250 per cent increase in incidence among those under age 50 over the past three decades.

Stapleton and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute want to raise awareness that bowel cancer is not just an "older person's disease".

"Honestly just trust your gut," she said.

"If there is anything that seems off about your body and you are uncertain, just go to your GP and back yourself.

"Because it is so important that if you are having any bowel cancer symptoms that you are being screened correctly."

A teenager who died in a car crash on Sydney's Northern Beaches has been identified as five others remain in hospital.

16-year-old Cohen Griggs-Bufton was killed after the ute he was in slammed into a tree in Bayview at 12.20am.

Officers found six injured boys when they arrived at Cabbage Tree Road.

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Four of the boys, aged 17 and 16, were sitting in the back seat of the car when it collided with the tree, NSW Police confirmed.

Griggs-Bufton was sitting in the passenger seat.

"The 17-year-old red P-plate driver was airlifted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital," NSW Police said in a statement.

A second passenger was airlifted to hospital and four others were taken to the Royal North Shore Hospital by paramedics.

The teens injuries range from minor to severe, with police now investigating if drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident. 

The crash investigation unit is making inquiries.

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