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Australia updates travel advice for Lebanon to 'do not travel'
The Australian government has updated its travel advice for Lebanon to “do not travel”, citing, “the volatile security situation and the risk of the security situation deteriorating further.”
The move follows similar advisories from the US and UK governments.
Here is our wrap of the latest in the conflict:
About 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after President Joe Biden’s whirlwind visit to Israel that came in the aftermath of a deadly blast at a hospital in the besieged enclave.
Following hours of talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet, Biden said Israel had agreed to allow the opening of the Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing to deliveries of desperately needed food, water and medical supplies on condition that the humanitarian assistance was not diverted by Hamas for its own use.
“The people of Gaza need food, water, medicine and shelter,” Biden said, while vowing to continue to provide for Israel’s security needs and supporting Israel’s assessment that the explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital on Tuesday night was not the result of an Israeli airstrike, but of “an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza”.
Here are some recent pictures:
AFP: Biden, asked by journalists about reports that his administration had told Israel that US forces would fight alongside Israeli troops in response to any attack by the powerful Lebanese movement Hezbollah against Israel, said this was “not true.”
However, he said that “our military is talking with their military about what the alternatives are” in the event of a Hezbollah attack.
China’s President Xi Jinping has meanwhile met with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.
Here is more of what Biden said about the opening of the Rafah border crossing, via AFP:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi “agreed to... let up to 20 trucks through to begin with,” Biden told reporters after calling Sisi from Air Force One while returning from a visit to Israel, where he was showing solidarity over the 7 October Hamas attacks.
The shipment would likely not cross until Friday, as the road at the crossing needed repairs, Biden said.
“They’re going to patch the road. They have to fill in potholes to get these trucks through. And that’s going to occur - they expect it’ll take about eight hours tomorrow,” he said.
The first 20 trucks will be a test of a system for distributing aid without allowing the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, which controls Gaza, to benefit, the US president said.
The United Nations is set to distribute aid on the Gaza side of the border.
“If Hamas confiscates it or doesn’t let it get through or just confiscates it, then it’s going to end, because we’re not going to be sending any humanitarian aid to Hamas if they’re going to be confiscating it. That’s the commitment that I’ve made,” Biden said.
He added that the 20 trucks represented a “first tranche,” but “150 or something” trucks are waiting in total. Whether the rest are allowed to cross will depend on “how it goes.”
He said he had instead talked to Sisi from Air Force One for about half an hour.
“The bottom line is that he (Sisi) deserves some real credit because he was very accommodating,” the US president added.
Biden characterised his trip to the war zone as a success and said that while expressing US support for ally Israel, he was “very blunt with the Israelis” on the need to allow aid into Gaza.
“If you have an opportunity to alleviate the pain, you should do it. Period. And if you don’t, you’re going to lose credibility worldwide. And I think everyone understands that,” he said.
Updated
What is the Rafah border crossing?
Egypt has agreed to allow aid to pass through the Rafah border crossing to Gaza. Rafah is in Egypt’s Sinai region. It is also the only exit point for Gaza residents seeking to flee their home.
Foreign passport holders are expected to be allowed out under any deal to reopen the crossing, and have therefore headed in recent days to the vicinity, seeking to exit.
But Egypt is wary of insecurity near the border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai, where it faced an Islamist insurgency that peaked after 2013 and has now largely been suppressed.
Despite telling people to flee Gaza City for the south, which includes Rafah, Israel has launched airstrikes on buildings in Rafah in recent days.
Biden said Egypt’s president agreed to open the crossing and to let in an initial group of 20 trucks with humanitarian aid. If Hamas confiscates aid, “it will end,” he said. The aid will start moving Friday at the earliest, White House officials said.
Egypt must still repair the road across the border that was cratered by Israeli airstrikes.
More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid are positioned at or near the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, said the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.
Since Hamas took control in Gaza in 2007, Egypt has helped enforce a blockade of the enclave and heavily restricted the flow of people and goods. Like the main crossings with Israel, restrictions have sometimes been eased but not lifted, and travellers need security clearance and lengthy checks to pass. In 2008, tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Sinai after Hamas blasted holes in border fortifications, prompting Egypt to build a stone and cement wall.
Egypt has acted as a mediator between Israel and Palestinian factions during past conflicts and periods of unrest. But in those situations it has also locked down the border, allowing aid to enter and medical evacuees to leave but preventing any large-scale movement of people.
Even as Israel pursues its heaviest and most unrelenting bombardment of Gaza in response to the Hamas assault, Egypt has shown no sign so far that its approach will change. More than 2,800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombing strikes.
That update is over.
The IDF is now delivering its update, which appears to be focused on the explosion at al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Tuesday. We will bring you any relevant new information.
So far IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus is repeating claims previously released by the IDF, including what Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Wednesday.
The misfired rocket hit the parking lot outside the hospital, he said. Were it an airstrike, there would have been a large crater there; instead, the fiery blast came from the misfired rocket’s warhead and its unspent propellant, he said.
We’re not sure why the IDF update seems to be delayed by half an hour, but we’ll bring it to you when it starts.
More now from Biden’s meeting with Netanyahu and Israeli defence officials.
Axios reports that when the US president “pressed officials about their overall strategy in Gaza — namely, what Israel’s plan for the enclave would be after the war”, they said that they weren’t “there yet” and were focussed on the counteroffensive.
Residents and doctors in Khan Younis, a town southern Gaza – the area to which the IDF said people in Gaza City should flee – said an airstrike slammed into a home, killing seven small children, the Associated Press reports.
The news spread quickly on social media, as images of dead and bloodied toddlers lined up side by side on a hospital stretcher stirred outrage in Gaza and the West Bank.
Bandaged and caked in dust, the bodies were brought to the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis along with three other dead members of the Bakri family. Photographers entered the operation room as women covered their eyes and doctors wept.
“This is a massacre,” hospital director Dr. Yousef Al-Akkad said, his voice choking with emotion. “Let the world see, these are just children.”
Local medics also confirmed that the children were killed in a strike and said the Bakri family was just one of many such cases Wednesday.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
With Israeli airstrikes relentlessly pounding the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians increasingly feel that no place is safe.
AP has this story, from the Musa family, who fled to the typically sleepy central town of Deir al-Balah and took shelter in a cousin’s three-story home near the local hospital.
But at 7:30pm on Wednesday, a series of explosions, believed to be airstrikes, rocked the building, turning the family home into a mountain of rubble that they said buried some 20 women and children.
The dead body of Hiam Musa, the sister-in-law of Associated Press photojournalist Adel Hana, was recovered from the wreckage Wednesday evening, the family said. They don’t know who else is under the rubble.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Hana said. “We went to Deir al-Balah because it’s quiet, we thought we would be safe.”
The Israeli military said it was investigating.
Updated
An IDF briefing is expected to begin shortly. We’ll bring you the latest.
UN says Gaza needs aid deliveries of at least 100 trucks a day
While the agreement to allow aid through the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza was a breakthrough, the flow of relief will still fall short of the perceived need, Reuters reports.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Wednesday that the organisation sought to bring aid deliveries to Gaza back to 100 trucks a day, the level before the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Flying home after visiting Tel Aviv, US President Joe Biden praised Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi for agreeing to open the Rafah border crossing to allow 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza and told reporters he had been blunt with the Israelis about the need to support getting aid to Palestinians.
“But the point being if Hamas confiscates it [aid] or doesn’t let it get through, and just confiscates it, then it’s going to end because we’re not gonna be sending any humanitarian aid to Hamas if it’s going to be confiscated, that’s a commitment I’ve made,’ Biden said.
Here is the video:
Rafah crossing to open for aid: what we know
Here is what we know about the desperately-needed aid being allowed into Gaza.
Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The announcement to allow water, food and other supplies happened as fury over the blast at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East, and as US President Joe Biden visited Israel in hopes of preventing a wider conflict in the region.
Biden said Egypt’s president agreed to open the crossing and to let in an initial group of 20 trucks with humanitarian aid. If Hamas confiscates aid, “it will end,” he said.
The aid will start moving Friday at the earliest, White House officials said.
Egypt must still repair the road across the border that was cratered by Israeli airstrikes. More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid are positioned at or near the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, said the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.
Supplies will go in under supervision of the UN, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV. Asked if foreigners and dual nationals seeking to leave would be let through, he said: “As long as the crossing is operating normally and the (crossing) facility has been repaired.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved after a request from Biden. It said Israel “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water or medicine from Egypt, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don’t go to Hamas militants.
Israel’s statement made no mention of fuel, which is badly needed for hospital generators.
We’re expecting an update from the Israeli Defence Forces in about 30 minutes’ time, at 03:30 in Tel Aviv.
Join us live: pic.twitter.com/CUfvPKIOrt
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 18, 2023
Updated
More now on clashes between Israel and other neighbours.
Exchanges of fire between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli army have increased around the Israel-Lebanon border area in recent days.
Clashes there have left at least 18 people dead on the Lebanese side.
Most of the dead have been combatants, including 10 Hezbollah fighters, but they also include a Reuters journalist and two civilians.
On the Israeli side, at least three people have been killed.
On 10 October, for the first time since the Hamas surprise attack, the Israeli army announced that it had fired shells into Syria from the Golan Heights – in response, it claimed, to projectiles being fired on the territory, occupied by Israel since 1967.
An Israeli airstrike on Saturday targeted the Aleppo airport, injuring five people and putting the airport out of service.
Previous Israeli raids on 12 October targeted the airports of both Aleppo and the capital Damascus – both controlled by the Syrian government – rendering them inoperable, according to state media.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes it carries out on Syria, but it has repeatedly said it would not allow Iran, which supports Damascus, to expand its footprint there.
Updated
Israel strikes Syrian govt position in south: NGO
The Israeli government struck a Syrian military position in the war-torn country’s south, a war monitoring NGO, cited by AFP, said on Wednesday.
“Sounds of explosions rang out in the province of Quneitra after an Israeli strike against a Syrian army position,” said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a vast network of sources in the country.
The sound of explosions was also heard in the Golan Heights, the NGO said, without specifying their source.
The strike in Quneitra caused material damage, the organisation said, and has not yet been mentioned by official Syrian media.
The raid coincides with an announcement by the Israeli army on X, formerly Twitter, of strikes against “terrorist positions” of Hezbollah – an ally of the Syrian regime and enemy of Israel – in Lebanon, which borders Golan.
Egypt warns it will not accept 'attempt to force civilian residents to take refugee and migrate to Egypt'
Reuters: The Gaza Strip is effectively under Israeli control and Palestinians could instead be moved to Israel’s Negev desert “till the militants are dealt with”, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a joint press conference in Cairo with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The border between Sinai and the Gaza Strip has the only crossing from the Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel.
“What is happening now in Gaza is an attempt to force civilian residents to take refugee and migrate to Egypt, which should not be accepted,” said Sisi.
“Egypt rejects any attempt to resolve the Palestinian issue by military means or through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of the countries of the region,” he said.
Sisi said the Egyptian people would “go out and protest in their millions ... if called upon to do so” against any displacement of Gaza’s residents to Sinai.
Referring to the Egyptian position at a Beirut press conference, Hamas official Osama Hamdan called “for rallying around this position and supporting it on the popular and Arab official level because this represents real protection for our Palestinian people.”
Here is more on Egypt’s thinking as Israel’s unprecedented bombardment and siege of Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, forces its residents southwards towards the Rafah crossing and towards Sinai.
Reuters: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the Egyptian peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel.
Later, following a phone call between Sisi and US President Joe Biden, a White House spokesman said about 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid would enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in the coming days.
White House spokesman John Kirby said the road needed some repairs first, and that he hoped more trucks would follow. The Egyptian presidency said it was agreed that aid should be provided in a “sustainable manner”.
Egypt has been trying to channel humanitarian relief to Gaza through the Rafah crossing, but aid has been piling up on the Egyptian side after Israeli bombardments made the crossing inoperable.
Rishi Sunak has flown to Israel for talks with its leaders, and will then travel to other countries in the region for further discussions, Downing Street has announced.
The prime minister left London on Wednesday evening, and was scheduled to hold talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s president, Isaac Herzog, on Thursday.
No 10 said Sunak would then travel “to a number of other regional capitals”, details of which have not been released for security reasons, and because of the fast-changing situation in the region.
Sunak will arrive a day after Joe Biden met Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. The US president had been due to then meet Arab leaders in Jordan, but this was cancelled after the devastating blast at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, which caused hundreds of casualties.
Speaking on Wednesday in parliament, Sunak said British intelligence was working to uncover the cause of the blast. The Israeli military has produced evidence that it said showed the explosion was the result of a rocket launched by the militant group Islamic Jihad misfiring. The group has denied responsibility.
Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel would allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Downing Street said Sunak would push for that to happen “as soon as possible”, and to allow UK nationals trapped in Gaza to leave.
In remarks released before the trip, Sunak said: “Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’s horrific act of terror.
Summary
It is 2am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here is where things stand:
The US government released an assessment saying that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of civilians on Tuesday. In a statement, White House national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson pointed to intelligence indicating that “some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The militants were still investigating what had happened”.
The statement, shared by CNN, adds: “The US government assesses that Israel was not responsible for an explosion that killed hundreds of civilians yesterday at the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in the Gaza Strip. Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, and open source video and images of the incident.”
There is deep scepticism in the Middle East about the Israelo and US assessments of the hospital blast, according to Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi. “Nobody is buying that narrative in this part of the world,” Safadi told NBC News. “The only way that people would entertain a different narrative is if there is an independent international inquiry into the tragedy that has happened with impeccable evidence that it was not Israel.”
The Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, said the Gaza hospital blast had killed 471 people and wounded more than 314. Tuesday’s explosion was blamed by Palestinian officials on an Israeli airstrike. Israel said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied responsibility.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has agreed to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza to allow in 20 trucks with humanitarian aid. Joe Biden, speaking on Wednesday, said Israel had agreed to allow the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border to deliveries of food, water and medical supplies after an 11-day total blockade, on condition that the humanitarian assistance was not diverted by Hamas for its own use.
Joe Biden said he had been “very blunt” with Israel’s leaders about the need to support getting aid to Palestinians in Gaza when he met with them on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters during a refuelling stop for Air Force One at Ramstein airbase in Germany, Biden said: “Israel has been badly victimised but the truth is they have an opportunity to relieve suffering of people who have nowhere to go. It’s what they should do,” and “If they don’t … they’ll be held accountable in ways that may be unfair.”
The US has used its veto at the UN security council to block a resolution calling for Israel to allow humanitarian corridors into the Gaza Strip, a pause in the fighting and the lifting of an order for civilians to leave the north of the besieged enclave. The UK abstained.
Angry protests continued across the Middle East as thousands of people in different countries demonstrated against Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip amid growing anger over the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital. A call by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement for a “day of rage” followed protests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco and Iran.
The political leader of Hamas in the West Bank said he believed the group would be willing to release some hostages if Israel were to agree to a 24-hour ceasefire. Sheik Hassan Yousef said in an interview with the Globe and Mail that Hamas has no interest in keeping women and children hostage, and was likely to be willing to release them and the foreign hostages if Israel agreed to a break in hostilities to allow for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Hundreds of people were arrested during a protest at the US Capitol. After an outdoor rally in Washington, thousands of protesters flooded the inside and outside the US Capitol calling for the US to facilitate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Hundreds were arrested, according to activists. The action was planned by Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, two Jewish-led organizations fighting for Palestinian liberation. Activists wore shirts that read “ceasefire now,” and held signs that read: “Jews say stop genocide of Palestinians.”
Rishi Sunak will arrive in Israel on Thursday to meet its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and president, Isaac Herzog. The UK prime minister will press for the route into Gaza to be opened as soon as possible to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and the exit of those trapped in the territory, No 10 said.
Two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli forces during protests in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. The two boys were reportedly trying to set fire to tyres in protest against Israel when they were shot. Israel’s defence forces said they were looking into the incident.
Turkey said again that it is in talks with Hamas to secure the release of hostages Hamas seized in Israel and took to Gaza. Israel has said it has identified 199 hostages, while Hamas has claimed to be holding between 200 and 250. The hostages include elderly people, women, and children.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, said Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel.
The US state department raised its travel alert for Lebanon to “do not travel”, while authorising the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of US government personnel.
The US will provide $100m (£82m) in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, the White House said. Ireland will provide €13m (£11m) in funding for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister, Micheál Martin, also announced.
France’s prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, has said that the number of French citizens killed in the attacks by Hamas in Israel has risen to 24.
This is Helen Sullivan taking over our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. I’ll be with you throughout the night.
Israel’s announcement that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip “falls short” of meeting the needs of the people of Gaza, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said earlier on Wednesday that Israel will not allow any aid from its territory to the Gaza Strip, but that it “will not thwart humanitarian supplies from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population”.
In a statement, HRW called on the Israeli government to allow electricity and fuel to run the local power plant or generators. “The collective punishment of the population is a war crime,” the organization said.
Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at HRW, said:
Israel’s bombardment and unlawful total blockade of Gaza mean that countless wounded and sick children, among many other civilians, will die for want of medical care.
Updated
US and Egypt agree on aid delivery through Rafah crossing 'in a sustainable manner'
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, agreed during a phone call on “the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing in a sustainable manner”, a statement from Sisi’s office said.
US and Egyptian officials will coordinate with international humanitarian organisations under the supervision of the UN to secure the arrival of aid, it said.
President Biden expressed gratitude and appreciation for the Egyptian leadership’s efforts towards achieving peace and stability in the region.
Updated
Joe Biden said he had been “very blunt” with Israel’s leaders about the need to support getting aid to Palestinians in Gaza when he met with them earlier today.
Speaking to reporters during a refueling stop for Air Force One at Ramstein airbase in Germany, Biden said:
Israel has been badly victimised but the truth is they have an opportunity to relieve suffering of people who have nowhere to go. It’s what they should do.
“If they don’t,” he continued, “they’ll be held accountable in ways that may be unfair.”
There is deep scepticism in the Middle East about Israel and US’s assessment of the Gaza hospital blast, according to Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi.
“Nobody is buying that narrative in this part of the world,” Safadi told NBC News.
The only way that people would entertain a different narrative is if there is an independent international inquiry into the tragedy that has happened with impeccable evidence that it was not Israel.
US Security Council statement says Israel not responsible for hospital explosion
The US government assesses that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of civilians on Tuesday, the White House’s national security council said.
In a statement, spokesperson Adrienne Watson pointed to intelligence indicating that “some Palestinian militants” in the Gaza Strip believed that the blast “was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad”.
The statement, shared by CNN, reads:
The U.S. government assesses that Israel was not responsible for an explosion that killed hundreds of civilians yesterday at the Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, and open source video and images of the incident.
Intelligence indicates that some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The militants were still investigating what had happened.
Updated
King Charles has stressed the importance of mutual understanding in religious faiths and the space to think and speak freely, saying it is “never more vital than at times of international turmoil and heartbreaking loss of life”.
In a speech at Mansion House in the City of London, against the backdrop of the Hamas-Israel conflict, Charles stressed that tolerance and civility were among the virtues that Britain could draw on.
Reflecting on what made Britain “so special”, he said the nation could draw on “deep wells” including “the breathing space we afford one another”.
Though he did not directly mention the Gaza conflict, he told guests:
This well carries the politeness and respect we owe to one another; our willingness to put others first and treat them as we would wish them to treat us. To listen to their views and, if we do not agree, to remind ourselves to engage in a way which is passionate, but not pugnacious. This includes the practice of our religious faiths, in freedom and mutual understanding.
He continued:
Such understanding, both at home and overseas, is never more vital than at times of international turmoil and heartbreaking loss of life.
Updated
Sunak: Gaza hospital blast 'should be a watershed moment'
In remarks released before the trip, Rishi Sunak said:
Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’s horrific act of terror.
The attack on al-Ahli hospital should be a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict. I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this effort.
Rishi Sunak has flown to Israel for talks with its leaders, and will then travel to other countries in the region for further discussions, Downing Street has announced.
The prime minister left London on Wednesday evening, and was scheduled to hold talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s president, Isaac Herzog, on Thursday.
No 10 said Sunak would then travel “to a number of other regional capitals”, details of which have not been released for security reasons and because of the fast-changing situation in the region.
Sunak will arrive a day after Joe Biden met Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. The US president had been due to then meet Arab leaders in Jordan, but this was cancelled after the devastating blast at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, which resulted in hundreds of casualties.
Sunak is not taking any UK media with him, but is expected to speak to reporters in the region. He will return to the UK on Friday afternoon.
Separately, the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, will visit Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.
Updated
Rishi Sunak to visit Israel on Thursday
Rishi Sunak will arrive in Israel on Thursday to meet its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and president, Isaac Herzog.
The UK prime minister will press for the route into Gaza to be opened as soon as possible to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and the exit of those trapped in the territory, No 10 said.
Updated
The US president, Joe Biden, will make an address regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict and the war in Ukraine on Thursday at 8pmET (000 GMT on Friday), the White House said.
Updated
The political leader of Hamas in the West Bank said he believes the militant group would be willing to release some hostages if Israel were to agree to a 24-hour ceasefire.
Hamas has no interest in keeping women and children hostage, and would be likely to be willing to release them and the foreign hostages if Israel agreed to a break in hostilities to allow for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, Sheik Hassan Yousef said in an interview with the Globe and Mail.
We have hostages who are our guests, and we don’t have an issue with these hostages.
He said that “when the circumstances allow, we will release them”. He called on the international community to negotiate a pause so that some of the hostages could be safely released.
We are ready. Let it be. But the attack has to stop.
The paper said it was unclear to what extent Yousef, who said he had been taken off guard by the 7 October surprise attack, was speaking for the armed wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al Qassam brigades [al-Qassam brigades].
Updated
The news that Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has agreed to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza to allow in 20 trucks with humanitarian aid comes as people in the territory face a humanitarian crisis, more than a week after Israel imposed a “complete siege” and cut off entry of supplies to Gaza.
Fears have been growing that people in Gaza are beginning to dehydrate to death as clean water runs out, while Israeli airstrikes have pounded the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million residents amid a total blockade on food, electricity, medicine and fuel.
Joe Biden, speaking earlier today, said Israel had agreed to allow the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border to deliveries of desperately needed food, water and medical supplies after an 11-day total blockade on condition that the humanitarian assistance was not diverted by Hamas for its own use.
Here’s a bit more from Joe Biden, who spoke to reporters after his call with Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
The US president said he spoke with Sisi after his visit to Israel, where leaders there agreed to allow the aid in.
Biden, speaking to reporters on Air Force One during a refueling stop in Germany on his way back from Tel Aviv, said the Egyptian leader was “completely cooperative”.
President Sisi “deserves some real credit because he was accommodating”, he said.
Updated
The White House has released a statement following a call between the US president, Joe Biden, and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
The two leaders “discussed ongoing coordination to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza and mechanisms to ensure the aid is distributed for the benefit of the civilian population”, it said.
The two leaders agreed to work together closely on encouraging an urgent and robust international response to the UN’s humanitarian appeal.
They agreed on the need to preserve stability in the Middle East, prevent escalation of the conflict, and set the circumstances for a durable, permanent peace in the region.
Updated
Biden: Egypt's president agrees to open Rafah crossing
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has agreed to open the Gaza border crossing to allow in 20 trucks with humanitarian aid, Joe Biden has told reporters.
More details to follow …
Updated
Hundreds arrested during protest at US Capitol
Following an outdoor rally, thousands of protesters flooded the inside and outside the US Capitol calling for the US to facilitate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Hundreds were arrested, according to activists.
BREAKING: 400 Jews being arrested in Congress calling for CEASEFIRE! @jvplive @IfNotNowOrg pic.twitter.com/uGM5M7xGkj
— Ariel Gold אריאל ✡️☮️🕊 (@ArielElyseGold) October 18, 2023
The action was planned by Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, two Jewish-led organizations fighting for Palestinian liberation.
Activists wore shirts that read “Ceasefire now,” and held signs that read: “Jews say stop genocide of Palestinians.”
Updated
On Tuesday, giggling children shouted, clapped and sang beside swings and a slide in the courtyard of al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, captured on video as medical staff tried to distract them from airstrikes pounding their city.
The next morning, just a few metres away, a grim faced man climbed on to a shattered roof to retrieve the lacerated remains of a tiny infant, one of the youngest victims of a devastating blast that turned a place of healing into a slaughterhouse.
The explosion ripped through a courtyard and car park filled with refugees early on Tuesday evening. The crowd had come to the church-run hospital seeking refuge, and spent the afternoon singing peace songs to keep up their spirits, said Hosam Naoum, the Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, who overseas al-Ahli.
They knew it was a place of only relative safety. Israeli forces had ordered the directors of al-Ahli to evacuate the hospital three times over the previous four days, reaching them by phone on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Two missiles also hit a hospital building on Saturday, Naoum said.
Administrators shared news of these warnings, and thousands left, but as bombing intensified in surrounding neighbourhoods, they flooded back.
“We had a moral obligation … We told them it is important you know what is taking place, but they have nowhere to go,” Naoum said. “At that point in time [of the blast], we know there were thousands of people there.”
“There was some bombing and airstrikes around the hospital and they fled in.” That flow of people in and out of the compound, as they tried to make impossible decisions about where might be safe in a city under relentless attack, had been “happening all the time, back and forth” he added.
The Guardian’s Sammy Gecsoyler has sent this dispatch from Wednesday night’s pro-Palestinian demonstration outside Downing Street:
Thousands commemorated the more than 3,500 Palestinians killed since 7 October on Wednesday in pouring rain outside Downing Street, London.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which organized the demonstration following Tuesday’s deadly blast at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City, said more than 5,000 people were in attendance.
A number of speeches were followed by a candlelit vigil for those killed in the explosion.
Nihal Faris, 36, an entrepreneur, said: “I cannot fathom what is happening right now, it’s devastating. I have a lot of friends who are there. I cannot imagine what that the children are going through, what the parents are going through.”
Anger toward the media’s coverage of the conflict was a common sentiment expressed by speakers and attendees.
On Tuesday, the BBC issued an on-air apology for characterizing pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in the UK as expressing support for Hamas.
Glyn Secker, 79, secretary for Jewish Voice for Labour, said the group was there to “express [its] solidarity with the Palestinian people and to mourn the deaths, including of course the Jewish Israeli deaths as well as the multitude of Palestinian deaths”.
Secker said in the days following the Hamas attack, the British government gave “verbal, active encouragement for Israel to cut water, food and power supplies, and to increase its attacks on Gaza”.
Usama Al Asyeh, 20, a Palestinian-Jordanian student said: “The Palestinian people have struggled for 75 years. Only now people around the world are starting to realise the horrible conditions that these people have been suffering with.”
Updated
An anti-war protest in Athens, Greece, on Wednesday drew thousands of demonstrators calling for a halt to the violence between Israel and Hamas.
Police said about 10,000 people responded to a call by Communist-affiliated labour unions to gather in solidarity with the Palestinian people, AFP reported.
The protest culminated at the Israeli embassy, where a cordon of riot police fired tear gas at protesters.
About 100 people gathered earlier in the day outside the embassy for a pro-Israel protest organised by the Israel-Greece Friendship Association, the first such gathering since the conflict began, the news agency said.
Those protestors had already dispersed by the time the pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrived.
Updated
The UK Foreign Office says it’s advising British citizens against all travel to Lebanon due to the risks associated with the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
It also encouraged British nationals currently in Lebanon to leave the country now “while commercial options remain available”.
Meanwhile, in London on Wednesday night, hundreds of protesters attended a vigil outside Downing Street for victims of Tuesday’s deadly blast at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
Braving heavy rain, protesters gathered in Westminster holding signs that read “stop the massacre” and “stop bombing Gaza”, the Press Association reported.
Updated
A joint statement from Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican Marco Rubio of Florida, the respective chair and vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, backs the official US government position that militant terrorists were responsible for the deadly blast at Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab hospital:
The Senate intelligence committee has received and reviewed intelligence related to the attack on al-Ahli hospital in Gaza.
Based on this information, we feel confident that the explosion was the result of a failed rocket launch by militant terrorists and not the result of an Israeli airstrike.
Updated
A team of Guardian journalists has analysed open source videos, news broadcasts and other footage to produce a comprehensive account of what happened at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, where a deadly blast on Tuesday reportedly killed hundreds.
You can read their research here:
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s nearly 10pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s where things stand:
The US has used its veto at the UN security council to block a resolution calling for Israel to allow humanitarian corridors into the Gaza Strip, a pause in the fighting and the lifting of an order for civilians to leave the north of the besieged enclave. The UK abstained.
Joe Biden has backed Israel’s stance on the devastating blast at a Gaza hospital during a one-day visit to Israel intended to mitigate the humanitarian impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict and prevent it escalating into a regional war. The US president said the evidence he had seen suggested it was “the other team” that was responsible for the explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital.
The Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, said the Gaza hospital blast had killed 471 people and wounded more than 314. Tuesday’s explosion was blamed by Palestinian officials on an Israeli airstrike. Israel said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.
The US does not believe that Israel is responsible for the explosion at the Gaza hospital based on its analysis of currently available data, a White House spokesperson said on Wednesday. In a press conference, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson produced what Israel claimed was evidence of an intercepted conversation between Hamas operatives discussing the failure of an Islamic Jihad rocket, and aerial images which Israel claims show the blast could not have been caused by IDF fire.
Angry protests continued across the Middle East as thousands of people in different countries demonstrated against Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip amid growing anger over the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital. A call by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement for a “day of rage” followed protests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco and Iran.
Two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli forces during protests in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. The two boys were reportedly trying to set fire to tyres in protest against Israel when they were shot. Israel’s defence forces said they were looking into the incident.
Israel will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the office of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said. The decision was approved in light of a request from the visiting US president, Joe Biden, a statement said. “Israel will not allow any humanitarian aid from its territory to the Gaza Strip as long as our hostages are not returned,” it said.
Turkey said again that it is in talks with Hamas to secure the release of hostages Hamas seized in Israel and took to Gaza. Israel has said it has identified 199 hostages, while Hamas has claimed to be holding between 200 and 250. The hostages include elderly people, women, and children.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, said Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel.
The US state department raised its travel alert for Lebanon to “do not travel”, while authorising the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of US government personnel.
Rishi Sunak urged MPs not to rush to judgment over the blast at a hospital in Gaza, as he was repeatedly urged by the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, to remind Israel to respect international law.
The US will provide $100m (£82m) in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, the White House said. Ireland will provide €13m (£11m) in funding for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister, Micheál Martin, also announced.
France’s prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, has said that the number of French citizens killed in the attacks by Hamas in Israel has risen to 24.
Updated
Scores of people are gathering for a rally in Washington on Wednesday demanding US lawmakers pass a resolution to facilitate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“Ceasefire now,” the crowd chanted.
Speakers included Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush, who introduced such a resolution in Congress.
At the rally, Jewish and Palestinian activists also called for an end to US military support for the Israeli state.
“We are here to say end the genocide in Gaza,” said Simha Toledano, a Jewish activist.
She said she was grieving both Israeli and Palestinian lives lost since the conflict began.
“Here is the truth as I know it: all human life is sacred,” she said.
Today, I say no genocide in my name … and no genocide in the name of our beloved dead. Let them rest in peace.
Mohammed Amer, a Palestinian American comedian, closed out the Wednesday’s rally for ceasefire with a plea for officials to see Palestinians’ humanity. He said:
I weep for every soul that has been caught in this crossfire.
in dc, scores of people are out with @jvplive with a concrete demand: "ceasefire now" pic.twitter.com/Rj5XjVDFpO
— 𝕯𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖆 𝕹𝖔𝖔𝖗 (@dharnanoor) October 18, 2023
Updated
Satellite images show the aftermath of a blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, in which Palestinian health authorities said hundreds of people were killed.
The Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, has blamed an Israeli strike. The Israeli military produced evidence on Wednesday morning that it said showed the blast was the result of a rocket launched by the militant group Islamic Jihad misfiring. The group denied responsibility.
Updated
British Muslim faith leaders have released a statement condemning the killing of civilians in Gaza and Israel, my colleague Vicky Graham writes.
It says:
As we watch the heart-wrenching scenes of Al Ahli Arab Hospital burning, we are reminded that the killing and destruction against innocent men, women and children is deplorable and is contrary to the principles of justice and humanity that we hold dear in our faith.
We denounce Hamas’ killing and abduction of innocent people on the 7th of October 2023 as well as the Israeli military’s subsequent use of excessive force.
We urge the government of Israel to act with restraint and within the boundaries of international law. The complete siege on Gaza has resulted in immense suffering and recent actions are intensifying a humanitarian crisis of untold proportions upon Palestinians, who are not responsible for the actions of Hamas.
The statement also condemns all acts of antisemitism and Islamophobia that have taken place in Britain.
Drone footage shows the aftermath of an apparent Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The footage showed whole buildings reduced to rubble and debris, as well as a bakery that was targeted in the same area.
At least four people died after the strike on the bakery ignited a fire, witnesses told the AP.
Updated
Ireland will provide €13m (£11m) in funding for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister, Micheál Martin, announced.
The funding will help the UN and others provide essential support to “extremely vulnerable people, in particular those in Gaza who are dealing with acute and severe challenges”, a statement from his office said.
We are witnessing tragic and shocking events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in the aftermath of the heinous attack by Hamas on Israel. I have said repeatedly that there should be a humanitarian ceasefire to meet the urgent basic needs of the people in Gaza. It is essential that humanitarian relief is provided to those who need it.
I am announcing an immediate package of €13m for the people of Palestine
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 18, 2023
€10m for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
€3m for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
This is a crisis that simply cannot wait.
🔗 https://t.co/gsXBCxwMDE pic.twitter.com/kXyD2wIj1e
Updated
Israel is using media and diplomatic channels to try to convince leaders of Arab countries that Tuesday’s blast at a Gaza hospital was caused by a misfiring jihadist missile, after even its regional allies rushed to blame it for the explosion.
Tuesday’s explosion, which killed hundreds, was blamed by Palestinian officials on an Israeli airstrike. Israel said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.
Arab state foreign ministries have issued individual statements condemning Israel for the explosion, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which established ties with Israel in the Abraham Accords of 2020.
Morocco, another country that recognised Israel in 2020, also blamed it for the strike, as did Egypt, which became the first Arab country to normalise relations in 1979.
Saudi Arabia, which has ended talks on potential ties with Israel since the Israel-Hamas war flared, called the blast a “heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces”.
The rapid apportioning of blame coincided with angry rallies across the region, with more planned on Wednesday after calls for a “day of rage”. With regional public opinion so inflamed, observers have cautioned that there is a low likelihood of statements being retracted regardless of whether conclusive evidence points to a failed rocket launch being to blame.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation also blamed Israel in a statement released after the 57-member bloc of Muslim-majority countries held an emergency meeting of foreign ministers, while Iran called for “an immediate and complete embargo” on Israel, including oil sanctions, “in addition to expelling Israeli ambassadors if relations with the Zionist regime have been established”.
Updated
Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, hinted that Israel may annex part of Gaza in a radio interview on Wednesday.
Cohen was reported by the Times of Israel as saying:
At the end of this war, not only will Hamas no longer be in Gaza, but the territory of Gaza will also decrease.
Updated
Israel's military says nine rockets fired from Lebanon
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said nine rockets had been fired from Lebanon on Wednesday.
Four of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defence, it said in a statement.
כמו כן, בהמשך לדיווח הראשוני על הפעלת התרעות בקריית שמונה ומרחב הצפון, זוהו תשעה שיגורים שחצו משטח לבנון לשטח ישראל, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו ארבעה שיגורים.
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) October 18, 2023
Updated
Teargas and water cannon were used on protesters near the US embassy in Beirut as hundreds took to the streets of the Lebanese capital against what they said was Israel’s attack on a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians.
Demonstrators were prevented from reaching the embassy’s boundary by barricades blocking roads, Reuters reported. Some protesters waved Palestinian flags while others hurled stones at the Lebanese security forces.
Updated
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it has mobilised a convoy carrying 60 tons of medical and humanitarian aid for deployment into Gaza, but it needs safe access to deliver them. It said:
Access to help the wounded and sick is desperately needed.
📢 60 tons of desperately needed medical & humanitarian aid mobilized towards Gaza.
— ICRC (@ICRC) October 18, 2023
Footage for media in our #Newsroom
👉 https://t.co/VJvcMyAst9 pic.twitter.com/xw2angmoxN
Updated
What is Palestinian Islamic Jihad?
The Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine (Ḥarakat al-Jihād al-Islāmī fī Filasṭīn), or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as it is more often known, is the second largest armed group in Gaza. It is considered one of the most extreme and uncompromising Palestinian armed factions and operates on the West Bank too. Last week, PIJ were also reported to have attacked Israel from Lebanon. It rejects any political peace process and sees a military victory over Israel as the sole means of attaining its objective of establishing an Islamic state across Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
PIJ has its own stock of rockets and mortars, and a month ago its military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, could probably have fielded several hundred fighters, analysts believe. It is unclear how many remain alive after PIJ committed a substantial proportion of these forces to the 7 October attacks, and after 10 days of Israeli bombardment of Gaza. The group has claimed that it holds dozens of Israeli hostages and almost certainly retains sufficient combat capabilities both to fire rockets as well as fight any Israeli troops who enter Gaza in a ground offensive.
What is its relationship with Hamas?
Though it has frequently collaborated closely with Hamas, PIJ remains a rival. Strategic, ideological and interpersonal differences have long prevented any real rapprochement between the two. PIJ has always remained clandestine, with a compartmentalised cell structure, in contrast to the mass mobilisation favoured by Hamas. Nor does it have the extensive welfare network or involvement in administration and government of the bigger group. PIJ and Hamas have frequently clashed on tactics, negotiations and a range of other issues, even if many of their ultimate objectives and core Islamist beliefs remain identical.
Here’s a clip from Joe Biden’s speech in Tel Aviv earlier today, where he cautioned Israelis not to be consumed by rage and said the vast majority of Palestinians were not affiliated with Hamas.
Updated
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was also critical of the UN’s security council failure to pass the resolution for a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
Erdoğan wrote in a statement on social media:
The United Nations security council, which has become completely ineffective, has once again failed to fulfil its responsibility.
Western countries, which leave no stone unturned when it comes to human rights and freedoms, have taken no steps other than adding fuel to the fire.
He added that the “heinous attack” on al-Ahli Arab hospital “has brought the massacre in Gaza to another level”.
Cidde’de yapılan İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı İcra Komitesi Olağanüstü Toplantısı’nın İsrail’in artan zulmü karşısında İslam âleminin kararlılığını, Filistin halkıyla dayanışmasını ve Filistin davasına desteğini somut bir şekilde göstermesi bakımından takdirle karşılıyorum.…
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 18, 2023
Updated
Human Rights Watch has criticised the US for vetoing a UN security council resolution that would have called for humanitarian corridors, a pause in the fighting and a rescinding of the order by Israel requiring citizens in Gaza to leave the north of the territory.
Louis Charbonneau, HRW’s UN director, said the US once again “cynically used their veto to prevent the UN security council from acting on Israel and Palestine at a time of unprecedented carnage.”
In so doing, they blocked the very demands they so often insist upon in other contexts: all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and ensure that vital humanitarian aid and essential services reach people in need.
They also blocked condemnation of the Hamas-led Oct 7 attack & demand for the release of the hostages. In light of the council’s deadlock, UN member countries should ask the General Assembly to take urgent action to protect civilians & prevent large-scale atrocities.
🚨 🧵@hrw reaction to US veto of @Brazil_UN_NY draft resolution on #Israel/#Palestine (12 votes in favor, 2 abstentions, 1 no)
— louis charbonneau (@loucharbon) October 18, 2023
"Once again the US cynically used their veto to prevent the UN Security Council from acting on Israel and Palestine at a time of unprecedented carnage." pic.twitter.com/lZAyQFrH2o
Updated
Wadea’s father, Oday Al-Fayoume, addressed the gathering one day after his son’s funeral. He said:
With Wadea gone, I don’t think there’s room for me to speak English any more.
Pointing to a photograph that has become the most widely shared image of his son celebrating his sixth birthday just eight days before his death, and in which Wadea is holding up curled fingers, he added:
Do you know what Wadea is doing in this picture? He was waiting for me to complete the half of the heart he was making.
He was hugged by Cynthia Glass, the mother of Wadea’s best friend Dexter. Speaking through tears, she said:
This is about two boys who will never get to play together again. They will never, ever get to sit next to each other in class again. They will never get to ride the bus together again.
We need to learn from these two sweet, sweet little kids.
Updated
Carrying signs including the words “I am not a threat”, classmates and friends of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume stood on an Illinois basketball court on Tuesday night at an emotional vigil for the Muslim boy, who was stabbed to death in a hate crime at the weekend.
Hundreds of adults, including Dilawar Syed, the highest-ranking Muslim official in the Biden administration, joined the children in Plainfield to pay tribute to Wadea. The Palestinian-American boy died after he and his mother were stabbed by their landlord, whom authorities say was fuelled by rage over the Israel-Hamas war.
Joseph Czuba, 71, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for Saturday’s knife attack that killed Wadea and seriously injured his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, at their apartment. The suspect allegedly shouted “You Muslims must die!” during the attack.
On Tuesday, a succession of speakers paid tribute to a boy known for his smile and love of basketball, and who was born in the US to parents originally from a village in the West Bank.
“What you see is an all-American boy,” Juhie Faheem, a therapist and member of the Will county mental health board, said, according to CNN.
He didn’t wear a sign or necklace stating he was Muslim. He wore a smile on his face, stating he was a child, a child filled with love and not any hate.
Updated
US to provide $100m in humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank
The US will provide $100m (£82m) in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, the White House said.
The assistance will be provided through “trusted partners” including UN agencies and international NGOs, a statement from the White House said.
The funding will help support more than one million people with clean water, food, hygiene support, medical care, and other essential needs, it said.
Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism. Civilian lives must be protected and assistance must urgently reach those in need.
We will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of upholding the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care and shelter.
Updated
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he is in “profound mourning” after the “atrocious” explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, as he called for restraint in placing blame for the blast until the facts are clear.
In a statement, the archbishop said:
Today I join my Anglican brothers and sisters in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank in their profound mourning after the atrocious attack on al-Ahli hospital yesterday, which follows so closely on from an attack on the same hospital on Friday evening.
This is a hospital I have visited, and whose staff I have prayed with.
He added:
This atrocity violates the sanctity and dignity of human life. It is a violation of humanitarian law, which is clear that hospitals, doctors and patients must be protected. For this reason, it’s essential that we exercise restraint in apportioning responsibility before all the facts are clear.
Updated
The US and Israeli embassies in Argentina were evacuated after receiving two bomb threats, local media reported.
Anti-bomb squads were reported on the scene. Authorities said a first search of one of the embassies turned up negative, Reuters reported.
The UK family of Lianne and Yahel Sharabi, who were killed in the raid by Hamas on Be’eri kibbutz, have paid tribute to the mother and daughter. Bristol-born Lianne, 48, moved to Israel aged 19. Yahel was 13.
In a statement they said:
Yahel was a bundle of energy, rarely sitting still for long. From riding her bike at breakneck speed around the kibbutz to playing football, singing and dancing to TikTok and YouTube with sister Noiya and, on occasions, her British cousins.
Her sense of adventure never dulled as she got older, with skydiving, scuba diving and zip-lining in Thailand. She was a bright student and had a keen interest in the natural world. She had a telescope one year to look at space and the stars.
She loved animals and would pet any that crossed her path, even ants and other insects had her attention. She was funny, mischievous and a joy to be with. We will never know what she could have become – a vet, an entertainer, a naturalist, maybe even the first Israeli woman in space. All we know is that there is a Yahel-shaped hole in our lives that can never be filled.
They said Lianne was the light of the family’s life.
She had a wonderful caring nature. She would help anyone in trouble, be it physical, emotional or financial, she would be there for them. She was funny, with a dry sense of humour – sometimes irreverent, but never malicious.
She fully embraced the life on Be’eri and made many friends over the years. She was a wonderful mother to Noiya [who is missing] and Yahel and a great support for Eli [her husband]. Her love for her parents and the rest of the family here was always apparent. She never failed to keep in contact with us and we enjoyed hearing of her life in Israel and the adventures she shared with Eli, Noiya and Yahel.
We will miss our girl to the end of our days and keep her in our hearts for ever.
Updated
Joe Biden leaves Israel
The US president, Joe Biden, and secretary of state, Antony Blinken, have boarded Air Force One after meeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The pair are travelling back to Washington from Tel Aviv.
Updated
The US does not believe that Israel is responsible for the explosion at the Gaza hospital yesterday based on its analysis of currently available data, a White House spokesperson said.
While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.
— Adrienne Watson (@NSC_Spox) October 18, 2023
US vetoes UN security council resolution on humanitarian pause
A US veto led to the UN security council failing to agree to any resolution on the Middle East crisis after the US rejected a Brazil-sponsored proposal that called for humanitarian corridors, a pause in the fighting and a rescinding of the order by Israel requiring citizens in Gaza to leave the north of the territory.
The text supported by 12 of the 15 members of the security council including criticism of “heinous terrorist crimes by Hamas” and made no direct criticism of Israel. But it was opposed on Wednesday by the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, on the basis that it made no mention of Israel’s right to self-defence. The UK abstained.
The US ambassador said she was horrified and saddened by the loss of life, but added that it was Hamas’s actions that had brought about the humanitarian crisis. She also called for time to let Biden’s diplomacy play out.
Israel thanked the US for using its veto.
Two members of the G7 on the council, Japan and France, backed the Brazil motion.
China said it was in a state of shock and disappointed at the US veto, saying “it was nothing short of unbelievable”.
Russia’s two amendments to the Brazil resolution called for a durable ceasefire and an end to the indiscriminate attacks by Israel. Its amendments were vetoed by the US, but had only six and seven votes, insufficient for the required majority of nine and no vetoes.
Brazil, the current president of the security council, had spent the last three days trying to negotiate a balanced ceasefire resolution, and claimed its compromise was balanced, pointing out that it blamed Hamas for “henious acts of terrorism”.
The Brazil motion also called for “humanitarian pauses to allow full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other impartial humanitarian organizations, and encourages the establishment of humanitarian corridors and other initiatives for the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians”.
The UK said the draft resolution needed to be clearer on Israel’s right to self-defence and ignored the fact that Hamas was using civilians as human shields.
The outcome is unlikely to help western diplomatic efforts to woo the global south over Ukraine since the US and to a lesser extent the UK is likely to be accused of double standards in its calls for Russia to abide by humanitarian law.
Updated
Israel says it will allow limited aid to enter Gaza from Egypt
Israel will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the office of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said.
The decision was approved in light of a request from the visiting US president, Joe Biden, a statement said.
In light of President (Joseph) Biden’s demand, Israel will not thwart humanitarian supplies from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population in the souther Gaza Strip.
The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel. It is not clear when the aid will start flowing.
The statement continued:
Israel will not allow any humanitarian aid from its territory to the Gaza Strip as long as our hostages are not returned.
This is Léonie Chao-Fong in Washington taking over the live blog from Martin Belam. You can reach me at leonie.chao-fong@theguardian.com.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
It is coming up to 6pm in Gaza and in Tel Aviv.
The US president, Joe Biden, said that Pentagon intelligence suggests that the devastating explosion at a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday night was caused by “the other team” and not an Israeli airstrike.
Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement that 471 Palestinians were killed and more than 314 wounded at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. Its spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, called it an “Israeli massacre”. Palestinian officials have blamed an Israeli airstrike for the blast. Israel states that it was caused by a failed rocket launch from inside Gaza by Islamic Jihad, who have denied it.
In a press conference, the Israel Defence Forces spokesperson denied Israeli culpability. He produced what Israel claimed was evidence of an intercepted conversation between Hamas operatives discussing the failure of an Islamic Jihad rocket, and aerial imagery which Israel claims shows the blast could not have been caused by IDF fire. He said that “radar system tracked rockets fired by terrorists from within Gaza at the time of the explosion”.
Before leaving the country, Biden cautioned Israelis not to be consumed by rage, and said the vast majority of Palestinians were not affiliated with Hamas. The Palestinian people were suffering as well, he said. He said he would ask Congress for an “unprecedented” aid package this week, and also unveiled more aid for Palestinian citizens.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has condemned the attack on the hospital in Gaza as “senseless” and “horrifying”, while the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, reiterated the strong need for Europe to condemn Hamas, but also to condemn any attack on civilians by Israel in the defence of its country that breaches international humanitarian law.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has described the deaths at the hospital in Gaza as “an unjustifiable tragedy”, and repeated his plea for an international humanitarian intervention and a ceasefire in defence of Israeli and Palestinian children.
The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has said that misattributing responsibility for the hospital blast could “make things worse”, and the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said in parliament that “rushed, inaccurate reporting costs lives”.
Biden said in a joint appearance with Israel’s prime minister that Hamas was worse than Islamic State for its killings of Israeli civilians, which the president characterised as “slaughter”. He said Hamas “committed evils and atrocities that make Isis somewhat more rational”. Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the US for “your support and your steadfast commitment to provide us with the tools we need to defend ourselves,” saying it was the first visit to Israel “by an American president during a time of war”.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday after protests against Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.
France’s prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, has said that the number of French citizens killed in the attacks by Hamas in Israel has risen to 24.
The US has issued new terrorism-related sanctions targeting nine individuals and one entity linked to Hamas.
Turkey has said again that it is in talks with Hamas to secure the release of hostages it seized in Israel and took to Gaza. Israel has said it has identified 199 hostages, while Hamas has claimed to be holding between 200 and 250. The hostages include elderly people, women, and children.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, said on Wednesday that Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel. He said: “Egypt rejects any attempt to resolve the Palestinian issue by military means or through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of the countries of the region.”
Vladimir Putin has said he does not think the Israel-Hamas conflict will escalate into a wider war, as he has the impression “that there are practically no players ready to develop the conflict”. He said the hospital blast was “a terrible event”, and that he hoped it would act as a signal that “we need to end this conflict as soon as possible”.
France is advising its citizens not to travel to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia has recommended its citizens leave Lebanon.
Iran’s foreign ministry has urged countries to impose sanctions on Israel.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said “antisemitism has no place in Germany” after an attack outside a synagogue in Berlin in which police say two molotov cocktails were thrown at the building.
Pope Francis deplored the “desperate” situation in Gaza on Wednesday as he urged the faithful to take “only one side” in the Israel-Hamas conflict – “the side of peace”.
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Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Lebanon has called on its citizens to leave the country.
تتابع سفارة المملكة العربية السعودية لدى جمهورية لبنان، عن كثب تطورات الأحداث الجارية في منطقة جنوب لبنان، حيث تدعو كافة المواطنين التقيد بقرار منع السفر، ومغادرة الأراضي اللبنانية بشكل فوري لمن هو متواجد في لبنان حالياً. pic.twitter.com/aoidnQAP35
— السفارة السعودية لدى لبنان (@KSAembassyLB) October 18, 2023
The Israeli military reports that sirens warning of a possible rocket attack are sounding again in the north of the country.
US President Joe Biden, wrapping up a rapid trip to the region after an expected onward journey to meet Arab leaders in Jordan had been cancelled, offered Israel assurances following the Hamas attack that the US would do everything it could to ensure the country was safe.
Reuters summarised the key points of the press appearance as:
Biden urged Israelis not to be consumed by rage and said the vast majority of Palestinians were not affiliated with Hamas. The Palestinian people are suffering as well, he said.
In remarks after meeting Israeli leaders, Biden said he would ask Congress for an “unprecedented” aid package this week.
The president made reference to the Nazi Holocaust of the second world war when saying that Israel had the backing of its friends.
“We will not stand by and do nothing again. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” he said.
The US has urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
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Joe Biden finished by recounting meeting Golda Meir when he was a senator, and has not taken questions.
Overall here in this press conference, Biden seems to have promised Israel additional military aid and unconditional support, while also cautioning it to use restraint against civilians, and assuring Palestinians that the US will continue to support humanitarian aid to them. He says “Terrorists will not win. Freedom will win. Israel is not alone. The US stands with you.”
Biden announces additional financial aid for Palestinian people. He says that a democracy like Israel lives by the rule of law, unlike terrorists.
Biden has said that like the US did after 9/11, Israel is feeling “Shock. Pain. Rage. An all-consuming rage.” He has then said that in that rage the US made mistakes after 9/11. “The US unequivocally stands for the protection of civilian life during conflict,” he said. He says he has asked the Israeli cabinet to agree to the delivery of aid in Gaza, with inspections that will prevent it reaching Hamas.
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Biden is speaking about the people who volunteered and rushed to help in the aftermath of the Hamas attack. He earlier said the attack on Israel was so heinous because of the memory of the Holocaust. He has said that president Harry S Truman made the US the first country to recognise Israel, and Biden has said he will go to Congress to ask for an unprecedented package of support for Israel. He has warned Iran not to intervene.
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Joe Biden is making an incredibly personal speech here about grief and losing family members, and saying that terrorists will never break or bend the will of people.
Biden has said of those waiting to find out the fate of hostages “they are not alone” and the US is doing everything to help.
Biden press conference in Tel Aviv
US president Joe Biden is giving a press conference in Tel Aviv. I’ll bring you the key lines as they emerge.
More details soon …
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Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday after protests against Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.
Reuters reports the deaths brought the toll of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the 7 October Hamas attack on southern Israel to at least 64, which marked a sharp increase.
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Sam Jones is the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent:
Two of the 10 members of a single Israeli family who went missing from the Be’eri kibbutz early on 7 October have been found dead, family members have confirmed.
The body of Eviatar Kipnis, a 65-year-old Italian-Israeli man who had an auto-immune condition, was found on Tuesday, as was that of his brother-in-law, Avshalom Haran, who was 66. Both men appear to have been murdered, the family said.
Kipnis’s wife, Lilach, and seven other members of the family are still missing: Lilach’s sister Shoshan Haran, who was married to Avshalom; their daughter Adi Shoham; her partner, Tal Shoham; their two children, Naveh and Yahel Shoham, who are eight and three; Avshalom’s sister Sharon Avigdori; and her daughter Noam Avigdori. The body of Paul Vincent Castelvi, a Filipino carer who looked after Eviatar, has also been found.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, also confirmed the death of Kipnis and paid tribute to his family in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“With great sadness I confirm the death of Eviatar Moshe Kipnis, an Italian-Israeli citizen missing after the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel,” he wrote. “I am close to the family, especially his two sons who I met during my mission in Tel Aviv.
Our senior international affairs correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison reports:
The main force of the explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital hit a courtyard and car park at the centre of the medical complex, packed with families taking refuge from airstrikes in surrounding neighbourhoods, the Anglican bishop responsible for the compound said.
Hosam Naoum, Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, told journalists that in the days before the Gaza hospital was hit by a devastating explosion, Israeli forces had issued three evacuation warnings to its directors, and struck it twice with missiles.
Israel has denied hitting the hospital on Tuesday, saying that the blast was caused by the warhead and propellant of a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket.
Naoum declined to attribute responsibility for the blast, saying that priests were not military investigators, but he condemned the war and called for a ceasefire.
It was crowds fleeing Israeli airstrikes elsewhere in Gaza city who bore the brunt of the blast, he said. “Two of our employees were injured, but the rest there were operations taking place when the blast [hit].”
“At that point in time [of the blast], we know there were thousands of people there,” he said. “They received a warning, there were some bombing and air strikes around the hospital and they fled in [to the hospital compound].”
On Saturday, Sunday and Monday the Israeli authorities contacted hospital staff, mostly by phone, telling them to leave.
“They have the phone numbers of all the directors of the hospitals. So they can either send message or whatever means they have to notify them,” he said.
“We received the two missiles that hit the hospital. We could see and tell that they are from an Israeli strike at the hospital. And then we received the warnings,” he said.
Staff told refugees who crowded into its courtyard about those warnings, but they apparently judged the hospital safer than other options in a city under attack. In the afternoon before hundreds were killed and maimed, they had been singing peace songs to keep up their spirits, Naoum said.
Hospital administrators had warned them about the evacuation notices. “We had a moral obligation,” Naoum said. “We told them it is important you know what is taking place, but they have nowhere to go.”
A crowd of around 5,000 people almost all left after the first warning. But many returned when airstrikes pummelled the neighbourhood, hoping the hospital compound might be a relative haven amid Israel’s blanket evacuation order, that effectively turned all of Gaza city into a potential target.
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The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has said that misattributing responsibility for the blast in a hospital in Gaza could “make things worse”, and the foreign secretary has said in parliament “rushed, inaccurate reporting costs lives.”
PA Media reports that asked by broadcasters during a visit to Washington DC who was responsible for the incident, Shapps said: “We don’t yet know that. We’re gathering all of the facts. Our intelligence agencies are working on this proactively at the moment and I think it’s really important that we give them the opportunity to gather those facts so we don’t jump to conclusions.”
Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement earlier that 471 Palestinians were killed at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in the blast yesterday, and its spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, called it an “Israeli massacre”.
Asked about US President Biden’s assessment that “the other team” and not Israel, appears to be to blame, Shapps said: “I think these words really matter – I don’t want to make things worse by misattributing before that evidence is pulled together. But I do feel that it is very likely that we will be able to establish the facts.
“It’s very early days, you do tend to get a lot of literally fog of war in these things, we all know that it is possible that a rocket may have misfired and we’ve seen and heard those reports.”
But he said the British intelligence agencies must “patch together exactly what we know and be able to come to firmer conclusions”.
In London, questioned in parliament over reporting of the blast in the media and on social media which had attributed the explosion to an Israeli airstrike, the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, told MPs:
Everything has a cost and rushed, inaccurate reporting costs lives. And everybody whether they are formally involved in the reporting process, or whether they are a citizen journalist, or whether they are just active on social media, should be very conscious that this involves real lives in the most sensitive of circumstances and could have repercussions not just in the area, not just in the region, but in this country as well.
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Death toll of French citizens killed in attacks in Israel rises to 24
The French prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, has said that the number of French citizens killed in the attacks by Hamas in Israel has risen to 24.
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Biden: US department of defense data showed 'other team', not Israel, responsible for hospital blast
Reuters has a quick snap that President Joe Biden said on Wednesday his comment earlier that the “other team”, not Israel, was responsible for the explosion at a Gaza hospital was based on data shown to him by the US department of defense.
More details soon …
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The IDF has said on social media that it has again returned artillery fire into Lebanon after coming under attack in the north of Israel.
בוצע ירי נ"ט לפני זמן קצר במרחב דבורנית שבגבול לבנון, כוחות צה"ל מגיבים בירי ארטילרי לעבר מקור הירי.
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) October 18, 2023
In Tel Aviv there was a demonstration this morning of people appealing for help to get back the hostages that Hamas took into Gaza after the attack on 7 October.
Those attending included the father of Noa Argamani, who was kidnapped while at the Supernova music festival where at least 260 people were killed in a massacre.
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Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has just published on social media a video of his full appearance alongside US president Joe Biden this morning in Tel Aviv.
"Thank you for coming here today and for the unequivocal support you have given Israel during these trying times. A support that reflects the overwhelming will of the American people."https://t.co/JHEgXwGPF6 pic.twitter.com/1fmNtfIyek
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 18, 2023
There are some of the scenes in Ramallah in the West Bank where Palestinians are staging a protest.
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Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has described the deaths at the hospital in Gaza as “an unjustifiable tragedy”. Writing on social media, he said:
The attack on Baptista al-Ahli hospital is an unjustifiable tragedy. Wars don’t make any sense. Lives lost for ever. Hospitals, houses, schools, built with so much sacrifice, destroyed in moments. I repeat this appeal. The innocent cannot pay for the insanity of war.
He linked to his appeal of 11 October, when he said “an international humanitarian intervention is urgently needed” and that there should be a ceasefire in defence of Israeli and Palestinian children.
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Gaza health ministry: 471 Palestinians killed in Gaza hospital blast
Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that 471 Palestinians were killed and more than 314 wounded at the al-Ahli Arab hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip in last night’s blast.
Reuters reports that its spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, called it an “Israeli massacre”.
Palestinian officials have blamed an Israeli airstrike for the blast at the hospital. Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which has denied blame.
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The US has issued terrorism-related sanctions targeting nine individuals and one entity linked to Hamas, Reuters reports. The notice was posted on the US treasury department website.
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Nine British nationals still missing after Hamas attack on Israel
Nine British nationals remain missing, some of whom are feared dead, and at least seven have been killed after Hamas’s attacks on Israel, the UK prime minister’s office has said.
PA Media reports that, when asked whether Rishi Sunak thought the moment was right for a ceasefire, his official spokesperson said that “part of Israel’s work is to recover hostages who have been seized by a terrorist organisation”.
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The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, is to travel to Arab states starting with a visit to Egypt on Thursday in an attempt to improve relations with leaders angry at the UK’s refusal to back a ceasefire.
He is also expected to travel to Qatar and Turkey, and possibly Bahrain, UK sources said, but stressed his travel plans are fluid.
He is expected in Egypt to focus on the opening of the Rafa crossing, including plans for a safe space to be established in southern Gaza, to which aid can be sent. The opening of the aid corridor should allow foreign nationals inside Gaza over the border into Egypt.
In Qatar, Cleverly, a former Middle East minister, will focus on the efforts being made in Doha to negotiate the release of the near 200 hostages being held by Hamas. Qatar maintains diplomatic relations with Hamas, and has been trying to strike various deals to see at least some of the hostages released.
In Turkey, he is likely to probe whether the government’s known connections with Hamas could see progress on hostages.
Cleverly has already been to Israel since the assault on Israeli citizens by Hamas to express his solidarity with the Israelis.
Although the UK has not yet formally attributed responsibility for the attack, he is likely to show regional leaders evidence the UK has compiled to prove to its satisfaction that the attack was not launched by the Israel Defence Forces.
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Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 2.30pm in Gaza and in Tel Aviv. Here is the latest summary of the headlines today …
Joe Biden has said he believes that the devastating explosion at a hospital in Gaza which is believed to have killed hundreds of Palestianians was “done by the other team”, and not Israel.
Palestinian officials have blamed an Israeli air strike for the blast, which Hamas claimed killed as many as 500 people. Israel has claimed the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.
The US president said: “The point is, is that I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you, but there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got a lot – we’ve got to overcome a lot of things.”
Earlier the Israel Defence Forces spokesperson gave a lengthy press briefing to deny Israeli culpability in the explosion. He produced what Israel claimed was evidence of an intercepted conversation between Hamas operatives discussing the failure of an Islamic Jihad rocket, and aerial imagery which Israel claims shows the blast could not have been caused by IDF fire. He said “radar system tracked rockets fired by terrorists from within Gaza at the time of the explosion”.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, told parliament in London that Britain is “working independently and with our allies to find out what has happened” at the site of the hospital blast in Gaza, while foreign secretary James Cleverly chastised people, saying “too many jumped to conclusions” about the explosion.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has condemned the attack on the hospital in Gaza as “senseless” and “horrifying”, while the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, reiterated the strong need for Europe to condemn Hamas, but also to condemn any attack on civilians by Israel in the defence of its country that breaches international humanitarian law.
Biden’s trip is intended to show solidarity with Israel after the 7 October Hamas attack, and to deter the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia intervening across the Lebanese border. But the White House said Biden would also be asking “tough questions” about its strategy in Gaza, and about humanitarian relief for more than 2 million Palestinians trapped and under constant bombardment in Gaza, with virtually no access to water, food or medical supplies.
Biden said Hamas was worse than Islamic State for its killings of Israeli civilians in the surprise attack on 7 October which the president characterised as “slaughter”. He said Hamas “committed evils and atrocities that make Isis somewhat more rational”. Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the US for “your support and your steadfast commitment to provide us with the tools we need to defend ourselves,” saying it was the first visit to Israel “by an American president during a time of war.”
The explosion at the Gaza City hospital led to the cancellation of the second leg of Biden’s trip. He had planned to meet with Arab leaders in Jordan.
Turkey has said again that it is in talks with Hamas to secure the release of hostages it seized in Israel and took to Gaza. Israel has said it has identified 199 hostages, while Hamas has claimed to be holding between 200 and 250. The hostages include the elderly, women, and children.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, said on Wednesday that Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel. He said “Egypt rejects any attempt to resolve the Palestinian issue by military means or through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of the countries of the region.”
Vladimir Putin has said he does not think the Israel-Hamas conflict will escalate into a wider war, as he has the impression “that there are practically no players ready to develop the conflict”. He said the hospital blast was “a terrible event”, and that he hoped it would act as a signal that “we need to end this conflict as soon as possible.”
France is advising its citizens not to travel to Lebanon.
Iran’s foreign ministry has urged countries to impose sanctions on Israel.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said “antisemitism has no place in Germany” after an attack outside a synagogue in Berlin in which police say two molotov cocktails were thrown at the building.
Pope Francis on Wednesday deplored the “desperate” situation in Gaza as he urged the faithful to take “only one side” in the Israel-Hamas conflict – “the side of peace”.
A statement signed by more than 800 scholars, including experts in international law and Holocaust and genocide studies, has warned that Israel is at risk of committing genocide in Gaza. Their statement said: “We are compelled to sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. We do not do so lightly, recognising the weight of this crime, but the gravity of the current situation demands it.”
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Turkey has said again that it is in talks with Hamas to secure the release of hostages it seized in Israel and took to Gaza, however Reuters reports that the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, has said there “is nothing concrete” for now.
Citing the state-run Anadolu news agency, Reuters quotes him saying: “Talks, work on the prisoner swap continue. There are talks and meetings held through intelligence units, but, in the heat of the first days, it was not possible to create a framework for this.”
Fidan said Qatar was also involved in talks over hostages, and that the US and Germany had been in contact with Turkey to ask for assistance with the hostage situation.
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The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has told parliament in London that Britain is “working independently and with our allies to find out what has happened” at the site of the hospital blast in Gaza.
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Sisi: Egypt rejects forced displacement of Palestinians from their land
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, said on Wednesday that Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel.
Reuters quotes Sisi saying:
What is happening now in Gaza is an attempt to force civilian residents to take refugee and migrate to Egypt, which should not be accepted.
Egypt rejects any attempt to resolve the Palestinian issue by military means or through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of the countries of the region.
Sisi said the Egyptian people would “go out and protest in their millions... if called upon to do so” against any displacement of Gaza’s residents to Sinai.
Any transfer of Palestinians to Sinai would mean “that we move the idea of resistance, of combat, from the Gaza Strip to Sinai, and so Sinai would become the base for launching operations against Israel”, Sisi said.
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Putin: I have impression Israel-Hamas war will not escalate into a wider conflict
Vladimir Putin has said he does not think the Israel-Hamas conflict will escalate into a wider war, as he has the impression “that there are practically no players ready to develop the conflict”.
Reuters reports that speaking in Beijing, Russia’s president said:
As for the strike on the hospital, the tragedy that happened there is a terrible event. Hundreds of dead and hundreds of wounded are of course a catastrophe.
I really hope this will be a signal that we need to end this conflict as soon as possible. In any case, we need to focus on the possibility of starting some contacts and negotiations.
I have the impression that no one wants this to continue, for the conflict to develop and for the situation to worsen further.
In my opinion, the main players – some, by definition do not want to, some are afraid of something – but I have the impression that there are practically no players ready to develop the conflict and turn it into a large-scale war.
Palestinian officials have blamed an Israeli airstrike for the blast at the hospital, which Hamas claimed killed as many as 500 people. Israel has claimed the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.
Putin on Monday spoke to the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
• This text was amended on 18 October 2023. It was initially published with an erroneous headline that suggested Vladimir Putin thought the situation would escalate due to the missing word “not”.
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A statement signed by more than 800 scholars, including experts in international law and Holocaust and genocide studies, has warned that Israel is at risk of committing genocide in Gaza.
Their statement said: “We are compelled to sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. We do not do so lightly, recognising the weight of this crime, but the gravity of the current situation demands it.”
It added: “Israel’s current military offensive on the Gaza Strip … is unprecedented in scale and severity, and consequently in its ramifications for the population of Gaza. Following the incursion by Palestinian armed groups on 7 October 2023, including criminal attacks against Israeli civilians, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to incessant and indiscriminate bombardment by Israeli forces.”
The signatories “urgently appeal to states to take concrete and meaningful steps to individually and collectively prevent genocidal acts, in line with their legal duty to prevent the crime of genocide. They must protect the Palestinian population, and ensure that Israel refrains from any further incitement to genocide and from the perpetration of conduct prohibited by article II of the genocide convention.”
Meanwhile, some of the UK’s leading Jewish lawyers have warned Israel of its obligations under international law in its war with Hamas.
Lord Neuberger, Philippe Sands and six other prominent UK Jewishlawyers condemned atrocities committed by Hamas as crimes against humanity and war crimes, but added “there are laws that we must all live by”.
In a letter to the FT, they said: “There are some aspects of Israel’s response that already cause significant concern. International law forbids sieges of civilian populations … collective punishment is prohibited by the laws of war. Equally, international law requires combatants to ensure minimum destruction to civilian life and infrastructure.”
They add: “In these early days when emotions are so understandably raw, many might be reluctant to remind Israel of its international law obligations, considering to do so insensitive or inappropriate. However, we disagree.”
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The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has condemned the attack on the hospital in Gaza as “senseless” and “horrifying”.
“Hamas’s terror has plunged Israel and Palestine into a new spiral of violence. Last night, a new, senseless tragedy has shocked us all. A hospital in Gaza – sheltering hundreds of wounded people – was turned into a hell of fire. The scenes from al-Ahli hospital are horrifying and distressing. There is no excuse for hitting a hospital full of civilians. All facts need to be established, and those responsible must be held accountable.
“In this tragic hour, we must all redouble our efforts to protect civilians from the fury of this war.”
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Here is the video clip of the US president, Joe Biden, in Tel Aviv talking about the claim that the explosions at the al-Ahli Arab hospital was caused by a failed rocket launch from inside Gaza.
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France is advising its citizens not to travel to Lebanon.
Iran’s foreign ministry has urged countries to impose sanctions on Israel. Reuters reports it said in a statement:
The foreign minister calls for an immediate and complete embargo on Israel by Islamic countries, including oil sanctions, in addition to expelling Israeli ambassadors if relations with the Zionist regime have been established.
Iran does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Reuters has a quick snap that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has said that the explosion at a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians was a terrible catastrophe that showed the conflict should be ended.
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Scholz on Berlin synagogue attack: 'Antisemitism has no place in Germany'
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said “antisemitism has no place in Germany” after an attack outside a synagogue in Berlin in which police say two molotov cocktails were thrown at the building.
Reuters reports Scholz said during a visit to Egypt: “I want to expressly say that I am outraged. It outrages me personally what some are shouting and doing.”
In a social media post, he added: “Attacks on Jewish institutions and acts of violence on our streets are despicable and cannot be tolerated. Antisemitism has no place in Germany.”
Two hooded men threw the molotov cocktails at a synagogue in central Berlin early on Wednesday morning, police said, adding that they had arrested a man who shouted antisemitic slogans while they were investigating.
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Scholz: aid could be delivered to Gaza via Egypt 'soon'
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is confident that aid could be allowed into Gaza soon after his talks with the leaders of Israel, Jordan and Egypt, he said on Wednesday.
“We are all closely aligned so I have a feeling it could happen soon,” Reuters reports Scholz as saying in Cairo following his meeting with the Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
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The UK’s foreign secretary has said “too many jumped to conclusions” about the blast at the al-Ahli Arab hospital hospital.
In a post to social media, James Cleverly wrote: “Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital. Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk. Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately. Cool heads must prevail.”
Earlier the Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari criticised the media for spreading what he said were “false and baseless allegations made by terrorists against Israel”.
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Biden: 'sad and outraged' by explosion at hospital 'done by the other team'
The US president, Joe Biden, in a joint press conference in Tel Aviv with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday that Washington would provide Israel with everything it needed to defend itself, while appearing to accept Israel’s assertion that a blast at a hospital in Gaza had been caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch.
Biden said Hamas was worse than Islamic State for its killings of Israeli civilians in the surprise attack on 7 October which the president characterised as “slaughter”. He said Hamas “committed evils and atrocities that make Isis somewhat more rational”.
He said he was “sad and outraged” by an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, which Hamas said killed hundreds of people.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got to overcome a lot of things,” Biden told the Israeli PM.
At the conference, Benjamin Netanyahu said 1,400 Israelis, “maybe more” had been murdered during the Hamas attack, and thanked the US for “your support and your steadfast commitment to provide us with the tools we need to defend ourselves,” saying it was the first visit to Israel “by an American president during a time of war.”
Earlier IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari had presented what the Israel claims is evidence that the devastating explosion at the al-Ahli Arab hospital was caused by a misfiring rocket from inside Gaza launched by Islamic Jihad. He said that propellant from the rocket had ignited and caused the explosion, and that imagery from the site showed it could not have been caused by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Authorities in Gaza have put the death toll at the hospital at 300, and stated that over 3,000 Palestinians had already been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its series of retaliatory strikes after 7 October.
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The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has reiterated the strong need for Europe to condemn Hamas, but also to condemn any attack on civilians by Israel in the defence of its country that breaches international humanitarian law.
His remarks follow discord at the top in Brussels, with the European Commisssion leader, Ursula von der Leyen, accused of initially failing to emphasise that Israel’s defence needed to be within the scope of international law in the days following Hamas’s attack.
“Let’s repeat it one more time. And let’s also say that Israel has – of course – the right to defend itself. She has always had it and anyone who found themselves attacked in this brutal way would have the right to defend themselves.
“But I think we are all united in saying that the right to defence, like all rights, has limits. And, in this case, they are the limits set by international law and, in particular, international humanitarian law. All this is already obvious, and we can repeat it, but repeating it will not make us advance in the necessary reflection that guides action,” said Borrell.
“Because condemning one tragedy should not prevent us from condemning another. Showing our pity for the dead, victims of terrorist attacks, should not – and does not – prevent us from also demonstrating our feelings for other dead people.
“In these tragic moments, I believe that the European Union must base its response on four principles: firmness, humanity, coherence, and a proactive political attitude in the face of this conflict.”
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Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from the site of the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
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Roberta Metsola, president of the European parliament, said today that “the devastation of a hospital is horrific and unjustifiable, and we must ensure we continue to shed light on what happened. As the tragedy in the Middle East continues to unfold, it is once again the innocent who are forced to pay the price. We must remain clear that protecting civilian lives must keep being a priority. We cannot lose sight of the humanitarian consequences.”
Biden tells Israelis: 'Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team'
Biden has said Hamas has “committed evil atrocities that make Isis look somewhat rational”.
He said: “We have to also bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people, and has brought them only suffering.”
The US president also said: “I’m deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we have to overcome a lot of things.”
He said the US would give Israel what it needed to defend itself. He finished by saying the bravery of the Israeli people was stunning, and he was proud to be there.
The pair did not take questions.
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Biden says that the US is grieving with Israel.
Joe Biden said: “I wanted to be here today. For a simple reason I want the people of Israel, the people in the world to know where the United States stands.”
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Here is what Benjamin Netanyahu has said in opening:
I want to thank you for coming here today and for the unequivocal support you have given Israel during these trying times. The support that reflects the overwhelming will of the American people.
I’ve seen your support every day and the depth and breadth of cooperation that we have had since the beginning, a level of cooperation that is truly unprecedented in the history of the great alliance between our two nations.
We see that support and your steadfast commitment to provide Israel with the tools we need to defend ourselves. We see that support in the clear message you send our enemies not to test our resolve, and in the two American carrier battle groups that you send to the region to back up those words, with action but above all, Mr. President, the world sees that support and the moral clarity that you have demonstrated from the moment Israel was attacked.
You rightly drawn a clear line between the forces of civilization the forces of barbarism and describe what commands do a sheer evil.
It is exactly that.
Hamas murder children in front of their parents, and parents in front of their children. They burned people alive. They raped and murdered women. They beheaded soldiers, and they searched for the secret hiding places where parents hid their children. Just imagine, Mr President, the fear and the panic of those little children in their last moments as the monsters discovered, found out, their hiding places.
The Israeli prime minister has greeted Biden and thanked him for the unprecedented support and “moral clarity” that the US has given Israel.
Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu are giving a joint press conference in Tel Aviv. I’ll bring you the key lines.
Joe Biden arrives in Tel Aviv as IDF seeks to show proof failed rocket launch caused hospital blast
Julian Borger is in Tel Aviv for the Guardian. Here is his latest report:
Joe Biden has landed in Israel in a bid to prevent the conflict over Gaza escalating into a regional war, and to mitigate the unfolding humanitarian disaster in the territory in the wake of a blast in a hospital causing mass casualties.
The explosion at the Gaza City hospital led to the cancellation of the second leg of Biden’s trip, to meet Arab leaders in Jordan, before the president had even left Washington. He is due to return directly to Washington after meetings with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, top civilian and military officials in Tel Aviv, as well as families of victims of the Hamas attack on 7 October which killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and began the latest cycle of violence.
The Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas, blamed an Israeli strike for the hospital blast. The Israel Defence Forces, said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by another militant Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad. The group denied responsibility.
An official from the Gaza civil defence said more than 300 people had been killed in the blast.
The IDF produced evidence on Wednesday morning, which it said showed there was no crater at the hospital that would have pointed to an air strike. Instead the blast had been caused by the warhead and propellant of a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket.
Biden’s trip is intended to show solidarity with Israel in the wake of the 7 October Hamas attack, and to deter the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia intervening across the Lebanese border. But the White House said Biden would also be asking “tough questions” about its strategy in Gaza, and about humanitarian relief for more than two million Palestinians trapped and under constant bombardment in Gaza, with virtually no access to water, food or medical supplies.
The UN said more than 3,000 Palestinians had died in Gaza since the 7 October Hamas assault.
Updated
Here are some of the first images of Joe Biden’s arrival in Israel.
Pope Francis on Wednesday deplored the “desperate” situation in Gaza as he urged the faithful to take “only one side” in the Israel-Hamas conflict – “the side of peace”.
Reuters reports that speaking during his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square, Francis did not explicitly mention the Gaza hospital explosion for which Israelis and Palestinians are blaming each other and which has sparked widespread protests.
Updated
Humza Yousef has expressed his deep concern after his mother and father-in-laws’ house was surrounded by debris after a near miss attack on Tuesday.
Scotland’s first minister said an Israeli missile had struck a house across the road from his in-laws, killing all 15 people inside.
He told Good Morning Britain: “The scale of explosion shattered all the windows in my mum-in-law’s house, all the glass broken, mirrors broken, much debris around.
“It was a devastating scene. I spoke to her this morning and she didn’t sleep a wink last night given the worry and concern. We’re just desperate to get them back home … we’re just one story, there’s 2.2 million people in Gaza who are innocent of any crime and it’s about time that humanitarian corridors are open, supplies let in and people let out.”
Yousaf first learned of the attack when he received a call from his mother-in-law an hour after his speech at SNP conference on Tuesday “in a panic” after they thought they were struck by a missile.
His wife’s parents, Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, who live in Dundee, travelled to Gaza to visit their son and four grandchildren and Maged’s 92-year-old mother, who is unwell.
The couple have been unable to find safe passage out of Gaza since the first Hamas attack took place on the border with Israel on Saturday.
Yousaf said his in-laws were as “safe as you can be in the midst of a war zone”.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Yousaf said the more than 100 people living in his mother-in-law’s house were safe but he and his wife were “just torn apart with worry as you can imagine, because their supplies are low.”
Updated
Joe Biden has disembarked from Air Force One at Tel Aviv airport.
The Israeli prime minister’s office has published a live stream of Joe Biden arriving at Tel Aviv.
WATCH LIVE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog welcome President of the United States Joe Biden upon his arrival to Israel. https://t.co/S5x2JFtwOr
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 18, 2023
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said this morning on social media that he is “appalled by the tragic attack on al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital hospital.”
“It’s imperative that all the facts surrounding this incident are thoroughly investigated, and those responsible are held accountable. We also urge for immediate access to humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip to provide assistance,” he added.
Updated
The US president, Joe Biden, has landed in Tel Aviv.
Updated
Israel publishes what it says is intercepted Hamas call
Israel’s foreign ministry has published what it claims is an intercepted call between two Hamas operatives where they discuss how the al-Ahli Arab hospital has been struck by a failed rocket fired from within Gaza.
Hamas terrorists in their own voices:
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 18, 2023
Listen to the conversation between Hamas operatives as they discuss the failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on October 17, 2023 pic.twitter.com/PUUuqE2Imu
The call was played as part of an IDF spokesperson press briefing earlier on Wednesday when Israel denied responsibility for the explosion at the hospital, placing the blame with a failed rocket launch.
The Guardian has not been able to independently verify the origin or timing of the recording.
Updated
Here are some still images of the press briefing by Daniel Hagari, where he is claiming that Israel did not strike the al-Ahli Arab hospital, but that the explosion was caused by a failed rocket fired from near the hospital, which was carrying a significant propellant load that ignited.
Updated
Here is how Reuters has summarised the key claim of the IDF in this briefing, writing:
A military spokesperson told journalists that there was no structural damage to buildings around the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital and no craters consistent with an air strike.
The spokesperson accused Hamas of inflating the number of casualties from the explosion and said it (Hamas) could not know as quickly as it claimed what caused the blast.
Updated
The questions at this IDF press briefing have now become quite wide ranging. Spokesperson Daniel Hagari has responded to one question with justification of Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip, which is so far believed to have killed over 3,000 Palestinians. He said:
We have to win this information war with evidence, not with false uncredible statements. We have no other way. We must stay moral. We must stay according to the international law. We have no other way. Otherwise we won’t be a democratic liberal country. And this is what we’re fighting. It’s a democratic liberal country fighting a Hamas/Isis-controlled area with innocent civilians, Palestinians, that is using them as a human shield. We have to fight.
We cannot live with next to our borders a Hamas/Isis government that will threaten our civilians. And do massacres. Where they rape women. Beheaded the bodies. Kidnap babies. Do you understand that while we speak babies are being held in Gaza? Women, young girls, that went to a music festival are being held in Gaza. Old people, some of them were in the Holocaust, are held now in Gaza. How can you take old people? How can you take babies?
This is what we fighting, and now they’re going to show videos of these hijacks. They want to terrorise the families. We will not be terrorised. We have our values, we know what we are fighting for. We are fighting for our country.
Here is a transcription of the key part of the case that the Israeli ministry is presenting to say that it did not strike the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital. Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said:
First, we confirmed that there was no IDF fire by land, sea or air that hit the hospital.
Second, our radar system tracked rockets fired by terrorists from within Gaza at the time of the explosion. I will show you the trajectory analysis from the barrage of rockets confirms that the rockets were fired close proximity to the hospital.
In addition there are two independent videos which show the failure of the rocket launch and the continued continuation of rocket flight towards the ground with in the Gaza Strip falling in the hospital compound.
Third, we have intelligence, some that will be shared here, of communication between terrorists talking about rockets misfiring. The terrorists realise that the rocket has misfired and made specific reference to the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital.
It is Daniel Hagari doing this press briefing, by the way. “The information war is a hard war” to win he concedes.
Journalists questioning the Israeli military spokesperson have asked about the credibility of the IDF explanation, with one saying “frankly, the IDF has a less-than-perfect track record with the issue of credibility”
In response, the spokesperson said: “In the past, we ourselves were too fast to go to the conclusion. This is why, this event, we took the time, it took us more than five hours. We wanted to double check everything, make sure we’re credible.”
Updated
Israeli military criticises 'false and baseless allegations' over hospital blast
The Israeli military spokesperson has been critical of media reporting of the explosion at the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, saying outlets have spread Hamas lies, and that some of those reports and headlines have still not been corrected.
He said:
I understand the desire to break news, but I hope you will all agree that accuracy and credible information comes first. The IDF acts in accordance with international law. In conclusion, this incident shows how allegations in this case false and baseless allegations made by terrorists against Israel can spread and flame tension in the region.
He specifically says that other countries will be looking to the BBC to see what it reports.
On how a rocket fired from Gaza could cause so much damage he said:
The existence of propellant made a larger explosion than the warhead itself. And this caused the damage, the explosions that we see of the burning cars here.
Updated
The Israeli military has claimed that about 450 Palestinian rockets have fallen short of their targets since 7 October when fired at Israel from within the Gaza Strip, and that the hospital blast has been caused by an example of this. The IDF is claiming that the rocket was fired from behind the hospital, and that it has intercepted a call with Palestinians discussing the launch failure.
More details soon …
The Israeli military spokesperson has said that claims Israel struck the hospital are “false and baseless”.
The Israeli military is giving a briefing on the Gaza hospital blast. It has said there was no direct IDF hit on the hospital.
More details soon …
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has called for a “through investigation” into the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital hospital blast, which is believed to have killed between 300 and 500 people last night.
On social media, he posted:
I am horrified by the images we are receiving of the explosion in a hospital in Gaza. Innocents were injured and killed. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. It is important that this incident is investigated very carefully.
Updated
In the UK, the government minister Andrew Griffith said it remains unclear who was behind the “devastating” blast at a hospital in Gaza City.
PA Media reports the economic secretary to the Treasury told Times Radio: “I’m not going to speculate or try and attribute. I don’t think any of us know at this particular point in time. We’ll work with allies to try and work out what happened.”
In a separate development, the head of the UK’s MI5 security services, Ken McCallum, said the agency was paying “very close attention” to events in the Middle East.
He said: “There clearly is the possibility that profound events in the Middle East will either generate more volume of UK threat and/or changes in shape in terms of what is being targeted, in terms of how people are taking inspiration.
“Terrorists can draw inspiration not just from things they see happening inside the UK but things they see happening in the Middle East or on the continent or elsewhere. So we would be silly not to be paying very close attention, and we are.”
Updated
Summary of the day so far
An explosion at the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza on Tuesday night that has reportedly left hundreds dead has become a lightning rod for anger across the region, sparking protests across the Arab world and beyond.
Hamas has blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military has said the hospital was hit by a rocket barrage launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. Islamic Jihad denied responsibility. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah called for a “day of rage” to coincide with US president Joe Biden’s arrival to the region.
The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said at least 500 people were killed. A spokesperson for the Gaza civil defence put the number of killed at about 300.
The Gaza hospital explosion has deepened tensions in the Middle East and raised the stakes for US President Joe Biden as he flies to Israel Wednesday to signal support for its war against Hamas. Biden will pose “tough questions“ in meetings with Israeli leaders, the White House said.
The White House announced that Joe Biden would no longer travel to Jordan. The decision came after Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said that Jordan was no longer holding a planned summit with the US president and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders that was scheduled to take place in Amman. Safadi, speaking to Al Jazeera, said the summit was cancelled because “there is no use in talking now about anything except stopping the war”.
Fears are growing that people in Gaza are beginning to dehydrate to death as clean water runs out, with Israeli airstrikes continuing to pound the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million residents amid a total blockade on food, electricity, medicine and fuel. The death toll prior to the hospital blast had already been put at at least 3,000.
The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, called on Wednesday for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. He also called on Israel to “immediately allow unrestricted access of humanitarian aid to respond to the most basic needs of the people of Gaza, the overwhelming majority of whom are women and children”. Guterres will arrive in Cairo on Thursday
The US authorised non-essential personnel and their families to leave their embassy near Beirut on Tuesday, citing the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Updated
Here is the US embassy in Beirut’s announcement that it has updated its travel advisory for Lebanon to “do not travel”:
🚨 We have updated our Travel Advisory for Lebanon to Level 4: Do Not Travel.
— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) October 18, 2023
We urge U.S. citizens not to travel to Lebanon. We recommend that U.S. citizens in Lebanon make appropriate arrangements to leave the country; commercial options currently remain available. We…
Updated
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the Gaza hospital blast that killed hundreds of Palestinians was a shocking crime, adding that Israel should provide satellite images to prove that it was not involved in the attack.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Radio Sputnik that the attack was a shocking “dehumanising” crime.
Updated
After Jordan cancelled a planned summit with President Joe Biden, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II after the blast at a Gaza hospital, Jordan’s foreign affairs minister, Ayman al-Safadi, said in a statement on Wednesday: “Jordan will continue to work with everyone so that when this summit is held, it will be able to achieve what is required of it, which is to stop the war, deliver humanitarian support to the people of Gaza, and put an end to this crisis.”
Updated
The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, Gregg Carlstrom, reports that Joe Biden is due to touch down in Tel Aviv in 90 minutes’ time.
Updated
The Israel Defence Force says that in the last 24 hours it has attacked “among other things, operational headquarters, several assembly areas of the organisation’s forces, rocket and anti-tank launching positions, as well as terrorist infrastructures, under some of which there were smuggling tunnels of the terrorist organisation Hamas” in the Gaza strip.
Updated
Here is video footage of the protests happening across the Middle East in response to the blast at al-Ahli al-Arabi Baptist hospital:
US allows non-essential embassy staff to leave Lebanon
The US authorised non-essential personnel and their families to leave their embassy near Beirut on Tuesday, citing the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon due to the Israel-Hamas war.
The state department also raised its travel advisory for Lebanon from level 3, issued in July, to the highest available level 4, as it told Americans to avoid the country.
“Do not travel to Lebanon due to the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah or other armed militant factions,” the state department said in a statement on Tuesday.
Updated
Reuters: the US military thwarted an attack targeting its forces in Iraq early on Wednesday, intercepting two drones before they could strike, two US officials told Reuters.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to say who was suspected of the attack but it came as Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups amid soaring tension in the region over the Israel-Hamas war.
The one-way attack drones were intercepted as they attempted to strike Iraq’s al Asad air base, which hosts American troops, the officials said.
UN Security Council to vote on resolution on Wednesday morning in New York
The UN Security Council scheduled the vote on a resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict for Wednesday morning.
The resolution initially condemned “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas” on Israel as well as all violence against civilians, while calling for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver desperately needed aid to millions in Gaza.
Negotiations on wording of the draft resolution sponsored by Brazil continued throughout Tuesday, and the final version to be voted on had not been released by late Tuesday.
The vote follows the council’s rejection Monday evening of a Russian-drafted resolution that condemned violence and terrorism against civilians and called for a “humanitarian cease-fire” but made no mention of Hamas.
Russia has proposed two amendments to the Brazil resolution that will be voted on first. One calls for a “humanitarian cease-fire.” The other would condemn indiscriminate attacks on civilians and assaults on “civilian objects” in Gaza like hospitals and schools that deprive people of the means to survive.
Brazil holds the Security Council presidency this month and its UN mission said the vote would be followed by an emergency meeting to discuss Tuesday’s huge explosion and fire at a Gaza City hospital packed with patients, relatives and Palestinians seeking shelter. The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 500 people died.
Updated
US officials have told the Associated Press that it has become clear that already limited Arab tolerance of Israel’s military operations will evaporate entirely if conditions in Gaza worsen.
Their analysis projected that outright condemnation of Israel by Arab leaders would not only be a boon to Hamas but would likely encourage Iran to step up its anti-Israel activity, adding to fears that a regional conflagration might erupt, according to four officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking.
The IDF has issued an advisory repeating its warnings that people in northern Gaza to move to the south. It recommends moving to “open areas” in western Khan Younis, and says that aid will be sent to an area called Al-Muwaasi “if necessary”.
Updated
UN’s Guterres calls for ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ in Israel-Hamas war
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Wednesday for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking at a forum of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative in Beijing, he reiterated what he called “two urgent humanitarian appeals”.
He called on Hamas for the “immediate and unconditional release of hostages”.
He also called on Israel to “immediately allow unrestricted access of humanitarian aid to respond to the most basic needs of the people of Gaza, the overwhelming majority of whom are women and children”.
“I call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to provide sufficient time and space to help realise my two appeals and to ease the epic human suffering we are witnessing,” Guterres said.
“Too many lives and the fate of the entire region hang in the balance.”
Meanwhile thousands of people trying to escape Gaza are gathered in Rafah, which has the territory’s only border crossing to Egypt. Mediators are pressing for an agreement to let aid in and refugees with foreign passports out.
Aid workers warned that life in Gaza was near complete collapse because of the Israeli siege that followed a Hamas attack on Israel.
22 Arab countries have called for a ceasefire in Gaza
The 22 Arab countries at the United Nations joined in demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza following the devastating explosion and fire at a Gaza City hospital.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said Arab Group members are “outraged by this massacre” and also united in demanding the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid and preventing “forcible displacement” of Palestinians.
Mansour said that after the “massacre,” the highest objective is a cease-fire because “saving lives is the most important thing.
Gaza hospital explosion sparks angry demonstrations across Middle East
An explosion at the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza that has reportedly left hundreds dead has become a lightning rod for anger across the region, sparking protests across the Arab world and beyond.
Hamas has blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military has said the hospital was hit by a rocket barrage launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. Islamic Jihad also denied responsibility.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah called for a “day of rage” to coincide with US president Joe Biden’s arrival to the region.
Following Hezbollah’s call, hundreds of demonstrators scuffled with Lebanese security forces outside the US embassy in the suburb of Awkar, outside Beirut, where protesters hurled stones and set a nearby building on fire, Agence France-Presse reported.
Police fired several rounds of teargas to disperse protesters, while medics treated people affected by the teargas. AFP reported the protesters chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel”. Hundreds also gathered at the French embassy in Beirut, raising Hezbollah flags and also hurling stones which piled up at the embassy’s main entrance.
The UN agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, has just posted this to X:
Schools are #NotATarget.
— United Nations (@UN) October 17, 2023
Hospitals are #NotATarget.
Children are #NotATarget.
Civilians are #NotATarget.
Humanitarians are #NotATarget. pic.twitter.com/yWfI54iNcM
On Tuesday, at least six people were killed in an Israeli air strike that hit a school run by UNRWA in Gaza’s Al-Maghazi refugee camp, the agency posted on X social media platform.
UN secretary-general António Guterres earlier said, referring to the blast on the hospital as a “strike”, “I am horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza today, which I strongly condemn. My heart is with the families of the victims. Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law.”
Biden flies to Israel as Jordan summit cancelled
The Gaza hospital explosion has deepened tensions in the Middle East and raised the stakes for US President Joe Biden as he flies to Israel to signal support for its war against Hamas. Biden will pose “tough questions“ in meetings with Israeli leaders, the White House said.
Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.
Palestinian ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra said rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.
Al Jazeera carried footage showing a frantic scene as rescue workers scoured blood-stained debris for survivors. Rescuers and civilians were shown carrying away at least four victims in body bags. A Gaza civil defence chief gave a death toll of 300, while health ministry sources put it at 500.
Biden’s complex diplomatic mission to the Middle East was supposed to calm the region and shore up humanitarian efforts for Gaza, but after the strike, Jordan cancelled a planned summit with the US president, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Abbas also cancelled plans to meet Biden.
Opening summary
It is nearing 7am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here is where things stand:
Following the blast at al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza where hundreds of people were sheltering and patients were being treated, protests have ignited in cities across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey. The blast killed between 300 and 500 people.
Hundreds of Palestinians have flooded the streets of major West Bank cities including Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, where protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces who fired back with stun grenades.
Hundreds more demonstrators scuffled with Lebanese security forces outside the US embassy in the village of Awkar on Thursday night, according to AFP correspondents.
Several hundred people protested in Tripoli and other Libyan cities late Tuesday over the blast at the Gaza hospital, according to AFP journalists. In Tripoli, hundreds of demonstrators of all ages, brandishing Palestinian flags and some covering their faces with Palestinian keffiyehs, crisscrossed the streets of the city centre before converging on Martyrs’ Square.
Meanwhile US president Joe Biden is due to arrive in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in a massive explosion at a crowded hospital in Gaza City, in the biggest single loss of life in the blockaded territory in all the five wars between Hamas and Israel since the militants took over the strip in 2007.
The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said at least 500 people were killed on Tuesday night in what it said was an Israeli airstrike on al-Ahli al-Arabi, also known as the Baptist hospital. A spokesperson for the Gaza civil defence put the number of killed at about 300.
White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the US is ‘getting close to a framework for Aid to get into Gaza from Egypt”.
The number of Americans killed from the Hamas attack on Israel now stands at 31, White House spokesperson Kirby said on Tuesday. Kirby said the United States would continue to speak to Israel about the need to protect innocent civilian life. President Joe Biden is on his way to Israel to show US support in the aftermath of the Hamas attack.
The Israeli military said an initial investigation suggested the explosion was caused by a failed Hamas rocket launch, before saying it was the result of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket barrage. Islamic Jihad denied the Israeli allegation, and the scale of the blast appeared to be outside the militant groups’ capabilities.
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Wednesday described as “lies” the Israel army’s accusations that it was responsible for a strike on a Gaza hospital that left hundreds dead.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was “horrified” by what he called the “strike” on a hospital in Gaza, he said in post on X on Tuesday. “My heart is with the families of the victims. Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law,” Guterres said.
Guterres will arrive in Cairo on Thursday, focused on reopening the Gaza border to allow in desperately needed aid for millions of Palestinians.
US to announce new sanctions against Hamas leaders this week – report. The US Treasury Department is preparing to announce new sanctions against several leaders of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas this week after their attack on Israel earlier this month, Axios is reporting, citing US officials.
Reports said violence had erupted between protesters and Palestinian security forces in several cities in the West Bank. In central Ramallah, teargas and stun grenades were fired to disperse protesters throwing rocks and chanting against the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters reported anger was boiling over after the deadly attack on a Gaza hospital on Tuesday that the authority said was a “cold-blooded massacre” by Israel.
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said the UK will work with allies to “find out what has happened” at the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital in Gaza. Cleverly, posting to social media, described the destruction of the hospital as “a devastating loss of human life” and that the UK has been “clear” that the “protection of civilian life must come first”.
The White House announced that Joe Biden would no longer travel to Jordan. The decision came after Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said that Jordan was no longer holding a planned summit with the US president and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders that was scheduled to take place in Amman on Wednesday. Safadi, speaking to Al Jazeera, said the summit was cancelled because “there is no use in talking now about anything except stopping the war”.
Earlier on Tuesday, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said an Israeli airstrike had killed at least six people after striking one of its schools that has been functioning as a shelter for displaced people. Several hospitals in Gaza have become refuges for hundreds of people hoping to be spared bombardment.
Health authorities in Gaza say at least 3,000 people have been killed in Israel’s bombardment since 7 October. At least 940 children and 1,032 women have been killed, the Hamas government media office said. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has declared three days of mourning after the deadly airstrike on Gaza’s Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital.
Fears are growing that people in Gaza are beginning to dehydrate to death as clean water runs out, with Israeli airstrikes continuing to pound the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million residents amid a total blockade on food, electricity, medicine and fuel.
The US state department has raised its travel alert for Lebanon to “do not travel,” citing the security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah, Reuters reported. The State Department authorised the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of US government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the US Embassy in Beirut because of the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.
