President Joe Biden is in Israel on an urgent mission to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader regional conflict and to encourage the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
The president's visit on Wednesday comes after hundreds of people were reported killed in an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital a day earlier. The Hamas militant group blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants.
Biden told Israeli leaders: “Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you" but that there were “a lot of people out there” who weren’t sure.
The war that began Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,778 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. That was before the blast at the al-Ahli Hospital on Tuesday night.
Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Currently:
1. Doctors in Gaza City performed surgery on floors, often without anesthesia, in a desperate bid to save badly wounded victims of a massive blast that killed civilians sheltering in a hospital. Video that The Associated Press confirmed was from the hospital showed the grounds strewn with torn bodies, blankets and school backpacks..
2. Rage at the hospital carnage spread through the Middle East. Protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank and at riot police in neighboring Jordan, venting fury at their own leaders for failing to protect Palestinians. The leaders of Egypt and Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called off a planned summit with Biden,
3. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution about the fighting between Hamas and Israel, but negotiations on the wording were still underway.
Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
GAZA HOSPITAL DIRECTOR MAKES URGENT APPEAL FOR WAR TO END
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The director of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza made an urgent and emotional appeal for an end to the latest Hamas-Israel war after a devastating blast there Tuesday night.
Speaking to The Associated Press by phone, Suhaila Tarazi said the grisly scenes she encountered in the aftermath of the explosion were “unlike anything I have ever seen or could ever imagine.” She was not at the hospital at at the time of the Tuesday night blast but described body parts of children strewn everywhere in the hospital and the courtyard.
“Our hospital is a place of love and reconciliation,” Tarazi said. “We are all losers in this war. And it must end.”
Tarazi declined to comment directly on the death toll reported by the Hamas-run Health Ministry of at least 500 victims. “It could be more, it could be less. There are so many body parts that no one can really tell.”
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON PRAISES CANCELLATION OF BIDEN SUMMIT BEIRUT — A spokesperson for Hamas in Lebanon praised the decision to cancel a summit in Jordan between Arab governments and U.S. President Joe Biden following a deadly hospital blast in Gaza.Biden was supposed to meet with Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday in Amman in hopes of resolving the ongoing Gaza-Israel war.Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan called for an immediate cease-fire, a humanitarian corridor into the blockaded Gaza Strip and the continuation of mass regional protests that took place after Tuesday night's blast at the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.He also called for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Israel to “rise up against the Zionist enemy and clash with it in all cities, villages, and camps." ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE DESTROYS A BAKERY AT A GAZA REFUGEE CAMP GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Fierce Israeli airstrikes hit houses in Gaza City and the southern border town of Rafah. Near the port, survivors said an Israeli airstrike hit a three-story building belonging to the Haboush family, killing 40 people and wounding 25.In the central Gaza Strip, an airstrike hit a bakery at the Nuseirat refugee camp and ignited a massive fire that killed four bakers, witnesses told a journalist for the AP. Dozens of other bakeries across Gaza were forced to shut down due to a lack of water and electricity.Supermarkets have dwindling supplies and are unable to restock because wholesalers cannot navigate the territory's ravaged infrastructure to make deliveries.The World Food Program has warned that Gaza’s population is at “the risk of starvation” if 310 tons of food aid languishing at the Gaza-Egypt Rafah crossing are not urgently let through. IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR OIL EMBARGO AGAINST ISRAEL JERUSALEM — Iran’s top diplomat is calling on Muslim nations to expel their Israeli ambassadors and launch an oil embargo on Israel after an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip.The comments Wednesday by Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian mark the first time an oil embargo has been discussed as Israel wages war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip after its unprecedented Oct. 7 attack.“We expect the Islamic countries that have diplomatic relations with the Zionist regime to cut off their relations immediately and expel the Israeli ambassador from their country,” Amirabdollahian said in a clip aired by state television in Iran. “Secondly, the export of oil to the country of Israel and any project that exists between any Islamic state and Israel must be stopped immediately.”There was no immediate acknowledgment of the call by Israel, nor any other nation. Amirabdollahian made the call while in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for an emergency meeting of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation. BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY URGES PEOPLE TO ‘WAIT FOR FACTS’ ON HOSPITAL BLAST LONDON — British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has urged people to “wait for the facts” about what caused the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.The U.K. government has not formally attributed blame for the blast, which Hamas said was caused by an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants caused the massive explosion. President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that the explosion appeared to not have been caused by Israel.Cleverly wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “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.” SAVE THE CHILDREN CALLS FOR HUMANITARIAN CORRIDOR As people in Gaza continue to suffer from dire shortages of water, food, electricity and fuel, aid organizations are pleading for a humanitarian corridor to allow for the entry of urgently needed supplies.Jason Lee, Save the Children’s country director for the Palestinian territory, told The Associated Press that until that happens humanitarian agencies will be unable to deliver life-saving and essential assistance — and that time is running out.“We have no visibility in our offices, on warehouses, the facilities that we have because we have all been told to move south,” he said. Despite this, some Save the Children staff are still delivering what services they can. “It is imperative once again, that the protection of civilians and adherence to international law is paramount. The rights of children apply all the time to every single child in every circumstance.” POPE FRANCIS ANNOUNCES PRAYER FOR PEACE IN ST. PETER'S SQUARE VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has announced an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Square next week to pray for peace as he begged for an end to the Israeli-Hamas conflict and the unfolding “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.Francis announced the day of fasting and prayer Oct. 27 during his weekly general audience Wednesday. He urged all Christians and believers of other faiths to join in with local initiatives, while he presides over an evening hour of prayer in the Vatican.Francis begged for all sides to do whatever is possible to prevent the war from spreading and to avoid a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, where a blast Tuesday at a hospital killed hundreds.“Silence the weapons. Listen to the cry for peace of the poor, of the people, of children,” he said. “War never resolves any problem. It only sows death and destruction, increases hatred, multiplies vendettas.” BIDEN SAYS HOSPITAL BLAST IN GAZA APPEARS TO NOT HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY ISRAEL TEL AVIV — President Joe Biden says that an explosion that killed hundreds in a Gaza Strip hospital appears to not have been caused by Israel.“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden said Wednesday during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But Biden said there were “a lot of people out there” who weren’t sure what caused the blast.The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike caused the destruction. The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group. However, that organization also rejected responsibility. EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT REJECTS CALLS TO MOVE PALESTINIANS TO SINAI PENINSULA CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi says his country rejects what he calls efforts to force Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, warning that such an effort would jeopardize his country’s peace with Israel.Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, el-Sissi said Wednesday that his government views Israel’s siege on Gaza, including cutting off water, food and fuel and preventing humanitarian aid from flowing into the territory as a scheme to expel the Palestinians to Egypt.“We are rejecting the liquidation of the Palestinian cause and the explosion of Palestinians to Sinai,” the Egyptian leader said, adding that Sinai would be turned into a launching ground for “terrorist attacks” against Israel, which would in turn blame Egypt for such attacks.He proposed that Israel move the Palestinians to Negev in Israel until it ends “its announced mission” of destroying Palestinian militant groups. PRESIDENT BIDEN ARRIVES IN ISRAEL TEL AVIV, Israel — President Joe Biden has arrived in Israel on an urgent mission to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader regional conflict and to encourage the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.Air Force One landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on the tarmac to greet Biden and the two embraced.Biden and Netanyahu were to meet then hold a broader meeting with members of Israel’s war cabinet. White House officials say Biden will also meet with the country’s first responders and with family members of those who were killed, wounded or taken hostage as part of the surprise attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.Israel responded with a vow to destroy Hamas. The Israeli government also cut off food, fuel, water and other supplies to the Gaza Strip, sparking a humanitarian crisis among Palestinian civilians living there.Biden’s plans to also meet with Arab leaders in Jordan were called off after hundreds were reported killed in an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital. GERMAN SYNAGOGUE ATTACKED WITH MOLOTOV COCKTAILS, POLICE SAY BERLIN — A Berlin synagogue has been attacked with Molotov cocktails, police in Germany say. It comes as antisemitic incidents in the German capital have been rising following the violent escalation in the Middle East.The Kahal Adass Jisroel community said its synagogue in the city’s Mitte neighborhood was attacked early Wednesday with two incendiary devices. The complex in the center of Berlin houses a synagogue, a kindergarten and a community center.Police also said there were riots overnight between Muslim immigrants and police in the city’s Neukoelln and Kreuzberg neighborhoods and at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate in which several officers were injured. RAFAH BORDER CROSSING REMAINS SHUT, EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL SAYS CAIRO — No humanitarian aid or people were passing through the Rafah border crossing as of Wednesday morning, an Egyptian official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to speak with the media.During an interview with CNN on Tuesday evening, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Rafah was not open due the damage inflicted by numerous Israeli airstrikes on the access roads linking the Egyptian and the Gaza sides of the crossing.“The Rafah crossing over the last days has been bombed four times,” Shoukry said. “Among them, once when we were trying to repair some of the damage. Four Egyptian workers were injured.”Hamas’ border authorities did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment. ISRAELI MILITARY LAYS OUT INTELLIGENCE ON HOSPITAL EXPLOSION JERUSALEM — An Israeli military spokesman said Israel crosschecked intelligence that proved a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch caused a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital.Had it been an Israeli strike, “we would have seen craters and structural damage to the building, both of which haven’t been identified,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.Most of the damage was caused by propellant in the rocket and not by the warhead, he said. Propellant remained because the launch failed and the rocket didn’t travel as far as intended, he said.According to Israeli intelligence reports, Islamic Jihad fired about 10 rockets from a nearby cemetery at 6:59 p.m. Tuesday, and there were reports of an explosion at the hospital at that time, Hagari said..He alleged that Hamas understood it was an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired but “launched a global media campaign to hide what really happened.” GAZA'S LARGEST HOSPITAL WILL SOON RUN OUT OF FUEL GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Shifa Hospital, where hundreds of victims of the al-Ahli Hospital blast were taken, will run out of fuel on Wednesday unless more supplies enter the Gaza Strip, the hospital's general director says.The hospital, Gaza’s largest, is stretched far beyond its capacity following the al-Ahli explosion, Mohammed Abu Selmia said Wednesday, adding that health workers were still treating severely wounded patients.“They are all in a terrible situation,” he told The Associated Press. “A young woman whose limbs were amputated, a child whose intestines came out, many others have had limb amputations, bleeding in the brain, bleeding in the liver and spleen."He said earlier that doctors were performing operations on the floor without anesthesia and that a shortage of essential medical supplies was an urgent issue.If the hospital runs out of fuel, it could be forced into a total shutdown of services, he said. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE, GAZA'S INTERIOR MINISTRY SAYS GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Interior Ministry said Israel renewed airstrikes before dawn on Wednesday and hit locations across the Gaza Strip after the blast at al-Ahli Hospital. At least 37 people were killed following attacks in the al-Qasasib and Halima al-Saadia areas of Jabalia, north of Gaza, it said. HEZBOLLAH SAYS IT HIT ISRAELI TANK, INFLICTING CASUALTIES BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group says its fighters have hit an Israeli Merkava tank with an anti-tank missile, inflicting casualties among the troops.The group said the attack early Wednesday targeted an Israeli army position across the border from the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab. The Israeli army said it is checking reports that an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon. JORDAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS SUMMIT ‘WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO STOP WAR NOW’ AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan canceled a planned summit with President Joe Biden, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II because it “would not be able to stop the war now,” Jordan’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs said.Ayman Al-Safadi said in a statement on Wednesday that “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.”The summit, originally scheduled for later Wednesday, was cancelled after a blast at a Gaza City hospital killed hundreds of people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants. US STATE DEPARTMENT RAISES TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR LEBANON WASHINGTON — The State Department has raised the travel advisory for Lebanon, urging people not to travel to the country “due to the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hizballah or other armed militant factions.”The advisory issued on Tuesday also urged people to reconsider travel to Lebanon “due to terrorism, civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, kidnapping” and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens. The State Department authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of U.S. government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut due to the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.The advisory was hiked to Level 4, “Do not travel” — the highest level — from Level 3, “Reconsider travel.”
