This blog is closing. We have launched a new blog at the link below, where we will be covering Biden’s speech as it happens:
Biden's speech is second prime-time Oval Office address
In his remarks in an hour’s time, Biden will try to sell Americans on the need to spend billions more dollars on Israel and Ukraine, even as the US House of Representatives, without a leader, cannot approve new spending on the two wars, Reuters reports.
“Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel,” Biden wrote in a social media post listing topics for his White House speech. “The need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine.”
He added: “We are at a global inflection point that is bigger than party or politics.”
His televised remarks, at 8 pm ET on Thursday (0000 GMT on Friday), follow a Middle East trip upended by a hospital blast in the Gaza Strip.
It is only the second prime-time Oval Office address in the Democratic president’s nearly three years in office; in June he cheered the end of a debt ceiling standoff.
It is 2:00 am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here is where things stand:
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian territory “from the inside”. Gallant urged the forces to “get organised, be ready” for an order to move in, suggesting an Israeli ground invasion could be nearing.
Israel is likely to launch a bloody ground assault on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, the former prime minister Ehud Barak said in an NBC interview. The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it’s ready, Israel’s economy minister, Nir Barkat, said in an interview with the US’s ABC network.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after Joe Biden’s whirlwind visit to Israel on Wednesday. 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 Rafah crossing is not expected to open Friday for a convoy of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, CNN reported, citing multiple sources. “I would not put money on those trucks going through tomorrow,” one source told the news outlet. US officials now expect the first convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid will cross into Gaza from Egypt this weekend, possibly Saturday, the report says. Egyptian state media earlier reported that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would be opened on Friday to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It comes after Israel, the White House and Egypt confirmed that limited aid will be allowed to travel into Gaza through the crossing. The source told CNN that the situation is “really volatile” and that there are a lot of other details to make sure the aid is sustained, not a one off.
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has said Gaza “needs aid at scale and on a sustained basis”.
Lack of access to water is one of the biggest challenges in Gaza, according to the international charity Action Against Hunger, which is warning of “a health crisis on the brink of explosion”. The UN estimates that there are fewer than 3 litres of water per person each day for the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, half of whom are children who are most at risk from water shortages and diarrhoeal infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said its trucks were “loaded and ready to go” as soon as the Rafah crossing was opened – “hopefully tomorrow”. The WHO director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the agency was “gravely concerned about the health and wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, who are suffering from bombardment and siege” and about the attacks on healthcare in both Gaza and Israel.
Eight Palestinians were killed in an ongoing Israeli military operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s police said an officer was also killed during clashes.
At least 21 journalists have been killed since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, the majority in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The CPJ reported that, as of this Thursday, 17 Palestinian, three Israeli, and one Lebanese journalist had died since Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October, followed by the ongoing bombardments of Gaza by Israel.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have condemned the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza as they met in Cairo for talks on the Israel-Hamas war. Sisi and King Abdullah also warned of the dangers of a regional spillover.
The US state department has issued a worldwide caution alert advising American citizens overseas “to exercise increased caution”. The US state department cited “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against US citizens and interests”.
The US and British embassies in Beirut have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon while flights “remain available” as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over the Israel-Hamas war. Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon.
Israel is counting on the UK’s “continuous support” in what will be a “long war” with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told Rishi Sunak, as the two leaders met in Tel Aviv. Sunak flew to Saudi Arabia later on Thursday in efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and prevent a wider regional conflict.
Sunak and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “agreed to coordinate action” to avoid any further escalation in the region, Downing Street said after a meeting. The UK prime minister “encouraged” Saudi Arabia to use its influence to “support stability” in the region, a No 10 spokesperson said.
At least nine British nationals are confirmed to have died and a further seven are missing after the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.
The US state department said 32 Americans have been killed in Israel. Eleven US citizens remain unaccounted for, Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the state department, said at a news conference on Thursday. The Philippines embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed the death of another Filipino national, bringing the country’s death toll to four.
The US president, Joe Biden, will address the nation later today to discuss the US’s response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the war in Ukraine, less than 24 hours after returning from Tel Aviv to offer Israelis support and aid for Palestinians in a trip upended by a hospital blast in Gaza.
A second plane of humanitarian aid from the EU was due to land in Egypt on Thursday afternoon to help people in Gaza, a spokesperson for the European Commission said. Together with a flight yesterday, it will amount to 54 tonnes of humanitarian aid including hygiene and sanitation products, food, water and shelter.
More than 60 international charities – including Action Aid UK, Bond, Cafod, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK – have signed a statement calling on the UK government to step up its efforts to secure an urgent ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.
The US intelligence community assesses that there likely were between 100 and 300 people killed in the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to unclassified intelligence. The US National Security Council said on Wednesday that the US government assessed that Israel “was not responsible” for the Gaza hospital blast.
The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
This is Helen Sullivan taking over our live coverage. I’ll be with you throughout the night.
The Lebanese civilian killed on the border with Israel on Thursday was a member of the media, the Lebanese army said in a statement.
The statement reads:
A journalist team of seven people covering news... near the Israeli enemy’s al-Abad site outside the town of Hula, was targeted with machine guns by enemy members, killing one and injuring another.
Earlier, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (Unifil) said one person had been killed after civilians were caught in cross-border fire in Lebanon’s south.
Germany is stepping up its support for Palestinian civilians in Gaza with emergency humanitarian aid amounting to €50m (£43.6m), foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said.
The aid will support international organisations such as the World Food Programme, the UN’s children agency (Unicef) and the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa), Baerbock told journalists in Amman on Thursday.
Baerbock, during a joint press conference with her Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, said:
This crisis situation, which was acutely triggered by the terrible terrorist attacks by Hamas, also means a catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Here’s more on the reports that the Rafah crossing may not open tomorrow for humanitarian aid to get to the Gaza Strip, despite earlier reports that Egypt was preparing to open its side of the crossing on Friday morning.
Amichai Stein of Kann News writes:
"It's not certain that humanitarian aid will enter Gaza tomorrow", People with knowledge of the talks tell me.
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 19, 2023
"There is a lot of talk. Trying to short out the details. And what will enter. And how we can convey the message that it won't be just 20 trucks - but a ongoing issue"
Rafah crossing not expected to open Friday - report
The Rafah crossing is not expected to open Friday for a convoy of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, CNN reported, citing multiple sources.
“I would not put money on those trucks going through tomorrow,” one source told the news outlet.
Egyptian state media earlier reported that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would be opened tomorrow to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It comes after Israel, the White House and Egypt confirmed that limited aid will be allowed to travel into Gaza through the crossing.
The source told CNN that the situation is “really volatile” and that there are a lot of other details to make sure the aid is sustained, not a one off. They said:
These people have been waiting for food, for medicine and for water. If they’re told 20 trucks are coming in and we don’t know when is next it’s going to create a really dangerous situation. If I were in that situation, if I didn’t think there would be more trucks, I’d do everything I could to get what’s inside.
US officials now expect the first convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid will cross into Gaza from Egypt this weekend, possibly Saturday, the report says.
Israel security officials have signalled their readiness to embark on a ground offensive into Gaza that they say will be far more comprehensive and ferocious than any previous conflict with Hamas.
Following a Hamas attack on 7 October that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, Israel has called up 360,000 reservists, and amassed a huge army around Gaza’s narrow coastal strip, while reinforcing defences on the northern border against the possibility of an attack from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Joe Biden left Israel after a day of talks on Wednesday, saying that US and Israeli officials had discussed “alternatives” to a mass ground offensive into Gaza, which will almost certainly cause large-scale civilian casualties. More than 3,000 Palestinians have already died in the enclave from the past 12 days of aerial bombardment.
Israeli officials however are adamant that they have no choice but launch a massive assault, codenamed Operation Swords of Iron. Over the past 16 years since the militant movement seized power in Gaza, they argue, Israel has fought three significant conflicts with Hamas, but they said those campaigns were aimed at keeping Hamas in check rather than destroying it.
“The strategy was to have a longer gap every time between the different conflicts, but it failed and it cannot happen any more,” a senior Israeli security official said.
So the only conclusion is that we have to go in, we have to go in and clean it and to eliminate Hamas from the roots, not only militarily, but also economically, its administration. Everything should go away.
“That’s the idea now and we are getting prepared for that,” the official said, and warned:
It won’t be clear cut and it won’t be as short as we would like as Israelis. It will be a prolonged campaign. It will take time.
Lebanese civilian killed while caught in exchange of fire on Israeli border
A Lebanese civilian was killed on Thursday near the border with Israel and seven people were rescued after being stranded during an exchange of fire.
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (Unifil) said Lebanese forces requested assistance to bring back seven people stranded along the border with Israel during a “significant” exchange of fire.
It said it had urged the Israeli military to suspend fire to facilitate the rescue operation, and Israel complied, allowing Lebanese troops to recover the seven.
Tragically, one person lost his life during this incident and the others were successfully rescued.
This evening, the Lebanese Armed Forces requested UNIFIL's assistance for seven individuals stranded near the Blue Line, close to Sheikh Abad's tomb, during a significant exchange of fire across the Blue Line.
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 19, 2023
UNIFIL contacted the IDF, urging them to cease fire in order to facilitate the rescue operation.
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 19, 2023
The IDF suspended fire, allowing the LAF to extract the individuals from the area.
Tragically, one person lost his life during this incident and the others were successfully rescued.
A Lebanese security source said the Lebanese civilian was killed by Israeli fire and another person was wounded, Reuters reported.
The incident was around Hula, which lies in an area across the border from the village of Manara, the source said.
Hezbollah said it fired rockets at an Israeli position in Manara and that Israel responded with shelling. Israeli jets struck three people in Lebanon who attempted to launch anti-tank missiles toward Israel, the military said in a later statement.
Updated
The head of the Israel Defense Forces’ southern command said Israeli forces are finalizing their preparations before a ground invasion of Gaza.
Maj Gen Yaron Finkelman, speaking to troops near the Gaza border, said the expected ground offensive in the Gaza Strip will be “long and intense”, the Times of Israel reported.
“We are going to beat them in their territory,” he said.
It’s going to be difficult, long and intense.
Updated
Biden to deliver primetime address tonight on Israel, Ukraine
The US president, Joe Biden, is set to deliver a primetime address tonight at 8pm eastern time (0000 GMT on Friday) in which he will discuss the US response to the wars between Israel and Hamas, as well as Ukraine and Russia.
Biden’s remarks follow a brief visit to Tel Aviv in which he met with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
During the visit, Biden pledged support for Israel in its fight against Hamas but cautioned Israel to not be “consumed by rage”. He also urged Israel to “not repeat” the same mistakes the US made after 9/11.
Biden’s speech comes as the House of Representatives remain in a weeks-long limbo as Republicans struggle to decide on a speaker.
With the House essentially shut down and unable to pass legislation, Biden is expected to face hurdles in his likely additional requests for funds for both wars.
We will be following Biden’s speech live on the blog, so stay tuned.
Updated
A US state department official working on global arms transfers has resigned, citing his opposition to the Biden administration’s decision to continue military assistance to Israel.
In a letter posted on LinkedIn, Josh Paul said that when he had joined the bureau of political-military affairs more than 11 years ago, he had made a promise to himself that he would stay “as long as I felt the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do”. He wrote:
I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain.
He described the attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October as “not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities”.
But I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people – and is not in the long-term American interest.
Paul said that he could not work to support a set of policy decisions that include “rushing more arms to one side of the conflict”, which he believes to be “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse”.
Updated
The Israel Defense Forces said they have carried out airstrikes against a number of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to earlier missile and rocket attacks on northern Israel today.
Hezbollah said it fired rockets at an Israeli position in the village of Manara and drew an Israeli artillery barrage in response. It also said its fighters had attacked four other Israeli positions on Thursday.
צה"ל ממשיך לתקוף תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 19, 2023
בתגובה לשיגורים ולירי משטח לבנון לשטח ישראל במהלך היום, צה"ל תקף מספר תשתיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בהן עמדות תצפית וכוננות >> pic.twitter.com/AAlJzbIwW0
Updated
Palestinians rescued children from under rubble after an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Jabalia refugee camp, north of the Gaza Strip.
The children, who were covered in blankets, waited beneath the debris.
Updated
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has warned of the “real” risk of regional spillover from the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking at the Hudson Institute in Washington, Von der Leyen also said dialogue between Israel and its neighbors must continue, Reuters reported. She said:
We have seen the Arab streets fill with rage all across the region. So the risk of a regional spillover is real.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images we have received over the newswires from Paris, where thousands gathered for a pro-Palestine protest after authorities lifted a ban that had been put in place immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
Updated
More journalists have been killed in Gaza during the past two weeks than since 2001 in the territory, Sherif Mansour, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator, told the AP.
Journalists who have died in the territory include Saeed Al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of the Al-Khamsa news website; Mohammed Sobh, a photographer from Khabar news agency; and Hisham Alnwajha, a journalist at Khabar news agency. The three were killed on 9 October, according to the CPJ, when Israeli warplanes bombed “an area housing several media outlets” in the Rimal district, west Gaza.
A day earlier Assaad Shamlakh, a freelance journalist, was killed, along with nine members of his family, in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Sheikh Ijlin, a neighbourhood in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the CPJ.
Salam Mema, a freelance journalist who was head of the Women Journalists Committee at the Palestinian Media Assembly, an organisation that advances the work of Palestinian journalists, was confirmed dead on 13 October. The CJP said:
Her body was recovered from the rubble three days after her home in the Jabalia camp, situated in the northern Gaza Strip, was struck by an Israeli airstrike on 10 October.
The other journalists who have been killed include Shai Regev, editor of the entertainment news section of the Hebrew-language newspaper Ma’ariv; Ayelet Arnin, a 22-year-old news editor at Kan, an Israeli state-owned TV channel; and Yaniv Zohar, an Israeli photographer for the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom.
Regev, Arnin and Zohar were killed on 7 October during the Hamas attack on Israel. Israel National News reported that Zohar’s wife and two daughters were also killed.
In Lebanon, Issam Abdallah, a videographer for Reuters, was killed in a shelling attack from the direction of Israel near the Lebanon border.
Eight other journalists have been reported injured in the conflict, the CBJ reported, while three journalists were reported missing or detained.
Updated
At least 21 journalists killed since Hamas-Israel war began, says press freedom group
At least 21 journalists have been killed since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, the majority in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The CPJ reported that, as of this Thursday, 17 Palestinian, three Israeli, and one Lebanese journalist had died since Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October, followed by the ongoing bombardments of Gaza by Israel.
“CPJ emphasises that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, the CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator.
Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heartbreaking conflict. All parties must take steps to ensure their safety.
Hamas members killed more than 1,400 Israelis in the attacks on 7 October; and Israel said that now at least 203 people had been taken hostage. Gaza health officials this Thursday said Israeli bombs had killed 3,785 people so far, and wounded more than 12,000.
Updated
Rafah crossing to open on Friday morning - report
The Rafah crossing will be opened to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on Friday, Egyptian state media reported.
Egyptian security officials at the border crossing told CNN that Egypt was preparing to open its side of the crossing on Friday morning.
A UN flag will be raised at the Rafah crossing to protect against Israeli airstrikes under a UN-brokered deal between Israel and Egypt to allow aid into the Palestinian territory, the AP reported.
The UN, along with the Egyptians and Palestinian Red Crescent societies, will oversee the aid to ensure it is given to civilians and not used by Palestinian militants, it said.
Israel, the White House and Egypt have confirmed that limited aid will be allowed to travel into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said its trucks are “loaded and ready to go” at the crossing.
Updated
The Pentagon confirmed that US ships shot down three missiles near the Red Sea, but could not confirm the missiles’ targets, Reuters reports.
During a Thursday briefing, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed earlier reports that a US navy warship had intercepted multiple missiles near Yemen.
But the spokesperson was not able to confirm where the missiles were meant to target, only noting that Israel could be a potential target.
“We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen, heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” said the spokesperson.
Updated
The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, discussed potential de-escalation in Gaza during a Thursday phone call, Reuters reports, citing the state news agency SPA.
During the call, Prince Mohammed and Guterres discussed military de-escalation and other means of preventing violence from spilling into other regions of the Middle East.
Earlier on Thursday, the crown prince met with British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in Riyadh.
The two “agreed to coordinate action” in order to prevent any further escalation of violence in Gaza.
Updated
The US reportedly plans to send Israel artillery shells that were designated for Ukraine, Axios first reported.
The Pentagon will send tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells to Israel, Axios reported, citing three unnamed Israel officials.
The weapons will come from the US’s emergency stocks that were earmarked for Ukraine several months ago.
The weapons diversion comes after Israel told the US that projectiles were needed ahead of a planned ground invasion into Gaza, Axios reports.
The US previously reduced its ammunition stockpiles to Israel earlier this year, with plans to send the weapons to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of the country.
Read the full article here.
Updated
Israel has singled out two senior members of Hamas for the top of its hit list, adding that every Hamas member faces death in light of the 7 October attack.
AFP reports that Israel is fiercely searching for the military strategist Mohammed Deif and the political leader Yahya Sinwar, described by Israel officials as the masterminds of the 7 October attack.
A military spokesman, Lt Col Richard Hecht, called Sinwar a “dead man walking” and described him as “face of evil”.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, added that Hamas members needed to surrender or face death.
“Hamas terrorists have two options: be killed or surrender unconditionally. There is no third option,” Gallant said.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 10pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s where things stand:
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian territory “from the inside”. Gallant urged the forces to “get organised, be ready” for an order to move in, suggesting an Israeli ground invasion could be nearing.
Israel is likely to launch a bloody ground assault on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, the former prime minister Ehud Barak said in an NBC interview. The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it’s ready, Israel’s economy minister, Nir Barkat, said in an interview with the US’s ABC network.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after Joe Biden’s whirlwind visit to Israel on Wednesday. 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 UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has said Gaza “needs aid at scale and on a sustained basis”.
Lack of access to water is one of the biggest challenges in Gaza, according to the international charity Action Against Hunger, which is warning of “a health crisis on the brink of explosion”. The UN estimates that there are fewer than 3 litres of water per person each day for the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, half of whom are children who are most at risk from water shortages and diarrhoeal infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said its trucks were “loaded and ready to go” as soon as the Rafah crossing was opened – “hopefully tomorrow”. The WHO director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the agency was “gravely concerned about the health and wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, who are suffering from bombardment and siege” and about the attacks on healthcare in both Gaza and Israel.
Eight Palestinians were killed in an ongoing Israeli military operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s police said an officer was also killed during clashes.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have condemned the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza as they met in Cairo for talks on the Israel-Hamas war. Sisi and King Abdullah also warned of the dangers of a regional spillover.
The US state department has issued a worldwide caution alert advising American citizens overseas “to exercise increased caution”. The US state department cited “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against US citizens and interests”.
The US and British embassies in Beirut have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon while flights “remain available” as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over the Israel-Hamas war. Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon.
Israel is counting on the UK’s “continuous support” in what will be a “long war” with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told Rishi Sunak, as the two leaders met in Tel Aviv. Sunak flew to Saudi Arabia later on Thursday in efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and prevent a wider regional conflict.
Sunak and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “agreed to coordinate action” to avoid any further escalation in the region, Downing Street said after a meeting. The UK prime minister “encouraged” Saudi Arabia to use its influence to “support stability” in the region, a No 10 spokesperson said.
At least nine British nationals are confirmed to have died and a further seven are missing after the devastating attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.
The US state department said 32 Americans have been killed in Israel. Eleven US citizens remain unaccounted for, Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the state department, said at a news conference on Thursday. The Philippines embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed the death of another Filipino national, bringing the country’s death toll to four.
The US president, Joe Biden, will address the nation later today to discuss the US’s response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the war in Ukraine, less than 24 hours after returning from Tel Aviv to offer Israelis support and aid for Palestinians in a trip upended by a hospital blast in Gaza.
A second plane of humanitarian aid from the EU was due to land in Egypt on Thursday afternoon to help people in Gaza, a spokesperson for the European Commission said. Together with a flight yesterday, it will amount to 54 tonnes of humanitarian aid including hygiene and sanitation products, food, water and shelter.
More than 60 international charities – including Action Aid UK, Bond, Cafod, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK – have signed a statement calling on the UK government to step up its efforts to secure an urgent ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.
The US intelligence community assesses that there likely were between 100 and 300 people killed in the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to unclassified intelligence. The US National Security Council said on Wednesday that the US government assessed that Israel “was not responsible” for the Gaza hospital blast.
The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
Updated
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, spoke to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and “conveyed his condolences” for the loss of civilian lives at the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, a statement said.
Posting to X, Modi said he “reiterated India’s long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue”. He added:
We will continue to send humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people.
At a briefing earlier, an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said India was in favour of negotiations to establish a two-state solution.
Spoke to the President of the Palestinian Authority H.E. Mahmoud Abbas. Conveyed my condolences at the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. We will continue to send humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. Shared our deep concern at the terrorism,…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 19, 2023
Updated
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “agreed to coordinate action” to avoid any further escalation in the region, Downing Street said.
Sunak, who arrived in Riyadh earlier today, “encouraged” Saudi Arabia to use its influence to “support stability” in the region, a No 10 spokesperson said after their meeting.
The No 10 statement reads:
The prime minister and crown prince agreed on the pressing need for humanitarian access into Gaza to provide vital water, food and medicine.
The prime minister outlined the steps the UK has taken to address the increasingly urgent humanitarian situation, including announcing £10 million of further aid.
The prime minister encouraged the crown prince to use Saudi’s leadership in the region to support stability, both now and in the long-term.
More broadly, the prime minister and crown prince looked forward to working together to advance areas of shared interest for the UK and Saudi Arabia, including on upholding regional security.
Eight Palestinians killed in Nur Shams refugee camp, says Palestinian health ministry
Eight Palestinians were killed in an ongoing Israeli military operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel’s police said an officer was also killed during clashes.
Clashes were still taking places between the Israeli army and a number of gunmen at the camp, Reuters cited witnesses as saying.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its staff were trying to reach the casualties in Nur Shams and that “there are difficulties in reaching some of the injured individuals, and ambulances with injured people inside are being detained by [Israeli] occupying forces”.
Updated
Leftwing Jewish activists campaigned against Israel’s bombardment and blockade of Gaza this week in Washington, culminating in protests that have seen hundreds arrested for civil disobedience outside the White House and Congress.
But groups like the Anti-Defamation League have dismissed the actions as unrepresentative of fellow Jews, signalling a growing rift in the community as the war in the Middle East continues to claim thousands of lives.
Police detained about 400 demonstrators on Wednesday after they staged a sit-down protest on Capitol Hill inside the Cannon Building, the oldest congressional office building, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the latest hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians.
The arrests followed a similar protest on Monday, when 50 activists were detained for blocking the gates of the White House. The events were organised jointly by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, two leftist groups campaigning on an avowedly anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian platform.
Demonstrators – some of them waving Palestinian flags – have accused Israel of preparing to commit genocide in Gaza in retaliation for the 7 October attacks by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and resulted in nearly 200 being kidnapped.
32 US citizens confirmed dead in Israel
The US state department said 32 Americans have been killed in Israel.
Eleven US citizens remain unaccounted for, Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the state department, said at a news conference on Thursday. He added:
With respect to our work to secure the release of hostages, that work is ongoing.
Updated
The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it’s ready, according to Israel’s economy minister, Nir Barkat.
Concerns over hostages and civilian casualties will be secondary to destroying Hamas, he said in an interview with ABC News.
“We shall do all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive …” he said, but the “first and last priority” is destroying Hamas.
Updated
The Al-Quds Foundation for Medical Schools in Palestine (FQMS) supports medical training in the Palestinian territories. Dr Khaled Dawas, chairman of its board of trustees, echoed Alhams’ call for help.
FQMS has, for decades, invested hugely in the talented students and doctors of Palestine. In Gaza FQMS’s mission has ensured poor families put their children though medical school and bought anatomy and other teaching equipment. All that has now been demolished.
FQMS now urges medics from around the world to support our colleagues in hospitals in Gaza. The least we can do is help alleviate part of the overwhelming suffering.
Updated
Palestinian doctors have called on colleagues from around the world to travel to Gaza to relieve the exhausted medics treating the wounded and dying in the besieged province.
The opening of the Rafah border crossing on Saturday could be an opportunity for medical missions to enter Gaza, according to the Al-Quds Foundation for Medical Schools in Palestine (FQMS), a British-based Palestinian medical charity.
In a message released through FQMS, Dr Suhaib Alhams, general surgeon at the Kuwaiti specialized hospital in Rafah, said there were too few medics in Gaza to handle the number of casualties from the constant Israeli bombing. He also said he hoped the presence of foreign national medics might discourage attacks. Alhams said:
We are still receiving scores of dead and injured and corpses with many missing. The barbaric bombing continues to this moment but we are steadfast and continue working. The health in Gaza collapses more and more. Three governmental hospitals have shut down. It’s catastrophic in every sense of the word.
Please encourage medical missions to Gaza – perhaps it’ll lessen the impact of the bombing. God reward you all. They say missions may come in on Saturday and I wish there would be foreign missions to help lessen the bombing and their embassies will look after them.
Alhams added in a follow-up WhatsApp message:
Very important, the medics are exhausted and expiring and are few in number.
Updated
Head of Hamas security forces killed, Gaza press office says
The head of Hamas security forces has been killed in an Israeli strike on his home in Gaza City, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run government press office.
Maj Gen Jihad Muheisen was killed along with some of his relatives in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza City, the press office said.
Separately, the Hamas legislative council member Jamila al-Shanti was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday, according to multiple reports. She was known as the first woman to be elected to political office within the Hamas group and the widow of one of the founders of the Islamist movement, the AP reported.
Updated
The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has met with the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in Riyadh, Saudi state media reported.
#فيديو | سمو #ولي_العهد يلتقي في #الرياض رئيس الوزراء البريطاني.#واس pic.twitter.com/oUKrEKPDvp
— واس الأخبار الملكية (@spagov) October 19, 2023
Updated
The US intelligence community assesses that there likely were between 100 and 300 people killed in the blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to a CNN report.
Unclassified intelligence obtained by the news outlet states:
We are still assessing the likely casualty figures and our assessment may evolve, but this death toll still reflects a staggering loss of life.
It states that the intelligence community “observed only light structural damage at the hospital”, with no observable damage to the main hospital building and no impact craters.
The US National Security Council said on Wednesday that the US government assessed that Israel “was not responsible” for the Gaza hospital blast.
Palestinian officials have blamed an Israeli airstrike for the explosion that Gaza’s health ministry said on Wednesday had killed 471 Palestinians and wounded 314 others.
Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which has denied responsibility. The latest US intelligence assessment states that work continues to in an effort to corroborate whether the explosion resulted from a failed rocket from the militant group.
Updated
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has said Gaza “needs aid at scale and on a sustained basis”.
Guterres, speaking during a press conference in Cairo with Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
He called on Hamas to release the hostages, and on Israel to give unrestricted access for aid, Reuters reported.
Here are some of the latest images we have received over the newswires from Israel and Palestine.
Updated
The US justice department is monitoring an increase in reported threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities in the country tied to the Israel-Hamas war.
The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said during a news conference in Jacksonville, Florida:
The entire justice department remains vigilant in our efforts to identify and respond to hate crimes, threats of violence, or related incidents, with particular attention to threats to faith communities.
He said he had last week directed the FBI and US attorneys’ offices to work with state and local law enforcement agencies to respond to threats.
Updated
Israel defence minister tells troops at Gaza border to 'be ready'
Here’s more from Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who has been speaking to infantry soldiers on the Gaza border.
Gallant urged the forces to “get organised, be ready” for an order to move in, the AP reported. He added:
Whoever sees Gaza from afar now will see it from the inside… I promise you.
His remarks suggest an Israeli ground assault could be nearing, although he did not say when an invasion could begin.
Updated
Israel is likely to launch a bloody ground assault on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, the former prime minister Ehud Barak said.
In an interview with NBC News, Barak warned that Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would “need to deploy on the ground tens of thousands of pairs of boots” in order to “eliminate every launching pad, every rocket, every weapon, every training site” of Hamas. He said:
I don’t like to use the word inevitable, but that’s the most probable development, namely that in a few days, a much wider force will enter into the Gaza Strip.
He acknowledged how difficult a ground invasion would be for Israeli forces.
We would love to have it [the incursion] in the meadows of Oxfordshire. But it’s not; it’s Gaza. It’s a built-up area with fighters there, and they will fight back. I don’t want to idealize it or say it’s going to be a cakewalk. But with enough force and enough enthusiasm, we will win.
Barak was Israel’s defence minister during the country’s largest Gaza ground incursion in 2009, after serving as a special forces commando, commander-in-chief of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and then as prime minister once and defence minister twice.
He said any ground operation must follow international law, but “you cannot ignore the fact that already there are many citizens killed, and probably there will be more”.
Updated
People sifted through the rubble and debris of flattened buildings with their bare hands in Khan Younis, as fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups passed its 12th day.
In Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, a refugee camp was struck by an apparent Israeli airstrike, destroying several makeshift houses. Footage showed neighbourhoods in other parts of the city levelled.
Rishi Sunak’s statement that Britain wants Israel “to win” is “not helpful”, Oxfam has said.
“Nobody wins when the scale of human suffering, devastation and pain is so vast and relentless,” the charity said in a statement after the UK prime minister’s remarks.
It urged all parties “commit to a ceasefire and for full, unfettered humanitarian access to Gaza now”.
The prime minister is right to call for the safe return of all hostages in Gaza but his failure to call for a ceasefire is wrong. The humanitarian situation within Gaza is now reaching catastrophic levels – with more than 3,000 Palestinians dead, what further evidence does he need that any precautions to protect civilians are not working?
Sunak, speaking in Tel Aviv today, told Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Britain “will stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your people. And we also want you to win”.
Updated
Israel defence minister tells troops they will soon see Gaza 'from the inside'
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian territory “from the inside”, according to his office.
A statement from his office quoted Gallant as saying:
You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come.
His remarks suggest a ground invasion could be nearing. Israel’s military have previously said that its forces were deployed across the country, increasing operational readiness for the next stages of the war, “with an emphasis on significant ground operations”.
From the Times of Israel’s Emanuel Fabian:
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to troops on the Gaza border: "You now see Gaza from afar, soon you will see it from the inside. The order will come." pic.twitter.com/BwXd6BBAWd
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 19, 2023
The MTV Europe Music Awards, which was due to take place next month in Paris, has been cancelled, with organisers citing “the volatility of world events” amid the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza.
A statement reads:
Given the volatility of world events, we have decided not to move forward with the 2023 MTV EMAs out of an abundance of caution for the thousands of employees, crew members, artists, fans, and partners who travel from all corners of the world to bring the show to life.
The MTV EMAs are an annual celebration of global music. As we watch the devastating events in Israel and Gaza continue to unfold, this does not feel like a moment for a global celebration. With thousands of lives already lost, it is a moment of mourning. We look forward to hosting the MTV EMAs again in November of 2024.
Michael Gove will bring his bill banning British public bodies from boycotting Israel next week in a move that some Conservatives say could exacerbate British community tensions in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war.
The communities secretary will bring the bill to a third reading on Wednesday, allowing MPs a chance to amend it before the government tries to push it through after the king’s speech next month. It is designed to stop councils and other public authorities conducting boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against other countries, and in particular Israel.
The government has criticised two Labour-led councils for boycotting Israel and some in the Conservative party hoped the bill would divide the Labour party. However, several senior Conservatives have also spoken out against it and are warning that it could inflame tensions between Jewish and Muslim communities at a time when they are already heightened by war in the Middle East.
US issues worldwide alert to citizens to 'exercise increased caution'
The US state department has issued a worldwide caution alert advising American citizens overseas “to exercise increased caution”.
The US state department cited “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against US citizens and interests”.
US citizens overseas should “stay alert in locations frequented by tourists”, follow the department on social media and enroll in its ”smart traveler enrollment program” to receive alerts and make those citizens easier to locate during an emergency overseas, it said.
Updated
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, is on her way to the Middle East for a second time since the deadly Hamas attack to express Berlin’s “unwavering solidarity” to Israel and help ensure Palestinian access to aid.
The trip is due to last until Saturday and will also take Baerbock to Jordan and Lebanon. The German visited Israel and Egypt last week.
Baerbock, before departing to Tel Aviv, insisted on Israel’s “right to defend itself against Hamas terror – within the parameters laid down by international law for such exceptional situations”.
She accused the militant group of using the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as “human shields”, adding that she would “use the trip to speak with all those who have channels to Hamas” to discuss how to secure the release of hostages.
Describing the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic”, she said:
It is important to me to make clear to Palestinians that we also recognise their suffering.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6.30pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s where things stand:
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after Joe Biden’s whirlwind visit to Israel on Wednesday. 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.
Lack of access to water is one of the biggest challenges in Gaza, according to the international charity Action Against Hunger, which is warning of “a health crisis on the brink of explosion”. The UN estimates that there are fewer than 3 litres of water per person each day for the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, half of whom are children who are most at risk from water shortages and diarrhoeal infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said its trucks were “loaded and ready to go” as soon as the Rafah crossing was opened – “hopefully tomorrow”. The WHO director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the agency was “gravely concerned about the health and wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, who are suffering from bombardment and siege” and about the attacks on health care in both Gaza and Israel.
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have condemned the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza as they met in Cairo for talks on the Israel-Hamas war. Sisi and King Abdullah also warned of the dangers of a regional spillover.
The US and British embassies in Beirut have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon while flights “remain available” as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over the Israel-Hamas war. Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon.
The US president, Joe Biden, will address the nation later today to discuss the US’s response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the war in Ukraine, less than 24 hours after returning from Tel Aviv to offer Israelis support and aid for Palestinians in a trip upended by a hospital blast in Gaza.
Israel is counting on the UK’s “continuous support” in what will be a “long war” with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told Rishi Sunak, as the two leaders met in Tel Aviv. Sunak is due to fly to Saudi Arabia later on Thursday in efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and prevent a wider regional conflict.
At least nine British nationals are confirmed to have died and a further seven are missing after the devastating attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.
The Philippines embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed the death of another Filipino national, bringing the country’s death toll to four. The victim has not been named.
A second plane of humanitarian aid from the EU was due to land in Egypt on Thursday afternoon to help people in Gaza, a spokesperson for the European Commission said. Together with a flight yesterday, it will amount to 54 tonnes of humanitarian aid including hygiene and sanitation products, food, water and shelter.
More than 60 international charities - including Action Aid UK, Bond, Cafod, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK – have signed a statement calling on the UK government to step up its efforts to secure an urgent ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.
The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
Hello. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong in Washington taking over the live blog. You can contact me at leonie.chao-fong@theguardian.com.
Updated
Nine Britons confirmed dead after Hamas attack
At least nine British nationals are confirmed to have died and a further seven are missing after the devastating attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.
Rishi Sunak has said it is important that the war between Israel and Hamas does not escalate to the wider region.
During his visit the British prime minister told Benjamin Netanyahu that the UK “absolutely supports Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law”.
The UK prime minister, who was visiting Jerusalem a day after Joe Biden did, is expected to fly to Saudi Arabia to meet the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, No 10 said.
The EU has been talking about its concerns for the 1,000 EU citizens who are still working in NGOs and public services in Gaza.
Hungary today said 15 of its citizens were among them.
“The ministry confirmed about an hour ago that all Hungarians were well despite the difficult circumstances,” Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs, said on its website.
“Our embassies in Tel Aviv and Cairo work closely together and we maintain continual contacts with all international partners in order to ensure that our citizens have the possibility to leave the area safely. However, for now, the conditions for this are not given,” he added.
Updated
World Jewish Congress seeks pope’s help in securing hostages’ release
The head of the World Jewish Congress met Pope Francis on Thursday, asking the leader of the Roman Catholic church to help secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
The audience between the WJC president, Ronald Lauder, and Francis, 86, came as Israel revised up to 203 the number of Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas, amid the escalating war in Gaza.
“We ask Your Holiness to use your power, to use your strength, to get these hostages released,” the WJC quoted Lauder as telling the 86-year-old pontiff, in a statement.
“You may be the only person who has the moral authority to do this.”
The pope has called for the release of the hostages, while also expressing concern for the civilians of Gaza.
The WJC, which dates from 1936, represents Jewish communities in more than 100 countries, to governments and international organisations.
Updated
A second plane of humanitarian aid from the EU was due to land in Egypt this afternoon to help people in Gaza, a spokesperson for the European Commission has said.
Together with a flight yesterday, it will amount to 54 tonnes of humanitarian aid including hygiene and sanitation products, food, water and shelter.
Updated
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), has said its trucks are “loaded and ready to go” as soon as the Rafah crossing is opened – “hopefully tomorrow”.
Speaking at a briefing on Thursday afternoon, Tedros said the WHO was “gravely concerned about the health and wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, who are suffering from bombardment and siege” and about the attacks on health care in both Gaza and Israel.
He also referred to Tuesday’s blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip:
The bomb that struck the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night, and the loss of life it caused, regardless of who was responsible, cannot be tolerated.
Tedros added:
The WHO supports the UN secretary general’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We call for the immediate and safe release of hostages seized and taken into Gaza by Hamas and other armed groups, among them children, older people and those who need urgent medical care. We continue to appeal to Israel and Hamas to abide by their obligations under international law to protect civilians and health care. We appeal to Israel to restore supplies of electricity and water.
Updated
US and UK advise citizens to leave Lebanon
The US and British embassies in Beirut have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon while flights “remain available” as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over the Israel-Hamas war.
Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon.
“We recommend that US citizens in Lebanon make appropriate arrangements to leave the country; commercial options currently remain available,” a US embassy statement said.
A similar warning was issued by the British embassy which said: “If you are currently in Lebanon, we encourage you to leave now while commercial options remain available.”
“British nationals should exercise caution and avoid areas where demonstrations may be held,” it added.
Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions have been trading daily cross-border fire with Israel after Hamas launched its massive assault on southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
Relentless Israeli strikes on Gaza have since killed at least 3,500 people, mostly civilians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory.
On Tuesday, the US state department raised its travel advisory for Lebanon from level t3 to 4 – the highest level available.
It authorised non-essential embassy personnel and their families to leave their embassy, citing the unpredictable security situation due to the Israel-Hamas war.
Many Arab and western countries have already encouraged their nationals to avoid travel to Lebanon or leave, with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday urging its citizens to leave Lebanon “immediately” and Kuwait also warning against travelling there.
France, Germany, Canada and Australia have also warned against travel to Lebanon, while Spain has advised against non-essential travel.
Cross-border tensions have killed at least 21 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally, mostly combatants but also three civilians including a Reuters journalist.
At least three people have been killed on the Israeli side.
Since Tuesday, as in many Arab capitals, demonstrators have taken to the streets of Beirut and its suburbs, including near the American and French embassies, to protest against a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital. (Via AFP)
Updated
Noy Katsman knew the eulogy for their murdered brother would anger some who came to mourn, but he did not want the violence of Hayim Katsman’s death to eclipse his life as a peace activist.
Grief and loss at Hayim’s slaughter was magnified by watching Israel launch a war in his name, said Noy, who is non-binary. So at the funeral, relying on a Jewish tradition of respect for the bereaved, Noy called for it to stop.
“Do not use our death and our pain to bring the death and pain of other people and other families,” Noy told the hundreds-strong crowd, as the government bombed Gaza and prepared for a massive ground invasion. “I have no doubt that even in the face of Hamas people that murdered him … he would still speak out against the killing and violence of innocent people.
Updated
The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident on Tuesday evening, a BBC reporter suggested that Israel was likely to be at fault. This was likened by the official Israeli government account on X, formerly known as Twitter, to the antisemitic lie that Jews have murdered Christian boys to use their blood for religious rituals.
“Hey @BBCWorld, as of this morning your modern blood libel about the hospital attack is still up,” a statement on the Israeli account said on Thursday. “We see you, and now everyone else does too.”
More here:
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid will enter Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in the coming days, according to the White House, after Joe Biden’s whirlwind visit to Israel that followed a deadly blast at a hospital in the besieged territory.
After hours of talks with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his war cabinet, the US president 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.
More here:
Updated
Egypt and Jordan condemn ‘collective punishment’ of Palestinians in Gaza
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have condemned the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza as they met in Cairo for talks on the Israel-Hamas war.
Ahead of the meeting, the Jordanian royal court said Sisi and King Abdullah would “discuss means to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza”.
In separate statements issued later, the Egyptian presidency and the royal court said the two leaders “affirmed their unified position rejecting the policy of collective punishment in the siege, starvation or displacement” of Palestinians.
Sisi and King Abdullah also warned of the dangers of a regional spillover.
“If the war does not stop”, it would threaten “to plunge the entire region into catastrophe”, according to the Jordanian statement.
The pair had been due to hold talks with the US president, Joe Biden, and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, in Jordan this week, but Jordan cancelled the meeting after a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital.
Their meeting comes on the same day that the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, is expected in Cairo.
In a meeting with the British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, in Cairo on Thursday, Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, discussed “the priority of delivering humanitarian and emergency aid to the people of Gaza”, according to the foreign ministry.
Sisi also discussed “the situation in Gaza” with US central command chief, Michael Kurilla, his office said on Thursday.
Egypt and Jordan were the first Arab states to normalise relations with Israel, in 1979 and 1994 respectively, and have since been key mediators between Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Updated
Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, the chief executive of Oxfam GB, has written an opinion piece for the Guardian in which he says the charity has never seen a humanitarian crisis like the one in Gaza. He also calls for an urgent ceasefire.
Oxfam has been providing humanitarian relief for people caught up in war for decades. We do this in Somalia, Yemen and Syria, and we have been doing this in Palestine for decades. But what is happening in Gaza today is unprecedented.
Elsewhere, my brave colleagues would be running relief services; in Gaza today they are running for their lives. Elsewhere, we would be in constant touch with them; in Gaza today their phones are running out of battery because electricity has been cut off. Elsewhere, we would share our location data with combatants to keep staff and civilians safe; in Gaza today, no one is safe.
Biden to address nation to discuss the US’s response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict
The US president, Joe Biden, will address the nation on Thursday to discuss the US’s response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the war in Ukraine, less than 24 hours after returning from Tel Aviv to offer Israelis support and aid for Palestinians in a trip upended by a hospital blast in Gaza.
In his remarks, scheduled to be delivered from the Oval Office at 8pm ET on Thursday, Biden will offer a message of solidarity to the people of Ukraine and Israel. But he will also address the nation, including US lawmakers, about the two conflicts’ impact, the deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said in television interviews.
“This will also be very much a message to the American people: how those conflicts connect to our lives back here, how support from the American people and the Congress, frankly, is essential,” Finer told MSNBC. (Via Reuters)
Updated
French airports evacuated again
Several airports were once again briefly evacuated in France on Thursday – including Bordeaux-Merignac, Montpellier and Nantes – amid security alerts. They were reopened after security checks.
The Palace of Versailles, one of the country’s key tourist attractions, was also evacuated for the fourth time since Saturday.
Government ministers have said that prank calls with false bomb alerts will be punished under the law.
On Wednesday, France’s transport minister, Clement Beaune, said false threats were made against 17 airports in France, causing widespread disruption, the evacuation of 15 airports, the cancellation of 130 flights and many flight delays.
“These false alerts are not bad jokes. They are crimes,” Beaune posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
17 aéroports menacés.
— Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) October 18, 2023
15 aéroports évacués.
130 vols annulés. De très nombreux retards.
Ces fausses alertes ne sont pas des mauvaises blagues. Elles sont des délits. Elles seront sanctionnées.
Une plainte a été déposée pour chaque menace. Avec une saisine du procureur @DGAC https://t.co/fSlsdhKMrH
France has been on heightened alert since the fatal stabbing of a schoolteacher in Arras last week by a man alleged to have declared allegiance to the IS terrorist group.
Updated
Italy suspends open-border agreement with neighbouring Slovenia
Following the killing of two Swedish football fans in Brussels on Monday by a suspected terrorist, Italy’s PM, Giorgia Meloni, has suspended the Schengen treaty and reintroduced controls at Italy’s border with Slovenia from Saturday 21 October.
Meloni said on social media:
The suspension of the Schengen treaty on free movement in Europe has become necessary due to the worsening situation in the Middle East, the increase in migratory flows along the Balkan route and, above all, due to national security issues.
I take full responsibility for this.
Meloni said border controls would last for 10 days, with the possibility of an extension, and “will be implemented in a way that ensures the proportionality” and “adapted” to the level of the “threat” and “calibrated to cause the least possible impact on cross-border movement and freight traffic.
The statement continued:
Further developments in the situation and the effectiveness of the measures will be constantly analysed in the hope of a rapid return to full freedom of movement.
It said the situation was “aggravated by the constant migratory pressure to which Italy is subject, by sea and by land” with 140,000 migrants arriving in Italy by sea this year, up 85% on the same period in 2022.
It said that the current police measures at the Italian-Slovenian border were “not adequate to guarantee the required level of security”.
Every day, small groups of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan and Iraq attempt to cross from Bosnia into Croatia and Slovenia nightly on the migrant trail into western Europe in order to reach Italy or Germany. Aid workers, doctors and UN officials have documented systematic abuse and violence perpetrated by border guards against migrants along the border stretch for several years.
Updated
Spain’s Federation of Jewish Communities (FCJE) has called for respect and peaceful co-existence after a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators converged on the main synagogue in Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla on Wednesday evening.
The federation said Jewish business owners were also insulted and intimidated by the protesters, who had chanted: “Israel! Killers!”
It detailed a series of antisemitic incidents across Spain over recent days, saying paint had been daubed in the Jewish neighbourhood of Besalú, in the province of Girona, and on a synagogue in Madrid, and that a Jewish home in the capital had also been marked out with paint. A Jewish couple, it added, had had a stone thrown through their window.
In a statement, the FCJE said:
Our synagogues and community centres are more protected than ever in the face of the threat of attacks.
We cannot allow the peaceful coexistence that we have historically enjoyed in Melilla and other Spanish cities to be broken. We express our solidarity and support to all the Spanish Jews who are suffering so gravely because of what is happening in Israel, and to their friends and families there.
We wish for a solution to the conflict that includes the end of the Hamas terrorist group, the safe return of the hostages, and the establishment of a just and safe peace.
Updated
The US general overseeing American troops in the Middle East made an unannounced trip to Egypt for talks on Thursday with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi that focused on the Israel-Hamas war and how to get aid to the Gaza Strip.
Egypt’s Sinai peninsula adjoins the Gaza Strip and its Rafah border crossing is the sole route for aid to enter Gaza directly from outside Israel. It is also the only exit that does not lead to Israeli territory, Reuters reports.
More than 100 trucks were waiting close to the crossing on the Egyptian side on Thursday, though it was not expected that aid would enter before Friday, Egyptian security sources said. More aid is being held in the Egyptian city of Arish, about 45 km (28 miles) from Rafah.
A statement from Sisi’s office said the talks with US army Gen Michael “Erik” Kurilla, head of US Central Command, included in particular “the developments in the Gaza Strip”.
The statement said.
The president outlined Egypt’s efforts for de-escalation, stressing the importance of the international community’s concerted efforts to contain the crisis and stop its escalation in dangerous directions.
The meeting in Cairo, where Kurilla also met Egypt’s defence minister, Mohamed Zaki, came as Washington and Egypt have been pushing for a deal with Israel to get aid deliveries to Gaza.
Sisi’s office said delivering aid in a “sustainable manner” was a top priority given deteriorating humanitarian conditions.
The Rafah crossing has become a focal point in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a humanitarian crisis unfolds and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians head to south Gaza from the enclave’s north to escape Israeli bombing.
Updated
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Britain’s Rishi Sunak on Thursday discussed the need to prevent any regional escalation in the conflict with Hamas, Sunak’s Downing Street office said.
Downing Street, according to Reuters, said:
Both leaders underscored the need to prevent any regional escalation in the conflict and the importance of restoring peace and stability to the region.
Four Palestinians were killed and several wounded, including children, in the airstrike on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, Hamas media reported.
According to Reuters, Hamas-affiliated Aqsa radio said four Palestinians were killed and several were wounded in the airstrike.
More information to come …
The chief executive of the FA said he “recognises the hurt” caused to the Jewish community by the organisations’s decision not to light the Wembley arch in the colours of Israel following the atrocities committed there by Hamas two weeks ago.
Mark Bullingham called the decision “one of the hardest” he has had to make as the organisation’s chief executive.
The FA came under intense scrutiny and received strong criticism over their response to the events of 7 October, ultimately choosing to acknowledge the moment with black armbands and a minute’s silence ahead of England men’s friendly against Australia last Friday. Bullingham said the organisation would now review its policy on lighting the arch.
Bullingham said:
I recognise that our decision caused hurt in the Jewish community who felt that we should have lit the arch and should have shown stronger support for them.
This is one of the hardest decisions we have had to make and the last thing we ever wanted to do in this situation was to add to the hurt. We aren’t asking for everyone to agree with our decision but to understand how we reached it.
Bullingham said that the decision had been made after days of deliberation, with the FA first contacting the Israeli Football Association to express their horror at the Hamas attacks. This was followed by a period of consultation across football and an extraordinary meeting of the FA board on the following Wednesday night.
He added:
We all felt then and we all feel now that football should stand for peace and humanity and that we should show compassion for all innocent victims of this terrible conflict.
Read the full story below:
Updated
The death toll of French citizens from the Hamas attacks in Israel has risen to 28, and seven others are still unaccounted for, the French foreign ministry said at a weekly briefing on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Summary - what we know so far today
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has met Israel’s president and prime minister on a visit to the country
Sunak stressed the importance of allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and said the UK stood in solidarity with Israel.
Sunak said the UK supported Israel’s right to defend itself “in line with international law”, to go after Hamas and to bring back the hostages.
A charity has warned that the lack of access to water in Gaza is “a health crisis on the brink of explosion”.
Gaza health officials say Israel’s bombing has so far killed 3,785 people and wounded more than 12,000.
Machinery to repair roads has been sent through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip in preparation for the delivery of some aid tomorrow.
The bodies of two of those missing from the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel have been found.
Israel says at least 203 people are being held hostage in Gaza – four more than its previous estimate of 199.
Updated
Sunak and Netanyahu joint press conference
Sunak and Netanyahu have just given a short press conference. Here are some of the key quotes and lines.
Netanyahu framed the conflict as a showdown between good and evil, modernity and barbarism, saying that both Israel and the world were facing their “darkest hour”.
He said:
This is a battle of western civilisation, the battle of the free world, the battle for the future. We have here two forces. One is an axis of evil, led by Iran through Hezbollah, Hamas and others, that want to bring back the Middle East to the Middle Ages, to an age of bondage and war and slavery and annihilation. And the other forces – the forces of progress and humanity – that want to push the Middle East into a world of peace and prosperity. We’re on the cusp of expanding that peace – and destroying that move was one of the reasons why this action was taken. We have to resist it and we have to win. Above all, we have to win. We have to release the hostages.
The Israeli PM said the war would be long, adding that although there would be “ups and downs”, the people of Israel had never been more united.
He described Hamas and its allies as “the modern barbarians; the worst monsters on the planet”.
Sunak said Israel had gone through something that “no country; no people should have to endure – least of all Israel”.
He also said that the UK supported Israel’s right to defend itself “in line with international law”, to go after Hamas and to bring back the hostages.
In a reference to concerns over Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks, Sunak added:
Now I know that you are taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians, in direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas, which seem to put civilians in harm’s way.
The British PM thanked Netanyahu for his support for British nationals “caught up in this horror”, including the hostages.
Sunak referred to Tuesday’s blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip but did not speculate as to who may have been responsible for it. He said:
We’ve seen scenes over the past day that have shocked all of us, particularly in the hospital and we mourn the loss of every innocent life.
Sunak also thanked the Israeli government for its decision to announce the opening up of humanitarian routes into Gaza.
Updated
Lack of water in Gaza ‘a health crisis on the brink of explosion’, says charity
Lack of access to water is one of the biggest challenges in Gaza, according to the international charity Action Against Hunger, which is warning of “a health crisis on the brink of explosion”.
Staff at the charity say overcrowded displacement shelters are close to breaking point. They add that one shelter in Gaza is currently supporting more than 24,000 people and that 60% of the children there are affected by diarrhoea. Some people are are also resorting to open defecation.
The UN estimates that there are fewer than 3 litres of water per person each day for the 2.3 million people living in Gaza, half of whom are children who are most at risk from water shortages and diarrhoeal infections – the leading cause of child mortality globally. And that amount is likely to decrease by the day as supplies and fuel used to make water drinkable in the desalination plants are reduced.
Chiara Saccardi, officer for the Middle East at Action Against Hunger, said:
Faced with this impossible situation, many Gazan families are resorting to non-drinking water sources, such as agricultural wells. This puts them at imminent risk of dehydration and even an outbreak of infectious diseases such as cholera. Such an epidemic, if it happens, would make this serious crisis an even bigger problem.
Updated
An Israeli strike killed the head of the Hamas-led national security forces, Jehad Mheisen, and members of his family in their house in Gaza, according to a Hamas-aligned news agency. (Via Reuters)
The Philippines embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed the death of another Filipino national, bringing the country’s death toll to four.
The victim, who has not been named, was working as a carer in Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities attacked by Hamas on 7 October, the embassy said. Her remains were identified using fingerprint records.
There are around 30,000 Filipinos in Israel, including many who work as carers. A further two Filipino nationals remain missing.
‘I’ve lived through several wars, it’s never been like this, it has never been this brutal’
Inside Gaza health officials say bombing has so far killed nearly 3,500 people and wounded more than 12,000.
In Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, an area of shops was reduced to rubble as far as the eye could see, with a toddler’s pink cot overturned on the ground, windows blown off a clothing store and damaged vehicles.
Rafat Al-Nakhala, who had sought shelter in there after obeying Israel’s order for civilians to flee Gaza City in the north, said nowhere was safe:
I’m over 70 years old, I’ve lived through several wars, it’s never been like this, it has never been this brutal, no religion and no conscience. Thank God. We only have hope in God, not in any Arab or Muslim country or anyone in the world, except for God.
Footage obtained by Reuters from the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north showed residents digging with their bare hands inside a damaged building to free a small boy and girl trapped under masonry.
The body of a man was hauled out of the ruins on a stretcher as residents tried to light up the site with torches on their mobile phones.
The UN says around half of people in Gaza have been made homeless, still trapped inside the territory, one of the most densely populated places on earth. (Via Reuters)
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Scholz attacks Putin’s ‘cynical’ concern for civilians in the Middle East
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has slammed Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, for lamenting the fate of civilians in the Israel-Hamas conflict while his army wages war in Ukraine.
Putin has warned that the expected ground offensive would lead to “absolutely unacceptable” civilian casualties. He also described the deadly strike on a hospital in Gaza earlier this week as a “tragedy”.
Scholz told the German parliament on Thursday:
It makes me more than furious to hear the Russian president repeatedly warning that there could be civilian casualties from an armed conflict. It doesn’t get more cynical than that.
Updated
International charities urge Sunak to push for an urgent ceasefire during Israel visit
More than 60 international charities - including Action Aid UK, Bond, Cafod, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK – have signed a statement calling on the UK government to step up its efforts to secure an urgent ceasefire in Israel and Gaza following the bombing of al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza and the escalating instability and humanitarian crisis in the region:
The horrific blast at al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital in Gaza must serve as a wake-up call to the international community. We urge global leaders to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Without this there can be no safe humanitarian access which would allow NGOs and humanitarian agencies to urgently get food, clean water, and medical supplies into Gaza. Civilians, particularly women, the young and old, and people with disabilities, are already bearing the brunt of this escalating and tragic crisis and must be allowed to move to safety and be protected wherever they are.
The UK prime minister should urgently help secure a ceasefire and uphold UK’s responsibilities to ensure international humanitarian law is adhered to, to prevent further escalation and more lives being lost. It must act now to avoid a wider regional conflict.
Finally, we call on international actors to find a long-term, sustainable, just and peaceful solution for all people across the region.
Updated
Sunak stresses need for humanitarian aid in talks with Israeli president
Sunak has told the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, that getting humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza is an important issue.
Speaking as the two met in Jerusalem, the British prime minister said:
Palestinians are victims of what Hamas has done. It’s important that we continue to provide humanitarian access.
Sunak also told Herzog this morning that Israel has the “right to self-defence in line with international law”.
Offering a readout of a meeting between the two, a Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister “expressed his personal condolences for the horrific loss of life in Israel as a result of Hamas’s terrorism”.
They added: “[Sunak] reiterated that the UK stands in solidarity with Israel and firmly believes in the country’s right to self-defence in line with international law.
“The prime minister and President Herzog agreed on the importance of getting urgent humanitarian support to ordinary Palestinians in Gaza who are also suffering. The prime minister welcomed yesterday’s announcement that Israel would not stop aid from entering Gaza. He expressed his sincere hope that further progress could be made on delivering crucial food, water and medicine.”
The spokesperson said Sunak “conveyed his gratitude to President Herzog for the support Israel has provided to British nationals caught up in the attacks, including to the families of those who have been taken hostage”, with the two agreeing to “work tirelessly to secure their release”.
He added: “The prime minister and President Herzog stressed the imperative need to avoid further escalation of violence in the region. They agreed to continue working together to that end.”
Updated
More than 60 Berlin police injured and 174 people arrested at pro-Palestinian protests
Sixty-five police officers were injured at overnight protests in Berlin against Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, authorities said on Thursday, as demonstrators defied bans on such gatherings.
The officers were “wounded by stones, flammable liquid and acts of resistance,” Berlin police said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
A police spokesperson said 174 people were arrested, including 65 who will be facing investigations.
The gathering had began late Wednesday in Neukölln, a district with a large Arab community.
Bild daily said a call had gone out on Telegram calling on “men” to “turn Neukölln into Gaza. Burn everything”.
As police ordered protesters to disperse, “rubbish bins and obstacles were put on the streets” and “stones and pyrotechnics were thrown” at them, prompting police to respond by firing water-cannon, said authorities.
Since Israel began its relentless bombing raids on Gaza in response to Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7, pro-Palestinian protests have erupted across major German cities despite widespread bans.
The number of antisemitic incidents has also jumped, with a synagogue in Berlin hit by molotov cocktails early Wednesday.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Thursday urged authorities to prevent demonstrations that could degenerate into antisemitic incitement.
Gatherings where “antisemitic slogans are shouted, where the deaths of other human beings are glorified” must be outlawed, said Scholz. (Via Agence France-Presse)
Updated
King Abdullah II of Jordan is on his way to Egypt to discuss ways to end “the Israeli aggression on Gaza”
His Majesty King Abdullah II departs on a short visit to Cairo, during which His Majesty will meet with Egypt President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to discuss means of ending the Israeli aggression on Gaza#Jordan
— RHC (@RHCJO) October 19, 2023
EU interior ministers are debating how to manage the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas on the bloc, amid heightened security tensions after a firebomb assault on a Berlin synagogue and killings in Belgium and France by suspected Islamist extremists.
Officials from across the 27-nation bloc have expressed concerns about a rise in antisemitic attacks, the radicalisation of young people online, the use of encrypted messaging services by criminals or extremists, and the need to speed up the deportation of people who might pose a public danger.
But calls for an increase in security across the board are also creating deep unease as the solutions being discussed could undermine free movement and the right to assemble in Europe. Italy and Germany, notably, are introducing new border checks.
The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, believes that part of the solution to Europe’s security woes must involve the bloc helping diplomatically and financially to bring an end to years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
“We have learned from history that the most difficult decisions are always taken when we are on the edge of the abyss. I believe that is where we are now: on the edge of the abyss,” Borrell told EU lawmakers on Wednesday.
“When I hear Muslim religious authorities speaking the language of inter-religious conflict and explicitly stating that Europe is a party to this conflict, I feel that the storm clouds are looming,” he said. (Via Associated Press)
Updated
The executive committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – a group of 57 states that describes itself as “the collective voice of the Muslim world” – held an emergency meeting yesterday.
In a strongly-worded communique, the OIC referred to “the crime of genocide” and called on its member states “to apply all feasible and effective diplomatic, legal and deterrent measures, to stop the occupying power Israel’s crimes against humanity.”
Here is the communique in full.
Updated
Machinery to repair roads has been sent through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip in preparation for the delivery of some of the aid stockpiled in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, two security sources said on Thursday.
Rafah is the only crossing not controlled by Israel but has been out of operation since the first days of the conflict in Gaza following Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side of the border.
The US and Egypt have been pushing for a deal with Israel to get aid delivered to Gaza, and the White House said on Wednesday that it had been agreed for up to 20 trucks to pass through, with hopes for more trucks later.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents depended on aid before the current conflict started. About 100 trucks daily were providing humanitarian relief to the territory, according to the UN.
More than 100 trucks were waiting close to the crossing on the Egyptian side on Thursday, though it was not expected that aid would enter before Friday, Egyptian security sources said. More aid is being held in the Egyptian city of Al Arish, about 45 km (28 miles) from Rafah.
Western governments have been negotiating for the evacuation of foreign passport-holders from Gaza, something Egyptian officials have conditioned on aid getting in. Details of potential evacuations are unclear.
On Wednesday, after talks with Joe Biden, the Israeli government said it would not block aid for civilians entering Gaza from Egypt - as long as those supplies did not reach Hamas.
It said it would continue a blockade of humanitarian aid from Israel into Gaza until hostages held by Hamas were returned. (Via Reuters)
Updated
Israeli airstrikes continue to pound Gaza
Israeli airstrikes pounded locations across the Gaza Strip early on Thursday, including parts of the south that Israel had declared safe zones, heightening fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere is safe.
In the nearly two weeks since Israel began attacking in response to Hamas’s assault on towns across southern Israel, airstrikes have relentlessly hit the densely populated territory. Strikes have continued across the entire territory, even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north and head to what it called “safe zones” in the south.
The bombardments came after Israel agreed on Wednesday to allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to Gaza, the first crack in a punishing 11-day siege. Many among Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have cut down to one meal a day and have been left to drink dirty water amid dwindling supplies.
Palestinians in the southern city of Khan Younis said bombings were relentless overnight, with airstrikes hitting several homes, according to the Hamas-led interior ministry. In Rafah, on Egypt’s border, Israel hit several homes. Medical staff at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said they received at least 12 dead and 40 wounded.
Homes along the Gaza border with Israel in the northern evacuation zone were also hit, the ministry said. Israel has massed troops in the area and is expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, though military officials say no decision has been made.
Airstrikes also hit three residential towers in al-Zahra, within the area that was told to evacuate, the interior ministry in Gaza said.
The Gaza health ministry said 3,478 people had been killed in Gaza since the war began, and more than 12,000 wounded.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’s deadly incursion on 7 October. (Via Associated Press)
Updated
Israel has just announced that the bodies of two of those missing from kibbutz Nir-Oz in southern Israel have been found. They are Noya Dan, who was 12, and her grandmother Carmela, who was 80.
Earlier this week, Abbey Onn, who moved to Tel Aviv eight years ago, told CBS News that five family members had been taken hostage. Carmela Dan, 80, Ofer Kalderon, 50, Sahar Kalderon, 16, Erez Kalderon, 12, and Noya Dan, 12, lived in Nir-Oz.
We are devastated to announce that Noya and her grandmother Carmela’s bodies were discovered yesterday.
— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) October 19, 2023
Thank you to all of you who shared her story to help us bring her home.
Our hearts are broken 💔. https://t.co/1I9r4fibsP
Updated
Israel says at least 203 people are being held hostage in Gaza
Israel’s military has just said at least 203 people are being held hostage in Gaza following the Hamas attack on 7 October. Previous estimates had put the number of those kidnapped and held captive at 199. Military sources have also said at least 306 soldiers have died in the conflict.
Here is a piece from yesterday on some of those held hostage. They include children, festivalgoers, peace activists, caregivers, elderly people and soldiers.
Updated
The bodies of a boy and a woman who were among the scores of people killed by Hamas in an Israeli border village have been located and identified, 11 days after the cross-border attack from Gaza, the medical assistance and casualty recovery group Zaka has said.
Remains of the two newly discovered victims were found during searches of a house that had been burned down on the Be’eri kibbutz, Zaka said late on Wednesday.
“Their bodies were incinerated after they were murdered,” it said in a statement, without providing names for the two or elaborating on any possible relationship between them.
Israeli officials have said at least 108 people were murdered in Be’eri – about 10% of its population. At least a dozen other Israeli communities were also overrun by the attackers.
Updated
Sunak warns against escalation of the conflict
Reuters has these early remarks from the British prime minister.
After landing in Tel Aviv, Sunak told reporters:
Above all, I’m here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you.
In an early statement, he said the Gaza hospital blast on Tuesday that caused mass Palestinian casualties should be “a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict”, adding that Britain would be at “the forefront of this effort”.
Sunak will also urge the opening up of a route to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt as soon as possible, and to enable British nationals trapped in Gaza to leave.
“Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’s horrific act of terror,” Sunak said.
At least seven British nationals have been killed and at least nine are still missing since the attack on Israel, Sunak’s spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The British foreign secretary, James Cleverly – who visited Israel last week – will travel to Egypt, Turkey and Qatar over the next three days to discuss the conflict and to seek a peaceful resolution, his office said.
Britain said the three countries were “vital to international efforts to uphold regional stability, free hostages and allow humanitarian access to Gaza”.
Cleverly will meet senior leaders there to discuss efforts to prevent the conflict spreading, the urgent need to open the Rafah crossing with Egypt to let aid reach those who need it and for Hamas to release hostages, Britain said.
Updated
British PM Rishi Sunak arrives in Tel Aviv
Rishi Sunak has arrived in Tel Aviv. As mentioned earlier, the British prime minister is due to meet his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog. Sunak is also expected to ask for aid to be allowed into Gaza and for Britons stranded there to be allowed to leave the area.
“Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’s horrific act of terror,” Sunak said in a statement ahead of his visit.
He said the deadly blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday that killed hundreds of Palestinians should be “a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict”, pledging Britain would be at “the forefront of this effort”. (Via Reuters)
Updated
Al-Ahli Arab hospital: piecing together what happened
My colleagues Manisha Ganguly, Emma Graham-Harrison, Elena Morresi, Ashley Kirk and Lucy Swan have put together a clearer picture of what happened at the al-Ahli Arab hospital.
“The tragedy at al-Ahli Arab hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip provoked bitter recriminations that reverberated across the Middle East and beyond,” they write.
“Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli airstrike for the explosion that Gaza’s health ministry said on Wednesday had killed 471 Palestinians and wounded 314 others. Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which has denied blame.
“A video, broadcast by Al Jazeera and verified by the Guardian, appears to show an airborne weapon following a rising trajectory over Gaza and bursting into flames in midair. Moments later an explosion is seen at the hospital.”
Read their report here:
Updated
Seven Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in West Bank in last 12 hours – WAFA
Seven Palestinians, including four teenagers, have been killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported early on Thursday.
It said that the total number of Palestinians killed by Isaraeli forces in the West Bank since 7 October now stands at 69.
Among those killed were boys aged 17, 16, 15 and 14, WAFA reports.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The West Bank is home to the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Hamas rivals Fatah and 87-year-old Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
It borders Jerusalem, which houses sites sacred to Muslim, Christian and Jewish people.
Updated
How long until aid reaches Gaza?
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.
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”.
Egypt says the roads across the border need to be repaired after they were hit by Israeli airstrikes. More than 200 trucks and 3,000 tonnes of aid are positioned at or near the Rafah crossing, according to 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.”
Updated
Why has Egypt been reluctant to open the border to civilians?
Egypt and Jordan flank Israel on opposite sides and share borders with Gaza and the occupied West Bank, respectively. Both have have been reticent to allow displaced Palestinians in.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made his toughest remarks yet on Wednesday, saying the current war was not just aimed at fighting Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, “but also an attempt to push the civilian inhabitants to … migrate to Egypt.” He warned this could wreck peace in the region.
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.
“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.”
What is the Rafah border crossing?
Israel, the White House and Egypt have confirmed that limited aid will be allowed to travel into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Foreign passport holders are also expected to be allowed out under any deal to reopen the crossing, after many headed to the vicinity in recent days seeking to exit.
Meanwhile, Israel has called on Gazans to move southwards closer to Rafah to shelter from bombardment. Here is a look at the situation and the history of the Rafah crossing.
The Rafah crossing is Gaza’s only connection to Egypt. It is the sole route for aid to enter Gaza directly from outside Israel and the only exit that does not lead to Israeli territory.
It has become a focus in the intensifying conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have headed towards southern Gaza after Israel warned them to leave Gaza City and the enclave’s north.
Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Egypt has helped enforce a blockade of the enclave and heavily restricted the flow of people and goods through the crossing. 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 unrelenting bombardment of Gaza in response to the Hamas assault, Egypt has shown no sign so far that its approach will change.
Updated
Israeli military says it 'continues to attack all the time throughout the Gaza Strip'
The Israel Defence Forces has just posted an update to X in which it said it “continues to attack all the time throughout the Gaza Strip”.
“During the last day, the IDF, directed by the Shin Bet, destroyed hundreds of Hamas terrorist infrastructures, dozens of which were attacked in the Sageya neighborhood. The hundreds of terrorist infrastructures that were attacked include anti-tank missile launch sites, tunnel shafts, intelligence infrastructures, operational headquarters and other headquarters,” the IDF said.
It claimed to have killed "“the head of the military wing of the terrorist organisation People’s Resistance Committees in Rafah, Rafat Harev Hossein Abu Halal” as well as “a number of operatives belonging to the Najaba force of Hamas”.
Updated
Egyptian soccer star Mohamed Salah, arguably the most celebrated Arab footballer, called on world leaders to “come together to prevent further slaughter of all innocent souls” and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza.
“There has been too much violence and too much heartbreak and brutality,” the Liverpool striker said in a video that lasted a little under a minute. “The escalations in the recent weeks is unbearable to witness. All lives are sacred and must be protected. The massacres need to stop. Families are being torn apart.”
Aid to Gaza “must be allowed immediately,” he added. “The people there are in terrible conditions.”
They were Salah’s first comments on the Israel-Hamas war, after he was criticized by some Arab fans for his silence.
Officials said Wednesday that some aid will begin flowing into Gaza in the coming days.
The Gaza health ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, and more than 12,000 wounded, mostly women, children and elderly people.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have died, mostly civilians killed during Hamas’ deadly incursion on 7 October.
Arab leaders have told US secretary of state Antony Blinken – who has been crisscrossing the region this past week – that they oppose collective punishment against ordinary Palestinians, which they fear will trigger regional unrest.
The fear among world leaders and diplomats is that the war will spread beyond the confines of Gaza, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and its backer Iran opening major new fronts in support of Hamas.
The Israeli government struck a Syrian military position in the war-torn country’s south, according to a war monitoring NGO
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a vast network of sources in the country, said the sound of explosions could be heard the Golan Heights.
The reported strike on Syria coincided with an announcement by the Israeli army of strikes against “terrorist positions” of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Xi says will work with Egypt to help stabilise Middle East
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Egypt’s prime minister on Thursday that Beijing hoped to work with his country to bring “more stability” to the Middle East, state media reported.
“China is willing to enhance cooperation with Egypt... and inject more certainty and stability into the region and the world,” Xi told Mostafa Madbouli at a meeting in Beijing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“China and Egypt are good friends who share the same goals and trust each other, and good partners who work hand-in-hand for development and common prosperity”, CCTV reported Xi as saying.
“At present, the international and regional situation is undergoing profound and complex changes, and the world is experiencing rapid changes not seen for a century,” Xi added.
Beijing was also willing to work with Cairo to “jointly safeguard international fairness and justice as well as the common interests of developing countries”, he said.
Updated
EU ministers to meet on security
Reuters: The European Union’s migration ministers meet on Thursday to discuss improving security in the bloc after deadly attacks in France and Belgium, as well as worries whether the war between Israel and Hamas would force mass displacement of people.
Some in the 27-nation bloc have already called for tighter borders, more repatriations of foreigners and new deals with African states to keep refugees and migrants from Europe since a Tunisian failed asylum-seeker killed two in Brussels on Monday.
A teacher was slain in northern France last week in an attack President Emmanuel Macron condemned as “Islamist terrorism”.
The killings occurred at a time of heightened security concerns across much of Europe linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
“The implications of the situation in the Middle East for our internal security... are very topical right now,” said an EU diplomat involved in preparing the ministerial talks.
“Both with regard to the situation as it develops in the Middle East and to what we’re seeing happening inside of the EU.”
The ministers are not expected to take any specific decisions but will discuss topics including what particular developments could cause Palestinians to flee in large numbers, or trigger violent acts inside the bloc.
Sunak to meet Netanyahu in Tel Aviv
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected in Israel early on Thursday morning, where he will meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
He is also expected to insist that humanitarian aid, which London recently announced would be increased for the Palestinians, be allowed to arrive at a time when Israel has authorised the entry of aid into Gaza from Egypt, and that Britons stranded in Gaza be allowed to leave.
Alongside the British prime minister’s trip, his Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is due to visit Egypt, Turkey and Qatar “in the coming days”, according to Downing Street.
Gaza aid could start arriving from Friday
20 trucks carrying aid for Gaza will start moving through the Rafah crossing with Egypt Friday at the earliest, White House officials said, because Egypt must first 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. But the White House flagged that 20 trucks will be allowed through.
While the agreement was a breakthrough, the flow of relief will still fall short of the perceived need.
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.
Opening summary
This is the Guardian’s rolling coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict with me, Helen Sullivan.
Aid for Gaza will start moving through the Rafah crossing with Egypt Friday at the earliest, White House officials said, because Egypt must first 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. But the White House flagged that 20 trucks will be allowed through.
Meanwhile British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected in Israel early on Thursday morning, where he will meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
He is also expected to insist that humanitarian aid, which London recently announced would be increased for the Palestinians, be allowed to arrive at a time when Israel has authorised the entry of aid into Gaza from Egypt, and that Britons stranded in Gaza be allowed to leave.
Alongside the British prime minister’s trip, his Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is due to visit Egypt, Turkey and Qatar “in the coming days”, according to Downing Street.
Elsewhere:
The US government released an assessment saying Israel was not responsible for the explosion at a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday that the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said killed hundreds of civilians. 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 was scepticism in the Middle East about the Israeli 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, 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 hospital blast. 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 had 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, activists said, during a protest at the US Capitol that followed an outdoor rally in Washington calling for the US to facilitate a ceasefire. The action was planned by Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, two Jewish-led organisations calling 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. No 10 said the UK prime minister would 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.
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 was in talks with Hamas to secure the release of hostages. Israel said it had identified 199 hostages, while Hamas 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 would provide $100m (£82m) in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, the White House said. Ireland would provide €13m (£11m) in funding for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, its 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.
