A massive explosion at a hospital in Gaza City killed hundreds of people Tuesday, Hamas said, after intensifying bombardments near towns in southern Gaza rattled civilians where Israel had ordered them to take refuge. Hamas attributed the blast to an Israeli airstrike, but the Israeli military said it was not involved and the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.
Hamas' military wing also said an Israeli airstrike on a refuge camp killed a top Hamas commander.
Thousands of people trying to escape Gaza are gathered in Rafah, which has the territory’s only border crossing to Egypt. Mediators are pressing for an agreement to let aid in and refugees with foreign passports out. The U.S. hoped to break a deadlock with President Joe Biden headed to the region, but a planned summit in Jordan was postponed.
Aid workers warned that life in Gaza was near complete collapse because of the Israeli siege that followed a Hamas attack on Israel.
The war that began Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,778 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel.
Currently:
1. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says an Israeli airstrike hit a hospital in Gaza City, killing at least 500 people. Israeli authorities have denied involvement in the explosion and say it was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.
2. U.S. President Joe Biden departed for a visit to Israel on Wednesday. But a planned four-way summit in Jordan has been postponed.
3. A senior Palestinian official said earlier that he would not participate in the now-scrapped talks with Biden, citing the blast at the hospital in Gaza City.
Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
HEZBOLLAH SAYS IT HIT ISRAELI TANK, INFLICTING CASUALTIES
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group says its fighters have hit an Israeli Merkava tank with an anti-tank missile, inflicting casualties among the troops.
The group said the attack early Wednesday targeted an Israeli army position across the border from the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab. The Israeli army said it is checking reports that an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon.
JORDAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS SUMMIT ‘WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO STOP WAR NOW’
AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan canceled a planned summit with President Joe Biden, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II because it “would not be able to stop the war now,” Jordan’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs said.
Ayman Al-Safadi said in a statement on Wednesday that “Jordan will continue to work with everyone so that when this summit is held, it will be able to achieve what is required of it, which is to stop the war, deliver humanitarian support to the people of Gaza, and put an end to this crisis.”
The summit, originally scheduled for later Wednesday, was cancelled after a blast at a Gaza City hospital killed hundreds of people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants.
US STATE DEPARTMENT RAISES TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR LEBANON
WASHINGTON — The State Department has raised the travel advisory for Lebanon, urging people not to travel to the country “due to the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hizballah or other armed militant factions.”
The advisory issued on Tuesday also urged people to reconsider travel to Lebanon “due to terrorism, civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, kidnapping” and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens. The State Department authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of U.S. government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut due to the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.
The advisory was hiked to Level 4, “Do not travel” — the highest level — from Level 3, “Reconsider travel.”
US TREASURY OFFICIAL WARNS OVER HAMAS FUNDING
WASHINGTON — A Treasury official said the U.S. IS renewing plans to pursue Hamas funding streams and called on allies and the private sector to do the same or “be prepared to suffer the consequences.”
“We cannot, and we will not, tolerate money flowing through the international system for Hamas’ terrorist activity,” said Brian Nelson, under secretary for terrorism and illicit finance, at an anti-money laundering conference.
“Treasury will bring our tools to bear against Hamas’ financing and the overall funding of terrorism,” he said.
WESTERN INTELLIGENCE LEADERS WARY OF POTENTIAL FALLOUT IN THEIR COUNTRIES
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Leaders of Western intelligence services said they are attuned to the potential fallout in their home countries of the deadly attacks by Hamas on Israel.
Representatives from intelligence agencies from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia — a coalition known as the “Five Eyes” — convened in California to discuss Chinese economic espionage. But the meeting unfolded against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency is working with local law enforcement to address threats of violence against both the Jewish and Muslim communities. It is also working through its legal attache office in Tel Aviv, Israel, to locate and identify Americans who remain unaccounted for after the Oct. 7 attacks.
David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said events like the Hamas attack lead to “soul searching” about “what we know, what we knew, what we can do in our own countries” to protect against similar violence.
ARAB COUNTRIES AT UN DEMAND IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE
UNITED NATIONS — The 22 Arab countries at the United Nations joined in demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza following the devastating explosion and fire at a Gaza City hospital.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, said Arab Group members are “outraged by this massacre” and also united in demanding the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid and preventing “forcible displacement” of Palestinians.
Mansour said that after the “massacre,” the highest objective is a cease-fire because “saving lives is the most important thing.”
Also Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified” at the deaths and “hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law.”
The Security Council scheduled a Wednesday vote on a draft resolution that currently condemns “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas” against Israel and all violence against civilians. It also calls for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver desperately needed aid to millions in Gaza.
BIDEN ‘OUTRAGED AND DEEPLY SADDENED’ BY GAZA CITY HOSPITAL BLAST
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden said he is “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted.”
Biden said he spoke “immediately” after hearing the news with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and “directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened.”
“The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy,” Biden said in a statement issued after he departed for the Middle East.
He is to visit Israel on Wednesday, but a meeting with Arab leaders in Jordan has been postponed following the destruction at the hospital.
ISLAMIC JIHAD GROUP DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOSPITAL BLAST
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group denied Israel's claim that it was behind the deadly blast at Al-Ahli hospital. It accused Israel of “trying hard to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.”
“The accusations promoted by the enemy are baseless,” Islamic Jihad said, adding that the group “does not use places of worship or public facilities, especially hospitals, as military centers or weapons stores.”
The group said details such as “the angle of the bomb’s fall and the extent of destruction it left behind” confirm it was similar to Israeli strikes.
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, also denied Israel's claim, calling it “lies.”
4-WAY SUMMIT IN JORDAN OF BIDEN AND OTHER LEADERS CANCELED
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan has called off a four-way summit scheduled for Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders, the country’s foreign minister told state-run television.
Ayman Safadi told al-Mamlaka TV that the war between Israel and Hamas was “pushing the region to the brink” and the summit would be postponed.
After visiting Israel Wednesday, Biden had planned to travel to Amman for the meeting.
The White House said Biden had hoped to use the summit to discuss the bloody Oct. 7 Hamas militant attack on Israel with the United States' Arab allies and the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank.
GRIEF, CONDEMNATION AFTER HUNDREDS KILLED AT GAZA HOSPITAL
JERUSALEM — Expressions of condemnation and grief are pouring in after hundreds of people were killed in an explosion at a Gaza City hospital that Hamas attributed to an Israeli airstrike but the Israeli military said was caused by a misfired militant rocket.
Countries such as Syria and Saudi Arabia blamed Israel for the blast, with Libya’s Foreign Ministry accusing Israel of “war crimes and genocide” in the Gaza Strip. Iraq declared three days of mourning, and there were protests there and in Lebanon.
Egypt’s President, Abdul-Fattah el-Sissi, condemned what he called Israel’s “deliberate bombing” of Ahli Arab hospital and “a clear violation of international law ... and humanity.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that his country condemns “the attack on the Al-Ahli Arabi hospital” and there's no justification for targeting a hospital or civilians.
Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization representative for the West Bank and Gaza, expressed “our deepest grief at the horror that has unfolded,” calling it “unprecedented even in a region that has seen consistent attacks on healthcare.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that it was “shocked and horrified by reports that Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza was destroyed.”
The United Arab Emirates and Russia called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.
ISRAEL DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN BOMBING OF GAZA CITY HOSPITAL
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it had no involvement in an explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital and that the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says an Israeli airstrike caused the blast, which killed some 500 people, many of whom had sought shelter from an ongoing Israeli offensive.
The Israeli military, however, said Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital.
“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch,” it said.
Islamic Jihad is a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas in their shared struggle against Israel.
VIDEOS AND PHOTOS CAPTURE SCENE AT GAZA CITY HOSPITALS
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A chaotic scene unfolded at Al Shifa hospital Tuesday night as Palestinians injured in a blast at another hospital in Gaza City arrived for treatment.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed at least 500 people at al-Ahli Hospital. Israeli authorities denied involvement, saying the explosion was caused by a militant rocket.
Photos purportedly taken at al-Ahli Hospital shared widely on social media showed fire engulfing the building, with bodies scattered among the wreckage. Those photos could not be independently verified.
Footage captured by The Associated Press showed ambulances and private cars converging on Al Shifa hospital, where medics and others rushed the injured inside on stretchers and a wheelchair.
One person had a bloody stump where their left leg was missing. Four men carried a body bag to a civil defense vehicle.
Inside Al Shifa, the wounded were laid out on bloody floors, screaming in pain, as shouting people surrounded them. Some of the injured were not moving. Workers in scrubs ran outside and sirens wailed as more Red Crescent ambulances arrived.
PALESTINIAN OFFICIAL DROPS OUT OF BIDEN MEETING CITING HOSPITAL AIRSTRIKE
RAMALLAH, West Bank — A senior Palestinian official says President Mahmoud Abbas has canceled his participation in a meeting scheduled Wednesday with President Joe Biden and other Mideast leaders.
Abbas was scheduled to join Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at Wednesday’s summit in Amman, Jordan, where they are to discuss the Israel-Hamas war with Biden.
But the senior official said Abbas was withdrawing to protest an alleged Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza that health officials say has killed over 500 people.
“The president is very angry after the news of the Israeli massacre at the hospital in Gaza, and he decided to immediately return to Ramallah,” the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the cancelation has not been formally announced.
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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
RESIDENTS LINE UP TO COLLECT SCANT WATER SUPPLIES IN GAZA
NUSAIRAT, Gaza Strip — Palestinians desperate for water lined up to fill bottles and large jugs Tuesday at a desalination plant in Gaza.
Children and men took turns using a hose in Nusairat to fill containers that they hauled away using bicycles, a wheelchair and a cart pulled by a donkey.
Ismael Al-Hafi said people are rationing the water they can find and wait two or three days to clean themselves.
“Gaza is in complete collapse,” Al-Hafi said. “There is no solar to operate the desalination plants. This means that you have to struggle to fill two gallons of water. This is suffering.”
HAMAS SAYS HUNDREDS KILLED IN ISRAELI ATTACK ON GAZA CITY HOSPITAL
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip says at least 500 people have been killed in an explosion that it says was caused by an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City Hospital.
If confirmed, it would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008.
Israel's military later denied responsibility, saying the militant group Islamic Jihad was to blame.
Hamas authorities said most of the people killed were hospital patients and displaced families.
“A new war crime committed by the (Israeli) occupation by bombing the Al-Ahli Hospital in the center of Gaza City,” said Salama Marouf, a spokesperson for Hamas. ” The hospital was housing hundreds of patients, wounded, and those forcibly displaced from their homes due to the strikes.”
