Biden departs for Israel as Gaza hospital hit by airstrike
President Joe Biden is travelling to Israel for a high-stakes wartime visit amid the country’s escalating war with Hamas.
The president will touch down in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning where he is expected to ask “tough questions” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after hundreds of civilians died in an explosion at a hospital in Gaza.
“He’ll be asking some tough questions. He’ll be asking them as a friend – as a true friend of Israel. But he will be asking some questions of them,” John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, told reporters on Air Force One.
Israel has blamed the Palestinian Islamic Jihad for the hospital attack. The PIJ has denied involvement while Hamas has blamed Israel.
Following the incident, Mr Biden’s Middle East summit in Amman, Jordan, was cancelled with both King Abdullah and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority pulling out.
During his visit to Israel, Mr Biden will “reaffirm [US] solidarity with Israel” while condemning Hamas and addressing the “humanitarian needs of all citizens in Gaza”, Mr Kirby said.
He is first expected to hold meetings with Mr Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and meet families of some of the hostages.
Live: Biden arrives in Israel to meet Netanyahu as IDF denies it is behind Gaza hospital strike
Tom Watling18 October 2023 08:22
Israel denies hospital strike and claims it has evidence Islamic Jihads fired rockets
Israel denies hospital strike and claims it has evidence Islamic Jihads fired rockets
Tom Watling18 October 2023 08:15
Israel military says no evidence of direct hit on Gaza hospital
Israel‘s military has said it has seen no evidence of a direct hit on a hospital in the Gaza Strip the day before, where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in an explosion.
A military spokesperson told journalists that there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital and no craters consistent with an air strike.
The spokesperson accused Hamas of inflating the number of casualties from the explosion and said it could not know as quickly as it claimed what caused the blast.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, blamed the deadly blast on Israel. Israel says it was a result of a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in the enclave. The spokesperson added that some 450 rockets fired from Gaza have fallen short and landed inside the strip in the last 11 days.
Tom Watling18 October 2023 08:07
Responsibility for hospital attack not clear, says UK minister
Tory minister Andrew Griffith said it remains unclear who was behind the “devastating” blast at a hospital in Gaza City.
The Treasury minister told Times Radio: “I’m not going to speculate or try and attribute. I don’t think any of us know at this particular point in time. We’ll work with allies to try and work out what happened.”
Tom Watling18 October 2023 07:58
Protests erupt in Lebanon following hospital explosion in Gaza
Protests have erupted in the capital of Lebanon following a deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza.
The unrest took place outside the US embassies, who issued a travel warning in the region overnight.
Lebanese protesters react to a hospital explosion in Gaza
(AP)
Tom Watling18 October 2023 07:55
German chancellor calls for investigation into hospital explosion
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is “horrified” by the explosion that killed hundreds of people overnight and called for an “imperative investigation”.
Speaking about the explosion at Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City, he said: “I am horrified by the images of the explosion in a hospital in Gaza. Innocent civilians were injured and killed. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims. A thorough investigation of the incident is imperative.”
Tom Watling18 October 2023 07:44
Conflict in Gaza could inspire terrorist acts in the UK, says head of MI5
The conflict in Gaza could inspire terrorist acts in the UK, the head of MI5 Ken McCallum has said.
The intelligence chief told reporters: “There clearly is the possibility that profound events in the Middle East will either generate more volume of UK threat and/or changes in shape in terms of what is being targeted, in terms of how people are taking inspiration.
“Terrorists can draw inspiration not just from things they see happening inside the UK but things they see happening in the Middle East or on the continent or elsewhere. So we would be silly not to be paying very close attention, and we are.”
You can read the full story below.
Tom Watling18 October 2023 07:34
Top UN official says fate of entire Middle East ‘hangs in the balance’
The United Nations has called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East to “ease the epic human suffering”.
Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the UN, said in a post on Wednesday morning that the destruction wrought on human life was proving catastrophic and that humanitarian aid into Gaza was essential.
“I call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East to ease the epic human suffering,” he wrote on X. “Too many lives – and the fate of the entire region – hang in the balance.”
He earlier wrote, following an explosion in Gaza City: “I am horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza today, which I strongly condemn.
“My heart is with the families of the victims. Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law.”
Tom Watling18 October 2023 07:31
UK will ‘work to find out what happened’ in Gaza hospital blast, says Cleverly
Foreign secretary James Cleverly has said the UK and its allies will investigate the “devastating” destruction of a hospital in Gaza City.
At least 500 people have been killed after a huge blast struck the building, according to the Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas.
“The UK will work with our allies to find out what has happened and protect innocent civilians in Gaza,” he wrote.
Tom Watling18 October 2023 07:25
Below are some photos of the aftermath of an overnight explosion in Gaza
Below are some photos from the aftermath of an explosion at the Al Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, in the north of the Strip.
Israel have blamed a misfired rocket by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who have denied involvement; Hamas have blamed an Israeli airstrike.
Wounded Palestinians pictured at the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
The aftermath of an explosion that allegedly took place in the car park of Al Ahli Arabi Hospital
(Mohammed al Masri/Reuters )
Tom Watling18 October 2023 07:23