LAST UPDATE | 17 Oct 2023
HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE are feared dead in Gaza after the Palestinian Ministry of Health this evening reported that an Israeli airstrike has killed at least 500 people.
The Israel Defense Forces, however, said this evening that they believe the Islamic Jihad militant group is responsible for the hospital attack.
It was also reported earlier that US President Joe Biden would travel to Israel and Jordan tomorrow.
He was due to discuss humanitarian aid with Arab leaders in Jordan after meeting with officials in Israel. However, the summit in Jordan has been cancelled and Biden will only visit Israel.
Reporting by Hayley Halpin, Eimer McAuley, Jane Moore, Órla Ryan and Lauren Boland
Israeli air strikes continued to pound Gaza early this morning, even inside an evacuation zone where Israel had told residents to gather in advance of an expected ground offensive.
Israel appears set to mount a major assault on the northern part of the territory aimed at rooting out Hamas.
The Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,778 people and wounded 9,700 others in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there.
The strikes have not stopped Hamas militants from continuing to attack Israel with rockets launched from Gaza.
At the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, truckloads of aid are waiting to go into the densely populated territory, while trapped civilians are hoping desperately to get out.
More than one million Palestinians have fled their homes and 60% are now in the approximately eight-mile area south of the evacuation zone, according to the UN.
Aid workers have warned that the territory is near complete collapse, with ever-decreasing supplies of water and medicine and with power running out at hospitals.
Mediators are trying to reach a ceasefire to open the border, which was shut down last week after Israeli air strikes.
An agreement appeared to have been reached on yesterday but Israel denies reports of a ceasefire in Rafah, which would be needed to open the gates. As of this morning, they are still closed.
It is believed there are around 40 Irish citizens in Gaza in need of evacuation.
The US has announced plans for President Biden to travel to Israel and Jordan tomorrow.
In the latter country, he’ll be discussing humanitarian aid with Arab leaders after meeting with officials in Israel.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced Biden would go to Jordan to meet King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“We’ve been crystal clear about the need for humanitarian aid to be able to continue to flow into Gaza,” Kirby said.
“That has been a consistent call by President Biden and certainly by this entire administration.”
Israeli troops have killed four militants attempting to infiltrate from Lebanon, according to the Israeli army.
“Observation troops spotted a terrorist squad attempting to infiltrate the security fence with Lebanon and plant an explosive device,” the army said in a statement.
Earlier, the military said it had targeted Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group with overnight air strikes on southern Lebanon.
Since 7 October, clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border have left more than 10 people dead on the Lebanese side.
Most of the dead have been combatants, but they also include a Reuters journalist and two civilians.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has spoken with the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees and the foreign affairs minister of Iran.
I also spoke to Iranian FM @Amirabdolahian. I emphasised Ireland’s horror at Hamas attacks in Israel, the vital need for unconditional release of hostages & the urgency of regional de-escalation. @IRIMFA_EN
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 17, 2023
The UN’s World Food Programme said the situation in the Gaza Strip is worsening by the minute, with only four or five days of food stocks left in the shops.
“Inside the shops, the stocks are getting close to less than a few days, maybe four or five days of food stocks left,” WFP’s Middle East spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told reporters.
Minister of State for European Affairs Peter Burke was on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland programme this morning ahead of a video conference today among members of the EU Council.
There’s been some division among EU member states’ response to the conflict — with some MEPs, including from Ireland, unhappy with EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressing strong support for Israel.
“Europe is a very broad church. I think we have to acknowledge that there are 27 member states and each have their very unique perspective that it brings to the table, a history over generations,” Burke said this morning.
“Obviously, Ireland is a key voice in that room trying to ensure de-escalation,” he said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued remarks today on the conflict, voicing his highly critical position on Israel.
Iran has been in close contact with its regional allies, including Hezbollah and pro-Tehran Iraqi militias, since Hamas attacked Israel.
“If the crimes of the Zionist regime continue, Muslims and resistance forces will become impatient, and no one can stop them,” Khamenei said today.
“No matter what the Zionist regime does, it cannot make up for the scandalous failure it suffered,” he said.
Yesterday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke of possible “pre-emptive action” against Israel by the “resistance front”.
Tehran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas militants, celebrated the Hamas assault but insisted it was not involved.
Intense talks are ongoing to try to free Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.
“I want to be very cautious here… so as not to endanger the intense talks we are currently conducting,” Macron told reporters in the Albanian capital Tirana.
“But they are progressing and we are following these talks hour by hour.”
Earlier, the mother of French-Israeli woman Mia Shem, one of the hostages, called on world leaders to secure the hostages’ freedom.
“I ask world leaders that my daughter be returned to us in the state that she is today, as well as the other hostages,” Keren Shem told a press conference in Tel Aviv.
Turkey is also in contact with Hamas regarding the hostages.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters that his country had been in touch with Hamas following requests from several governments.
“So far, we have received requests from various countries for the release of their citizens,” he told a news conference in Beirut alongside his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib.
“As a result, we started to discuss these issues, especially with the political wing of Hamas.”
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell today said that US President Joe Biden’s planned visit to Israel after the Hamas attacks is “absolutely necessary”.
Biden is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow amid frantic diplomatic efforts to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza after waves of Israeli retaliatory air strikes on the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Israel has also lined up forces on the Gazan border ahead of an expected ground incursion.
“President Biden’s visit…is absolutely necessary,” Borrell told a news conference in Rota in southern Spain where EU member states are holding joint military exercises, AFP reports.
“We have called on Israel to conduct its defence activities in accordance with international law, for humanitarian corridors to be opened to bring aid to Gaza and for civilians to be protected. I am sure that this will also be the message that the president of the United States will convey,” he added.
A British teenager who went missing after Hamas’s attack on southern Israel was murdered, her family have told BBC News.
British teenager, 13, who was missing with her 16-year-old sister after Hamas attack, has been murdered, family say https://t.co/nHIeRC2HsO
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 17, 2023
Yahel (13) disappeared after militants attacked Kibbutz Be’eri and killed her British-born mother Lianne.
Family members have now confirmed that Yahel was also killed. Her sister Noiya (16) and Israeli father Eli are still missing.
In a statement to BBC News, they said: “Beautiful Yahel. A bundle of unbridled energy and joy, with a cheekiness that you could not help but smile at and a brain which was sharp as a tack.
“Full of adventure and mischief, we will forever miss her, but are grateful for the light she brought into our lives in the too short time she was with us.”
Speaking outside Leinster House in the last hour, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.
He also called on Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to resign over her response to the war.
Boyd Barrett is the latest in a line of politicians to criticise von der Leyen’s public support for Israel.
Press LIVE: Stop Gaza Genocide | Cap Mortgage Interest rate | Health Budget https://t.co/2BbtRZUAEB
— People Before Profit (@pb4p) October 17, 2023
“Ursula von der Leyen should resign. She has publicly given unconditional support to the State of Israel at exactly the same time that it has publicly declared its intention to commit war crimes.
“The ethnic cleansing of a million Palestinians is, under international law, a war crime. To transfer populations when you’re occupying people, is a war crime. So, in fact, what Israel is perpetrating now is a second Nakba,” Boyd Barrett said.
The Nakba refers to the destruction of the Palestinian homeland in 1948, an event that resulted in the displacement of around 700,000 Palestinians and the deaths of some 15,000 people.
Boyd Barrett said the Irish government should immediately call for Israel’s referral to the International Criminal Court for war crimes, but noted that Israel is not one of the court’s 123 member states.
He also called on the government to expel the Israeli ambassador “as part of imposing sanctions on Israel”.
The US military has put 2,000 troops on deployment alert, the Pentagon said today, in response to the escalating conflict.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin placed the personnel and a range of units “on a heightened state of readiness through a prepare-to-deploy order”, the Pentagon said in a statement, to be able “to respond quickly to the evolving security environment in the Middle East”.
When asked what the Irish Labour Party has made of the UK Labour Party’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, TD Duncan Smith told reporters: “We don’t take our lead from the British Labour Party.”
When asked what the Irish Labour Party has made of the UK Labour Party’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, Duncan Smith said he hasn’t been “100% across what Keir Starmer has said in the last couple of days”.
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) October 17, 2023
He added: “We don’t take our lead from the British Labour Party”. pic.twitter.com/voGbQeYK0X
Israel has bombed areas of southern Gaza where it told Palestinians to flee ahead of an expected invasion, killing dozens of people, PA News reports.
Violence along Israel’s border with Lebanon has also led to concerns over a widening regional conflict that diplomats have been working to prevent.
In Gaza, people wounded in the air strikes were rushed to hospital after heavy attacks outside the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, residents reported.
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official and former health minister, said 27 people were killed in Rafah and 30 in Khan Younis.
An Associated Press reporter saw around 50 bodies brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Family members came to claim the bodies, wrapped in white bed sheets, some soaked in blood.
An air strike in Deir al Balah reduced a house to rubble, killing nine members of the family living there.
Three members of another family that had evacuated from Gaza City were killed in a neighbouring home. The dead included one man and 11 women and children. Witnesses said there was no warning before the strike.
The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas hideouts, infrastructure and command centres.
“When we see a target, when we see something moving that is Hamas, we’ll take care of it. We’ll handle it,” Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said.
The United Nations has warned Israel against the “forcible transfer of civilians” in the Gaza Strip, which could be in breach of international law.
The UN human rights office said that a legal temporary evacuation of civilians came with obligations on Israel, which, it said, Israel appears to have made no attempt to fulfil.
“We have grave fears about the toll on civilians in the coming days. Military operations show no signs of abating,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing.
“International law requires that any lawful temporary evacuation by Israel, as the occupying power, of an area on the basis of the security of the population or imperative military reasons must be accompanied by the provision of proper accommodation for all evacuees, undertaken under satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and nutrition,” she said.
“There appears to have been no attempt by Israel to ensure this for the 1.1 million civilians ordered to move.
“We are concerned that this order combined with the imposition of a ‘complete siege’ on Gaza may not be considered as lawful temporary evacuation and would therefore amount to a forcible transfer of civilians –in breach of international law.”
We have some more details now on the US’ move to put 2,000 troops on deployment alert.
US media has reported that if the troops were deployed to the Middle East, they would cover support roles, such as medical assistance and handling explosives.
However, “no decisions have been made to deploy any forces at this time”, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The US has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the region “to deter hostile actions against Israel”.
If you’ve been following us since this morning, you’ll remember the comments made today by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the conflict.
(In case not, here’s a recap: he said that “if the crimes of the Zionist regime continue, Muslims and resistance forces will become impatient, and no one can stop them”.)
However, a senior White House official has said the US has not seen any signs of a deepening engagement by Iran in the Israel-Hamas war.
Asked whether US authorities have noticed that Iran was engaging in the conflict in new ways, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on CNN, “Outside of the rhetoric…, no we haven’t.”
Several MEPs, including Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews, have signed an open letter calling for the resignation of Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.
“On October 9th, Olivér Várhelyi suddenly announced on X the immediate suspension of the disbursement of the European development funds dedicated to Palestine, in reaction to the horrific attacks of Hamas on Israeli civilians on October 7th,” an open letter to the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, states.
“Commissioner Várhelyi had no authority to unilaterally decide this, nor to officially communicate this on his social media accounts without this decision being taken with due process,” the letter argues.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told his Cabinet that Hamas was responsible for the “murder and suspected abduction of British nationals”, Downing Street has said.
Asked if it is believed that some of the ten missing British citizens may have been kidnapped, Sunak’s official spokesman said: “It’s a dynamic situation.
“I think sadly the full details of this attack are still becoming clear.”
Downing Street has also urged Israel to allow water into Gaza, while refusing to say whether it believes the tactic to shut off the supply was in line with international law.
“We continue to urge Israel as a democracy we work closely with to act within international law in their actions, I think they are taking steps to do that,” the official spokesman said.
“We are in discussions and are keen to see water restored to the area.
“We want to do everything possible to relieve the unfolding humanitarian issues in Gaza. Water is an important part of that.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that he told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen that he thought some of her statements “lacked balance”.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions this afternoon, he said: “I’ve said that to her and I have no difficulty saying that.
“I do think statements that she’s made more recently were more balanced, specifically talking about the tripling of EU humanitarian aid for Gaza and also the attempts that we’re making at the moment to organise a UN Humanitarian Air Bridge from Gaza through Egypt,” he said.
Soc Dems leader Holly Cairns says von der Leyen stood with the Israeli prime minister and offered him the EU's unqualified and unconditional support.
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) October 17, 2023
She says Varadkar needs to make it clear that von der Leyen does not speak for Ireland. She pleads with him to use his voice.
He was responding to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns, who said von der Leyen’s failure to “unequivocally condemn Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinian people has undermined the EU’s response to this crisis”.
“Given von der Leyen has no authority to override member states’ foreign policy positions, her comments also amounted to a serious overreach of her authority,” she said.
It comes after People Before Profit called on the European Commission president to resign over her actions in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
The mother of a French-Israeli woman who was taken hostage by Hamas, and was shown in a video clip released by the militant group, has appealed for her immediate release.
Yesterday, Hamas’s military wing released a video showing a dazed Mia Schem (21) with her arm covered in bandages.
It was the first sign of life from any of the hostages since Gaza-based gunmen smashed through border fortifications on 7 October and killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.
“I didn’t know if she’s dead or alive until yesterday,” her mother, Keren Schem, said at a news conference.
AFP is reporting that Hamas has said that one of the top leaders of its armed wing has been killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip today.
“Ayman Nofal, ‘Abu Ahmad’, a member of the general military council and commander of the central command in Al-Qassam Brigades, was killed” in an Israeli strike on the central Gaza Strip, Hamas said in a statement, referring to its military wing.
The Israeli military did not immediately confirm the killing when contacted by AFP.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that his visit to Israel today is “a visit to friends”.
In a statement shared in Hebrew on X, formerly Twitter, Scholz confirmed that he would also be travelling to Egypt to meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“The issue is the protection of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and prevention of conflagration in the area,” he said.
הביקור שלי בישראל הוא ביקור אצל חברים. גרמניה עומדת איתן לצדה של ישראל.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) October 17, 2023
לאחר מכן אטוס למצרים לפגוש את הנשיא א-סיסי. הנושא הוא ההגנה על האוכלוסייה האזרחית ברצועת עזה ומניעת התלקחות באזור.
Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin has said that the decision by the Israeli military to tell the entire civilian population in the north of the Gaza Strip to move southward for their own safety “was unrealistic, unworkable and deeply dangerous”.
In his opening remarks to the Oireachtas Joint Committee of Foreign Affairs and Defence this afternoon, he said the rules of war exist “to help preserve humanity in its darkest moments, and they desperately need to be followed today”.
“They are, and should remain, our compass to ensure that we put humanity first. The rules are clear and they apply to all sides, in all conflicts, everywhere; to state and non-state armed groups alike.”
Martin said we are now seeing the “terrible humanitarian consequences” of Israel’s decision to tell civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate.
He said there is an “urgent need” for humanitarian corridors to be established to deliver assistance to Palestinian civilians and said the Government is in ongoing contact with the United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross and regional partners on this issue.
He also said that voices of moderation “have been drowned out for far, far too long”.
“That does not mean that Israel should abandon its right to self-defence. No one, of any political background, can be in any doubt now as to who Hamas are, what they are capable of, and what their objectives are. Nothing justifies what we witnessed on 7 October,” he continued.
None of that means though that we should abandon rationality and reason in our response. And as outside observers, who care deeply about this situation, the only responsible way forward is to support a future in which people do not utilise political violence to achieve their aims.
“This is the foundation upon which peace is built. We can argue over the best ways in which we can achieve this, but we should be clear that this is our aim.”
The Palestinian health ministry has said that around 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October.
In an update, the ministry said that over 12,500 people have been injured.
It said that 61 people have been killed in the West Bank, with over 1,250 injured.
Palestinian militant group Hamas has said one of the top leaders of its armed wing was killed during an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip.
“Ayman Nofal, ‘Abu Ahmad’, a member of the general military council and commander of the central command in Al-Qassam Brigades, was killed” in an Israeli strike on the central Gaza Strip, Hamas said in a statement, referring to its military wing.
Confirming his killing, the Israeli military described Nofal as “one of the most dominant figures” in Hamas.
An army statement described Nofal as the group’s former head of military intelligence, who has been involved in manufacturing weapons and directing rockets fired at Israel.
Nofal was also “involved in planning the abduction of Gilad Shalit”, a soldier released in 2011 after being held for more than five years, the army said.
Earlier today, the military said it had killed another top Hamas militant — Osama Mazini — an announcement which the group is yet to comment on.
Israel had earlier announced the deaths of other Hamas commanders or officials since its bombing of Gaza targets began.
Hamas separately reported Israeli forces targeted a Gaza City home belonging to the family of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar.
The property belongs to Haniyeh’s brother, a Gaza security source told AFP.
More on the news of the US’ move to put 2,000 troops on deployment alert.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said preparing the troops for deployment “is really about sending a signal of deterrence”.
“We don’t want to see this conflict escalate and widen,” Kirby said on CNN.
“There are no plans or intentions to put US boots on the ground in combat in Israel.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for broad international support in the country’s war against Gaza rulers Hamas after the militant group’s deadly attack on Israel.
“The world must stand united behind Israel to defeat Hamas,” Netanyahu said alongside visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The German leader is one of a slew of top politicians to have visited Israel since Hamas militants from Gaza attacked the country on 7 October.
“The savagery that we witnessed perpetrated by the Hamas murderers coming out of Gaza were the worst crimes committed against Jews since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said, referring to the extermination of more than six million Jews by the Nazis.
Unesco, the UN’s cultural agency, has said the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October has led to intense fighting and the “deadliest week for journalists in any recent conflict”.
It said it has confirmed the deaths of nine journalists in the line of duty since 7 October in Gaza and on the Israeli-Lebanese border, warning the toll could rise further.
“This is a dramatic toll. Never in a recent conflict has the profession had to pay such a heavy price in such a short space of time,” Unesco director-general Audrey Azoulay said.
“I call on regional and international actors to take immediate action to ensure that international law is respected,” Azoulay said.
“Journalists should never, under any circumstances, be targeted. And it is the responsibility of all actors to ensure that they can continue to exercise their profession safely and independently.”
Middle East Crisis: UNESCO deplores the deadliest week for journalists in any recent conflict. Since 7 October, UNESCO has already confirmed the deaths of 9 journalists in the line of duty during the Hamas terrorist attack & the Israeli military response.https://t.co/XXGnO7IVRX pic.twitter.com/OOOv4WaPhd
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 (@UNESCO) October 17, 2023
At least six people have been killed this afternoon after school run by the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in Gaza’s Al-Maghazi refugee camp was hit during Israeli air strikes, the agency has said.
Dozens of people have been injured, including UNRWA staff, and severe structural damage was caused to the school, it said.
“This is outrageous and it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians. No place is safe in Gaza anymore, not even UNRWA facilities,” the agency said.
🛑 At least 6 people were killed this afternoon when an @UNRWA school was hit in al-Maghazi refugee camp.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 17, 2023
This is outrageous & it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians.
No place is safe in📍#Gaza anymore, not even @UN facilities.
⬇️https://t.co/9yh38bCqvk
On The Explainer podcast this week, The Journal‘s News Correspondent Niall O’Connor speaks on what is likely to happen during an Israeli military ground offensive in Gaza?
How did we get to this point? What tactics are at play? What’s happening currently? And what might be the fall out of this?
The Explainer / SoundCloud
We reported earlier that the Israeli army said its troops killed at least four militants attempting to breach the border from Lebanon today.
Here’s the latest on that from AFP…
“Observation troops spotted a terrorist squad attempting to infiltrate the security fence with Lebanon and plant an explosive device,” the army said in a statement earlier, adding “four terrorists were killed”.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah said five of its fighters had been killed “performing jihad”. It was not clear if these were the same ones who Israel had accused of trying to infiltrate the border.
Later, the army said anti-tank missiles targeted Israeli forces in two locations, with Israeli tanks and artillery retaliating against the “origins of the fire” and Hezbollah military posts.
Shots “fired from a light weapon” at several Israeli military positions near Lebanon wounded two Israeli military reservists and a civilian, it added.
Later in the day, air raid sirens sounded in the border town of Kiryat Shmona, which is nearly empty as many of the residents have fled to seek safer accommodation.
The army said “two rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Israeli territory”, with one “successfully intercepted” and the other hitting an open area.
Hezbollah said it had struck several Israeli military points, some with guided missiles, and targeted an Israeli army vehicle and a tank.
The military said it had targeted Hezbollah with overnight air strikes on southern Lebanon.
At least 500 people have been killed in an airstrike on a hospital complex in the Gaza strip, the Health ministry there has said.
The strikes reportedly hit the yard of the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza.
“Hundreds of victims are still under the rubble,” the health ministry said.
THE HEAD OF the Palestinian mission to the UK, Huslam Zomlot, has called the reported airstrike on a hospital in Gaza “a massacre”.
“There were hundreds of medical staff, patients and civilians taking refuge under Church protection. What and how long will it take to stop these atrocious war crimes?,” he said in a tweet.
A massacre: hundreds are killed in an Israeli strike on the Episcopal (Anglican) Church hospital (Al Ahli Arab Hospital) in #Gaza, there were hundreds of medical staff, patients and civilians taking refuge under Church protection. What and how long will it take to stop these… pic.twitter.com/oc3wSHwRTO
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) October 17, 2023
THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas declared an official period of three days of mourning will commence across Palestine, for “the victims of the Israeli brutal airstrike on al-Ahli hospital in Gaza”.
The President has also ordered that flags be flown at half-mast in mourning “for the victims of the Israeli aggression”.
His stated was reported by the WAFA information agency.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military has said that the reported airstrike on a hospital complex in Gaza is under review.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a televised press briefing: “We will look into it… the strike happened just a short while ago.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry released a statement this evening which said that at least 500 people have been killed in an airstrike on a hospital in central Gaza.
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has condemned Israel after it was reported that an airstrike on a hospital in central Gaza has killed at least 500 people this evening.
“Hitting a hospital containing women, children and innocent civilians is the latest example of Israel’s attacks devoid of the most basic human values.
“I invite all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza,” Erdogan said.
Hundreds of Palestinians have marched through central Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, protesting president Mahmud Abbas shortly after the strike on a Gaza hospital killed hundreds.
“The people want the fall of the president,” protesters chanted, referring to Abbas, an AFP journalist reported, apparently over his conciliatory tone since war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began earlier this month.
The Authority has partial administrative control in the Israel-occupied West Bank.
Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has posted on X, saying:
“As long as Hamas does not release the hostages in its hands – the only thing that needs to enter Gaza are hundreds of tons of explosives from the Air Force, not an ounce of humanitarian aid.”
כל עוד חמאס לא משחרר את החטופים שבידיו - הדבר היחיד שצריך להיכנס לעזה הם מאות טונות חומר נפץ של חיל האוויר, לא גרם של סיוע הומינטרי.
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) October 17, 2023
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has spoken on the news of the strike on the hospital in Gaza.
“I’ve heard some initial reports of a strike on a hospital in Gaza, very worrying reports, very concerning reports. We don’t have the full information yet, but I think it emphasises very much our view that civilian infrastructure should not be targeted,” Varadkar told reporters this evening.
“There is evidence that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure as a cover for its operations but that doesn’t justify operations that may cause the deaths of hundreds of civilians.”
Leo Varadkar has repeated his insistence that civilian infrastructure must not be targeted in Gaza, after reports that Israeli air strikes on a Gaza hospital compound sheltering displaced people have killed at least 300 | Read more: https://t.co/JPYeys7ytu pic.twitter.com/f4aUy8hGAJ
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 17, 2023
The World Health Organization has condemned the deadly strike on the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
It has demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health care in the Palestinian enclave.
“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital”, the UN health agency’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“Early reports indicate hundreds of deaths and injuries. We call for the immediate protection of civilians and health care, and for the evacuation order to be reversed.”
.@WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in north Gaza.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 17, 2023
Early reports indicate hundreds of deaths and injuries.
We call for the immediate protection of civilians and health care, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed.#NotATarget
In a statement, the WHO said the hospital was operational, with patients, health and care givers, and internally displaced people sheltering there.
The WHO said the hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
“The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity and alternative shelter for those displaced,” the WHO said.
The US earlier announced plans for US President Joe Biden to travel to Israel and Jordan tomorrow.
Biden had been scheduled to go to Jordan to meet King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
However, in protest at the reported strike on the hospital, President Abbas has cancelled his participation in the meeting scheduled with Biden and other Middle East leaders.
BREAKING: The Israeli military has denied involvement in the Gaza hospital blast, saying the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket, PA News reports.
The Israel Defense Forces has said this evening that they believe the Islamic Jihad militant group is responsible for the hospital attack.
“An analysis of IDF (army) operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” the military said in a statement.
“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” the statement said, referring to another Gaza-based militant group which has claimed to be fighting Israel alongside Hamas.
Following an analysis by the IDF's operational systems, a barrage of rockets was launched toward Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 17, 2023
According to intelligence information from a number of sources we have, Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is… pic.twitter.com/QZsanPaFEc
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said it is “horrified by the recent bombing of Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which was treating patients and hosting displaced Gazans”.
“Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed. This is a massacre. It is absolutely unacceptable,” it said.
Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah, MSF doctor in Gaza, said: ”We were operating in the hospital, there was a strong explosion, and the ceiling fell on the operating room. This is a massacre.
“Nothing justifies this shocking attack on a hospital and its many patients and health workers, as well as the people who sought shelter there. Hospitals are not a target. This bloodshed must stop. Enough is enough.”
EU chief Charles Michel has said that targeting civilian infrastructure in Gaza breaks international law after a deadly strike on a hospital.
“We got this information when we were together during this virtual meeting with the leaders. It seems to be to be confirmed and an attack against a civilian infrastructure is not in line with international law,” Michel said after a videoconference of EU leaders.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell later wrote on social media that “the news coming from the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital in Gaza add horror to the tragedy unfolding before our eyes since days.”
“Once again, innocent civilians pay the highest price. The responsibility for this crime must be clearly established & the perpetrators held accountable,” he said.
EU leaders today held an emergency videoconference to try to bridge their often contradictory messaging on the conflict in the Middle East.
Officials in Brussels have been at loggerheads with each other and member states over the bitterly divisive issues that have long split opinion in the bloc.
While there has been widespread condemnation of the slaughter by Hamas of Israelis, there have been disagreements over calls to rein in retaliatory strikes on Gaza and maintaining aid to the Palestinians.
Asked about the strike on hospital, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen refused to comment immediately.
As reported below, the Israel Defense Forces has said this evening that they believe the Islamic Jihad militant group is responsible for the hospital attack.
However, Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, told Reuters: “This is a lie and fabrication, it is completely incorrect. The occupation is trying to cover for the horrifying crime and massacre they committed against civilians.”
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement today called for a “day of rage” to condemn a strike on a Gaza Strip hospital, blaming Israel for what it called a “massacre”.
“Let tomorrow, Wednesday, be a day of rage against the enemy,” Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas militants who are at war with Israel, said in a statement, calling the strike a “massacre” and “brutal crime”.
Israel’s army blamed a rocket misfired by Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based militant group.
Unicef has said it “strongly condemns” the strike on the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.
“We call for the protection of all civilians, including children, and the infrastructure they rely on. We need an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access.”
The senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken to Sky News regarding the hospital strike.
“We’re the whole time gathering more information and now the highest probability appears to be that this was an Islamic Jihad rocket.,” Mark Regev said.
“The statistics are clear,” Regev told Sky News.
“In past rounds of fighting, some 33% of Islamic Jihad rockets fired into Israel fell short and landed in Gaza.
“Our intelligence is reporting to us that there was Islamic Jihad fire which was over the vicinity of the hospital and apparently a rocket malfunctioned and hit the hospital.”
'Was it you?'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 17, 2023
Sky's @AnnaBotting asks Senior Advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister @MarkRegev if Israel bombed the al Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, killing hundreds of people.
He says it "appears" to be a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket.https://t.co/FTEXZhOve2
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/z5SBarZK69
He added: “In Gaza there is no independent civil society, Hamas has ruled there for 16 years. All the voices that you interview will say ‘Israel, Israel, Israel’ because that’s the party line.
“But I urge caution and for people to think about this, you’ve got to hold off judgement. We don’t believe it’s us, we are still looking, of course, but we don’t believe it was us and all the evidence seems to indicate that this was a rocket fired Islamic Jihad.
“We do not target hospitals, let’s be clear, Israel does not target hospitals.”
Independent TD Thomas Pringle has called on the Irish Government to expel the Israeli Ambassador.
I call on the Irish government to expel the Israeli Ambassador.
— Thomas Pringle T.D. (@ThomasPringleTD) October 17, 2023
We cannot stand by and allow such heinous acts to go unpunished. The siege and now Bombing hospitals are a crime against humanity, and we must send a clear message that we will not tolerate it.
An AFP journalist reported this evening that Palestinian forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have clashed with protesters opposed to Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.
Palestinian forces in Ramallah fired tear gas at demonstrators who had gathered, calling for Abbas to step down, apparently over his conciliatory tone since war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began earlier this month.
The clashes came after the health ministry in Gaza, ruled by Hamas militants at war with Israel, said hundreds of people were killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital where displaced people had sheltered in the coastal enclave.
The Israel Defense Forces, however, said this evening that they believe the Islamic Jihad militant group is responsible for the hospital attack.
“The people want the fall of the president,” demonstrators chanted in Ramallah.
Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official, said Abbas was returning immediately “to the homeland”.
Abbas “calls for an emergency meeting of the leadership tonight,” Sheikh wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The Palestinian Authority, led by Abbas, is based in Ramallah and is split from the militant group Hamas.
The US earlier announced plans for US President Joe Biden to travel to Israel and Jordan tomorrow.
Biden had been scheduled to go to Jordan to meet King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
However, in protest at the reported strike on the hospital, President Abbas has cancelled his participation in the meeting scheduled with Biden and other Middle East leaders.
AFP is now reporting that Jordan has confirmed the summit with Biden has been cancelled.
As just reported, Jordan has cancelled the planned summit with Biden tomorrow.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has said the summit will be held “when the decision to stop the war and put an end to these massacres has been taken”.
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is holding a number of protests tomorrow.
Emergency protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people around the country tomorrow. #GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/Er5sct0ZJz
— IPSC (@ipsc48) October 17, 2023
The White House has said that Biden has postponed his visit to Jordan and will only go to Israel on his Middle East trip.
Biden decided after “consulting” with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and “in light of the days of mourning” announced by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who was due at the summit along with Egypt’s president, the White House said in a statement.
“The president sent his deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded,” the statement added.
That’s all from us on the liveblog tonight.
A recap on some of the main points today:
Copy includes reporting by Press Association and © AFP 2023
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say