US PRESIDENT JOE Biden today backed Israel’s account of an explosion at a hospital in Gaza last night during an eight-hour visit to the country.
Biden said that “based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appear it was a result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group on Gaza”.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said at least 471 people were killed in the explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital in Northern Gaza.
The ministry said the explosion was caused by an Israeli air strike, but Israel has insisted it is not responsible and in turn blamed the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.
PIJ is a smaller group than Hamas operating in and it has also also denied responsibility.
Updates from Hayley Halpin (now), Rónán Duffy, Jane Moore, Mairead Maguire, Niall O’Connor, Lauren Boland and Daragh Brophy (earlier).
Here is some of the reaction to the hospital blast from around the world:
UN
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza”.
Guterres “strongly condemned” the strike but without attributing responsibility.
United States
President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion” and “the terrible loss of life that resulted”.
Biden said he had spoken to Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “immediately upon hearing this news”.
Egypt
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned in the strongest terms “the Israeli bombing” of the Ahli hospital, which led to “the deaths of hundreds of innocent victims” among the Palestinian citizens in Gaza.
He called the “deliberate bombing” a “clear violation of international law”.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia condemned the hospital strike as “a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms”, denouncing Israel’s “continuous attacks against civilians”.
Jordan
Israel bears “responsibility for this grave incident,” a Jordanian foreign ministry statement said, “strongly condemning” the incident.
Amman subsequently announced the cancellation of a summit on brokering peace in the region due to involve US President Joe Biden, who postponed his trip to Amman in response.
Dozens of protesters attempted unsuccessfully to storm the Israeli embassy compound in Amman, an AFP journalist said.
EU
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell deplored that “once again, innocent civilians pay the highest price.”
“The responsibility for this crime must be clearly established & the perpetrators held accountable,” he wrote on Twitter/X.
Iran
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi declared a day of “public mourning” today and said the strike on the hospital would turn against Israel and its US ally.
“The flames of the US-Israeli bombs, dropped this evening on the Palestinian victims injured at the… hospital in Gaza, will soon consume the Zionists,” Raisi said, according to the IRNA agency.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the British and French embassies in Tehran overnight. Several thousand gathered earlier in Palestine Square in central Tehran to voice their anger.
Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani called in a statement for an “immediate and urgent resolution” from the UN Security Council to put an end to the “aggression”.
The government has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the strike.
Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the incident as “the latest example of Israeli attacks devoid of the most basic human values”, in a message on social media.
“I invite all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza,” Erdogan said.
France
French President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing can justify targeting civilians” after the deadly strike on the hospital.
“Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened without delay,” he added.
Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement 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, said in a statement, calling the strike a “massacre” and “brutal crime”.
Hezbollah’s call came as hundreds of demonstrators scuffled with Lebanese security forces outside the US embassy in the Beirut suburb of Awkar, where protesters chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.
Arab League
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said “the West must stop this tragedy immediately”.
“Our Arab mechanisms document war crimes, and their perpetrators will not be able to escape justice,” he warned.
WHO
The World Health Organization condemned the deadly strike and demanded the immediate protection of civilians and health care in the strip.
“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
“The hospital was operational, with patients, health- and care-givers, and internally-displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries.”
MSF
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) condemned the strike on the hospital.
“We are horrified by the recent bombing of the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City, which was treating patients and hosting displaced Gazans,” it said.
Joe Biden’s wartime visit to the region faltered before it got off the ground last night, after the Jordanian leg of the trip was cancelled following the Gaza hospital strike.
The trip was always set to be a risky mission for the US President as he tried to juggle support for Israel after the 7 October Hamas attacks with efforts to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and to avert a wider conflict.
His plans were upended last night as he boarded Air Force One when Jordan announced that a planned four-way summit with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had been cancelled.
It would be held “when the decision to stop the war and put an end to these massacres has been taken,” said Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
Biden later said he was “outraged” by the “explosion” at the hospital and had told his national security team to get more information on what had happened.
At a meeting yesterday, EU leaders struggled to bridge their often contradictory messaging on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Officials in Brussels have been at loggerheads with each other and member states over the bitterly divisive issue.
A major point of ire for some capitals has been perceptions that European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen has overstepped her remit with her unflinching backing for Israel.
European Council President Charles Michel said yesterday evening that leaders had sought to ensure “maximum coordination” between their countries and Brussels in an emergency virtual meeting.
“It’s a conflict which is generating a lot of fragmentation, of divisions, of polarisation amongst our people, amongst our societies,” Michel told a press conference.
“That’s why we need also to cooperate at European Union level to try to defuse the tensions.”
Michel decried Israel’s “total siege” of Gaza and any strikes on humanitarian infrastructure as not in line with international law.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil yesterday that some of the statements made by von der Leyen on the Israel-Hamas war “lacked balance”.
Varadkar later told the European Council meeting that Israel must immediately reverse its decision to cut off water, food, medical and fuel supplies to Gaza.
He said there must be a humanitarian pause in hostilities to provide space in which the immediate humanitarian needs of all civilians in Gaza can be met.
He also told his European counterparts that humanitarian corridors must immediately be created to allow access to vital supplies and to allow EU citizens who wish to leave Gaza to do so safely.
Photo: A Palestinian man carries a girl injured in the shelling of the Ahli Arab hospital to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City
Photo: Protesters attempt to storm the Israeli embassy in Istanbul, Turkey after the attack on the hospital
The attack on the hospital sparked multiple protests internationally overnight.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement called for a “day of rage” to condemn the strike as hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the French and US embassies in protest. Demonstrators scuffled with Lebanese security forces outside the US embassy in the suburb of Awkar, where protesters hurled stones and set a building on fire, and hundreds also gathered at the French embassy in Beirut, raising Hezbollah flags and also hurling stones which piled up at the embassy’s main entrance.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the French embassy in Tunisia, denouncing both France and the US, chanting that the countries are “allies of Zionists”.
In Tehran, the capital of Iran, hundreds gathered outside the British and French embassies in the early hours of the morning, throwing eggs at the walls of the French embassy compound. Israel and the United States do not have embassies in Tehran in the absence of diplomatic relations with Iran.
And in Tripoli, Libya, hundreds of demonstrators of all ages chanted slogans of support for the residents of Gaza and denounced the strike by the “Zionist enemy”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to offer condolences over a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital and voice support for Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations,” according to the US State Department.
Blinken, who was in Amman, Jordon on a regional tour, spoke late yesterday by telephone with Abbas “to express profound condolences for the civilian lives lost in the explosion” at the Ahli Arab Hospital.
US President Joe Biden is due to arrive imminently in Israel to meet with officials.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has issued a statement saying that he is “appalled” by the strike on the hospital and the resulting deaths.
“The full facts of what happened must be established and those responsible must be held to account,” he said.
He repeated calls for humanitarian corridors to be “urgently established” and for hostages to be released immediately.
My statement following the strike on Al Ahli hospital: pic.twitter.com/KnH51Q2KTT
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 18, 2023
Israel is claiming that the explosion at the hospital was due to a rocket misfired by the other side.
The Israeli army says it has “evidence” that militants were responsible for the blast that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital.
“The evidence — which we are sharing with you all — confirms that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference in Tel Aviv.
Alert: US President Joe Biden has just touched down in Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
Around an hour behind schedule, Air Force One has landed in Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Biden has now exited the plane and was greeted on the tarmac by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden’s trip to Israel was meant to be followed by a stop in Jordan to meet the leaders of Palestine, Jordan and Egypt, but that meeting has been called off by Jordan after the attack on the hospital last night.
Shortly before Biden landed, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference that “evidence — which we are sharing with you all — confirms that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired”.
“Our radar system tracked missiles fired by terrorists in Gaza at the time of the explosion and the trajectory analysis of the rockets shows the rockets were fired in close proximity to the hospital.”
As the two sides blame each other for the explosion, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said there is “no excuse for hitting a hospital full of civilians”.
The European Commission president told EU lawmakers the “facts need to be established” on the overnight strike.
Von der Leyen, speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, said the overnight explosion turned the hospital into “a hell of fire”.
“All those responsible must be held accountable,” she said.
In her parliamentary address, von der Leyen said Hamas was the underlying reason for the ordeal Palestinians are now going through.
“Hamas are terrorists. And the Palestinian people are also suffering from that terror,” she said.
She added that the EU needs to keep supporting the Palestinians, “and there is no contradiction in standing in solidarity with Israel”.
“Europe stands with Israel in this dark moment,” von der Leyen said, saying that “Israel should act as a democracy, in line with international humanitarian law.”
Her stance in support of Israel has attracted some criticism in recent days, including from several Irish MEPs.
Joe Biden has backed Israel’s account that it was Palestinian militants who caused the hospital strike in Gaza, adding Hamas had brought “only suffering.”
“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday and based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team,” Biden said as he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.
As pressure mounts on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter through the closed Egyptian crossing with Gaza and Palestinians to escape, Egypt has defended its position and blamed Israel for the broder remaining closed.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said today that Egypt “did not close” the only border crossing with Gaza not under Israel’s control, blaming Israeli bombardments for it not operating.
“Developments on the ground and the repeated bombings by Israel of the Palestinian side of the crossing have prevented operations,” Sisi told reporters.
Aid convoys have been waiting for six days on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, which has been bombed four times since Israel launched its retaliation against Hamas.
However, Sisi warned today of the dangers of “forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt”, saying it would set a precedent for “the displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank into Jordan”.
Sisi, who has rejected calls to allow large numbers of refugees from Gaza into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, said the goal of “the Palestinian state” would be “eradicated”.
“If it came to it, I could call on the Egyptian people to come out and express their rejection of this proposal, and you would see millions of Egyptians” in the street, he said.
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, opening talks with Biden, called for global unity against Hamas.
“Just as the civilised world united to defeat the Nazis and united to defeat ISIS, the civilised world must unite and defeat Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
“I can assure you, Mr. President, Israel is united to defeat Hamas and we will defeat Hamas and remove this terrible threat.”
Amid protests in Turkey, Israel has told its citizens to leave the country immediately over fears of reprisal attacks after the deadly strike on the hospital.
“All Israelis staying in Turkey must leave as soon as possible,” Israel’s National Security Council announced late last night.
“I can confirm that the travel warning of the National Security Council to Turkey has been raised to 4, the highest level,” the spokesperson told AFP.
Thousands joined protests in Istanbul and the capital Ankara outside Israel’s diplomatic missions to condemn the attack.
Turkish police detained five protesters for attempting to sneak into the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, according to the governor’s office.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a supporter of the Palestinian cause, accused Israel of “striking a hospital sheltering women, children and innocent civilians” and urged the world to stop the tragedy in Gaza.
Six airports across France were evacuated on Wednesday after emailed “threats of attack”.
The evacuations at Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse and Beauvais airport near Paris would allow authorities to “clear up any doubts” that the threats might be real, the source said.
Our colleague Jane Moore has taken a look at what both sides are saying about the blast at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City.
Israeli authorities said the hospital was hit by a stray rocket fired by the Islamic Jihad militant group.
While the Palestinian through Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the West Bank and not Hamas-controlled Gaza, has said Israel crossed “all red lines” by targeting the hospital, calling the attack a “hideous war massacre” that cannot be tolerated.
You can read the article here.
At the Dáil Jane Matthews of our political staff has spoken to TDs protesting outside Leinster House ahead of a debate.
Some opposition TDs gathered outside Leinster House this morning to show their solidarity with the people of Gaza.
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) October 18, 2023
‘Countless children have died in this conflict. At what point do we just scream stop? If you have a voice we are asking you to use it,” SocDem’s Gary Gannon said. pic.twitter.com/9pvFrbsgw7
Leaders’ questions has begun in the Dáil.
Leader of the Opposition Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin has warned that cholera is a risk for the Palestinian people inside Gaza and called on the Government to condemn the behaviour of Israel.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the bombing of the Baptist Hospital “might yet prove to be a war crime”.
He condemned all violence in the area by Israel, Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The Taoiseach said the Government are calling for three measures to be taken immediately.
“[We are calling for] an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to be observed by all parties to the conflict, for Hamas to release its hostages and lay down its arms, Israel to turn back on power, water and humanitarian corridors,” he said.
He added that there is no military solution to Israel and Palestine’s dispute.
You can watch Leaders’ Questions here.
The World Health Organization has urged against any attacks on healthcare centres following th edeadly blast at a Gaza hospital overnight.
“We call … at a minimum to stop any attacks on healthcare facilities,” the head of the WHO’s European branch, Hans Kluge, told AFP in an interview, listing it as a top priority.
“Number two (is) to protect civilians and children, and number three (is) to get humanitarian access from Rafah inside Gaza, because all our supplies are based there already but there is no border opening yet,” he said.
Kluge said the WHO was “very, very worried” about the situation.
Following the Hamas militant group’s bloody attack on Israel on October 7, the WHO has registered 140 attacks on health centres: six in Israel, 77 in the West Bank and 57 in Gaza.
Some 3,000 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 1,400 in Israel since October 7.
Kluge said “the only solution is to stop the fighting”.
He called for “a negotiated peace that ensures the right to health for everyone.”
“Our motto is Health for All, both for the Israeli people, and the Palestinian people.”
At least 3,478 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the coastal enclave, the Hamas-controlled health ministry has claimed.
More than 12,000 others have been wounded in Israel’s response to a brutal assault launched by Hamas militants on Israel on 7 October.
Here are some images from the scene today at the site of the al-Ahli Hospital blast – investigations are continuing to try and determine what side is responsible. Photojournalist Abed Khaled from Press Association was at the scene this morning.
Pope Francis has commented on X about the bombardment of Gaza, describing the situation there as “desperate”. He is calling for peace.
“Let the weapons be silenced; let the cry for peace be heard from the poor, from the people, from the children!”
The situation in #Gaza is desperate. Please let everything possible be done to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. The possible widening of the conflict is disturbing. Let the weapons be silenced; let the cry for peace be heard from the poor, from the people, from the children!
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 18, 2023
The European Union “cannot accept” Israel stopping water supplies to Gaza’s population, which “clearly” violates international law, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.
“Suspending the water supply to a community under siege is contrary to international law. But we can’t accept that,” he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
That was the EU’s position when it came to Ukraine, where Russian forces besieged communities and cut off water, and it should be the same when it came to Gaza, he added.
“It is clearly stated that depriving a human community under siege of a basic water supply is contrary to international law – in Ukraine and in Gaza.
“And if we are unable to say so, for both places, we lack the moral authority necessary to make our voice heard,” Borrell said.
The US Treasury has announced sanctions on 10 Hamas members, operatives and financial facilitators Wednesday, including a key commander.
The new sanctions target individuals based in Gaza and elsewhere, including Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar, the US agency said in a statement.
“The United States is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a statement.
President Biden has commended Israel’s “bravery”, after a morning of meetings with state leaders.
Writing on X, he said Americans are grieving with them after the attacks by Hamas.
I'm proud to be in Israel to honor the courage, commitment, and bravery of the Israeli people.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023
Americans are grieving with you following last week’s terror attacks.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted a picture with Biden, thanking him for his support.
Mr. President,
— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) October 18, 2023
Thank you for standing with Israel🇮🇱🇺🇸@POTUS pic.twitter.com/1lsWmOX1Lu
Turkey will declare three days’ mourning over the deadly strike on the hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, has accused Israel of “striking a hospital sheltering women, children and innocent civilians” and urged the world to stop the tragedy in Gaza.
“Turkey will declare three days national mourning,” the official who wished to remain anonymous told AFP.
The Journal’s political reporter Jane Matthews reports that Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin was asked if Ireland should consider removing its troops from Lebanon in response to the escalating situation in the Middle East.
In response, Martin said that he spoke yesterday with the Chief of Staff and military leadership team and pointed out that the Defence Forces have stressed Ireland’s long history of peacekeeping in Lebanon.
He said Irish troops there are under the command of the United Nations military leadership and that it would be inappropriate for individual states to unilaterally decide to remove troops.
“The purpose of the peacekeeping mission is to keep the peace,” the Tánaiste said.
“So that’s not under consideration at the moment, and we will continue to monitor this and obviously, all precautions are being taken by our troops,” he added.
President Michael D Higgins has said that the blast at the al-Ahli Hospital in Northern Gaza yesterday evening must be investigated as a war crime.
Speaking to reporters in Rome, Italy today, said that it is “very, very important that there be a reliable investigation as to how it (the explosion) came to be, who is responsible and what the consequences are”.
Asked if the strike could be considered as a war crime, Higgins said: “It must be investigated, certainly, as a war crime.”
You can read the article from our reporters Diarmuid Pepper, who is in Rome, and Muiris O’Cearbhaill here.
AFP is reporting that Palestinian protesters have taken to the streets in the occupied West Bank today, blaming Israel for the strike on a hospital in war-torn Gaza that killed hundreds.
Hundreds of protesters in Nablus, many draped in Palestinian flags and some holding Hamas banners, chanted “free, free Palestine” along with slogans against Israel and the United States.
Others derided Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement is Hamas’s rival and has been criticised by Palestinians over its collaboration with Israel.
“Down, down with Abbas,” they shouted.
An AFP correspondent in Nablus said Palestinian security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they marched out of the city centre.
“I care about my people, I care about my city, I care about Gaza and Gaza people. So this is why I, perhaps in years I haven’t spoken out, I’m speaking now,” said Ferial, 50-year-old Nablus resident, who only provided her first name.
A similar sized protest took place in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, where the crowd chanted in support of Hamas and against “security coordination” with Israel.
During the demonstration, a small group of Palestinians with covered faces blocked a road and set tyres ablaze near a group of Israeli soldiers. Some threw stones, while others cobbled together Molotov cocktails.
A demonstration late last night in Ramallah, a short while after the hospital blast, saw Palestinian security forces clash with protesters.
US President Joe Biden has said that the attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.
In an address in Tel Aviv, he said: “The world watched then and the world did nothing. We will not stand by and do nothing again. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.”
You can listen to his live address below.
My team and I have touched down in Israel to stand in solidarity with the Israeli people following Hamas's terrorist attack.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023
Join me as I address the people of Israel in Tel Aviv: https://t.co/LHTLwArx93
Biden said the US is ”pursuing every avenue to bring home” the hostages being held by Hamas.
He said that Palestinian people are suffering greatly as well. “We mourn the loss of innocent Palestinian lives like the entire world.”
He also said he was “outraged and saddened by the enormous loss of life” following the strike on the hospital in Gaza.
“Based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appear it was a result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group on Gaza,” he said, adding that the United States “unequivocally stands for the protection of civilian life during conflict”.
Biden earlier told reporters that he thought that Israel was not responsible for the strike based on data shown to him by the US Defence Department.
He went on to say that the people of Gaza “need food, water, medicine, shelter” and said he had asked that humanitarian assistance be given to civilians in Gaza, based on the understanding that there will be inspections and that the aid will go to civilians and not to Hamas.
“Israel agreed that humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza,” he said.
“Let me be clear. If Hamas diverts or steals the assistance, they will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people.”
After speaking about the Hamas attack on Israel, Biden said that “justice must be done”.
But he went on to caution Israelis, saying: “While you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it.
“After 911, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes,” he said.
“I’m the first US president to visit Israel in a time of war. I made wartime decisions. I know that choices are never clear or easy for leadership.
“There’s always cost but it requires being deliberate, requires asking very hard questions and requires clarity about the objectives and an honest assessment about whether the path you’re on will achieve those objective.
“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
Biden concluded his address by saying that Israel “is not alone” and that the United States will “walk beside you on those dark days”.
“We’ll walk beside you on the good days to come and they will come,” he said.
“Israel will be a safe, secure, Jewish democratic state today, tomorrow and forever. May God protect all those who work for peace. God save those who are still in harm’s way.”
Following Biden’s remarks, Netanyahu’s office has announced this afternoon that Israel will let aid enter Gaza via Egypt, saying only “food, water and medicine” would be allowed into the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
“In light of (US) President (Joe) Biden’s demand, Israel would not foil the supply of humanitarian aid via Egypt,” the prime minister’s office said, announcing a cabinet decision.
The statement noted that aid to civilians in the southern Gaza Strip would be allowed “so long as these supplies do not reach Hamas” which rules Gaza.
While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.
— Adrienne Watson (@NSC_Spox) October 18, 2023
To reiterate what Biden has said in Israel, the White House is also delivering the same message back in Washington DC.
“While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on social media.
During his speech, President Biden vowed to work towards a Palestinian state
“As hard as it is, we must keep pursuing peace, we must keep pursuing a path so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely in security and dignity and in peace,” said Biden.
“For me, that means a two-state solution.”
Here’s his full speech after meeting with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv:
Back in Ireland and Jewish organisations have been speaking about the aftermath of the horrific attack on Jews in Israel by Hamas that left at least 1,400 people dead.
Chair of the Jewish Representative Council Maurice Cohen has told The Journal‘s Assistant News Editor Valerie Flynn that he does not believe there has been sufficient condemnation of Hamas’ attacks from most members of the Oireachtas.
Cohen said: “Thankfully, we have not experienced yet any major increase in antisemitic incidents here in Ireland, other than online, which tends to be a cesspit of keyboard warriors who know little or nothing about the situation and only know how to spew further hate and venom.”
The JRC is a non-profit organisation bringing together Jewish organisations in Ireland.
Asked whether additional security precautions had been thought necessary at the synagogues, schools and other buildings associated with Ireland’s small Jewish community, Cohen said: “Of course there is a heightened state of alert at all premises, with some events being delayed, postponed, moved or indeed cancelled.
“We work closely with the Gardaí.”
You can read the full interview here.
BIDEN DEPARTS TEL AVIV
During his eight-hour stay in the country he noted that he was “the first US president to visit Israel in time of war.”
In providing staunch backing to Israel, Biden also announced today that the United States is providing $100 million in humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.
Here is the full statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office on Israel’s pledge to allow aid reach Gaza from Egypt, but not from Israel:
In light of the sweeping and vital American support for the war effort, as well as US President Biden’s request for basic humanitarian assistance, the streamlined Security Cabinet unanimously decided:
1. Israel will not allow any humanitarian assistance from its territory to the Gaza Strip as long as our captives are not returned.
2. Israel demands Red Cross visits with our captives and is working to mobilize broad international support for this demand.
3. In light of President Biden’s request, Israel will not prevent humanitarian assistance from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population located in the southern Gaza Strip or which is evacuating to there, and as long as these supplies do not reach Hamas. Any supplies that reach Hamas – will be prevented.
US VETOES UN SECURITY COUNCIL CALL FOR ‘HUMANITARIAN PAUSE’
US vetoes Security Council resolution that would have called for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) October 18, 2023
Favor: 12 (Albania, Brazil, China, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland,UAE)
Against: 1 (US)
Abstain: 2 Russia, UK pic.twitter.com/y4tiAbRMUQ
Over in New York, the United States has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause” in the raging Israel-Hamas conflict.
The US ambassador said it vetoed the resolution because the text did not respect Israel’s right to defend itself.
Twelve out of 15 Council members voted in favour of the resolution put forward by Brazil and negotiated over several days, while Russia and the United Kingdom abstained.
The United States was the only vote against, but as one of the body’s five permanent members its vote counts as a veto.
“The United States is disappointed this resolution made no mention of Israel’s rights of self defense,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote.
The resolution said the Council “firmly condemns all violence and hostilities against civilians and all acts of terrorism.”
It said the body “unequivocally rejects and condemns the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas… and the taking of hostages.”
The text also “urges all parties to fully comply with their obligations under international law.”
The vote comes after the Security Council on Monday rejected a Russian resolution condemning spiraling violence in the Middle East.
That resolution did not single out Hamas for its surprise attack on Israel on 7 October, and it was rejected by permanent members the United States, the United Kingdom and France, as well as Japan.
People are protesting outside the Dáil in solidarity with Palestine following the strike against the hospital in Gaza.
Our reporter Eimer McAuley is down at the scene.
People are protesting outside the dail in solidarity with Palestine after the strike against the Baptist hospital in Gaza. Calls for the Israeli ambassador to be asked to leave Ireland met with cheers. pic.twitter.com/WqA7MQBI4F
— Eimer McAuley (@eimer_mcauley) October 18, 2023
The embassies of Israel and the United States in Argentina were the targets of bomb threats today, according to police sources.
The Israeli embassy in the historic centre of the capital, near the presidency, was evacuated amid heavy police presence, AFP reporters witnessed.
Police sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the embassy had received a threat via email to its diplomatic office.
A threat was also received by the US embassy in the upscale Palermo suburb, where an AFP reporter saw employees gathered outside until police allowed them to return.
Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America, counting more than 250,000 people.
The community has suffered attacks such as the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre that killed 85 people and left 300 injured.
That attack came just two years after the Israeli embassy was bombed, killing 29 and wounding 200.
Argentina is evacuating some 1,500 of its citizens from Israel.
A number of Irish writer – including Sally Rooney, Anne Enright, Naoise Dolan and Megan Nolan - have signed an open letter calling for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded admission of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Artists and writers based in elsewhere in the EU and in the UK and US are also among the 600 people who signed the letter.
The writers and artists are calling on their governments to “demand an immediate ceasefire and the unimpeded admission of humanitarian aid into Gaza”.
“We also demand an end to all arms shipments and military funding, supplies that can only exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe at hand. Although these measures will not be enough to secure true justice, liberation and equality for all in the region, they represent an urgent and indispensable first step,” the letter says.
“We plead for an end to all violence, an end to all oppression and denial of human rights, and a path towards a just and sustainable peace for all.”
The Dáil is currently hearing statements on the situation in the Middle East and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has announced an immediate aid package of €13 million in response to what the UN has described as the “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza.
This will be in addition to Ireland’s core funding already allocated.
“Ireland’s assistance programme to the Palestinians has been in existence since the year 2000. Our assistance programme this year was to amount to €16 million. That will now almost double following my decision today to allocate a further €13 million in the light of the extensive needs in Gaza,” he said.
Our political reporter Jane Matthews is reporting on the statements in the Dáil.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has announced an immediate aid package of €13mn in response to what the UN has described as the "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe" unfolding in Gaza.
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) October 18, 2023
This will be in addition to Ireland's core funding already allocated.
Mary Lou McDonald has said Ireland “can and must” be a leading voice for dialogue for ceasefires and for peace.
“Gaza cannot become the graveyard of international law,” McDonald said.
Matt Carthy, Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs spokesperson, has condemned Hamas’ targeting of innocent civilians in the most “callous and inhumane manner” on 7 October.
He said this was a clear breach of international law but added that “Israel has breached international law virtually every single day for decades”.
Carthy said Ireland must be one of the countries that leads the way with calls for peace.
“We know colonialism, we know oppression. But we also know conflict resolution and peace building.
“Our call tonight must be immediate and unequivocal ceasefires,” he said.
Thousands rallied across the Arab and Muslim world today to protest the deaths of hundreds of people in a strike on a Gaza hospital.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said the explosion was caused by an Israeli air strike, but Israel has insisted it is not responsible and in turn blamed the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. PIJ is a smaller group than Hamas operating in and it has also also denied responsibility.
Condemnation was widespread across the region and angry crowds gathered after calls from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and Palestinian factions for mass mobilisation.
“Death to America, death to Israel,” hundreds of Hezbollah supporters chanted at a rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“The Israelis will try to target more hospitals, rescue workers, civil defence volunteers and Gaza’s residents without flinching, in order to push Gaza’s people out,” senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine told the demonstrators.
Here’s a clip of Tánaiste Micheál Martin announcing the additional €13 million in funding for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people:
I am announcing an immediate package of €13m for the people of Palestine
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 18, 2023
€10m for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
€3m for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
This is a crisis that simply cannot wait.
🔗 https://t.co/gsXBCxwMDE pic.twitter.com/kXyD2wIj1e
Our reporter Diarmuid Pepper is in Rome this week. He spotted a pro-palestinian rally close to Termini Station, with a strong police presence nearby.
Pro-Palestinian rally in Rome close to Termini Station, with quite a strong police presence nearby pic.twitter.com/y0XaPCK5Dl
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) October 18, 2023
The Israeli army said today it had “thwarted a terrorist cell” in Lebanon, accusing unidentified militants across the border of firing mortar shells at Israel while its war with Hamas raged.
The army said in a statement its forces had fired at the location in Lebanon from which “anti-tank missiles” were presumed to have been launched towards Israeli communities near the border.
Earlier today, alerts were activated across northern Israel and the army said it had identified nine launches that crossed from Lebanese territory into Israel.
The military yesterday said it had killed at least four Lebanese fighters following attempted cross-border infiltration.
It did not say which, if any, groups the militants were affiliated with.
As noted earlier, statements are this evening being heard in the Dáil on the situation in the Middle East, with TDs from all parties calling for a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Gaza.
Opening the session, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said he has never received as many communications “in respect of anything” as he has on the situation in Israel and Gaza in the last 11 days.
Labour wants to see a number of amendments to the Dáil’s motion on the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory.
These amendments include a condemnation of Israeli actions in breach of international law and a call for the International Criminal Court to conduct an independent investigation into the bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza last night.
Labour also wants to see a condemnation of the actions of the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in “appearing to offer unqualified support for Israel without any requirement that Israel comply with international law”.
TDs will vote on the cross-party Dáil motion later tonight.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to fight anti-Semitism on German soil after attackers hurled two Molotov cocktails at a Jewish synagogue.
Police in the German capital said they were probing the attack, which took place in the city’s Mitte district in the early hours of Wednesday morning. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
“Two unidentified people came on foot and threw two burning bottles filled with liquid in the direction of the synagogue on Brunnenstrasse,” a commercial and residential street, police said in a statement.
“The bottles landed on the pavement and broke, extinguishing the fire.”
As the masked assailants ran away, round-the-clock security forces stationed outside noticed a “small fire” where the attackers had been standing and were able to put it out, “preventing further consequences”.
The building, which also houses a daycare centre and a school, belongs to Kahal Adass Jisroel, which calls itself as “a growing Jewish community in the heart of Berlin”.
On social media, it confirmed that “people and the building, fortunately, were unharmed”.
Without addressing the incident specifically, Scholz posted a message on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, condemning anti-Jewish hatred.
“Attacks against Jewish institutions, violent riots on our streets – this is inhumane, disgusting and cannot be tolerated,” he said.
“Anti-Semitism has no place in Germany. My thanks go to the security forces, especially in this situation.”
Gaza needs huge amounts of humanitarian aid, around 100 trucks per day, UN sources have said.
“We need to start with a serious number of trucks going in and we need to build up to 100 trucks a day,” the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told CNN Europe.
“That used to be the case of the aid program going into Gaza,” he added, even before the past two weeks of heightened unrest following the Hamas attack.
“We’ve been in incredibly detailed negotiations with the parties to make an understanding and an agreement on exactly what an aid program would look like going into southern Gaza,” said Griffiths.
“So number one, we need to be able to have the assurance that we can go in at scale every day, deliberately, repetitively and reliably,” said Griffiths, speaking hours after US President Joe Biden said he had received Israeli assurances that aid would come in through the Rafah border crossing on the Gaza–Egypt border at the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
“Secondly, we have to be able to do so to reach people safely. International humanitarian law is there for a reason. It requires people to make their own choices about where to be safely, and it requires us and indeed, all of us to ensure that safety, and the humanitarian community to provide aid to people in the places they choose to be safe.”
He said he hoped that within the next couple of days the “essential program of aid” could start, said Griffiths, noting the UN, including its Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) development agency, has some 14,000 staff in the strip to aid with distribution.
Akram lives Ireland with his eight-year-old son. His daughter, who is 26-years-old, is in Gaza with his older brother. Today, after calling many times, he got a voice message from her confirming that she is OK.
“She said she was sending a voice message, just in case I wanted to hear the sound of her voice, because she knows… she knows that I am worried,” he said.
Akram has played that voice message more than once. He was amongst a large crowd that carried out a peaceful demonstration in front of Dáil Eireann in Dublin city today.
The message the crowd was there to deliver is very clear – they want to see the Israeli ambassador in Ireland expelled, as a move of solidarity with the people of Palestine by the Irish Government.
Long after the person with the microphone went home, a Palestinian man with a hoarse voice led the chanting crowd, which was made up of Irish people, Palestinians, and people from other countries living in Ireland.
Read our reporter Eimer McAuley’s full article on the protest here.
BREAKING: US President Joe Biden has said Egypt’s president has agreed to open the Gaza border crossing to allow in 20 trucks with humanitarian aid.
At least a hundred protesters have occupied a building of the US Congress urging lawmakers and Biden’s administration to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Dressed in black T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Jews say cease fire now” and “Not in our name,” the activists sat clapping and singing on the floor in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office building and held up large banners that read “Ceasefire” and “Let Gaza Live”.
Capitol police said protests are not allowed inside the building and several demonstrators were arrested.
“We warned the protestors to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them,” the US Capitol police said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Arrests in the Canon Rotunda and the rolling road closures are ongoing.
— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) October 18, 2023
Amongst these arrests, three people have been arrested and charged with Assault on a Police Officer during processing.
The protest was organised by the Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish anti-Zionist organisation.
Before the sit-in, hundreds of people had gathered on the National Mall near the Capitol urging the Biden administration to call for a cease-fire.
“Biden really is the only one that has the power to pressure Israel right now and he needs to use that power to save innocent lives,” Hannah Lawrence, 32, who came from the northeastern US state of Vermont.
Linda Holtzman (71) a rabbi from Philadelphia, demanded an immediate ceasefire and urged Biden to “open your eyes”.
“Look at what’s happening in Gaza. Look at the devastation in Gaza,” said Holtzman. “If you want to be able to live with yourself, you need to stand up and end the genocide. I demand a ceasefire right now.”
Biden will give a speech from the Oval Office tomorrow about the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House has said.
“Tomorrow, President Biden will address the nation to discuss our response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel and Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
More on the news of some humanitarian aid trucks being allowed into Gaza…
After calling Eygptian President Abdel Sisi from Air Force One while returning from a visit to Israel, Biden told reporters: ”He agreed to … let up to 20 trucks through to begin with.”
The shipment would likely not cross until Friday as the road around the crossing needed repairs, Biden said.
The US leader said the UN would distribute the aid on the other side, and that a second tranche was possible depending on “how it goes”.
But he warned: “If Hamas confiscates it, doesn’t let it get through … then it’s going to end.”
Biden had been due to meet Sisi today at a four-way summit in Jordan, but it was canceled after the deadly strike on the Gaza hospital.
“The bottom line is that he (Sisi) deserves some real credit because he was very accommodating,” the US president added.
President Biden rarely, if ever, comes to the back of Air Force One to where the press sits, but did so on the way back tonight to talk about meeting with the families of victims and the intelligence behind his assertion that Israel isn't responsible for the hospital attack. pic.twitter.com/cyofZC5jd9
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 18, 2023
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to Israel tomorrow before heading to other countries in the region in an effort to deescalate the Israel-Gaza conflict, his office has said.
“The attack on Al Ahli Hospital should be a watershed moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid further dangerous escalation of conflict,” Sunak said in a statement.
“I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this effort.”
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
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