The war that began on Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. The Hamas-backed Gaza Health Ministry said 2,778 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. In previous Gaza wars, some Palestinian deaths in Gaza have been attributed to rockets from Hamas that fell short.
Hamas, a Muslim Brotherhood-founded Islamist group that is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, has ruled the Gaza Strip, a 45 km-long (25-mile) enclave, since 2006. Gaza is home to more than 2 million people. Israel has ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in northern Gaza to evacuate south as it has vowed to annihilate Hamas, while at the same time demanding that Hamas release the 199 hostages, otherwise, Israel will be forced to continue withholding water, food, and power to Gaza.
Thousands of people trying to escape Gaza are gathered in Rafah, which has the territory’s only border crossing to Egypt. Mediators are pressing for an agreement to let aid in and refugees with foreign passports out. Israel is trying to link aid to the release of hostages by Hamas.
At least 31 Americans have died and 13 Americans are unaccounted for since the start of the war, the White House confirmed on Tuesday.
Here are the latest updates on the Israel–Hamas war:
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Biden to Address the Nation on US Response to Hamas’ Attacks on Israel
President Joe Biden will address the nation at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday to discuss the U.S. response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel and Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine.
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Biden Says Egypt Agrees to Open Rafah Crossing for Gaza Aid
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said Israel had agreed to let Egypt’s president to allow in 20 trucks with humanitarian aid at the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, despite no progress on getting Hamas to release its hostages.
President Biden said he spoke with Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi after his visit to Israel, where leaders there agreed to the Gaza aid. President Biden was speaking to reporters on Air Force One during a refueling stop in Germany on his way back to the United States from Tel Aviv.
Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip, stopping all entry of food, water, medicine, and fuel to its 2.3 million people following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, saying it would continue a strict blockage until Hamas released the hostages they kidnapped from Israel.
White House officials said the aid would flow in the coming days. President Biden said that if Hamas confiscates the aid, “it will end.”
Earlier in the day, the United States promised $100 million in humanitarian assistance to help Palestinian people who have been displaced or otherwise affected by conflict in Gaza and the West Bank.
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Pro-Palestinian Jewish Protestors Demanding Ceasefire in Israel Arrested at Capitol
A large group of protesters demanding an Israeli cease-fire entered the Cannon House office building in the afternoon of Oct. 18, resulting in several arrests, according to Capitol police.
“Demonstrations are not allowed inside Congressional Buildings,” the U.S. Capitol Police posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“We warned the protesters to stop demonstrating, and when they did not comply, we began arresting them.”
Protesters gathered outside the Capitol around midday, demanding that Congress do something to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.
After Hamas terrorists massacred Israeli civilians earlier this month, Israel retaliated with airstrikes in Gaza, which have been generally supported by the Biden administration.
Now that the death toll in the Gaza Strip is rising, progressive lawmakers are putting more pressure on President Biden to call for restraint from Israel, which is responding to the brutal Hamas attacks.
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Israel’s War With Hamas ‘Will Not Be Short,’ IDF Official Says
The Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi on Wednesday warned of a prolonged battle with Hamas while speaking to Israeli soldiers.
“This will not be short, and even if we’ll have to expand the campaign in case another enemy gets involved, we’ll know how to handle it,” Mr. Halevi told soldiers during a visit to Tel Nof Airbase near Rehovot.
Mr. Halevi added that Israel is “operating according to the law,” saying, “We’re all mad but operate by reason.”
Israeli troops prepare weapons and armed vehicles near the southern city of Ashkelon on Oct. 15, 2023. (Gil-Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)_____
US Consulate in Southern Turkey Closes During Protests, Embassy Says
The U.S. consulate in Adana, Turkey, “will remain closed to the public until further notice” amid ongoing protests over the war between Israel and Hamas, the American embassy said in a security alert Wednesday.
“Large demonstrations related to events in Israel and Gaza are expected throughout Turkiye for the next several weeks,” the alert said. “Any gathering, even those intended to be peaceful, could escalate and turn violent. Protest activity may result in enhanced police presence, road closures, and traffic disruptions.”
The alert also noted that U.S. government personnel were “instructed to minimize movements” and avoid travel to the consular district.
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US Vetoes UN Resolution to Condemn Violence in Israel–Hamas War
The United States has vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have condemned violence against all civilians in the Israel–Hamas war including “the heinous terrorists attacks by Hamas” against Israel, and would have pushed for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Twelve of the 15 Security Council members on Wednesday voted in favor of the resolution sponsored by Brazil. The United States voted against, while Russia and the United Kingdom abstained.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that President Joe Biden is in the region engaging in diplomacy to secure the release of hostages, prevent the conflict from spreading, and stress the need to protect civilians.
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Biden Says US to Provide $100 Million for Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank
The United States is promising $100 million in humanitarian assistance to help Palestinian people who have been displaced or otherwise affected by conflict in Gaza and the West Bank.
President Joe Biden announced in a news release Wednesday that the assistance would be provided through trusted partners, including U.N. agencies and international NGOs.
Biden is in Tel Aviv to show support for Israel following the Hamas attacks more than a week ago that killed some 1,400 people. His announcement came after Israel agreed to allow limited aid into Gaza from Egypt.
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Israel Allows Egypt to Deliver Limited Aid to Gaza
Israel says it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved Wednesday in light of a request from visiting President Joe Biden.
In a statement, it said it “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water and medicine, as long as the supplies do not reach Hamas. The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel.
It was not clear when the aid would start flowing. Egypt’s Rafah crossing has only a limited capacity, and Egypt says it has been damaged by Israeli airstrikes.
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Blinken Speaks With Palestinian Authority President to Express Condolences About Hospital Blast
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Tuesday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “to express profound condolences for the civilian lives lost in the explosion at the Al-Ahli Anglican hospital in Gaza City,” according to a readout from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
“The Secretary expressed continuing U.S. support for the Palestinian people, stressing that Hamas terrorists do not represent Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations for self-determination and equal measures of dignity, freedom, security, and justice,” the readout Wednesday said.
The call between Mr. Blinken and Mr. Abbas follows an earlier meeting in Amman prior to the hospital blast. Authorities in Gaza have said Israel was behind it, while the Israel Defense Forces assert that its intelligence showed it was a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
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US Announces Sanctions Against Group of 10 Hamas Members and Financial Network Over Israel Attack
The U.S. announced sanctions on Wednesday against a group of 10 Hamas members and the Palestinian terrorist organization’s financial network across Gaza, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria, and Qatar as it responds to the surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead or kidnapped.
Targeted for sanctions by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control are members who manage a Hamas investment portfolio, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with close ties to the Iranian regime, a key Hamas commander and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange. Iran is Hamas’ main sponsor.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said 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.”
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Gaza Death Toll Rises to Nearly 3,500, Palestinian Health Ministry Says
At least 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to a statement Wednesday by the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
More than 12,000 others have been injured, the statement said.
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Senators Introduce Bill to Refreeze $6 Billion in Iran Assets After Hamas Attacks Israel
Senate lawmakers on Oct. 17 introduced legislation that would prevent the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian assets that were recently unblocked by the Biden administration as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
The measure, known as the “Revoke Iranian Funding Act,” was introduced by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, along with more than 20 Republican and Independent lawmakers.
The legislation—which would rescind the Treasury and State General Licenses that enabled the release of the billions of dollars to Iran and prevent the regime from accessing and using the funds—is a direct response to President Joe Biden’s decision to unfreeze the funds last month in exchange for the return of multiple hostages being held by Iran.
Read more from here
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Russia Says Strike on Gaza Hospital is a Shocking Crime
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that a strike on a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians was a shockingly dehumanising crime and said that Israel should provide satellite imagery if it was not involved.
Palestinian officials said an Israeli air strike hit the hospital while Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.
“We qualify such a felonious deed as a crime—as an act of dehumanisation,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Radio Sputnik.
Ms. Zakharova said that there was a clear attempt by some to absolve themselves of responsibility and that it was not enough to simply make comments in the media on such an incident so Israel and the United States should provide satellite imagery.
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US Deploying Marines Into Middle East to Support Israel
A unit of U.S. Marines has been directed to move into the Middle East to support Israel in its war with the Hamas terrorist group, U.S. officials said on Oct. 17.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to move into the region, Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a briefing.
“The 26th MEU is an adaptable military force composed of infantry, aviation, and logistics components, all operating under one command,” Ms. Singh said. “Positioned at sea, the 26th MEU is equipped to execute amphibious missions, respond to crises, and engage in limited contingency operations across a spectrum of military scenarios.”
Read more from here
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US ‘Will Continue to Have Israel’s Back,’ Biden Says in Meeting With Israeli War Cabinet
President Joe Biden pledged U.S. support for Israel in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the country’s war cabinet in an expanded bilateral meeting in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, saying, “We will continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people.”
“We’ll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians,” President Biden told Mr. Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet, condemning Hamas’ attack as “brutal, inhuman, almost beyond belief.”
For his part, Mr. Netanyahu slammed Hamas for committing “this terrible, double-war crime against humanity.”
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Gaza Officials Say IDF Had Warned Al-Ahli Hospital 4 Days Ago That It Should Be Evacuated
Officials in Gaza said on Wednesday that the Al-Ahli hospital was damaged by two Israeli shells four days ago, after which the Israel Defense Forces warned the hospital’s management to evacuate the premises.
Youssef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister in Gaza, said two Israeli shells hit the hospital on Saturday.
Mr. Al-Rish said that on the following day, the IDF contacted the manager of the hospital, Dr. Maher Ayad, criticizing him for “not evacuating the facility.”
Mr. Al-Rish said the IDF had told Mr. Ayad that the shells had been a warning. They “told the hospital’s manager, you have been warned yesterday with two shells, so why you haven’t evacuated the hospital till this moment,” Mr. Al-Rish said.
Wounded Palestinians sit in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli hospital following an explosion there, on Oct. 17, 2023. (Abed Khaled/AP)_____
Egypt Declares 3-day National Mourning for Gaza Hospital Strike Victims
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared a three-day state of general mourning across Egypt following the explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza in which hundreds of people were killed reportedly, a Wednesday statement from the Egyptian presidential office said.
“President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi decided to declare a state of general mourning throughout the Arab Republic of Egypt for a period of three days, to mourn the lives of the innocent victims of the crime of bombing the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip, and for all the martyrs among the brotherly Palestinian people,” the statement read.
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Egypt Declares 3-day National Mourning for Gaza Hospital Strike Victims
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared a three-day state of general mourning across Egypt following the explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza in which hundreds of people were killed, a Wednesday statement from the Egyptian presidential office said.
“President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi decided to declare a state of general mourning throughout the Arab Republic of Egypt for a period of three days, to mourn the lives of the innocent victims of the crime of bombing the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip, and for all the martyrs among the brotherly Palestinian people,” statement read.
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Iran’s Foreign Minister Calls for Oil Embargo Against Israel
Iran’s top diplomat is calling on Muslim nations to expel their Israeli ambassadors and launch an oil embargo on Israel after an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip.
The comments Wednesday by Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian mark the first time an oil embargo has been discussed as Israel wages war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip after its unprecedented Oct. 7 attack.
“We expect the Islamic countries that have diplomatic relations with the Zionist regime to cut off their relations immediately and expel the Israeli ambassador from their country,” Mr. Amirabdollahian said in a clip aired by state television in Iran. “Secondly, the export of oil to the country of Israel and any project that exists between any Islamic state and Israel must be stopped immediately.”
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Hamas Spokesperson Praises Cancellation of Biden Summit
A spokesperson for Hamas in Lebanon praised the decision to cancel a summit in Jordan between Arab governments and President Biden following a deadly hospital blast in Gaza.
President Biden was supposed to meet with Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday in Amman in hopes of resolving the ongoing Gaza-Israel war.
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan called for an immediate cease-fire, a humanitarian corridor into the blockaded Gaza Strip, and the continuation of mass regional protests that took place after Tuesday night’s blast at the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.
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Biden Says Hospital Blast in Gaza Appears to Not Have Been Caused by Israel
President Biden says that an explosion that killed hundreds in a Gaza Strip hospital appears to not have been caused by Israel.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” President Biden said Wednesday during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But President Biden said there were “a lot of people out there” who weren’t sure what caused the blast.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike caused the destruction. The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group. However, that organization also rejected responsibility.
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Biden Says American Death Toll From Hamas Attack Climbs to 31
President Biden confirmed Wednesday that the American death toll following the Hamas attack on Israel has climbed to 31 people.
“The terrorist group Hamas has slaughtered, it has been pointed out, over 1,300 people and it is not hyperbole to suggest slaughtered, slaughtered—including 31 Americans—and they’ve taken scores of people hostage, including children,” he said.
Following his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Biden is set to hold a wider meeting with Israel’s war Cabinet.
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Egyptian President Rejects Calls to Move Palestinians to Sinai Peninsula
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi says his country rejects what he calls efforts to force Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, warning that such an effort would jeopardize his country’s peace with Israel.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr. el-Sissi said Wednesday that his government views Israel’s siege on Gaza, including cutting off water, food, and fuel and preventing humanitarian aid from flowing into the territory as a scheme to expel the Palestinians to Egypt.
“We are rejecting the liquidation of the Palestinian cause and the explosion of Palestinians to Sinai,” the Egyptian leader said, adding that Sinai would be turned into a launching ground for “terrorist attacks” against Israel, which would in turn blame Egypt for such attacks.
He said Egyptians reject such efforts and proposed that Israel move the Palestinians to the Negev in Israel until it ends “its announced mission” of destroying Palestinian terrorist groups.
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German Synagogue Attacked With Molotov Cocktails, Police Say
A Berlin synagogue has been attacked with Molotov cocktails, police in Germany say. It comes as antisemitic incidents in the German capital have been rising following the violent escalation in the Middle East.
The Kahal Adass Jisroel community said its synagogue in the city’s Mitte neighborhood was attacked early Wednesday with two incendiary devices. The complex in the center of Berlin houses a synagogue, a kindergarten, and a community center.
Police also said there were riots overnight between Muslim immigrants and police in the city’s Neukoelln and Kreuzberg neighborhoods and at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate in which several officers were injured.
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Jordan’s Foreign Minister Says Summit ‘Would Not Be Able to Stop War Now’
Jordan canceled a planned summit with President Biden, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II because it “would not be able to stop the war now,” Jordan’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs said.
Ayman Al-Safadi said in a statement on Wednesday that “Jordan will continue to work with everyone so that when this summit is held, it will be able to achieve what is required of it, which is to stop the war, deliver humanitarian support to the people of Gaza, and put an end to this crisis.”
The summit, originally scheduled for later Wednesday, was cancelled after a blast at a Gaza City hospital killed hundreds of people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
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Hezbollah Says It Hit Israeli Tank, Inflicting Casualties
Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group says its fighters have hit an Israeli Merkava tank with an anti-tank missile, inflicting casualties among the troops.
The group said the attack early Wednesday targeted an Israeli army position across the border from the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab. The Israeli army said it is checking reports that an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon.
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Arab Countries at UN Demand Immediate Cease-fire
The 22 Arab countries at the United Nations joined in demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza following the alleged devastating explosion and fire at a Gaza City hospital.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, said Arab Group members were outraged at the claims of hundreds of people killed and also united in demanding the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid and preventing “forcible displacement” of Palestinians.
Mr. Mansour said that the highest objective is a cease-fire because “saving lives is the most important thing.”
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Western Intelligence Leaders Wary of Potential Fallout in Their Countries
Leaders of Western intelligence services said they are attuned to the potential fallout in their home countries of the deadly attacks by Hamas on Israel.
Representatives from intelligence agencies from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia—a coalition known as the “Five Eyes”—convened in California to discuss Chinese economic espionage. But the meeting unfolded against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency is working with local law enforcement to address threats of violence against both the Jewish and Muslim communities. It is also working through its legal attache office in Tel Aviv, Israel, to locate and identify Americans who remain unaccounted for after the Oct. 7 attacks.
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Biden Lands in Israel, Hugs Netanyahu and Herzog on Tarmac
President Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday, beginning a visit to show solidarity and confer on the spiraling Gaza war, a Reuters correspondent on board Air Force One said.
Descending from the plane amid a large security contingent, President Biden embraced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog on the tarmac.
“Welcome, Mr. President. God bless you for protecting the nation of Israel,” Mr. Herzog’s office quoted him as telling President Biden.
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UN Security Council to Vote Wednesday on Israel-Gaza Conflict
The United Nations Security Council will now vote on Wednesday on a Brazilian-drafted resolution that calls for humanitarian pauses in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist Hamas to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
The council is then expected to discuss—at the request of the United Arab Emirates and Russia—a Gaza hospital blast that allegedly killed hundreds of people on Tuesday, diplomats said.
Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour blamed Israeli forces for the people killed at the hospital, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan issued a statement accusing the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group of responsibility.
Islamic Jihad has denied the allegations.
The 15-member council had initially been due to vote Monday on the Brazilian draft, but it was postponed 24 hours to allow more time to negotiate. The United States then pushed for a further delay as President Biden visits Israel on Wednesday.
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Palestinians Clash With Abbas’ West Bank Forces After Gaza Hospital Strike
Palestinian security forces in Ramallah fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters throwing rocks and chanting against President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, as popular anger boiled over after a reported blast at a Gaza hospital that Palestinians blamed on Israel.
The blast at Gaza’s Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, which Hamas said killed about 500 people, was the deadliest single incident in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign in retaliation for a deadly Hamas gun rampage through Israeli communities.
Israel’s military denied responsibility for the strike, blaming it on a failed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist rocket launch. The strike drew condemnation from the West and the Arab world, and protests were staged at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon.
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Several Arab Countries Harshly Condemn Israel Following Gaza Hospital Blast
After a blast at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people on Tuesday, the leaders of several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and The United Arab Emirates have harshly condemned the bombing and joined Palestinian officials in blaming Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces has “categorically” denied any involvement, blaming instead a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, a rival Islamist terrorist group in Gaza.
Protesters wave Palestinian flags during a rally at the entrance of the French embassy complex in Beirut early on Oct. 18, 2023. (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images)_____
Jordan Cancels 4-Way Summit With Biden After Deadly Hospital Explosion in Gaza
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Tuesday announced the cancellation of a four-way summit set to take place on Wednesday involving U.S. President Joe Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Tensions in the region escalated on Tuesday following an airstrike that hit the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza that day, reportedly killing hundreds. Israel’s military denied involvement, pointing the finger at the Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza.
Speaking to state-run al-Mamlaka television, Mr. Safadi expressed concerns that the Israel–Hamas conflict was pushing the Middle East “to the brink,” and as a result, the summit was postponed.
The meeting was initially planned to be held in Amman, Jordan, following President Biden’s visit to Israel.
White House officials said Tuesday night, en route to Tel Aviv, that the cancellation was decided “in a mutual way” after Mr. Abbas had earlier withdrawn his participation from the Wednesday summit to observe “three days of mourning” following the hospital attack.
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Israeli Military Blames Palestinian Terror Group for Deadly Hospital Explosion
The Israeli military said that a massive blast that reportedly killed hundreds at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday was not caused by an Israeli airstrike, as the Hamas terror group alleged, but by a rocket misfired by another terrorist organization affiliated with Hamas.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 500 people were killed in an explosion at the al-Ahli hospital and blamed an Israeli air strike for the carnage, calling it a “horrific massacre.”
Israeli forces blamed Islamic Jihad, a smaller and even more radical Palestinian organization than the Hamas terror group that shares many of Hamas’s aims and attitudes, including holding a vehemently anti-Israel stance.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the early hours of Wednesday issued a video on X, formerly Twitter, which appears to show the misfired rocket landing in Gaza. “This is the tragic result of firing rockets from densely populated neighborhoods,” reads the caption.
“The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X. “Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children.”
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US Raises Travel Advisory for Lebanon to ‘Do Not Travel’
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday raised its travel alert for Lebanon to “do not travel,” citing the security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist group.
The State Department authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of U.S. government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut because of the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon.
The advisory comes as a Gaza health ministry spokesman said hundreds were killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital, igniting protests in the West Bank and around the Middle East.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry blames the Ahli Arab hospital explosion on Israel, but the Israeli military says it was a misfired Palestinian rocket.
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Hamas Releases First Video of Hostage, US Responds
The United States has responded to Hamas’s release of a hostage video by calling on the group to immediately release all hostages.
“There should be no reason for them to have any hostages in the first place,” said U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on American TV Tuesday.
Asked if he believed the woman in the video, identified as 21-year-old Mia Schem, was being treated OK, Mr. Kirby said she was “probably forced” to record the message.
The video shows Ms. Schem pleading to be returned to her family, and saying that she was injured and taken to Gaza.
“There’s no question in my mind that that woman gave that video testimony under duress, probably forced to do it,” Mr. Kirby said on NBC’s “Today.”
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Summary of Events So Far
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Oct. 13 ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in northern Gaza to evacuate as it vowed to annihilate the terrorist group Hamas in response to its unprecedented attack on Oct. 7. Tens of thousands of people in Gaza have since fled south since Israel’s warning to evacuate, the United Nations estimated.
Some 1,300 people in Israel were killed in the surprise attack on Oct. 7, which shook the country because of horrifying mobile phone video footage and reports from medical and emergency services of atrocities and potential war crimes in the towns and kibbutzes that were overrun. In response, the Israeli Defense Forces swiftly announced “Operation Swords of Iron,” which aims to eliminate the Hamas terror group so it can never again attack Israel.
Israel formally declared war on the Hamas Islamists on Oct. 8 and eased its gun license standards to enable more citizens to arm themselves. Israel’s prime minister called on Gazan civilians to evacuate the region on Oct. 8, which was followed by a campaign of mass text messages urging civilians to evacuate before the planned assault on Hamas was well and truly underway.
Hamas is an Iran-backed Islamist terrorist group that took charge of the Gaza Strip from a rival Palestinian group, the secular Fatah, in factional fighting in 2007. The Fatah has in recent years expressed it largely supports peaceful negotiations for a two-state solution to secure Palestinians’ territorial claims, whereas Hamas does not acknowledge Israel’s right to existence and resorts to armed violence.
Hamas terrorists in Gaza are holding at least 199 hostages taken from Israel in its Oct. 7 assault, and on Oct. 9, threatened to kill the hostages if Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza civilians “without warning.” The IDF had noted on Oct. 10 that Hamas terrorists have embedded themselves in civilian buildings and as such, made those structures valid military targets. It blames Hamas for intentionally building its operation centers next to key civilian institutions, like hospitals and schools, to maximize international condemnation of any Israeli attempts to fight back against the terrorists.
Israel has no obligation to, but had been supplying some of Gaza’s water and electricity. Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 brutal attacks and kidnapping of hostages, Israel cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity, and medicine into Gaza and vowed to maintain the complete siege until all hostages are freed by Hamas.
On Oct. 11, Israel established an emergency government and a special war cabinet to oversee its military response. It has also called up some 360,000 army reservists who have since gathered along the Gaza border.
Israel’s military said it planned to target Hamas’s sprawling network of tunnels built under Gaza City—protected by a layer of Palestinian civilian buildings on the surface. Meanwhile, the Hamas terrorist group has vowed to fight to the last drop of blood and has told Gazan residents to stay.
The United States began charter flights on Oct. 13, and boats on Tuesday, to evacuate Americans out of Israel. President Joe Biden on Oct. 11 said the U.S. government is working with the Israelis to rescue the Americans taken hostage by Hamas.
At least 31 Americans have died and 13 Americans are unaccounted for since the start of the war, the White House confirmed on Tuesday.
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See the previous day’s updates here.
Katabella Roberts, Zachary Stieber, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
