The Health Ministry run by Hamas said an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing hundreds. If confirmed, the attack would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008.
The health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said at least 500 people had been killed. Photos purportedly from al-Ahli Hospital shared widely on social video showed fire engulfing the building, widespread damage and bodies scattered in the wreckage. The photos could not be independently verified.
Several hospitals in Gaza City have become refuges for hundreds of people, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.
About one million people from northern Gaza have moved to Khan Yunis and other southern districts to avoid the looming Israeli ground offensive.
However, Israel bombed areas of southern Gaza, on Tuesday, after it ordered Palestinians to seek refuge in the region, killing dozens of people in attacks it says are targeted at Hamas militants that rule the besieged territory.
Similarly, hundreds of families flocked to Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals on Tuesday seeking refuge from the seemingly endless Israeli army shelling. Aid workers warned that life in Gaza was near complete collapse because of the Israeli siege that followed a Hamas attack on Israel.
Palestinians in the besieged coastal strip are desperate after Israel cut off the flow of food, medicine, water and electricity to Gaza until Hamas released Israeli hostages, while the UN has warned Israel against the "forcible transfer of civilians" in the Gaza Strip, which could be in breach of international law.
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 as the US is hoping to break a deadlock with President Joe Biden set to visit Israel on October 18.
The war that began October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead.
Around 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and 12,500 wounded in Gaza, while 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 immediate trigger for the latest war was Hamas firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters --- through land, air and sea --- into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip during a major Jewish holiday (Simchat Torah) on October 7 in a deadly, surprise offensive branded "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood".
Here are highlights:
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said that Israeli air strikes on a Gaza hospital compound on Tuesday killed at least 500 people. READ FULL REPORT
Hundreds of victims are still under the rubble as Israeli strikes on the yard of the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza, as reported by The Gaurdian.
Dozens of people, including UNRWA staff, were wounded and the school suffered severe structural damage, United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said, adding the number of casualties was expected to rise.
Around 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Tuesday.
More than 12,500 others have been wounded since Israel started bombarding Gaza on October 7, in retaliation for Hamas attacks in Israel which killed more than 1,400 people.
Diplomatic bids to free around 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza gathered pace on Tuesday, with Turkey saying it was in talks with the Islamist group to secure their release.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke from Beirut as calls mounted from the captives' families for world leaders to intervene after Hamas released the first video of a hostage purportedly speaking from captivity on Monday.
"So far, we have received requests from various countries for the release of their citizens. As a result, we started to discuss these issues, especially with the political wing of Hamas," Fidan told a news conference in Beirut alongside his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib.
"Our efforts continue, especially for the release of foreigners, civilians and children. We will continue our efforts to ensure lasting peace," Fidan said on Tuesday, a day after he held a phone conversation with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh about the hostages.
Hamas said Tuesday one of the top leaders of its armed wing was killed in 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.
The Israeli military did not immediately confirm the killing when contacted by AFP.
The UN human rights office is decrying "appalling reports" that civilians who were trying to flee to southern Gaza were hit and killed by a military strike.
More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes — roughly half of Gaza's population — and 60 per cent are now in the approximately 14-kilometer-long area south of the evacuation zone.
The AP reported that around 50 bodies were brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and Family members came to claim the bodies, wrapped in white bedsheets, some soaked in blood.
According to CNN, Hamas — the rulers of the Gaza Strip — has accused US President Joe Biden of falling for Israel's narrative ahead of his visit to Israel and Jordan on October 18.
Speaking to CNN, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called the United States a "culprit" in the war against Palestinian people and claimed that Biden's visit was aimed at providing financial support to Israel while encouraging Tel Aviv to "commit more massacres against Palestinians."
"Unfortunately the US administration and the US President Biden took a very aggressive measure against the Palestinian people and fell for the Israeli narrative. His visit is only to support the Israelis financially and morally and to encourage the occupation to commit more massacres against our Palestinian brothers and sisters, children and the elderly," Qassem told CNN.
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned the forced displacement of Palestinians and demanded an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a report by Al-Jazeera. The Saudi cabinet has demanded the lifting of Israel's 'total siege' on Gaza and called for a return to the peace process.
Israeli troops killed four militants attempting to enter its territory from Lebanon on Tuesday, the army said, as tensions run high on the border between the two countries.
"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, adding "four terrorists were killed."
Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian militants in Lebanon on a near-daily basis since October 8, the day after Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas launched a massive attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
The US military on Tuesday ordered 2,000 personnel to prepare for deployment to the Middle East as a show of force amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said preparing the troops for deployment "is really about sending a signal of deterrence [...] There are no plans or intentions to put US boots on the ground in combat in Israel."
Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Tuesday said that if required, more flights will be operated on the basis of the upcoming situation, noting that five flights have already arrived in the last few days. "As of now, 5 flights have come and if required we will operate more flights on the basis of the situation that emerges," Muraleedharan said.
Moreover, the minister stressed that the Indian embassy is considering the requests of Indian citizens in Israel based on the ground situation. "The Indian Embassy is taking the call on who all have to travel to India based on the requests of the people and their ground situation there," he said.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a warning that "no one can stop" resistance forces against Israel if it keeps up its bombardment of Gaza and further hinted at Iran's "responsibility to react."
"If the crimes of the Zionist (Israeli) regime continue, Muslims and resistance forces will become impatient, and no one can stop them," Khamenei said.
"Regarding the situation in Gaza, we all have a responsibility to react; we must react," Khamenei said, without detailing what a reaction may entail.
Iran warned on October 16, of a possible "pre-emptive action" against Israel "in the coming hours", as Israel readies for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a warning that "no one can stop" resistance against Israel if it keeps up its bombardment of Gaza and further hinted at Iran's "responsibility to react."
"If the crimes of the Zionist (Israeli) regime continue, Muslims and resistance forces will become impatient, and no one can stop them," Khamenei said.
"Regarding the situation in Gaza, we all have a responsibility to react; we must react," Khamenei said, without detailing what a reaction may entail.
Iran warned on October 16, of a possible "pre-emptive action" against Israel "in the coming hours", as Israel readies for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a warning that "no one can stop" resistance against Israel if it keeps up its bombardment of Gaza and further hinted at Iran's "responsibility to react."
"If the crimes of the Zionist (Israeli) regime continue, Muslims and resistance forces will become impatient, and no one can stop them," Khamenei said.
"Regarding the situation in Gaza, we all have a responsibility to react; we must react," Khamenei said, without detailing what a reaction may entail.
Iran warned on October 16, of a possible "pre-emptive action" against Israel "in the coming hours", as Israel readies for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Military operations show no signs of abating, and the continued siege on Gaza is affecting water supply, food, medicine and other basic needs.
With numerous health facilities hit by bombardment and others beyond breaking point, there are serious concerns about the accessibility of medical care for the thousands injured – and for the estimated 50,000 pregnant women, as well as people with chronic physical and mental health issues. READ FULL REPORT HERE
Six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed on October 14 after being stabbed dozens of times in a brutal attack by his family's landlord, Joseph Czuba, who had been upset over the Israel-Hamas war.
Crowds of mourners in a heavily Palestinian Chicago suburb paid respects to Al-Fayoume, hours after authorities revealed new details about the evidence used to charge the landlord with stabbing the child and his mother.
Intense talks are on to free hostages held by Hamas after its attack on Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday, after the mother of a French-Israeli captive begged world leaders to intervene.
"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."
Reuters demanded Israeli officials conduct a "swift and transparent" probe over the killing of its journalist in Lebanon and urged Israeli Defense Forces to provide "clear evidence and explanation" over the incident.
Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity.
The UN relief agency for Palestinians says it has run out of capacity to help, declaring an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe."
The Conversation explains why the urgent and chaotic evacuation ordered by a "belligerent" Israel will "further worsen" the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe.
United Nations's World Food Programme (WFP) said the situation in the Gaza Strip was 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 from Cairo.
King Abdullah II on Tuesday warned of a dire situation in the Middle East if the conflict between Israel and Hamas is allowed to spread to other countries.
Scholz, who will travel to Israel later on Tuesday, also warned against an escalation. He will be the first head of government to visit Israel since Hamas' attack last week.
Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are completely overwhelmed. But Gaza’s health care system was already under stress before the latest bombardment.
In fact, policies that stretch back decades have left it unable to meet even the basic health needs of Gaza’s residents, let alone respond to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Yara M Asi, a Palestinian expert in global health, explains the unprecedented challenges awaiting Gaza's vulnerable health system. READ FULL REPORT HERE
In Gaza, hospitals were on the verge of losing electricity, threatening the lives of thousands of patients, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes searched for bread. Israel maintained punishing airstrikes across Gaza as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks, and tensions mounted near the Israel-Lebanon border.
US President Joe Biden planned to travel to Israel on Wednesday to signal White House support for the country and to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the trip early Tuesday in Tel Aviv during his second visit to Israel in less than a week amid fears that the fighting could expand into a broader regional conflict.
READ FULL REPORT HERE
READ FULL REPORT HERE
1. Truckloads of aid are waiting at Egypt’s border with Gaza
2. Residents and humanitarian groups are pleading for water, food and fuel
3. In Gaza, hospitals are on the verge of losing electricity
4. Hamas militants are keeping up a barrage of rocket attacks
5. Tensions mount near border with Lebanon amid fire exchange with Hezbollah
6. Israel has evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon
7. Head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service took responsibility for failing to avert Hamas' attack
8. Crowds of Palestinians with dual citizenship are waiting anxiously on the Gaza side of Rafah crossing
9. Those fleeing northern Gaza still faced airstrikes in the south.
10. “Gaza is running out of water, and life": UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini
11. More than 1 million have fled their homes
12. 60% are now in the almost 14-km-long area south of evacuation zone
13. Intense bombardments reported early Tuesday near southern towns where Gazans have taken refuge
(AP)
READ FULL REPORT HERE
READ FULL REPORT HERE
Hundreds of people gathered Monday at the Illinois funeral for the Palestinian American boy named Wadea Al-Fayoume. Authorities say he was fatally was stabbed by a landlord upset over the Israel-Hamas war. The landlord also attacked the boy’s mother, who was hospitalized. pic.twitter.com/1yBWjUEgPN
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 16, 2023
Martin Griffiths, who is heading to Cairo on Tuesday “to try to help in the negotiations,” said the U.N.’s “overwhelming priority” is to get access to Gaza, saying humanitarian rules of war are being violated.
READ FULL REPORTHERE