- An Israeli air strike has hit al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City where thousands of civilians are seeking medical treatment and shelter from relentless attacks.
- Gaza health ministry says at least 500 casualties in hospital blast. A UN-run school housing refugees also struck.
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5m ago
(18:51 GMT)Egypt condemns deadly Israeli attack on Gaza hospital
Egypt has condemned the Israeli attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, calling it “a dangerous violation of International Humanitarian Law.”
“This deliberate attack on civilian targets is a dangerous violation of IHL and basic human values,” a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
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9m ago
(18:46 GMT)‘Lost for words’: UN expresses shock after deadly school attack
The al-Alhli Hospital was not the only civilian target attacked in Gaza. A UN-operated school housing thousands of war displaced was also hit earlier with at least six people killed.
Tamara al-Rifai, from the UN Relief and Works Agency, says there was “direct Israeli fire” on the facility and another refugee centre in the area.
“An attack on densely populated refugee camps where people are sheltering in UN schools and premises is something that is utterly shocking. It is a very sad violation of international humanitarian law. I am lost for words right now,” al-Rifai told Al Jazeera.
“We clearly identify all of our buildings and we share the coordinates, the GPS, with all of the [war] parties. That camp hosted 4,000 displaced people.”
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10m ago
(18:45 GMT)Rashida Tlaib to Biden after hospital bombing: ‘We will remember’
US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has denounced the bombing of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, and renewed calls for President Biden to push for an end to the conflict.
“This is what happens when you refuse to facilitate a ceasefire & help de-escalate,” Tlaib wrote in a social media post, addressing Biden.
“Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslim Americans like me. We will remember where you stood.”
Tlaib and several of her progressive colleagues have introduced a congressional resolution urging a ceasefire.
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15m ago
(18:40 GMT)Aid group head decries ‘worst attack on a medical facility in the 21st century’
Zaher Sahloul, president of the US-based MedGlobal humanitarian organisation, has called the mass-casualty Israeli strike on the al-Ahli Arab Hospital “the worst attack on a medical facility in the 21st century”.
“Bombing hospitals is against international law. It is a war crime. It undermines medical neutrality and the 150-year-old Geneva Conventions, and deprives a distressed local Palestinian community from access to healthcare,” Sahloul said.
“It compounds trauma in the Gaza strip, sending the message that nowhere is safe, not even inside a hospital,” he said.
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17m ago
(18:38 GMT)WHO condemns deadly attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza
The World Health Organization’s director-general has condemned the deadly attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for the “immediate protection of civilians” and for Israel’s “evacuation orders to be reversed”.
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20m ago
(18:36 GMT)Photos: Aftermath of deadly Israeli air raid on al-Ahli Arab Hospital
[Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] 
[Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] 
[Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] 
[Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] 
[Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] -
23m ago
(18:33 GMT)Hospital victims caught between evacuation order and nowhere to go: Aid worker
Nebal Farsakh, a representative from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, says many of those who gathered at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City were heeding the Israeli demand to evacuate but were unable to travel south.
“Many people are asking why this number is so high. [It’s] because … these are Palestinians who sought refuge in front of the hospital. They thought they would be in a safer place in front of a hospital. But this is not the case in Gaza, this is not the case in Palestine,” she told Al Jazeera from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
“Those who were in front of the hospital were forced to leave their homes under the evacuation order. They can’t even afford to evacuate to the south. There’s complete destruction of the infrastructure and transportation,” she said.
“They are forced to evacuate themselves under continuous bombardment. The only available is a hospital, so they’re thinking that they would be in a safe place.
“This is genocide. This is a war crime.”
Wounded Palestinians lay at the al-Shifa hospital, following Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City [Abed Khaled/AP Photo] -
28m ago
(18:27 GMT)Hospital considered a ‘safe place’ until Israeli strike: Gaza doctor
Ziad Shehadah, a medical doctor and resident of Gaza, tells Al Jazeera from the Gaza Strip:
“What’s happened is terrible because those people, all of them, are civilians. They fled their homes and reached a place that they believed was safe – a hospital, which according to international law, is a safe place.
“People left their homes thinking they were more dangerous and they moved to our schools and hospitals to be safe. And in one minute, all of them have been killed at a hospital.
“The death toll right now is more than 500, but we believe that number will reach more than 1,000. It is a massacre.”
An injured person is taken into a hospital after Israeli air strike hit a hospital in Gaza City [Reuters] -
29m ago
(18:26 GMT)Israeli military says it has no details on hospital bombing
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari says there are still no details on the deaths at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.
“We will get the details and update the public. I don’t know to say whether it was an Israeli air strike,” he said.
An Injured child is taken into a hospital after Israeli air strike hit a hospital [Reuters] -
43m ago
(18:13 GMT)Abbas declares 3 days of mourning following Israeli attack on Gaza hospital
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has declared three days of mourning following the Israeli bombing of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reports.
Various political factions have also called on Palestinians in the West Bank to observe a commercial strike on Wednesday to protest the deadly Israeli attack on the hospital.
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55m ago
(18:00 GMT)Israeli attack on Gaza hospital ‘unprecedented’
The Israeli attack on the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City is the deadliest Israeli air strike in five wars fought since 2008, says the Palestinian Civil Defence.
“The massacre at al-Ahli Arab Hospital is unprecedented in our history. While we’ve witnessed tragedies in past wars and days, what took place tonight is tantamount to a genocide,” spokesman Mahmoud Basal said.
Photos purportedly from al-Ahli Hospital shared widely on social video showed fire engulfing the building, widespread damage and bodies scattered in the wreckage.
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.
A woman embraces the body of a Palestinian child killed in Israeli strikes at a hospital in Khan Younis [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] -
1h ago
(17:51 GMT)Hospital attack ups pressure on US president before visit to Israel
Biden is under an enormous amount of pressure for the stance he has taken – by not condemning the actions of the Israeli military. The attack that we are witnessing playing out on our screens [at al-Ahli Arab Hospital] is going to make it that much more difficult for the president.
Now what we have seen in the last 24, 36, 48 hours is a bit of a shift in the tone and language coming out of the White House.
Earlier in the week, there was no question that what we saw was a very tough tone that was very much echoing that of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the more recent hours, what we’ve seen is more of a shift towards highlighting and prioritising humanitarian support and making sure that the people of Gaza have the food, the medicine and the water that they need, making sure that civilians got safe passage out of Gaza. It is still something that the US president says that he has to work on with the leaders in the region.
There is no question that that is going to be even more of a priority in light of what we are seeing right now – the attack on this hospital.
US President Joe Biden is set to travel to Israel on Wednesday and will ‘reaffirm US solidarity’ -
1h ago
(17:51 GMT)‘Situation catastrophic’ as Palestinians face ‘collective punishment’
The situation here is really catastrophic. There are still people under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Medical teams are trying to evacuate the victims, but there is an increasing number of victims across different areas in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds and thousands.
We are talking about collective punishment for Palestinians. Hundreds of massacres have been committed during this round of fighting. Hundreds of young children and women killed by the continuing Israeli attacks.
Families [have] evacuated from north and central Gaza towards southern areas, but the bombardment is still ongoing.
Clearly, there is not any safe place inside the Gaza Strip.
Gaza: 60-Minute Warning | Al Jazeera World -
1h ago
(17:46 GMT)Attacked Gaza hospital ‘still burning’, Palestinian medical director says
Hassan Khalaf, the medical director of al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City, about one kilometre (less than a mile) from al-Ahli Arab, says the hospital “is still burning” after Israel’s attack.
Khalaf told Al Jazeera that thousands of Palestinians have been injured in the continuing Israeli bombardment and there is no safe place left.
“Where [is there] to go?” he asked.
“They want to do massacres and massacres and massacres in Gaza.”
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1h ago
(17:45 GMT)Hundreds in West Bank protest deadly air raid on hospital
Hundreds of Palestinians have taken to the streets of the West Bank cities of Nablus, Tulkarem and Jenin to protest the Israeli air raid on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.
At least 500 have been killed in the attack on the hospital, according to the health ministry in the besieged coastal enclave.
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1h ago
(17:32 GMT)At least 500 killed in Israeli air raid on Gaza hospital: Health Ministry
The health ministry in the Gaza Strip says at least 500 people have been killed in an Israeli attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
Gaza’s Hamas government described the attack as a “war crime”.
“The hospital was housing hundreds of sick and wounded, and people forcibly displaced from their homes” because of other Israeli attacks, a statement said.
About 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since the war erupted on October 7. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed.
A wounded Palestinian girl is carried into the emergency room of al-Shifa hospital following Israeli air raids [File: Abed Khaled/AP] -
1h ago
(17:32 GMT)Hospital attacks ‘unconscionable’ yet happen ‘again and again’: Gaza doctor
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of paediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, says the bombing of hospitals is “unconscionable and yet we have seen it again and again”.
“We are fighting to save wounded children, pregnant mothers, babies are being born here,” Abu Safiya said in a statement after the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
“Over 200 dead bodies were brought to Shifa hospital today, mostly women and children. They must stop targeting us.”
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1h ago
(17:27 GMT)Hundreds under the rubble of al-Ahli Arab Hospital: Ministry
There are “hundreds of victims” under the rubble of a Gaza hospital compound that was hit by Israeli bombing, says the Health Ministry in the besieged coastal enclave.
The ministry said earlier at least 200 people were killed in the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.
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1h ago
(17:24 GMT)German prime minister shelters as rockets launched at Tel Aviv
Prime Minister Scholz took shelter in the German embassy amid the latest wave of rockets fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv and southern Israel, according to the dpa news agency.
Israeli media has reported that one rocket landed in the southern city of Sderot.
No casualties were immediately reported in the barrage and it was not immediately clear what proportion of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system.
Hamas’s military wing also claimed it had shelled the northern city of Haifa with an R-160 rocket. An Israeli military spokesperson said an alert had been activated in the north of the country, but did not immediately provide further details.
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon, in southern Israel [Amir Cohen/Reuters] -
1h ago
(17:24 GMT)Hospital location ‘supposed to be a safe zone’: Analyst
Ibrahim Fraihat, a researcher from the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, says war crimes being committed by Israel need to be addressed by the US government and the International Criminal Court.
“This new massacre from the Israeli bombardment, it shouldn’t be surprising. The bombardment is reaching every centimetre of Gaza, there is no safe area. This hospital that’s been hit is in an area where Israel ordered the people to evacuate to. It is supposed to be a safe zone.
“How on Earth is this going to be a ‘Hamas target’? This is a question the Israeli government should answer. Those in charge and the policymakers should all be held responsible. No one is taking action,” Fraihat told Al Jazeera.
One third of Gaza’s victims are children -
1h ago
(17:21 GMT)Israeli air raid on Gaza hospital a ‘war crime’, says human rights group
The Israeli bombing of a Palestinian hospital in Gaza is a “war crime”, says a leading Palestinian human rights group.
Al Mezan posted on X that hospitals “are entitled to special protection” under international humanitarian law.
“This is a war crime, plain and simple.”
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1h ago
(17:21 GMT)Hospital bombarded without prior warning
This hospital [al-Ahli Arab Hospital], which is located in the central Gaza Strip, has been bombarded without any prior warning, causing severe destruction which prevents the hospital from continuing and providing medical services for thousands of people.
This hospital contains hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinians injured during the continuing Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave.
It is crowded with civilians. Just at this moment, hundreds of wounded people have reached the hospital. The area is full of residential buildings.
This is a true massacre that has taken place.
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1h ago
(17:16 GMT)Many injured in Israeli attack on hospital
Large numbers of injured people are being brought into al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after an Israeli attack on the courtyard of al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
Many of the wounded appeared to be women and children. Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was sheltering families amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza.
We’ll bring you more details as we get them.
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1h ago
(17:02 GMT)Hundreds feared dead in hospital attack: Gaza authorities
An unconfirmed number of Palestinians have been killed and wounded when an Israeli air raid hit the yard of a hospital in central Gaza, the Interior Ministry says.
The first estimates of people killed are between 200 to 300, Al Jazeera’s Maram Humaid reported, citing the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
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1h ago
(16:59 GMT)‘Going to be a massacre’, Gaza resident warns
Speaking to Al Jazeera before the Israeli attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital, university professor and translator Refaat Alareer says despite the situation in Gaza already being “horrible”, he still expects things to get worse.
“If Israel continues to keep all crossings shut, including Rafah, and not allow Egypt or the UN to bring food or aid and decides to start a land invasion, it’s going to be a massacre,” he told Al Jazeera.
“I spoke to my wife and kids … that we need to eat as little as possible, to drink as little as possible, and ration as much as possible.”
Alareer says he refuses to stockpile goods. “I have enough money to buy the contents of the two shops around the corner. Thank God. But I don’t want to hoard. I take what we really need. I make sure that when I go to the shop to buy, for example, three or four cans of tuna, I say ‘Is this OK? Do you want me to take fewer cans?’”
A wounded Palestinian child is handed to a medic outside of the al-Shifa hospital, following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip [Abed Khaled/AP Photo] -
2h ago
(16:49 GMT)Israel strikes hospital courtyard, says Gaza gov’t media office
There’s been an Israeli air raid on the courtyard of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, says Salam Marouf, head of the government media office in the besieged coastal enclave.
“A new war crime has been committed by the Israeli occupation on the hospital, which housed hundreds of people fleeing their homes, as well as the sick and injured,” he said.
We will be bringing you more information about this when we get it.
Bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes lie at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] -
2h ago
(16:37 GMT)Britain’s Sunak thanks Qatari emir for ‘constructive role’ in conflict
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has thanked the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for his “constructive role” while discussing the conflict in Gaza.
A Qatari readout of the call between the two leaders said: “The Prime Minister thanked the Emir for his constructive role in regional diplomacy … and they agreed that the conflict must not be allowed to destabilise the wider region.”
Sunak said the Middle East must avoid further destabilisation in the wake of the Israel-Palestine crisis, his spokesperson also said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [File: Juan Medina/Reuters] -
2h ago
(16:30 GMT)Israeli air force says attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
More details were not immediately available on the strikes.
The announcement comes after Hezbollah said earlier today that four of its fighters had been killed in southern Lebanon. Israel’s military said the four Hezbollah fighters were killed attempting to cross the border.
Israel’s air force also said it had shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle that “approached the Israeli airspace from Lebanon” earlier in the day.
Smoke rises from Israeli artillery shelling in Dahaira, a Lebanese border village with Israel, in south Lebanon [Hussein Malla/AP Photo] -
2h ago
(16:23 GMT)Germany calls for immediate humanitarian response for Gaza
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for rapid humanitarian assistance for the besieged people trapped in the Gaza Strip.
“It is now a matter of hours that not only the water supply is brought back online, but also that food and medicine can reach Gaza. The situation in Gaza is highly dramatic,” Baerbock said.
Humanitarian aid is not only central for the people in Gaza, “but also for [Germany’s] credibility as an international actor” in the Middle East, she added.
Weaponising Water in Palestine | People & Power -
2h ago
(16:13 GMT)At least 6 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on UNRWA school
At least six people were killed when a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was hit in al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, the UN refugee agency says.
“The school was hit during Israeli forces airstrikes and bombardment on the Gaza Strip,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.
“At least 4,000 people have taken refuge in this UNRWA school-turned-shelter. They had and still have nowhere else to go.”
Video of the aftermath shows where tank shells crashed through classroom walls, leaving concrete pockmarked by shrapnel and piles of rubble in the hallways. Blood is splattered on crumbling cinderblocks. Rooms where Palestinians had taken refuge were filled with debris and splintered school chairs.
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2h ago
(16:09 GMT)Israel national security adviser predicts US ‘involvement’ if war escalates
Israeli official Tzachi Hanegbi says US President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to Israel is “making clear to our enemies that if they even imagine taking part in the offensive against the citizens of Israel, there will be American involvement here”.
“Israel will not be alone … A US force is here and it is ready,” he added, without elaborating.
The US has deployed two aircraft carrier fleets to the region, with US Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin saying the move is meant to deter “any efforts toward widening this war”. The Pentagon has said 2,000 troops were put on a “heightened state of readiness”, but no final decision had been made to deploy them.
Biden has also warned Iran and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah against widening the conflict.
Palestinians look for survivors in buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Deir el-Balah, southern Gaza Strip [Hassan Eslaiah/AP Photo] -
3h ago
(15:55 GMT)More on Hamas commander killed in Gaza
We’ve previously reported the killing of a Hamas armed wing leader during an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip, but here’s more information about him:
Ayman Nofal, known as Abu Ahmad, was a member of the general military council and commander of the central command in Al-Qassam Brigades.
Confirming his killing, the Israeli military described Nofal as “one of the most dominant figures” in Hamas, according to the AFP news agency.
An army statement described Nofal as the group’s former head of military intelligence and said he had been involved in manufacturing weapons and directing rockets fired at Israel.
Nofal was also “involved in planning the abduction of Gilad Shalit”, an Israeli soldier released in a 2011 prisoner swap after being held by Hamas in Gaza for more than five years, the Israeli military said.
Palestinians search for survivors in the rubble of a family house of Ayman Nofa, one of the top Hamas commanders, following Israeli airstrike at Bureij refugee camp City, Gaza Strip [Doaa AlBaz/AP Photo] -
3h ago
(15:48 GMT)Israel says 302 soldiers killed
The death toll reflects the number of Israeli soldiers killed since October 7.
The update comes as military spokesperson Daniel Hagari again reiterated on X that Israeli forces “are preparing to implement a wide range of offensive plans”.
Israel has called up 360,000 reservists since declaring war.
Israeli soldiers carry a dead body in southern Israel [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters] -
3h ago
(15:45 GMT)More from Alareer
Gaza professor Refaat Alareer says Israel’s bombardment is “pushing” Palestinians in the besieged enclave into smaller areas and spaces, with many households now hosting several families at once.
“People are forced out of their homes. Half of them go to shelters, mainly UN shelters,” he told Al Jazeera, adding “the other half went on to live with their relatives and even neighbours”.
“There are always so many people killed in each bombing, each massacre, because each family is hosting.”
Alareer himself, who lives with his wife and six children, is currently hosting four families, overwhelmingly women and children.
“It’s a very small flat, there is no space. It’s good because the kids come to life again. New friendships, new experiences. But it’s also terrifying … because we have so many people, so many kids,” he added.
The situation is also financially taxing, Alareer says, amid limited food and water.
“I can tell my kid, ‘Don’t eat that much, stop drinking, turn off the water.’ But how can I say this to our guest? I’d rather starve than tell my guest not to eat or drink that much,” he said, stressing that it is part of Arab culture to provide for your guests at one’s own expense.
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3h ago
(15:40 GMT)Canada tells citizens to leave Lebanon amid ongoing fighting
Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, has urged Canadian citizens in Lebanon to leave the country while commercial flights are still available amid a “very volatile” situation in the region.
“If you are in Lebanon, it is now time to leave while commercial flights are available,” Joly told reporters.
Canadians in Tel Aviv and the West Bank who wanted to leave should take advantage of military flights that Ottawa is operating to Athens, she added.
“We don’t know how long this operation will be able to continue as the situation is very volatile,” the foreign minister said.
Sporadic clashes have broken out over the past week along the tense Lebanon-Israel border [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo] -
3h ago
(15:24 GMT)South Africa’s FM speaks with Haniyeh about humanitarian aid
South Africa’s foreign minister has said she spoke with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh about humanitarian aid for Palestinians.
“Minister [Nalendi] Pandor and the Hamas leader discussed how to get the necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza and other parts of the Palestinian Territories,” the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said in a statement.
“During the call, and in line with the government’s position, Minister Pandor reiterated … solidarity and support for the people of Palestine and expressed sadness and regret for the loss of innocent lives both Palestinians and Israelis.”
A Palestinian woman reacts at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] -
3h ago
(15:09 GMT)Explained: Will Israel actually allow much-needed aid into Gaza?
Hundreds of shipments of crucial aid and food supplies are stuck at the Rafah crossing and unable to enter Gaza.
According to the Reuters news agency, the Egyptian foreign minister has said that while Cairo keeps the crossing operational, it is waiting for a green light from Israel, which is not “cooperating”.
But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel’s concern with opening the crossing is that Hamas may seize or prevent aid from reaching Gaza.
The top US diplomat added that President Joe Biden would meet with his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday and develop a plan to get aid to civilians in Gaza, without providing further details.
Here’s everything you need to know about the supplies stuck at the Rafah crossing.
[Al Jazeera] -
3h ago
(15:01 GMT)50 assaults documented on Palestinian journalists in West Bank: Syndicate
The Palestinian journalist syndicate says there has been a rise in the number of assaults and attacks on Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Israel.
“We have documented 50 assaults on journalists,” said Nasser Abu Bakr, the head of the syndicate.
Abu Bakr also said that in the Gaza Strip:
- The fate of three journalists remains unknown
- 50 media organisations have been destroyed
- 22 radio stations are off-air due to lack of electricity
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4h ago
(14:50 GMT)Gaza death toll rises to 3,000: Ministry
The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has reached 3,000, according to the health ministry.
More than 12,500 have been wounded in the besieged coastal enclave, the ministry said.
In the occupied West Bank, 61 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 1,250 have been injured.
A man carries the body of a Palestinian child killed in Israeli strikes as a mourner reacts, outside a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] -
4h ago
(14:45 GMT)Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines moves several planes to Istanbul
Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) says it will keep five of its 24 planes in Turkey as a precaution in case an escalation in fighting occurs between armed groups in Lebanon and Israeli forces.
An MEA spokesperson said the planes had been moved to Istanbul airport over the weekend and would remain there until further notice, while the remaining 19 planes in the fleet were operating normally.
A Middle East Airlines jet lands at Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon [File: Hussein Malla/AP Photo]
