LIVE | Israel-Hamas war: 'Reiterated India's principled position': PM Modi speaks to Palestine President

Egyptian soccer star Mohamed Salah, arguably the most celebrated Arab footballer, called on world leaders to “come together to prevent further slaughter of all innocent souls” and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza.

“There has been too much violence and too much heartbreak and brutality,” the Liverpool striker said in a video that lasted a little under a minute. “The escalations in the recent weeks is unbearable to witness. All lives are sacred and must be protected. The massacres need to stop. Families are being torn apart.” Aid to Gaza “must be allowed immediately,” he added. “The people there are in terrible conditions.” They were Salah's first comments on the Israel-Hamas war, after he was criticized by some Arab fans for his silence.

Officials said Wednesday that some aid will begin flowing into Gaza in the coming days. (AP)

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the deadly destruction of a hospital has heaped further pressure on Gaza's crumbling health system, depriving the territory of a facility that cared for 45,000 patients every year.

Speaking in a video briefing from Qatar, Griffiths also said the Al Ahli hospital was previously struck on Oct. 14.

He also said the death toll in the 11 days since Hamas' surprise attack inside Israel has already exceeded what was seen during seven weeks of Israeli-Hamas hostilities in 2014.

Meanwhile the UN Mideast envoy warned that the risk of the conflict expanding is “very real and extremely dangerous.” Tor Wennesland told the council that recent events “have served to reignite grievances and re-animate alliances across the region.” Earlier in the day at the U.N., the United States vetoed a resolution that would have condemned violence against civilians in the Israel-Hamas war and pushed for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said President Joe Biden was in the region engaging in diplomacy and “We need to let that diplomacy play out.” (AP)

Rights groups in the occupied West Bank say Palestinian security forces arrested dozens of Palestinians protesting the deadly explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.

The protests late Tuesday devolved into skirmishes with Palestinian security forces, who fired tear gas, stun grenades and live fire to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators, wounding several.

Lawyers for Justice, a legal aid group, said Wednesday that some 50 protesters were arrested overnight by Palestinian security forces in Ramallah.

The Palestinian Red Crescent meanwhile reported that Israeli soldiers using live rounds and rubber bullets shot and wounded 10 Palestinian protesters in the southern city of Hebron and 21 people in the northern city of Nablus. A 24-year-old Palestinian man was killed, according to the organization. (AP)

Thousands demonstrated outside the consulates of Israel and the United States in Istanbul late Wednesday. Many waved Palestinian flags, shouted anti-Israeli slogans and called for revenge against Israel a day after the deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza.

Betul Balcik, a 22-year-old student, told The Associated Press that “humanity is dying” in Gaza and she and friends were there to denounce “war crimes committed by Israel”.

Large protests also erupted in Tunisia and Morocco, with demonstrators outraged by the blast at the hospital in Gaza.

Protesters gathered outside the Parliament in Rabat chanting “Down with America” and demanding that Morocco reverse its 2020 decision to normalize relations and deepen security ties with Israel.

In Tunis, protesters gathered outside the U.S. and French Embassies to condemn those nations' support of Israel and demand that their ambassadors be removed from Tunisia.

The demonstrations were among the largest since the Arab Spring more than a decade ago, observers said.

There was also a march by an estimated 10,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Athens, Greece, that was quelled by riot police who fired tear gas. Earlier in the day about 100 people took part in a pro-Israeli gathering.

Demonstrators in Amman, Jordan; the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in south Lebanon; and Tokyo directed some of their criticism at the U.S. and Biden for their support of Israel. (AP)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul arrived in Israel to show support for the country.

The Democrat was met at Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv by Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog.

After a security briefing, Hochul met with families and was scheduled to head to a food pantry to help pack and drop off boxes for people displaced by the conflict. Hochul was expected to stay in Jerusalem overnight.

She said her trip is meant as a gesture of solidarity and support. New York is home to the largest Jewish population of any U.S. city, according to the American Jewish Population Project at Brandeis University.

“There is a deep, direct connection between New York state and Israel that has always been there, a bond steeled over decades,” Hochul said. (AP)