LIVE | Israel-Hamas war: 'Reiterated India's principled position': PM Modi speaks to Palestine President
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak landed in strife-torn Israel and said he "absolutely" supports Israel's "right to defend itself and to go after Hamas"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to convey his condolences over the loss of lives after the bombing of Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
Hundreds of people died after the hospital was targeted on Monday, triggering protests across the Arab world and a string of denials from Israel, which has been blamed for the rocket attack.
“Spoke to the President of the Palestinian Authority H.E. Mahmoud Abbas. Conveyed my condolences at the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. We will continue to send humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. Shared our deep concern at the terrorism, violence and deteriorating security situation in the region. Reiterated India’s long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue," PM Modi posted on Twitter.
In a social media post on Wednesday, PM Modi had said he was “deeply shocked” by the deaths in the attack and extended his condolences to the families of those killed.
Meanwhile, the Union ministry of external affairs on Thursday said the situation in Gaza Strip is not conducive for evacuation of four Indians who are stranded in the war-torn region, adding that the government will bring them back at the first opportunity.
“The situation in Gaza is difficult for any evacuation but if we get a chance, we will get them out,” the MEA spokesperson said during a press conference.
Sunak backs Israel
Following US President Joe Biden's visit, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak landed in strife-torn Israel on Thursday (October 19) and said he "absolutely" supports Israel's "right to defend itself and to go after Hamas".
Sunak is on a two-day visit to the Middle East to hold talks with regional leaders in an effort to prevent further escalation of conflict and push for humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza amid the ongoing crisis in the region. Addressing a joint conference with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sunak said, "I know you are taking every precaution to not harm civilians, unlike the Hamas. Thank you for the evacuation of British citizens." The British PM asserted, "We recognise Palestinians are the victims of Hamas too. Glad you opened areas for humanitarian aid."
“I am in Israel, a nation in grief. I grieve with you and stand with you against the evil that is terrorism. Today, and always,” Sunak tweeted as he landed in Tel Aviv. The British Indian leader’s visit to Israel follows that of US President Joe Biden as world leaders step up efforts to prevent the conflict with Hamas from spilling into the wider region following the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 by Hamas militants in Gaza. “Above all, I’m here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you,” he told reporters on his arrival in Israel.
‘Need to stop escalation’
In an earlier statement, the British Prime Minister said the Tuesday attack on the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza should be a “watershed moment” for the world. “Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas' horrific act of terror,” he 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. I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this effort," he said.
Sunak’s visit comes as other European leaders also undertake similar tours of the Middle East in a show of Western unity. The US, UK, Germany, France and Italy form part of the so-called Quint, a diplomatic collective who have presented a united front over the actions of Hamas in Israel and Gaza.
Deadliest Gaza war
Meanwhile, the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 casualties till now.
More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israel invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas’ leadership after its deadly incursion. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis.
“Israel has bombed and targeted areas with bakeries in Gaza over the course of the war while dozens of Palestinians were lining up to buy bread, causing high numbers of dead and wounded, Salam Marouf,” the head of the government media office, said in a statement.
By repeatedly targeting bakeries, he said that Israel sought to worsen the humanitarian situation, inflict a greater number of casualties and “make it more difficult for citizens, to the point that obtaining some loaves of bread has become a dangerous journey.” More than five bakeries were targeted in different areas to the north and south of Gaza, either directly or in the area where they are located, Maarouf said.
Aid groups, including the World Food Program, have warned that Gaza is running low on food supplies with shops only having a few days’ worth of supplies left. More are available in warehouses run by humanitarian organisations, but these are hard to reach because of constant bombardment.
Israel allows ‘limited aid’
In some relief to Gazans, Israel said late on Wednesday (October 18) that it would allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip “in light of a request from” US President Joe Biden.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office 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.
This came a day after a massive explosion at a hospital in Gaza City left some 400 people dead and over 300 injured on Tuesday (October 17). Hamas attributed the blast to an Israeli airstrike, but the Israeli military said it was not involved and the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has pegged the death toll at 471 while stating that 314 others were injured in the blast.
Biden, who visited Israel on Wednesday, said he asked "tough questions" during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. “I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. Based on what I’ve seen, it appears it was done by the other team, and not you," he told Netanyahu, publicly endorsing Israeli contention.
Netanyahu’s word on civilians
Israeli PM Netanyahu assured Biden that Israel would try to keep the civilians in Gaza out of harm’s way amid its war with the Hamas.
“This will be a different kind of war because Hamas is a different kind of enemy,” Netanyahu told Biden. “As we proceed in this war, Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way,” he said.
Netanyahu thanked Biden for coming to Israel and for his unequivocal support, a “support that reflects the overwhelming will of the American people”. Pointing to the fact that Biden is the first ever US president to visit Israel in a time of war, Netanyahu called it “deeply, deeply moving”.
Call for pact
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. The US hoped to break a deadlock with President Biden headed to the region, but a planned summit in Jordan was postponed.
Aid workers warned that life in Gaza was near complete collapse because of the Israeli siege that followed a Hamas attack on Israel.
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Live Updates
- 18 Oct 2023 5:59 AM GMT
Israel denies involvement in bombing
The Israeli military says it had no involvement in an explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital and that the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says an Israeli airstrike caused the blast, which killed some 500 people, many of whom had sought shelter from an ongoing Israeli offensive.
The Israeli military, however, said Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital.
“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch,” it said.
Islamic Jihad is a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas in their shared struggle against Israel. (AP)
- 18 Oct 2023 5:59 AM GMT
Videos and photos capture scene at Gaza City hospital
A chaotic scene unfolded at Al Shifa hospital Tuesday night as Palestinians injured in a blast at another hospital in Gaza City arrived for treatment.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed at least 500 people at al-Ahli Hospital. Israeli authorities denied involvement, saying the explosion was caused by a militant rocket.
Photos purportedly taken at al-Ahli Hospital shared widely on social media showed fire engulfing the building, with bodies scattered among the wreckage. Those photos could not be independently verified.
Footage captured by The Associated Press showed ambulances and private cars converging on Al Shifa hospital, where medics and others rushed the injured inside on stretchers and a wheelchair.
One person had a bloody stump where their left leg was missing. Four men carried a body bag to a civil defense vehicle.
Inside Al Shifa, the wounded were laid out on bloody floors, screaming in pain, as shouting people surrounded them. Some of the injured were not moving. Workers in scrubs ran outside and sirens wailed as more Red Crescent ambulances arrived. (AP)
- 18 Oct 2023 5:57 AM GMT
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas drops out of Biden meeting
A senior Palestinian official says President Mahmoud Abbas has cancelled his participation in a meeting scheduled Wednesday with President Joe Biden and other Mideast leaders.
Abbas was scheduled to join Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at Wednesday's summit in Amman, Jordan, where they are to discuss the Israel-Hamas war with Biden.
But the senior official said Abbas was withdrawing to protest an alleged Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza that health officials say has killed over 500 people.
“The president is very angry after the news of the Israeli massacre at the hospital in Gaza, and he decided to immediately return to Ramallah,” the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the cancelation has not been formally announced. (AP) - 18 Oct 2023 5:53 AM GMT
Residents line up to collect scant water supplies in Gaza
Palestinians desperate for water lined up to fill bottles and large jugs Tuesday at a desalination plant in Gaza.
Children and men took turns using a hose in Nusairat to fill containers that they hauled away using bicycles, a wheelchair and a cart pulled by a donkey.
Ismael Al-Hafi said people are rationing the water they can find and wait two or three days to clean themselves.
“Gaza is in complete collapse,” Al-Hafi said. “There is no solar to operate the desalination plants. This means that you have to struggle to fill two gallons of water. This is suffering.” (AP)
- 18 Oct 2023 5:52 AM GMT
Hundreds killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City hospital: Hamas
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip says at least 500 people have been killed in an explosion that it says was caused by an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City Hospital.
If confirmed, it would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008.
Israel’s military later denied responsibility, saying the militant group Islamic Jihad was to blame.
Hamas authorities said most of the people killed were hospital patients and displaced families.
“A new war crime committed by the (Israeli) occupation by bombing the Al-Ahli Hospital in the centre of Gaza City,” said Salama Marouf, a spokesperson for Hamas.” The hospital was housing hundreds of patients, wounded, and those forcibly displaced from their homes due to the strikes.” (AP)
