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
- 19 Oct 2023 2:36 AM GMT
Israel has been victimised but it can relieve suffering of Gazans: Biden
Israel has been badly victimised, but it should explore the opportunity to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza who have nowhere to go, US President Joe Biden said following his trip to Israel.
“Look, Israel has been badly victimised. But the truth is that if they have an opportunity to relieve the suffering of people who have nowhere to go, it’s what they should do. And if they don’t, they’ll be held accountable in ways that may be unfair,” Biden told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back from Israel on Wednesday.
“And my point to everyone is, look, if you have an opportunity to alleviate the pain, you should do it, period. And if you don’t, you’re going to lose credibility worldwide. And I think everyone understands that,” Biden said after he spent several hours in Israel in the aftermath of the terrorist strike from Hamas.
The US has asked for massive humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza and is in the process of providing defence military assistance to Israel.
Biden said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to open up the Rafah gate to allow up to 20 trucks of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. “If Hamas confiscates them or doesn’t let it get through … then it’s going to end,” he said. “The bottom line is Sisi deserves a lot of credit,” he added.
The White House, in a readout of the phone call between the two leaders, said Biden and El-Sisi discussed ongoing coordination to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza and mechanisms to ensure the aid is distributed for the benefit of the civilian population.
“The two leaders agreed to work together closely on encouraging an urgent and robust international response to the UN’s humanitarian appeal. They agreed on the need to preserve stability in the Middle East, prevent escalation of the conflict, and set the circumstances for a durable, permanent peace in the region,” the White House said. (PTI) - 19 Oct 2023 2:34 AM GMT
Biden wraps up Israel visit with warning against being “consumed” by rage
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to allow humanitarian assistance to begin flowing into Gaza from Egypt, with the understanding that shipments would be subject to inspections and that aid should go to civilians and not Hamas militants.
“I understand. Many Americans understand,” Biden said, likening the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US that killed nearly 3,000 people.
“You can’t look at what has happened here ... and not scream out for justice. While you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it.”
Israel had cut off the flow of food, fuel and water to the Gaza Strip after the attack by Hamas, in which nearly 1,400 people in Israel were killed. Mediators have been struggling to break a deadlock over providing supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals. An explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital compounded the suffering.
Israel confirmed that food, water and medicine would begin to flow to Gaza through Egypt, though exactly when that would begin wasn’t immediately clear. (AP) - 19 Oct 2023 2:30 AM GMT
Drones attack US bases in Iraq, troops hurt
Coalition forces were slightly injured in Iraq in a spate of drone attacks over the past 24 hours at US bases in Iraq as regional tensions flare following the deadly bombing of a hospital in Gaza.
Two drones targeted a base in western Iraq used by US forces and one drone targeted a base in northern Iraq. US forces intercepted all three, destroying two but only damaging the third, which led to minor injuries among coalition forces at the western base, according to a statement Wednesday by US Central Command.
“In this moment of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and the region. US forces will defend US and coalition forces against any threat,” Central Command said in the release.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have threatened to attack US facilities there because of American support for Israel.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias, issued a statement afterward claiming responsibility for the two attacks and saying it “heralds more operations” against the “American occupation.” The salvos came at a time of increasing tension and fears of a broader regional conflict in the wake of the latest Hamas-Israel war. (AP) - 19 Oct 2023 2:28 AM GMT
US govt assessment shows Israel not responsible for Gaza hospital blast: White House
The United States assessed that Israel was not responsible for the attack on a Gaza hospital a day earlier, the White House said on Wednesday.
“The US government assesses that Israel was not responsible for an explosion that killed hundreds of civilians yesterday at the Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip,” White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
“Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, overhead imagery, and open-source video and images of the incident,” she said.
Citing intelligence reports, Watson said some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
“As the President said earlier today, the explosion appears to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza — and we are continuing to work to corroborate whether it was a failed PIJ rocket,” she said. (PTI)
