'Israel not behind hospital blast', says US; Egypt allows limited aid to Gaza | Top points

 

Conflicting claims initially blamed Israel for a Gaza hospital explosion, but the United States later assessed it was the result of a rocket misfire by a terrorist group, Islamic Jihad. Here are the top developments with the escalating Israel-Hamas war.

US President Joe Biden, who landed in war-torn Israel on Wednesday, said the Gaza hospital explosion appeared to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza. Hours after Biden's statement, the United States has now assessed that Israel was not responsible for the bombing.

In a statement, White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said, "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. Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, overhead imagery, and open-source video and images of the incident."

There were conflicting claims about who was behind the explosion on Tuesday night, but protests flared quickly in the region as many Arab leaders said Israel was responsible. Hamas officials in Gaza quickly blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying hundreds were killed. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | TOP DEVELOPMENTS

1 .British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will on Thursday reach Israel and will also travel to nearby countries as part of diplomatic efforts to stop the crisis triggered by the Hamas attacks from worsening. According to Sunak's office, he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog on Thursday. He will condemn Hamas's "horrific act of terror" and express condolences for the "terrible loss of life" in both Israel and Gaza.

2 .President Joe Biden, who swept into wartime Israel for a seven-and-a-half-hour visit on Wednesday, wrapped up his stay in Tel Aviv.

Likening the October 7 Hamas assault to the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people, Biden said, "I understand. Many Americans understand. You can't look at what has happened here and not scream out for justice. But I caution this: While you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. And while we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes."

As the United States concluded Israel was not responsible for the Gaza hospital bombing, Biden also said, "I'm not suggesting Hamas deliberately bombed the Gaza hospital."

3 .The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry revised the death toll from an explosion at a Gaza City hospital down from 500 to 471 on Wednesday but did not elaborate on how authorities reached that figure. According to a report with the Associated Press, staff members at al-Ahli Hospital said they could not gauge the toll because the blast had dismembered so many bodies. Hospital director Suhaila Tarazi and Episcopal Church officials that run al-Ahli could only estimate that the toll was “in the hundreds” and refrained from giving an exact number.Mohammed Abu Selmia, general director of Shifa Hospital where all the wounded and dead were transferred following the explosion, told The Associated Press early Wednesday he believed the death toll was closer to 250, with hundreds more wounded.

4.Hours after the Israeli military denied claims for the Gaza hospital bombing, the Hamas terrorists have denied the war-torn country's claims that another terrorist group was responsible for the massive explosion that killed hundreds of people.

In a statement Wednesday, Hamas said that in the days before Tuesday's blast at al-Ahli Hospital, Israeli authorities sent threats to several Gaza Strip hospitals and told each to evacuate otherwise "they will be responsible for what happens." Hamas said Israeli forces have targeted several emergency departments and ambulances since the violence began, adding that Israeli military officials contacted 21 hospitals including Al-Ahli, demanding that they evacuate "immediately because they are located in area of operations for the Israeli" army.

5.Joe Biden will make an address regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict and the war in Ukraine on Thursday evening at 2000 ET (0000 GMT on Friday), the White House said on Wednesday.

During his visit to the war-torn country, Biden said Israel has been victimised but it can relieve the suffering of Gazans. He also pledged to help Israel and the Palestinians. The Associated Press reported that the US will provide $100 million in humanitarian assistance for Palestinians affected by conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. Several sources said on Wednesday that Biden has not settled on a final figure, and the breakdown has not been communicated to Congress.

6.On Wednesday, Israel said it would allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the decision was approved in light of a request from visiting US President Joe Biden. In a statement, it said it "will not thwart" deliveries of food, water and medicine, as long as the supplies do not reach Hamas.

The statement from Netanyahu's office made no mention of badly needed fuel and it was not clear when the aid would start flowing. Egypt's Rafah crossing has only a limited capacity, and Egypt says it has been damaged by Israeli airstrikes.

7.Four Hezbollah terrorists were killed near the Lebanon-Israel border and a Hezbollah spokesperson said the Lebanese Red Cross has collected their bodies, the Associated Press reported. The Hezbollah spokesperson also said the bodies belonged to terrorists who were pronounced dead Tuesday. He did not provide details of how they died.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said that its forces killed four terrorists who were allegedly carrying an explosive device and suspected of attempting a cross-border operation.

8.In the early hours of Thursday, Israeli air strikes targeted two villages in southern Lebanon, Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV reported. The Israeli missiles were fired at Kafr Shuba and near Odaisseh, the channel added.

9.On Wednesday, protesters around the Middle East staged anti-Israel rallies over the Gaza hospital explosion that killed hundreds. According to a report with news agency Reuters, Palestinian officials said Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near Ramallah in the West Bank during protests against Tuesday's blast.

In Lebanon, security forces fired tear gas and water canon at protesters who were throwing projectiles as a protest near the US Embassy north of Beirut turned violent, footage by Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed showed.

10.The families of hostages held in Gaza have harshly criticised the Israeli government's decision to allow limited humanitarian aid into Gaza. A statement released Wednesday by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said the move only increased their suffering, the Associated Press reported, as Hamas said terrorists were holding 250 hostages in Gaza.

"Children, infants, women, soldiers, men, and elderly, some with serious illnesses, wounded and shot, are held underground like animals and without human conditions, and the Israeli government pampers the murderers and kidnappers with baklavas and medicines," the statement read.