Israel accused of 'launching war' on overcrowded Gaza hospitals

Israel revises down death toll from October 7 Hamas blitz to 1,200 while its war on Gaza — raging on its 36th day — leaves 11,078 Palestinians dead.

 

0229 GMT — Fighting has intensified near Gaza City's overcrowded hospitals, which Palestinian officials said were hit by explosions and gunfire.

"Israel is now launching a war on Gaza City hospitals," said Mohammad Abu Selmeyah, director of Al Shifa hospital.

He said later that at least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Al-Buraq school in Gaza City, where people whose homes had been destroyed were sheltering.

Gaza officials said Israeli missiles landed in the courtyard of Al Shifa, the enclave's biggest hospital, in the early hours of Friday, damaged the Indonesian Hospital and reportedly set fire to the Nasser Rantissi paediatrics cancer hospital.

2230 GMT — Israel bombing and killing 'babies, ladies, old people' in Gaza — France's Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Israel to stop bombing civilians in Gaza, saying there was no justification.

In an interview with the BBC, Macron said Israel had the right to protect itself after the October 7 Hamas blitz, but he added: "These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop."

2251 GMT — Saudi Arabia to host joint Islamic-Arab summit over Gaza

Saudi Arabia will host an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh on Saturday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

Saudi Arabia was scheduled to host two extraordinary summits, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit and the Arab League summit, on Saturday."

The joint Islamic-Arab summit comes in response to the exceptional circumstances taking place in Gaza," the ministry said.

2200 GMT — US, Oman discuss importance of protecting Gaza civilians

US President Joe Biden and Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said have discussed "the importance of sustained humanitarian access and the importance of protecting civilians, consistent with international humanitarian law," the White House said.

2115 GMT — Israel revises down Hamas blitz death toll to 1,200

Israel has revised down the death toll from last month's Hamas attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 to 1,200, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesman. "This is an updated estimate," the ministry spokesman Lior Haiat told the AFP news agency.

2045 GMT — Gaza's health system 'on its knees'

The health system in Gaza is "on its knees," the head of the World Health Organization warned, noting that half of the territory's 36 hospitals are no longer functioning.

Speaking to the Security Council, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation on the ground: "Hospital corridors crammed with the injured, the sick, the dying; morgues overflowing; surgery without anesthesia; tens of thousands of displaced people sheltering at hospitals."

"The health system is on its knees, and yet somehow is continuing to deliver lifesaving care," he said.