middle-east
Is Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system ironclad?
Since Israel activated the Iron Dome in 2011, the cutting-edge rocket-defense system has intercepted thousands of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
The system has given residents a sense of security, and Israelis can often be seen watching the projectiles flying through the skies and destroying their targets overhead.
But the current war with Gaza's militant Hamas group might be its stiffest challenge yet.
Pro-Palestinian activists occupy international court entry, demanding action against Israeli leader
In just two weeks, Hamas has fired 7,000 rockets toward Israel, according to the Israeli military. That is more than any of the previous four wars fought between Israel and Hamas since the militant group seized power in Gaza in 2007.
On Oct. 7 alone, the first day of fighting, Hamas launched at least 2,000 rockets, according to data from West Point. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group has also fired hundreds of rockets along Israel's northern front since the fighting began.
Most of the rockets have been intercepted. But some have managed to get through, killing at least 11 people and hitting buildings as far away as Tel Aviv, according to Israeli officials.
Here is a look at the accomplishments — and limitations — of the Iron Dome.
Second aid convoy reaches Gaza as Israel attacks targets in Syria and occupied West Bank
HOW DOES THE IRON DOME WORK?
The Iron Dome is a series of batteries that use radars to detect incoming short-range rockets and intercept them.
Each battery has three or four launchers, 20 missiles, and a radar, according to Raytheon, the U.S. defense giant that co-produces the system with Israel's Rafael Defense Systems.
Once the radar detects a rocket, the system determines whether the rocket is headed toward a populated area.
If so, it launches a missile to intercept and destroy the rocket. If the system determines the rocket is headed to an open area or into the sea, it is allowed to land, thus conserving missiles. According to the military, all interceptions occur in Israeli airspace.
The military declined to comment on how many Iron Dome batteries are currently deployed. But as of 2021, Israel had 10 batteries scattered around the country, each able to defend a territory of 60 square miles (155 square kilometers), according to Raytheon.
Little light, no beds, not enough anesthesia: A view from the 'nightmare' of Gaza's hospitals
The Iron Dome is part of a larger multi-layer air-defense system that includes the Arrow, which intercepts long-range ballistic missiles, and also David's Sling, which intercepts medium-range missiles such as those believed to be possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Both systems, like the Iron Dome, were jointly developed with the United States. Israel is also developing a laser-based system called the Iron Beam that it says will be able to intercept rockets and other short-range threats at a fraction of the cost of the Iron Dome. Israel says that system, developed with U.S. funding, has not yet been deployed.
HOW ACCURATE IS THE IRON DOME?
It is roughly 90% effective, according to Rafael.
But it can get overwhelmed if a mass barrage of rockets is fired, allowing some to slip through.
While it has performed well so far, the risk could be raised if Hezbollah enters the war. Hezbollah has an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles.
HOW EXPENSIVE IS THE SYSTEM?
Each missile costs an estimated $40,000 to $50,000, according to the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.
The U.S. has invested heavily in the system, helping with development costs and replenishing it during times of fighting.
Israel plans to step up attacks on the Gaza Strip
President Joe Biden has said he will ask Congress for $14.3 billion in military aid for Israel. The majority of that would help with air and missile defense systems, according to the White House.
"We're surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome," Biden said.
Journalists in Gaza wrestle with issues of survival in addition to getting stories out
Pro-Palestinian activists occupy international court entry, demanding action against Israeli leader
Dutch authorities detained 19 activists who occupied the entrance to the International Criminal Court on Monday, denouncing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Israel’s actions during the war with Hamas.
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion group took over a bridge in front of The Hague-based court just after noon, carrying a banner that read “Netanyahu is a war criminal.” The Dutch branch of the activist group, which was originally set up to campaign against climate change, has staged several other pro-Palestinian actions since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
Read: Iranian, Egyptian FMs urge immediate end to attacks on Palestinians
“The demonstration did not cause any disturbance to the ICC normal activities. The situation was addressed by the ICC security with the police,” said ICC spokesperson Sonia Robla.
After police released the 19 following their brief detention, they joined a small pro-Palestinian protest outside the ICC’s grounds.
Read: Dwindling fuel supplies for Gaza's hospital generators put premature babies in incubators at risk
The demonstration took place as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrived in the Middle East to meet with both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Second aid convoy reaches Gaza as Israel attacks targets in Syria and occupied West Bank
The second aid convoy destined for desperate Palestinian civilians reached Gaza on Sunday, as Israel widened its attacks to include targets in Syria and the occupied West Bank and the Israeli prime minister warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group that if it launches its own war, “we will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine.”
For days, Israel has been on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 rampage through a series of Israeli communities. Tanks and troops have been massed at the Gaza border, waiting for the command to cross.
Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the country had increased airstrikes across Gaza to hit targets that would reduce the risk to troops in the next stage of the war.
Fears of a widening war grew as Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants.
Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah militants since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days.
Read: Second aid convoy reaches Gaza as Israel attacks targets in Syria and occupied West Bank
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in northern Israel that if Hezbollah launches a war, "it will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state will be devastating.”
Hamas said it fought with Israeli forces near Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed a tank and two bulldozers.
Late Sunday, Hagari announced that a soldier was killed and three others wounded by an anti-tank missile during a raid inside Gaza as part of efforts to rescue more than 200 hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack.
On Saturday, 20 trucks entered Gaza in the first aid shipment into the territory since Israel imposed a complete siege two weeks ago.
Israeli authorities said late Sunday they had allowed a second batch of aid into Gaza at the request of the United States. COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said the aid included water, food and medical supplies and that everything was inspected by Israel before it was brought into Gaza.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees confirmed the arrival of 14 trucks.
Israel has not allowed any fuel to enter Gaza.
In a sign of how precarious any movement of aid remains, the Egyptian military said Israeli shelling hit a watchtower on Egypt's side of the border, causing light injuries. The Israeli military apologized, saying a tank had accidentally fired and hit an Egyptian post, and the incident was being investigated.
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Relief workers said far more aid was needed to address the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where half the territory's 2.3 million people have fled their homes. The U.N. humanitarian agency said Saturday's convoy carried about 4% of an average day’s imports before the war and “a fraction of what is needed after 13 days of complete siege."
The Israeli military said the humanitarian situation was “under control,” even as the U.N. called for 100 trucks a day to enter.
In a Sunday phone call, Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden “affirmed that there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza,” the White House said in a statement.
Israel repeated its calls for people to leave northern Gaza, including by dropping leaflets from the air. It estimated 700,000 have already fled. But hundreds of thousands remain. That would raise the risk of mass civilian casualties in any ground offensive.
Read: Little light, no beds, not enough anesthesia: A view from the 'nightmare' of Gaza's hospitals
Israeli military officials say Hamas’ infrastructure and underground tunnels are concentrated in Gaza City, in the north, and that the next stage of the offensive will include unprecedented force there. Israel says it wants to crush Hamas. Officials have also spoken of carving out a buffer zone to keep Palestinians from approaching the border, though they have given no details.
Hospitals packed with patients and displaced people are running low on medical supplies and fuel for generators, forcing doctors to perform surgeries using sewing needles, resorting to vinegar as disinfectant and operating without anesthesia.
The World Health Organization says at least 130 premature babies are at “grave risk” because of a shortage of generator fuel. It said seven hospitals in northern Gaza have been forced to shut down due to damage from strikes, lack of power and supplies, or Israeli evacuation orders.
Shortages of critical supplies, including ventilators, are forcing doctors to ration treatment, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, who works in Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital. Dozens of patients continue to arrive and are treated in crowded, darkened corridors, as hospitals preserve electricity for intensive care units.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Qandeel said.
Palestinians sheltering in U.N.-run schools and tent camps are running low on food and are drinking dirty water. The lack of fuel has crippled water and sanitation systems.
Read: Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march in London as Israel-Hamas war roils the world
Heavy airstrikes were reported across Gaza, including in the southern part of the coastal strip, where Israel has told civilians to seek refuge. At the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, south of the evacuation line, several bodies wrapped in white shrouds were lined up outside.
Khalil al-Degran, a hospital official, said more than 90 bodies had been brought in since early Sunday, as the sound of nearby bombing echoed behind him. He said 180 wounded people had arrived, mostly children, women and the elderly displaced from other areas.
Airstrikes also smashed through the marketplace in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Witnesses said at least a dozen people were killed.
The Israeli military has said it is striking Hamas fighters and installations and insists it does not target civilians. Palestinian militants have fired over 7,000 rockets at Israel, according to the military, and Hamas says it targeted Tel Aviv early Sunday.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed — mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack. At least 212 people were captured and dragged back to Gaza.
Two Americans were released Friday, hours before the first shipment of humanitarian aid.
More than 4,600 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. That includes the disputed toll from a hospital explosion.
Read: Israel plans to step up attacks on the Gaza Strip
Syrian state media, meanwhile, reported that Israeli airstrikes hit the international airports in the capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo, killing one person and putting the runways out of service.
Israel has carried out several strikes in Syria since the war began. Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but says it acts to prevent Hezbollah and other militants from bringing in arms from Iran, which also supports Hamas.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah said six fighters were killed Saturday, and the group’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, warned that Israel would pay a high price if it invades Gaza. Israel struck Hezbollah in response to rocket fire, the military said.
Israel also announced evacuation plans for another 14 communities near the Lebanon border.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, 93 Palestinians have been killed — including eight Sunday — in clashes with Israeli troops, arrest raids and attacks by Jewish settlers since the Hamas attacks, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israeli forces have closed crossings into the territory and checkpoints between cities, measures they say are aimed at preventing attacks. Israel says it has arrested more than 700 Palestinians since Oct. 7, including 480 suspected Hamas members.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administers parts of the West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security, but it is deeply unpopular and has been the target of violent Palestinian protests.
Iran sentences 2 female journalists who covered Mahsa Amini’s death
A court in Iran sentenced two female journalists to up to seven years in prison for "collaborating" with the United States government among other charges, local reports said. Both have been imprisoned for over a year following their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody in Sept. 2022.
This is a preliminary sentencing that can be appealed in 20 days.
The two journalists, Niloufar Hamedi, who broke the news of Amini's death for wearing her headscarf too loosely, and Elaheh Mohammadi, who wrote about her funeral, were sentenced to seven and six years in jail respectively, reported the judiciary news website, Mizan on Sunday.
Tehran Revolutionary Court charged them with "collaborating with the hostile American government," "colluding against national security" and "propaganda against the system," according to Mezan.
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Hamedi worked for the reformist newspaper Shargh while Mohammadi for Ham-Mihan. They were detained in September 2022.
In May, the United Nations awarded them both its premier prize for press freedom "for their commitment to truth and accountability."
Amini's death touched off months-long protests in dozens of cities across Iran. The demonstrations posed one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 2009 Green Movement protests drew millions to the streets.
While nearly 100 journalists were arrested amid the demonstrations, Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi's reporting was crucial in the days after Amini's death to spread the word about the anger that followed.
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Their detentions have sparked international criticism over the bloody security force crackdown that lasted months after Amini's death.
Since the protests began, at least 529 people have been killed in demonstrations, according to Human Rights activists in Iran. Over 19,700 others have been detained by authorities amid a violent crackdown trying to suppress the dissent. Iran for months has not offered any overall casualty figures, while acknowledging tens of thousands had been detained.
Britain, France and Germany say they will keep their nuclear and missiles sanctions on Iran
Little light, no beds, not enough anesthesia: A view from the 'nightmare' of Gaza's hospitals
The only thing worse than the screams of a patient undergoing surgery without enough anesthesia are the terror-stricken faces of those awaiting their turn, a 51-year-old orthopedic surgeon says.
When the Israeli bombing intensifies and the wounded swamp the Gaza City hospitals where Dr. Nidal Abed works, he treats patients wherever he can — on the floor, in the corridors, in rooms crammed with 10 patients instead of two. Without enough medical supplies, Abed makes do with whatever he can find – clothes for bandages, vinegar for antiseptic, sewing needles for surgical ones.
Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are nearing collapse under the Israeli blockade that cut power and deliveries of food and other necessities to the territory. They lack clean water. They are running out of basic items for easing pain and preventing infections. Fuel for their generators is dwindling.
Palestinian death toll in West Bank surges as Israel pursues militants following Hamas rampage
Israel began its bombing campaign after Hamas militants surged across the border on Oct. 7 and killed over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and abducted more than 200 others. Israel's offensive has devastated neighborhoods, shuttered five hospitals, killed thousands and wounded more people than its remaining health facilities can handle.
"We have a shortage of everything, and we are dealing with very complex surgeries," Abed, who works with Doctors Without Borders, told The Associated Press from Al Quds Hospital. The medical center is still treating hundreds of patients in defiance of an evacuation order the Israeli military gave Friday. Some 10,000 Palestinians displaced by the bombing have also taken refuge in the hospital compound.
"These people are all terrified, and so am I," the surgeon said. "But there is no way we'll evacuate."
At least 60% of Gaza's population displaced due to Israeli attacks: UN
The first food, water and medicine trickled into Gaza from Egypt on Saturday after being stalled on the border for days. Four trucks in the 20-truck aid convoy were carrying drugs and medical supplies, the World Health Organization said. Aid workers and doctors warned it was not nearly enough to address Gaza's spiraling humanitarian crisis.
"It's a nightmare. If more aid doesn't come in, I fear we'll get to the point where going to a hospital will do more harm than good," Mehdat Abbas, an official in the Hamas-run Health Ministry, said.
Across the territory's hospitals, ingenuity is being put to the test. Abed used household vinegar from the corner store as disinfectant until the stores ran out, he said. Too many doctors had the same idea. Now, he cleans wounds with a mixture of saline and the polluted water that trickles from taps because Israel cut off the water.
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march in London as Israel-Hamas war roils the world
A shortage of surgical supplies forced some staff to use sewing needles to stitch wounds, which Abed said can damage tissue. A shortage of bandages forced medics to wrap clothes around large burns, which he said can cause infections. A shortage of orthopedic implants forced Abed to use screws that don't fit his patients' bones. There are not enough antibiotics, so he gives single pills rather than multiple courses to patients suffering terrible bacterial infections.
"We are doing what we can to stabilize the patients, to control the situation," he said. "People are dying because of this."
When Israel cut fuel to the territory's sole power plant two weeks ago, Gaza's rumbling generators kicked in to keep life-support equipment running in hospitals.
Authorities are desperately scrounging up diesel to keep them going. United Nations agencies are distributing their remaining stocks. Motorists are emptying their gas tanks.
In some hospitals, the lights have already switched off. At Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis this week, nurses and surgical assistants held their iPhones over the operating table, guiding the surgeons with the flashlights as they snipped.
At Shifa Hospital, Gaza's biggest, where Abed also worked this week, the intensive care unit runs on generators but most other wards are without power. Air conditioning is a bygone luxury. Abed catches beads of sweat dripping from his patients' foreheads as he operates.
People wounded in the airstrikes are overwhelming the facilities. Hospitals don't have enough beds for them.
"Even a normal hospital with equipment would not be able to deal with what we're facing," Abed said. "It would collapse."
Shifa Hospital — with a maximum capacity of 700 people — is treating 5,000 people, general director Mohammed Abu Selmia says. Lines of patients, some in critical condition, snake out of operating rooms. The wounded lie on floors or on gurneys sometimes stained with the blood of previous patients. Doctors operate in crowded corridors filled with moans.
The scenes — infants arriving alone to intensive care because no one else in their family survived, patients awake and grimacing in pain during surgeries — have traumatized Abed into numbness.
But what still pains him is having to choose which patients to prioritize.
"You have to decide," he said. "Because you know that many will not make it."
Israel plans to step up attacks on the Gaza Strip
Aid deliveries have begun moving into the besieged Gaza Strip, two weeks after the militant group Hamas rampaged through southern Israel and Israel responded with airstrikes.
Israel says Hamas has freed two American hostages who had been held in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7. Israeli airstrikes continued to hit southern Gaza, an area swollen by civilians who fled there from the north on Israeli instructions. Israel’s military spokesman said the country planned to step up its attacks starting Saturday as preparation for the next stage of its war on Hamas.
The war, which is in its 15th day on Saturday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that the death toll has reached 4,385, while 13,561 people have been wounded.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel. In addition, 203 people were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, the Israeli military has said.
Currently:
1. Egypt is hosting dozens of regional leaders and senior Western officials for a summit on the war.
2. The father of freed American teenage hostage Natalie Raanan says she’s doing well after her release by Hamas.
3. Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators are marching in London and other cities.
4. A tent camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza reawakens old traumas.
5. The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has spilled into workplaces everywhere.
Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
ISRAEL STRIKES UNDERGROUND COMPOUND AT WEST BANK MOSQUE, MILITARY SAYS
Israeli Defense Forces said a military aircraft launched a strike early Sunday on the Al-Ansar mosque at the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The IDF said via X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants had been using an “underground terror route” beneath the mosque. One Palestinian was killed in the shelling, Palestinian Red Crescent said.
Tensions have risen in the West Bank, where dozens of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops, arrest raids and attacks by Jewish settlers.
ITALIAN PREMIER GOES TO ISRAEL
ROME — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has made a trip to Israel to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, her office said.
The meeting Saturday came after Meloni participated in a summit in Cairo focused on ways to de-escalate the raging Israel-Hamas war.
Meloni's office said that in her meeting she reiterated “the right of Israel to defend itself under international law and to live in peace” while also underlining "the importance of guaranteeing humanitarian access to Gaza and a prospect of peace for the region.’’
Her office said she brought “a message of solidary and Italy's closeness” following Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Oct. 7.
PRESIDENT BIDEN SPEAKS WITH 2 FREED HOSTAGES
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has spoken on the phone with two freed Americans who had been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, were released Friday. It was the first such hostage release from among the roughly 200 people the militant group abducted from Israel during its Oct. 7 rampage.
Video of Biden speaking with them by phone was posted Saturday on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. He told the mother and daughter that he was glad they had been released.
“We’re going to get them all out, God willing,” he said.
Natalie thanked Biden for his “services” to Israel. Judith said they are in good health.
Hamas said it released the mother and daughter for humanitarian reasons in an agreement with the Qatari government.
Family members have said Judith and Natalie had been on a trip from their home in the Chicago suburb of Evanston to Israel to celebrate Judith’s mother’s birthday and the Jewish holidays.
This item has been corrected to reflect that the video was posted Saturday, not that Biden spoke to them on Saturday.
ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL INCREASE ATTACKS ON GAZA
Israel plans to step up its attacks on the Gaza Strip starting Saturday as preparation for the next stage of its war on Hamas, Israel's military spokesman says.
Asked about a possible ground invasion into Gaza, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters Saturday night that the military was trying to create optimal conditions beforehand.
“We will deepen our attacks to minimize the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today,” Hagari said.
He repeated his call for residents of Gaza City to head south for their safety.
UN AGENCIES SAY MORE AID IS NEEDED
CAIRO — United Nations aid agencies said a first 20-truck convoy of assistance that reached Gaza Saturday was “only a small beginning and far from enough.”
The agencies, including the World Health Organization, the World Food Program and others, said in a joint statement that more than 1.6 million people are in critical need of humanitarian aid.
“Vulnerable people are at greatest risk and children are dying at an alarming rate and being denied their right to protection, food, water and health care,” they said.
Read: Israel has right to statehood, so does Palestine: Chinese Ambassador
The agencies, which also include the U.N. population fund and UNICEF, called for a humanitarian cease-fire, along with immediate, unrestricted humanitarian access throughout Gaza.
“Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,” they said.
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS SAYS GAZA HOSPITALS ARE OVERWHELMED
CAIRO — Doctors Without Borders says Gaza’s health care system is “facing collapse.”
The global medical group said Saturday that hospitals in Gaza are “overwhelmed and lacking resources” amid continued Israeli airstrikes and siege following Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Oct. 7.
The group’s warning come after Medhat Abbas, an official with the Gaza health ministry, said early Saturday that five hospitals has stopped functioning and two others were partly out of service.
“We recently made a large donation of medical stock, including medicines, narcotics and medical equipment to Al Shifa hospital, the main surgical facility in the strip,” the group, known by its French acronym MSF, wrote on X platform.
An nurse with the aid group in Gaza, Loay Harb, said that when the supplies were delivered to the hospital, she and others “saw hundreds of people taking shelter and it was difficult to walk inside.”
PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE SUMMIT
CAIRO — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for an international peace summit to bring about the end of the Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking at a conference in Cairo on Saturday, Abbas reiterated his “complete rejection of the killing of civilians on both sides.” He also urged the “release of all civilians, prisoners, and detainees,” likely alluding to some 210 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Read: Overwhelmed to see love and support here for people in Palestine: Ambassador
Abbas leads the Palestinian Authority, a government exercising semi-autonomous control in the West Bank. The government is deeply loathed among Palestinians, who view it as corrupt and collaborationist with Israel.
Hamas seized control of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and enjoys a strong base of support in the West Bank.
ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES HIT SEVERAL RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — A barrage of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis near a U.N. school struck several residential buildings, prompting a frantic rescue effort as medics rushed several dead bodies and dozens of wounded Palestinians to the hospital.
At the Hamouda family home seven people were killed and 40 others were wounded, survivors told The Associated Press at the scene of the attack.
CAIRO SUMMIT
CAIRO — At a summit of world leaders in Cairo focused on ways to de-escalate the raging Israel-Hamas war, representatives from Arab and European nations called for more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza and appealed for protection of civilians in the strip.
Several Arab leaders, including Egypt and Jordan, took the opportunity to castigate the international community over its inaction and a double standard they said that the world displayed on the devastating Israeli bombing campaign on Gaza.
The response of the world, the office of President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi said, displayed a “shortcoming in the values of the international community in addressing crises.”
“While we see one place officials rushing and competing to promptly condemn the killing of innocent people, we find incomprehensible hesitation in denouncing the same act in another place,” it said in reference to fierce Western condemnation of Hamas’ attack on Israel and a weaker reaction to Palestinian suffering.
The summit did not immediately produce any statements about the prospects of a cease-fire
UN MONITOR SAYS MORE AID IS NEEDED
JERUSALEM —- A United Nations monitor says the 20 trucks of aid delivered to Gaza are just a “tiny fraction” of what is needed by some 1.4 Palestinians who have been displaced since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Normally, 500 trucks pass through crossings into Gaza every day. The 20 trucks that arrived Saturday were the first to arrive there in two weeks.
Andrea De Domenico is the head of the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in the occupied Palestinian Territories. He says UNWRA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, is working the World Food Program, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization to direct the aid to those most in need. But he said it will be challenging to get aid into the hands of people who are not staying at U.N. facilities.
Read: Israel-Hamas war: Why India’s Congress is facing backlash over ‘support for Palestine’
The aid consists of canned food such as tuna, basic medical supplies, medicines, and water. He said the U.N. is pushing for an “unimpeded” flow of aid into the strip through the Rafah crossing, but that discussions of further aid are mired in deliberations “between parties.”
“If we don’t stabilize the supply pipeline,” Domenico said, “we head toward catastrophe.
DUAL CITIZENS CAN'T GET OUT OF GAZA
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian Americans and other dual citizens rushed to southern Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt on Saturday as 20 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered the besieged strip that has staggered under shortages of medicine and food.
Even as embassies asked their citizens in Gaza to stand ready at the border, crowds of disappointed Palestinians holding American, Canadian, German and British passports waited hours in vain for at least fifth time this week.
“There is no opening of the crossing, and the suffering is the same,” said U.S. citizen Dina al- Khatib. “They communicate with us, but there is no change.”
With a humanitarian disaster brewing in Gaza, al-Khatib said she and her family were desperate to get out.
“It’s is not like previous wars,” she said. “There is no electricity, no water, no internet, nothing.”
IDF OFFICIAL: PRIVATE HOMES CAN BE LEGITIMATE TARGETS IF HAMAS MILITANTS ARE IN THEM
JERUSALEM — A senior Israel Defense Forces official says the military will try not to strike zones in Gaza where humanitarian aid is being distributed, unless rockets are fired from the area.
“It’s a safe zone. We have a system which every time we decide that an area … is a safe zone, we declare no attack in this area. We won’t attack them,” he told a group of foreign journalists.
He added that the definition of what constitutes a “legitimate target” has changed, because the use of civilian infrastructure by Hamas “turns a private home into a legitimate target. And anyone who supports that home is a legitimate target.”
He acknowledged that the IDF has attacked houses where there are civilians living among militants.
— Julia Frankel in Jerusalem.
AT LEAST 12 PEOPLE DIE IN A HOUSE IN GAZA HIT BY AN ISRAELI STRIKE
DEIR-AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — People searched for neighbors buried under the rubble of a house in central Gaza that was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday. Witnesses said 12 people in one household died in the strike and five others were believed to be trapped.
Read more: 31 killed as Israel-Palestine fighting continues, Egypt pushes truce
People clambered on slabs of concrete and twisted metal looking for survivors. A woman in a bloodstained headscarf was helped out of the wreckage.
Men carried a body on a stretcher to an ambulance, and another man ran, carrying the limp body of a small child. Others helped lead away shocked-looking people covered in dust, including a boy with a bloody face.
The house was some 200 meters (yards) from the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
FIGHTING INTENSIFIES ALONG ISRAEL'S BORDER WITH LEBANON
BEIRUT — Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters exchanged fire Saturday in several areas along the Lebanon-Israel border as violence escalates over the Israel-Hamas war.
Tension has been picking up along the border over the past two weeks following the Oct. 7, attack by the Palestinian militant Hamas group on southern Israel that killed over 1,400 civilians and troops. Israel’s strikes on Gaza since then have killed over 4,000 Palestinians.
An Associated Press journalist in south Lebanon heard loud explosions along the border close to the Mediterranean coast.
The state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli shelling hit several villages, adding that a car was directly hit in the village of Houla. There was no immediate word on casualties.
An Israeli army spokesman said a group of gunmen fired a shell into Israel adding that an Israeli drone then targeted them. He added that another group of gunmen fired toward the Israeli town of Margaliot and a drone attacked them shortly afterward.
“Direct hits were scored in both strikes,” Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Journalists in Gaza wrestle with issues of survival in addition to getting stories out
A limited number of journalists in Gaza are trying to report on the war with Israel while facing the same problems as the besieged Palestinian population there — wondering where to live, where to get food and water, and how to stay safe.
The aftermath of Tuesday's explosion that killed hundreds at a Gaza City hospital is the latest example of how that reality hinders the world's ability to get a full picture of what is happening to the Palestinian population In Gaza.
Outside journalists have been unable to enter Gaza since the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7. The sole entry point for journalists, Israel's Erez crossing, was attacked in the rampage and remains closed. A handful of news organizations had maintained a regular presence with bureaus there, including The Associated Press, the BBC, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Al-Jazeera, with a network of stringers helping others.
Israel's order to Palestinians to evacuate the northern part of Gaza led journalists at AP and AFP, for example, to abandon bureaus in Gaza City and head south.
As Israel readies troops for ground assault, Gaza awaits urgently needed aid from Egypt
"Working in Gaza right now is extremely difficult and that's in large part because our staff are both covering the story and worrying about their own safety and the safety of their families," said Julie Pace, executive editor and senior vice president of The Associated Press.
AP staff stocked up on bottled water and other supplies before abandoning their Gaza City bureau, which replaced an office destroyed by Israeli bombs in 2021.
Even with power supplies limited, AP staff members have provided photos, video and other reporting each day since the war's start, Pace said. No such luck for a camera left behind on the bureau's balcony that provided a live stream of the skyline; the generator likely ran out of fuel.
The nine Agence France-Presse journalists in Gaza feel caught in a squeeze between wanting to work and also take care of their families, said Phil Chetwynd, global news director. Managers are stressing the importance of safety first, he said.
"This is a population that over the years has been used to fairly extreme situations, but I think they would all say that this is on a much, much bigger scale," Chetwynd said, referring to the previous four wars between Israel and Hamas.
At least 19 journalists have been killed since the start of the war, 15 of them in Gaza, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Already, more journalists have been killed in Gaza during the past two weeks than in the territory since 2001, said Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa coordinator.
On CNN, journalist Ibrahim Dahman reported on the journey to find safety that he took with his wife and two sons, ages 7 and 11. One son plaintively asked when they found a room: "They don't strike hotels, right?"
"I feel intense fear," Dahman said. "I am worried about myself, my wife and my children."
Gazans find nowhere is safe during Israel’s relentless bombing
AP photojournalist Adel Hana's family fled to the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, below the evacuation line, to shelter in a cousin's home near the local hospital. But a series of blasts rocked the building, killing at least seven family members and burying women and children in the rubble, he said.
"It doesn't make sense," Hana said. "We went to Deir al-Balah because we thought we would be safe."
Marwan al-Ghoul, working for CBS News, was similarly heading south with his family in Gaza. When he came upon the aftermath of a bombing in a residential area, he got out to film scenes of bodies buried in rubble and crying children walking through the bombing site.
The need to bear witness, the journalists said, came after a week of intense focus on the attacks in Israel, where news media have been working freely. News organizations are conscious of the need to show that there is suffering on both sides.
Even with fewer news organizations operating in Gaza, there is a rich journalism tradition there, said Andrew Roy, CBS News' London bureau chief. With advances in technology, many people are able to tote cameras to noteworthy scenes, he said.
That was the case after Tuesday's explosion at al-Ahli hospital. "You can often show people things that in the past you would not have been able to show," Roy said.
Even without a full-time staff member in Gaza, The New York Times offered on its website Wednesday a graphic that detailed the hospital grounds, an overhead still picture of the blast scene that showed burnt-out cars and video that depicted the fiery aftermath of the explosion , taken at some distance through a fence. The Times said it had independently verified the video's accuracy.
Still, the material doesn't replace professional journalists able to quickly reach the scene and interview people there.
"Eyewitness reporting is the best, being able to report what you see," said Luke Baker, Jerusalem bureau chief for Reuters between 2014-2017. Experienced journalists are also more apt to know sources they can depend upon for truthful information, he said.
OIC calls for immediate end to Israeli aggression against civilians in Gaza
In the aftermath of the al-Ahli hospital explosion, journalists were left to sift through the competing finger-pointing over which side was to blame. "The truth does matter," Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC's overage. "It's the only thing we have here."
In past Gaza conflicts, the Internet was a useful source of information and videos. But the spread of disinformation online this time has made it much less reliable, and verifying material that can be trusted is enormously time-consuming, Chetwynd said.
As the story moves forward, news organizations are looking for ways to compensate for the barriers faced by journalists in Gaza. The AP, for example, has assigned a team of Arabic-speaking journalists to conduct interviews and monitor online activity.
For those left in Gaza, Pace said there's a concern about when supplies are going to run out without reinforcements, including power.
"It's not constant and it's not reliable," she said.
CPJ's Mansour said that he hopes the United Nations keeps the welfare of journalists on its agenda, including safe passage out of the country for those who need it.
"The people who live in this place didn't make the decision to live in a war zone," Chetwynd said.
As Israel readies troops for ground assault, Gaza awaits urgently needed aid from Egypt
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, as the Israeli defense minister ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza "from the inside", though he didn't indicate when the ground assault would begin.
Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out ebbing medical supplies and fuel for generators, as authorities worked out logistics for a desperately needed aid delivery from Egypt. Doctors in darkened wards across Gaza performed surgeries by the light of mobile phones and used vinegar to treat infected wounds.
Amid the violence, President Joe Biden pledged unwavering support for Israel's security, "today and always," while adding that the world "can't ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians" in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Also read: US military shoots down missiles and drones as it faces growing threats in volatile Middle East
In an address Thursday night from the Oval office, hours after returning to Washington from an urgent visit to Israel, Biden drew a distinction between ordinary Palestinians and Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. He linked the current war in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin "both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy."
Biden said he was sending an "urgent budget request" to Congress on Friday, to cover emergency military aid to both Israel and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, an unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment delivered to Congress estimated casualties in an explosion at a Gaza City hospital this week on the "low end" of 100 to 300 deaths. The death toll "still reflects a staggering loss of life," U.S. intelligence officials said in the report, seen by The Associated Press. It said intelligence officials were still assessing the evidence and their casualty estimate may evolve.
Biden and other U.S. officials already have said that U.S. intelligence officials believe the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital was not caused by an Israeli airstrike. Thursday's findings echoed that.
Also read: Gazans find nowhere is safe during Israel’s relentless bombing
The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Oct. 7 Hamas rampage in southern Israel. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza and flee south, strikes extended across the territory, heightening fears among the territory's 2.3 million people that nowhere was safe.
Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and tensions flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a fiery speech to Israeli infantry soldiers on the Gaza border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged the forces to "get organized, be ready" to move in. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border.
"Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside," he said. "It might take a week, a month, two months until we destroy them," he added, referring to Hamas.
Israel's consent for Egypt to let in food, water and medicine provided the first possible opening in its seal of the territory. Many Gaza residents are down to one meal a day and drinking dirty water.
Egypt and Israel were still negotiating the entry of fuel for hospitals. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas has stolen fuel from U.N. facilities and Israel wants assurances that won't happen. The first trucks of aid were expected to go in Friday.
With the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in Rafah closed, the already dire conditions at Gaza's second-largest hospital deteriorated further, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel of Nasser Hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis. Power was shut off in most of the hospital and medical staff were using mobile phones for light.
At least 80 wounded civilians and 12 dead flooded into the hospital after witnesses said a strike hit a residential building in Khan Younis. Doctors had no choice but to leave two to die because there were no ventilators, Qandeel said.
Also read: Egypt, Jordan fear Israel could force permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries
"We can't save more lives if this keeps happening," he said.
The Gaza Health Ministry pleaded with gas stations to give fuel to hospitals and a U.N. agency donated some of its last fuel.
The agency's donation to Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, the territory's largest, would "keep us going for another few hours," hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said.
Al-Ahli Hospital was still recovering from Tuesday's explosion, which remains a point of dispute between Hamas and Israel. Hamas quickly said an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital, which Israel denied. The AP has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.
The blast left body parts strewn on the hospital grounds, where crowds of Palestinians had clustered in hopes of escaping Israeli airstrikes. The U.S. assessment noted "only light structural damage," with no impact crater visible.
Near al-Ahli, meanwhile, another explosion struck a Greek Orthodox church housing displaced Palestinians late Thursday, resulting in deaths and dozens of wounded. Abu Selmia, the Shifa Hospital director general, said dozens were hurt at the Church of Saint Porphyrios but could not give a precise death toll because bodies were buried under rubble.
Palestinian authorities blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy of Jerusalem condemned the attack and said it would "not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty" to provide assistance.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 were injured, and another 1,300 people were believed buried under rubble, authorities said.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas' deadly incursion. Roughly 200 others were abducted. The Israeli military said Thursday it had notified the families of 203 captives.
Also read: France regrets failure of Security Council resolution calling for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza
More than 1 million Palestinians, about half of Gaza's population, have fled their homes in the north since Israel told them to evacuate, crowding into U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters or the homes of relatives.
For the first time since Israel captured Gaza from Egypt in 1967, a major tent camp arose to house displaced people. Dozens of U.N.-provided tents lined a dirt lot in Khan Younis.
The deal to get aid into Gaza through Rafah, the territory's only connection to Egypt, remained fragile. Israel said the supplies could only go to civilians and that it would "thwart" any diversions by Hamas. Biden said the deliveries "will end" if Hamas takes any aid.
More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid were positioned at or near Rafah, according to Khalid Zayed, the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai.
Under an arrangement reached between the United Nations, Israel and Egypt, U.N. observers will inspect the trucks before entering Gaza. The U.N., working with the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent, will ensure aid goes only to civilians, an Egyptian official and European diplomat told the AP. A U.N. flag will be raised on both sides of the crossing as a sign of protection against airstrikes, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
It was not immediately clear how much cargo the crossing could handle. Waleed Abu Omar, spokesperson for the Palestinian side, said work has not started to repair the road damaged by Israeli airstrikes.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV that foreigners and dual nationals would be allowed to leave Gaza once the crossing was opened.
Israel said it agreed to allow aid from Egypt because of a request by Biden — which followed days of intense talks with the U.S. secretary of state to overcome staunch Israeli refusal.
Israel had previously said it would let nothing into Gaza until Hamas freed the hostages taken from Israel. Relatives of some of the captives were furious over the aid announcement.
"The Israeli government pampers the murderers and kidnappers," the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said.
The Israeli military said Thursday it killed a top Palestinian militant in Rafah and hit hundreds of targets across Gaza, including militant tunnel shafts, intelligence infrastructure and command centers. Palestinians have launched barrages of rockets at Israel since the fighting began.
Violence was also escalating in the West Bank, where Israel carried out a rare airstrike Thursday, targeting militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp.
Six Palestinians were killed, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, and the Israeli military said the strike killed militants and resulted in 10 Israeli officers being wounded. More than 74 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war started.
US military shoots down missiles and drones as it faces growing threats in volatile Middle East
With tensions spiking in the Middle East, U.S. forces in the region are facing increasing threats as a Navy warship shot down missiles appearing to head toward Israel Thursday and American bases in Iraq and Syria were repeatedly targeted by drone attacks.
Later Thursday, a U.S. official said there had been an attack near Baghdad's airport, where U.S. forces are hosted. The official said one projectile was shot down and another struck, but according to early reports no one was injured. It wasn't clear what type of munition was fired. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss reports not yet made public, said information was still being gathered.
Also read: Gazans find nowhere is safe during Israel’s relentless bombing
Earlier, the USS Carney, a Navy destroyer in the northern Red Sea, intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen. The action by the Carney potentially represented the first shots by the U.S. military in the defense of Israel in this conflict.
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters the missiles were "potentially" headed toward Israel but said the U.S. hasn't finished its assessment of what they were targeting.
A U.S. official said they don't believe the missiles — which were shot down over the water — were aimed at the U.S. warship. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations that had not yet been announced.
But an array of other drone attacks over the past three days did target U.S. bases, including one in southern Syria on Thursday that caused minor injuries.
The rash of violence comes in the wake of a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital, triggering protests in a number of Muslim nations. The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel almost two weeks ago, but Israel has denied responsibility for the al-Ahli hospital blast and the U.S. has said its intelligence assessment found that Tel Aviv was not to blame.
Also read: Egypt, Jordan fear Israel could force permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries
In recent days, however, a number of militant groups across the region — from Hezbollah to the Houthis — have expressed support for the Palestinians and threatened Israel. Since Tuesday, militants have launched at least four drone attacks on U.S. military installations in Iraq and Syria where U.S. troops train local defense forces and support the mission to counter the Islamic State group.
The attacks fuel escalating worries in the U.S. and the West that the war in Israel could expand into a larger regional conflict.
"That's exactly what we are trying to prevent," Ryder said.
The most recent drone attack was Thursday at al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq posted a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, saying they had fired a salvo of rockets at the base and "they hit their targets directly and precisely." A U.S. official confirmed the latest attack but said it was too early to assess any impact.
Also Thursday, the al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria was struck by drones. U.S. troops have maintained a presence at the base for a number of years to train Syrian allies and monitor Islamic State militant activity.
The Pentagon said one drone was shot down, but another hit the base and caused minor injuries.
The garrison is located on a vital road that often used by Iranian-backed militants to ferry weapons to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon — and Israel's doorstep.
Syrian opposition activists also said there was a separate drone attack on an oil facility in eastern Syria that houses American troops. Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, said three drones with explosives struck the Conoco gas field in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, also confirmed explosions at the site.
Also read: OIC calls for immediate end to Israeli aggression against civilians in Gaza
On Tuesday, militants launched three drones against two Iraq bases that the U.S. uses to train forces and conduct operations against the Islamic State. During the spate of launches, one warning turned out to be a false alarm at al-Asad, but it sent personnel rushing into bunkers. During that incident, a contractor suffered a cardiac arrest and died, Ryder said.
He said the Pentagon does not yet have confirmation on who launched the drone attacks but said the U.S. "will take all necessary actions to defend U.S. and coalition forces against any threat." He said any military response would come "at a time and a manner of our choosing."
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have sometimes been used as foot soldiers in regional conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen, and have in recent days threatened to attack U.S. facilities in Iraq and elsewere because of American support for Israel.
"Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle," Ahmad "Abu Hussein" al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement last Wednesday. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.
Following the blast at the hospital in Gaza, the group issued another statement in which it blamed the U.S. and its support for Israel for the catastrophe and called for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq.
"These evil people must leave the country. Otherwise, they will taste the fire of hell in this world before the afterlife," the statement said.
Also read: Palestinians in Gaza feel nowhere is safe amid unrelenting Israeli airstrikes
On the intercepts by the Carney, Ryder said the strikes were done because the Houthi missiles "posed a potential threat" based on their flight profile. He added that the U.S. is prepared to do whatever is needed "to protect our partners and our interests in this important region." He said the U.S. is still assessing what the target was, but said no U.S. forces or civilians on the ground were injured.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have expressed support for the Palestinians and threatened Israel. Last week, in Yemen's Sanaa, which is held by the Houthi rebels still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, demonstrators crowded the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels' slogan long has been, "God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam."
Last week, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the rebel group's leader, warned the United States against intervening in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, threatening that his forces would retaliate by firing drones and missiles.
When approached Thursday, two Houthi officials declined to comment on the incident. One said he was unaware of the incident, while the second said he did not have the authority to speak about it.
Gazans find nowhere is safe during Israel’s relentless bombing
Israeli airstrikes pounded locations across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including parts of the south that Israel had declared as safe zones, heightening fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe.
In the nearly two weeks since a devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel, the Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in response. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north and head to what it called “safe zones” in the south, strikes continued across the territory overnight and Palestinian militants continued firing rockets into Israel.
A residential building in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter, was among the places hit. Medical personnel at Nasser Hospital said they received at least 12 dead and 40 wounded.
The bombardments came after Israel agreed Wednesday to allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to Gaza, the first crack in a punishing 11-day siege. Many of Gaza's residents were down to one meal a day and drinking dirty water.
The announcement of a plan to bring water, food and other supplies into Gaza came as fury over a Tuesday night explosion at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East. There were conflicting claims of who was behind the blast, which health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said had killed hundreds of Palestinians.