Live updates | Israel says it has launched an operation inside Gaza hospital
Israel says its forces have entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital, the site of a lengthy standoff.
The Israeli army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas, claiming the militant group conceals military operations in the hospital complex. But with hundreds of patients and medical personnel inside, it had refrained from entering. It said on Wednesday its forces were conducting a “precise” operation against Hamas in a specific area of the complex while taking steps to avoid harm to civilians.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its fighters, alleging that Hamas has set up its main command center in and beneath Shifa hospital, the largest in the besieged territory. Both Hamas and Shifa hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations.
Israeli defense officials also said they will allow fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian operations. That announcement came hours after the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees said its fuel reserves in Gaza ran dry on Tuesday.
Israel had refused to allow fuel shipments into Gaza following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel that set off the war, saying the militant group will divert any fuel for its own use.
Fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in northern Gaza has caused 200,000 people to flee south in the past 10 days, the U.N. humanitarian agency said Tuesday. More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began.
More than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.
More than 1,200 people in Israel died, most of them in the Hamas attack, and about 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by Palestinian militants.
Currently:
— Thousands flee Gaza’s main hospital but hundreds, including babies, are still trapped by fighting.
— Is Hamas hiding in Gaza’s main hospital? Israel’s claim is a focal point in its war against militant group.
— Israel supporters rally in Washington, crying ‘never again.’
— Detroit-area doctor grieves the loss of 20 relatives killed during Israel’s war against Hamas.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here’s what’s happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says its forces have entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital, the site of a lengthy standoff.
The army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas, claiming the militant group conceals military operations in the hospital complex. But with hundreds of patients and medical personnel inside, it had refrained from entering.
Early Wednesday, the army said its forces were carrying out “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area” in the hospital. It gave no further details but said it was taking steps to avoid harm to civilians.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it had warned “the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours. Unfortunately, it did not.”
Hamas has denied the Israeli accusations that it uses the hospital for cover.
JERUSALEM — Israeli defense officials say they have agreed to allow fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian operations.
It is the first time that Israel has allowed fuel into the besieged territory since the Hamas militant group’s bloody cross-border invasion on Oct. 7.
Israel declared war and barred fuel shipments after the attack, saying Hamas would divert supplies for military use. But fuel is key to operations at Gaza hospitals, which run on generators, and the shortages hindered the United Nations from delivering humanitarian aid.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian affairs, announced early Wednesday that it would allow U.N. trucks to refill at the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border later Wednesday. It said the decision was in response to a request from the U.S. But it gave no details on when the shipments are to be delivered, other than to say it’s allowing 24,000 liters (6,340 gallons) of fuel into Gaza.
UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, had warned late Tuesday that its fuel-storage facility in Gaza had run dry and that it would soon be forced to halt operations.
JERUSALEM — Several hundred protesters gathered outside the Israeli parliament Tuesday night to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he is unfit for office.
The protesters carried signs blaming Netanyahu for the Oct. 7 attack that left at least 1,200 people killed.
“Go, go, go!” protesters chanted.
“Any moment that our prime minister is in his role is dangerous for the citizens, for the soldiers, and he needs to quit and let us win the war and reunite our people,” said protester Nir Weintroub.
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council is negotiating a new resolution that demands “immediate extended humanitarian pauses” throughout the Gaza Strip but makes no mention of a cease-fire.
The resolution, drafted by Malta, does demand that “all parties” comply with their obligations under international law.
The Security Council has rejected four resolutions on the war, and many of its 15 members have said they don’t want a vote on a new resolution unless it’s going to be approved.
The draft, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, says the pauses should be “for a sufficient number of days” to open humanitarian corridors and enable unhindered access for U.N., Red Cross and other aid workers to get water, electricity, fuel, food and medical supplies to those in need as well as to repair essential infrastructure and enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts.
CAIRO — The remaining patients, doctors and families have been evacuated from Al-Quds hospital in northern Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent aid group announced Tuesday.
“This comes after more than ten days of siege, during which medical and humanitarian supplies were prevented from reaching the hospital,” the group said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The Red Crescent blamed the Israeli army for bombarding the hospital and firing at those inside.
It said that the wounded were being transported for care in hospitals in the south of Gaza.
No further information about the evacuation was immediately available, and the Red Crescent did not say how many people left the hospital on Tuesday.
A Red Crescent spokesperson had said earlier Tuesday that 300 people were inside Al-Quds hospital, trapped without food and electricity, unable to leave the facility. These included both patients, staff, and those displaced by the conflict, spokesperson Nebal Farsakh told The Associated Press by phone from Ramallah.
She said that the aid group had lost telephone communication with staff at Al-Quds seven days ago and were communicating with health workers there through VHF radio.
CAIRO — The military arm of Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Tuesday that it launched a batch of ballistic missiles towards various Israeli targets on Monday, including the southern Israeli city of Eilat. The Iran-backed rebel group has launched at least six aerial attacks against Israel since Oct. 7., and have vowed to continue these military operations.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, the Houthi military also said they would begin striking Israeli ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthi are staunch foes of Israel and regularly hold huge demonstrations in support of Palestinians, both during peace and war.
WASHINGTON — Supporters of Israel have rallied by the tens of thousands on Washington’s National Mall, voicing solidarity in the war against Hamas and crying “never again.”
Many of the demonstrators at the “March for Israel” wore Israeli flags wrapped around their shoulders, flowing behind them, or held small Israeli flags in their hands.
“I hope that it shows solidarity” with Israel, said Jackie Seley of Rockville, Maryland, who came with friends from New York. “And I hope that it raises awareness for the hostages that are currently in danger.”
Overlooking a sea of Israeli and U.S. flags, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jefferies, came together on the stage.
“We stand with Israel,” Schumer chanted.
Security was tight, with dump trucks blocking access to the mall and police dispersed throughout the area and on horseback.
The show of support for Israel comes as condemnation of the mounting civilian casualty toll and suffering has grown worldwide. Earlier this month, tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in cities ranging from Washington to Milan to Paris.
JERUSALEM — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says its fuel storage facility in Gaza is empty and its relief operations will soon be halted.
The lack of fuel in Gaza means communications are expected to start collapsing on Thursday, UNRWA said, “as telecommunications companies run out of fuel to operate their data centres and major connection sites.”
Israel has refused to allow fuel shipments into Gaza since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7. Israel says Hamas will divert any fuel shipments for military use.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, said that after weeks of warnings and rationing, the agency will soon be out of fuel.
“The depot is now empty,” he said. “It is very simple. Without fuel, the humanitarian operation in Gaza is coming to an end. Many more people will suffer and will likely die.”
UNRWA provides food, shelter and other services to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
WASHINGTON — The United States said Tuesday that it has unspecified intelligence that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip — including Shifa hospital — and tunnels underneath them to hide and to support their military operations and to hold hostages.
The White House’s national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said the U.S. does not support strikes against hospitals.
“We do not support striking a hospital from the air,” Kirby told reporters accompanying President Joe Biden aboard Air Force One to San Francisco for a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders. “Hospitals and patients must be protected.”
Kirby said the U.S. also does not want to see “a firefight in a hospital where innocent people, helpless people, sick people are simply trying to get the medical care that they deserve.”
When asked about evidence to support the claim, Kirby said “it comes from a variety of intelligence sourcing.” He wouldn’t be more specific.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister says the military is making great progress in its war against Hamas militants, but that the campaign will take many months to complete.
In a nationally televised press conference Tuesday night, Yoav Gallant said that Hamas has “lost control” of the northern Gaza Strip and that Israel has also made great gains in Gaza City, the militant group’s stronghold.
“This entire city is one terror stronghold that the army is able to maneuver and operate in very well,” he said.
But asked about the timeframe for the war ahead, Gallant said: “We’re talking about long months, not a day or two.”
GENEVA — Israel’s foreign minister has lashed out at the U.N. secretary-general, saying Antonio Guterres “does not deserve” to hold the job, and called on the international Red Cross to be more vocal with “pressure” to help free Israeli hostages.
Eli Cohen spoke Tuesday at a news conference in Geneva alongside four relatives of hostages as part of Israel’s bid to keep the international spotlight on the plight of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The ICRC has helped secure the release of four hostages, although roughly 240 remain in captivity in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Cohen grew animated after being asked about Guterres’ comments calling into question Israeli tactics in Gaza, which have killed at least 11,000 people — two-thirds of them women and minors — according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
“Guterres does not deserve to be the head of the United Nations. Guterres did not promote any peace process in the region,” he said.
The U.N. chief and other top officials at the world body have repeatedly sought greater access for humanitarian pauses to allow aid shipments and other support for beleaguered Gazans, and the U.N. human rights chief has urged an outright cease-fire.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli army says it has intercepted a long-range missile that was headed toward the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.
The missile strike set off air-raid sirens in Eilat. The army said its Arrow missile defense system intercepted the projectile before it reached Israeli airspace.
Israeli media said the missile appears to have been launched from Yemen, where Iranian-backed rebels have fired a series of missiles toward Israel in recent weeks.
BEIT SHEMESH, Israel — Israel says it is investigating several cases of sexual assault and rape from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
On Tuesday, Israel’s national police chief showed a small group of international reporters video testimony from an eye witness at a music festival in southern Israel. This was the first time the police showed international reporters the footage.
The woman in the video, her face blurred, described watching militants gang rape and mutilate another woman before one of them shot her in the head while he was assaulting her.
“I couldn’t understand what I saw,” she said, saying she had survived the rampage by pretending to be dead.
Police say they’re combing through 60,000 videos seized from Hamas, social media and security cameras as well as 1,000 testimonies to try to bring the perpetrators of last month’s killings, abductions and sexual assault to justice. They say it is Israel’s biggest criminal case in history. When it comes to documenting sexual assault, officials said it’s been harder to gather evidence and that it’s also challenging to get people to come forward. Police said they had no cases of rape survivors, further complicating the investigation.
Israel says some 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, and many others fled back to Gaza. But Israel says it is holding hundreds of captured militants.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s emergency response service Magen David Adom says at least two people were injured from shrapnel in Tel Aviv on Tuesday as militants from Gaza Strip continued launching rockets at Israel.
The emergency responders said one of the injured, a 20-year old man was in serious condition and another, a 43 year-old woman in moderate condition. They received injuries to their limbs.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said that, as of Monday, at least 11,255 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the conflict broke out on Oct. 7. The vast majority have been killed in Israeli airstrikes that have pounded the besieged territory since the Hamas assault on southern Israel.
In an online report, the ministry said 4,630 of the dead were children, while 3,130 were women.
The ministry also said that for the past three days it has been experiencing difficulties updating the death toll “due to the interruption of communication services in the Gaza Strip.”
WASHINGTON — The United States issued guidance Tuesday for non-governmental organizations and the general public on how to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians while complying with existing and new sanctions targeted at Hamas.
The U.S. Treasury and State Department have imposed three rounds of sanctions in the past two months on Hamas members, financiers and money exchange firms, dedicated to disrupting Hamas’ fundraising network.
“Groups such as Hamas raise funds through entities that present themselves outwardly as legitimate charities but are in fact fronts for Hamas’s illicit fundraising, often abusing the good will of donors,” Treasury’s guidance states.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has seized a series of government buildings in central Gaza City as its offensive against the ruling Hamas militant group advances.
The army said Tuesday that it has captured Gaza’s legislature building, the Hamas police headquarters and a compound housing Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters.
“In every location, the enemy forces were eliminated, the location was demolished,” an Israeli commander identified only as Lt. Col. Gilad said in a video from Gaza released by the army. He said documents and other items taken from the locations were being studied.
The captured buildings carry high symbolic value, though it was unclear what their strategic value is. Hamas fighters are believed to be positioned in underground bunkers.
Israeli news sites showed pictures of Israeli soldiers hoisting the Israeli national flag and military flags in some of the buildings.
RIO DE JANEIRO-- Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has welcomed a group of 32 Brazilians and their families returning home from Gaza.
Many in the group, composed mostly of women and children, smiled as they got off the plane and stepped onto Brazilian territory late Monday night.
Their repatriation took weeks of negotiations and lobbying by Brazilian diplomats. Many in Brazil followed the drama surrounding their passage through the Egyptian border, which was postponed several times.
Lula used the opportunity to issue comments critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“If Hamas committed an act of terrorism, and did what it did, the state of Israel is also committing various acts of terrorism by not taking into account that children are not at war, by not taking into account that women are not at war,” Lula told journalists. “They’re not killing soldiers; they’re killing children.”
OAKLAND, California — Hundreds of protesters led by Jewish peace activists calling for a cease-fire in Gaza staged a sit-in inside of the federal building in Oakland, California, leading to multiple arrests.
People wore T-shirts reading “Jews Say Cease-fire Now” and carried banners that read “Not in Our Name” and “Let Gaza Live” in the rotunda of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal building on Monday evening.
Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the protest organizers, posted online that dozens of people had been taken into custody by 9 p.m. The protest was part of a growing number across the country following fighting triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, whose response has led to more than 11,000 deaths — and much destruction — across Gaza.
On Monday, hundreds of Jewish peace activists and their allies converged at a major train station in downtown Chicago during rush hour, blocking the entrance to the Israeli Consulate and demanding U.S. support for a cease-fire.
WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday said it imposed a third round of sanctions on a group of Hamas officials, members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who work to transfer money from Iran to Gaza, and a Lebanese money exchange service that facilitates the transfers.
The Treasury Department sanctions, coordinated with the United Kingdom, come in response to the surprise Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and about 240 others taken hostage. The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.
This and two previous rounds of sanctions against Hamas and its affiliates are aimed at protecting the international financial system from abuse by Hamas militants and their enablers, the Treasury Department said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an emailed statement that “together with our partners we are decisively moving to degrade Hamas’s financial infrastructure, cut them off from outside funding, and block the new funding channels they seek to finance their heinous acts.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — Families of hostages held by Hamas since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel have begun a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem demanding that the government do more to secure their release.
The marchers held a moment of silence for a 19-year-old Israeli soldier, among the approximately 240 people seized by Hamas, who was confirmed to have died in captivity. The Israeli military did not give a reason for her death, while Hamas said she was killed in an Israeli strike.
Among the participants in the 65-kilometer (40-mile) march was Shelly Shem Tov, mother of 21-year-old hostage Omer Shem Tov.
“Where are you, where are you, where are you? I am demanding from (Israel Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and from all the Cabinet to give us answers, to give us answers and deeds,” the mother, wearing a T-shirt with a photograph of her son, said at the protest.
“We have no strength anymore. We have no strength. Bring back our children and our families home.”
JERUSALEM — Vivian Silver, a Canadian-born Israeli activist who devoted her life to seeking peace with the Palestinians, was confirmed killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel.
Silver, who moved to Israel in the 1970s, had been believed to be among the nearly 240 hostages seized by Hamas and held in the Gaza Strip. But identification of some of the most badly burned remains has gone slowly, and her family was notified of her death on Monday.
Silver was a dominant figure in several groups that promoted peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as a prominent Israeli human rights group. She also volunteered with a group that drove Gaza cancer patients to Israeli hospitals for medical care.
“On the one hand, she was small and fragile. Very sensitive,” her son, Yonatan Zeigen, told Israel Radio on Tuesday. “On the other hand, she was a force of nature. She had a giant spirit. She was very assertive. She had very strong core beliefs about the world and life.”
Zeigen said his mother’s heart “would have been broken” by the events of Oct. 7 and their aftermath. “She worked all her life, you know, to steer us off this course. And in the end, it blew up in her face.”
At least 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel while more than 11,000 Palestinians have died so far in the Israeli war in Gaza, according to its Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.
JERUSALEM — A 19-year-old soldier who was among about 240 people captured by Hamas during its Oct. 7 raid in Israel has died in captivity, both sides said.
Israel’s military on Tuesday declared Noa Marciano a fallen soldier without giving a cause of death. She is the first hostage confirmed to have died in captivity.
Hamas released a hostage video late Monday showing Marciano identifying herself. In a statement likely given under duress, she said Israeli strikes were hitting near where she was being held and called on Israel to halt them.
The video then showed images of what appeared to be her dead body. Hamas said she was killed in an Israeli strike, without providing evidence.
The Israeli military did not initially acknowledge her death after the video was released, saying Hamas “continues to exploit psychological terrorism and act inhumanely, through videos and photos of the hostages.”
Hamas says dozens of captives have been killed in Israeli strikes but has not provided evidence. Israel has dismissed such claims as psychological warfare.
Families of other hostages who are marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem over the next five days to draw attention to their loved ones’ plight observed a minute of silence in Marciano’s memory.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Rain fell on Gaza on Tuesday for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. For the children it was a moment of respite, as they laughed and played outside. For their parents, it was just another worry.
Iqbal Abu Saud, a woman displaced from Gaza City, said the downpour made conditions for her family even harder.
“This whole tent collapsed onto the ground because of the rain, and the children,” she said. “You can see the water, look at the ground and how it is. And that’s just in one day.”
BEIRUT — Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon that killed three children and their grandmother earlier this month showed “reckless disregard for civilian life.”
The statement from the rights group comes as Israel and militants from Lebanon’s Hezbollah group are continuing to clash along the tense Lebanon-Israel border since Oct. 8. The skirmishes have escalated but remain largely contained to areas near the border. The international community and Lebanese government have been scrambling to prevent the situation from turning into an all-out war in the small Mediterranean country.
On Nov. 5, the Israeli military struck a car on the road between the southern Lebanese towns of Ainata and Aitaroun. Inside the car were the three adolescent girls, their grandmother and their mother. Only the mother survived and is in stable condition in a hospital.
The rights organization said they conducted interviews and analyzed video of the attack. The Israeli military also said after the attack that they were investigating the incident.
“Israeli authorities have long failed to credibly investigate their own serious abuses, even when they acknowledge they carried them out,” Human Rights Watch Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss said. “With Israeli authorities continuing to commit abuses with impunity, Israel’s allies should insist on accountability for Israel’s violations of the laws of war and this apparent war crime.”
KFAR AZA, Israel — Residents of Kfar Aza kibbutz in southern Israel have started to return to pick up what remains of their belongings.
The kibbutz was one of more than 20 towns and villages that were attacked on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants, sparking the war with Israel.
Ayelet Kazir’s husband, David Kachko Kazir, was killed by Hamas during the raid.
“I came here to pick plants from my garden and some things that he liked, like he had a special mug, some of his clothes,” she said. “I’m very glad that I came here but it’s so difficult. It’s very difficult.”
Before the attack, the kibbutz was a modestly prosperous place with a school, a synagogue and a population of more than 700.
More than 1,200 people in Israel have died, most of them in the Hamas attack, and about 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militants. More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- At least 113 citizens of Sweden and Denmark will be able to leave Gaza on Tuesday, Swedish and Danish media said, quoting the foreign ministries of the two countries.
The Aftonbladet daily in Sweden said 100 Swedish nationals will be allowed to leave, while Danish broadcaster DR said 13 people are expected to be able to depart.
Previously, about 60 Swedes were able to cross the border into Egypt, Aftonbladet said, while two people with Danish citizenship have been able to leave Gaza.
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This story corrects the number of gallons in the entry ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL ALLOW FUEL SHIPMENTS INTO GAZA FOR HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS. It is 6,340 gallons, not 6,240.