Why is the UN not intervening on air strikes?
James Landale: The main reason why many countries are not urging #Israel to stop its airstrikes is because they accept the country has been attacked by #Hamas and has a right to defend itself. Where they are urging restraint is about how Israel defends itself. The United Nations too has urged Israel to avoid civilian casualties. UN Sec Gen Guterres said a few days ago: "International humanitarian law and human rights law must be respected (cont )
and upheld; civilians must be protected and also never used as shields."
#Israel insists its warplanes and artillery are striking #Hamas targets in #Gaza. But many civilians are indeed being killed and injured in those strikes.
#Palestinians say that is because the #Israeli strikes are excessive and indiscriminate. #Israel says it is because #Hamas uses civilians as human shields (in #Gaza )
How did Israel not know about Hamas's attack?
Yolande Knell: In the past, Israel's military has opened up its control centre for surveillance of Gaza to journalists, and it's clear that it has excellent real-time information about movements on the ground from drones and other cameras. It also has a vast network of informants. We saw in May's fighting with Islamic Jihad just how accurate Israel's information on the whereabouts of leading militants could be. (Cont.)
In briefings, #Israeli military officials accept there have been major intelligence and security failings when it comes to the unprecedented, deadly attack by #Hamas
However, we can rely on the fact that it has an accurate, long list of Hamas targets that it will go after as soon as it gets boots on the ground.
How does #Hezbollah compare to Hamas?
Hugo Bachega: Hezbollah - a #Lebanese military, political, and social movement - has long been seen by #Israel as a more formidable force than #Hamas
The heavily armed Iranian-backed group has an estimated 130,000 rockets and missiles, according to the CSIS. Most of this arsenal is made up of small, man-portable and unguided surface-to-surface artillery rockets. But it also includes anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, (cont.)
as well as guided missiles capable of striking deep inside Israel, much more sophisticated than what Hamas has at its disposal.
Hezbollah's leader has claimed to have 100,000 fighters, although independent estimates vary between 20,000 and 50,000. Many are well trained and battle hardened, and have fought in the Syrian civil war.
Hamas, by comparison, has an estimated 30,000 fighters, according to Israel.
V #BBC Jean Mackenzie:
The South Korean military says it has been monitoring signs that North #Korea supplied #Hamas with weapons used in its attack on #Israel , a military official said in a background briefing to domestic reporters.
The official also suggested that the Hamas tactic of incursion by motorised paragliders could have originated in North Korea, pointing to the regime’s reinforced air infiltration training using paragliders.
V #BBC Hugo Bachega:
#Iran 's foreign minister has said #Israel will not be allowed to act in the #Gaza Strip without consequences, and warns of "pre-emptive action" in the coming hours.
For the past week, #Hezbollah and the Israeli military have exchanged fire across the border but so far the fighting has been contained.
Overnight, the Israeli military said it had targeted infrastructure linked to the militant group in response to cross-border violence. There were no reports of casualties
#Israeli strikes have targeted homes in the south of #Gaza , the #Palestinian interior ministry has said - including 21 people killed in an air strike on a house in Khan Younis.
It said another 28 people were killed in a strike on a house in the #Rafah area, near to the border crossing with #Egypt . The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said women and children were among the dead
#IDF spox Conricus says 600,000 #Palestinians have made "the smart and self-preservatory" decision to move south (ahead of its expected ground offensive).
But, he goes on "still a few hundred thousand that need to - and should - go".
Conricus claims #Hamas - which told people to stay put - had a "delaying effect" on people leaving the area, but he is confident that the more time goes on, the more the militant group will stop using "its own civilians as human shields"
Hundreds of people are feared dead after a huge explosion at a hospital in #Gaza City where #Palestinians injured in the #Israel - #Hamas war were being treated, while others were seeking safety after days of #Israeli air strikes.
The #Hamas-led authorities in Gaza say 500 people died in the explosion at the Al Ahli hospital. Hamas blamed #Israel , which in turn blamed #Palestinian militants
#ICRC says it is "shocked and horrified" by reports of the huge blast at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in #Gaza
"Hospitals should be sanctuaries to preserve human life, not scenes of death and destruction," says ICRC.
"No patient should be killed in a hospital bed. No doctors should lose their lives while trying to save patients."
#Hamas have blamed an #Israeli air strike.
But Israel denied its military was involved and said the blast was caused by rockets fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad
V Haaretz
France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in #Gaza, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
"France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, which made so many Palestinian victims. Our thoughts are with them. All the light must be shed on the circumstances," the French president said.
" #Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened back without delay," he said.
V Haaretz:
#UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said she was "horrified" by the #Gaza #hospital attack without ascribing blame to either party.
"While details are still emerging and bodies are still being counted, the scenes on the ground are devastating," she said, adding "attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals, are unacceptable and must cease now."
One of the Anglican Church’s leading figures in Jerusalem has called the huge blast at a hospital in #Gaza City "an unmitigated disaster". The Al Ahli hospital, which is fully funded by the Anglican Church.
"It is absolute horror show which is unfolding," Canon Richard Sewell, dean of St George’s College, told #BBC. "There is also no justification for this type of attack." #Hamas have blamed an Israeli air strike, Israel denied its military was involved
Analysis v #BBC's Jeremy Bowen:
On all fronts now - the #humanitarian situation in #Gaza; the military situation between #Israel and Gaza, the political situation across the region - things are escalating very quickly and this is a very volatile and difficult time.
Everything is showing as critical – red lights are flashing all over the Middle East – and #Biden is flying into the heart of all of this. (Cont.)
'And the fact that the Arabs felt so comfortable about cancelling their meeting with the US president is also revealing.
That is a reflection of the gravity of the situation here, but also of the waning power of America.
A few years ago I don’t think they would have dared to deliver what is effectively a great big snub to the President of the United States.'
Footage from #Gaza City shows chaotic scenes outside the Al #Ahli #hospital as emergency workers attended to casualties and took them to a nearby hospital.
#Hamas says an #Israeli air strike hit the hospital. #Israel says the blast was caused by rockets misfired by another group, #Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and both sides deny blame.
The #BBC is working to verify what happened.
#UN Sec general Guterres has called for an "immediate #humanitarian ceasefire" in the #Israel - #Gaza war.
"I call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire... to ease the epic human suffering we are witnessing," he said, "Too many lives, and the fate of the entire region hang in the balance."
V #BBC Paul Adams:
Joe #Biden is due to arrive in #Israel in the coming hours. The omens for his visit could not be worse. Israel and the #Palestinians are locked in claim and counter claim about what happened last night at the #Ahli hospital in #Gaza
It’s thought that as many as 500 people were killed – patients and people sheltering in the grounds, thinking the hospital was safe.
The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas - based in the West Bank - has blamed Israel, (cont.)
'calling it an unforgivable crime. #Abbas has declared three days of mourning.
#Israeli officials insist the carnage was caused by a #Palestinian rocket which misfired. All around the region, furious protestors have taken to the streets.
In the West Bank, Palestinians clashed with their own security forces, throwing stones and chanting against Abbas, who many blame for not being able to protect them. But there were protests too in Lebanon, Jordan, Libya and Iran.'
#BBCNews - Family seeks answers after #Israel kidnap live-stream horror
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67124745
V #BBC Jeremy Bowen:
Joe #Biden ’s personal intervention was always a gamble. The destruction of Al #Ahli #hospital makes it even more difficult.
He wants simultaneously to protect and support #Israel , and alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe among #Gaza ’s civilians.
Israel insists the hospital was destroyed by #Palestinian Islamic Jihad #PIJ , a faction that is smaller than #Hamas and closer to #Iran .
'The #Israeli military says the projectile malfunctioned and fell short of its target in #Israel
Millions of #Palestinians and others in the Middle East will not believe that. #Jordan , #Egypt , #Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates #UAE are among the countries condemning Israel.
The question now is whether anger caused by the attack increases the chances of a wider war.'
#IDF 's Daniel Hagari says the #Israeli military has concluded the #Palestinian Islamic Jihad #PIJ group was responsible for the Al #Ahli #hospital blast.
He says a barrage of rockets were fired by #Hamas to #Israel at 18:15 local time on Tuesday - before the hospital blast.
Then, at 18:59, he says a barage of around 10 rockets was fired by PiJ from a nearby cemetery. At the same time, there were reports of an explosion at the hospital in #Gaza City, he says.
#IDF Hagari continues, saying #Hamas understood the blast was caused by a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket, but launched a "global media campaign" to blame #Israel
"They went as far as inflating the numbers of casualties," he says. "They understood with absolute certainty that it was a rocket misfired by Islamic Jihad that damaged the ( #Ahli ) #hospital ."
He says aerial footage confirms there was no direct hit to the hospital itself and there was no damage to nearby buildings.
Hagari says if the #IDF was responsible for the blast there would have been a "crater" or some "structural damage".
Showing a diagram of the ( #Ahli ) #hospital, he says there is no such damage - "the walls stay intact".
He says this is because the blast was caused by an Islamic Jihad #PIJ rocket, which "failed to launch" properly and was "misfired".
As a reminder, #Hamas and #Palestinian authorities have blamed #Israel for the blast at the hospital
Explaining how the #Israeli military has concluded it was an Islamic Jihad #PIJ rocket, Hagari gives the following reasons:
Confirmation there was no IDF fire from "land, sea or air that hit the hospital"
Israel's "radar system" tracked rockets fired from within #Gaza - he says there are two independent videos that show the failure of the rocket launch
There is intelligence, which shows communication between militant groups about failed rocket launches - he goes on to translate some of that
#CNN reporter asks why the media should believe the #IDF 's claims, using an example of the #Israeli government once blaming #Palestinian militants for the death of the journalist #Shireen Abu #Aqla
He says it's now known this isn't true.
Responding, Hagari admits #Israel has, in the past, been "fast to go to conclusions".
But he says after the hospital blast, officials "took their time" because they wanted to "double check" they had all the facts right.
#BBC 's intnl editor Jeremy Bowen asks #IDF 's Hagari whether he thinks the governments of #Jordan , #Egypt , #Saudi Arabia and the #UAE - which last night condemned #Israel for the hospital blast - will believe his claims.
Hagari says he hopes, following the IDF's analysis, that "the BBC will now share this investigation and those countries will listen".
He adds that the IDF intends to share the analysis with the US - and any other country that wants to see it.
European Comm Pres von der Leyen has told the Eur Parliament there's no excuse for hitting a #hospital full of civilians in #Gaza , calling the Al #Ahli explosion a "senseless tragedy".
"All facts need to be established and those responsible must be held accountable," she said, without attributing blame.
Von der Leyen has faced some criticism for her visit to Israel last week, in which she did not caveat her message of solidarity by stressing Israel also had to follow humanitarian law. (Cont)
In this morning's address von der Leyen made clear "Europe stands with Israel in this dark moment", adding that Israel had a right to defend itself in line with international law.
But she also emphasised that the EU had always been the biggest donor for Palestinians and "this will not change".
V #BBC Tom Bateman:
'Central Tel Aviv is locked down. Hundreds of armed #Israeli security forces are in front of barricades forming a ring around the venue #Biden will meet #Netanyahu.
It’s chaotic here. At one point a US sec official ordered press members back from a crowded check point inside, amid rowdy confusion about who was allowed past.
It’s a sign of how quickly this has all been slapped together. It’s extremely rare for a US president to make a visit to a conflict zone at short notice
US President #Biden just has arrived in #Israel for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister #Netanyahu.
A planned meeting with Arab leaders has already been cancelled.
V Reuters:
#Egypt 's president Sisi: "Forced displacement of #Palestinians cannot be implemented; If I call on the Egyptian people to reject the idea of displacing Palestinians then millions of Egyptians will heed this call"
V Haaretz:
'The #Palestinian Islamic Jihad #PIJ rejected the #Israeli military #IDF spokesman's statement that a failed rocket launch by the militant group in #Gaza was the source of the explosion at Al-#Ahli #Hospital on Tuesday night, claiming that "the angle of the impact and the intensity of the fire proves that it was an attack from the air", adding that "Israel is spreading [contradicting] versions [of events]". (Cont.)
#Israeli FM spox "Lior Ben-Dor said that the #hospital houses weapons and that the explosion occurred from where these were launched, while the army says that the explosion was the result of a failed launch by the Islamic Jihad."
The #PIJ also said that "just as #Israel has previously abdicated responsibility for crimes it committed, including the injury to journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, this is repeating itself now as well."
