Live Updates: WHO voices concern over attack on Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital

Monday, March 18, 2024

12:28 GMT — The World Health Organization chief voiced concern about the Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza after an Israeli raid of the site.

"Hospitals should never be battlegrounds. We are terribly worried about the situation at Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, which is endangering health workers, patients and civilians," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X.

12:18 GMT — Gaza journalist beaten, arrested by Israeli forces: Al Jazeera

The Israeli army arrested several journalists at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, according to witnesses.

"They were brutally beaten by Israeli forces, blindfolded and taken into custody," an eyewitness told. Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera said Israeli forces had beaten and arrested its correspondent Ismail Al Ghoul during a raid on Gaza's largest hospital.

"The occupation army severely beat Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Al Ghoul before arresting him from inside Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza," Al Jazeera said in a post on X.

An Al Jazeera source told AFP that five other people were also arrested including Ghoul's camera crew and engineers. The source, who was not authorised to brief the press and spoke on condition of anonymity, said an Israeli tank destroyed the vehicle Ghoul and his team were using.

11:31 GMT — US must make clear to Israel consequences of Rafah operation: Egypt

The United States must make clear to Israel what the consequences of a military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza would be, as the US has voiced opposition to such a move, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said.

"It is not enough for rhetoric, it is not enough to state opposition, it is also important to indicate what if that position is circumvented, what if that position is not respected," Shoukry said at a news briefing with United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini in Cairo.

He also warned that the humanitarian consequences and the loss of lives that would result in the situation would be "catastrophic".

11:27 GMT — Israel in breach of int'l obligations by deliberately blocking Gaza aid: report

Israel is deliberately blocking the international humanitarian response in Gaza and imposing a total military siege that amounts to collective punishment, according to a new study released by a UK-based international aid organisation.

The report stated that these conditions are now "catastrophic as a direct result of the carnage in Gaza," and that Israel has "total control" over what enters Gaza, including the timing, location, and manner in which aid is delivered and distributed.

"The fact that the entire humanitarian system is in tatters, and people in Gaza are facing starvation, death and disease, is under the scope of Israel’s control," added Oxfam.

According to the report, the Israeli military rejected 25 percent of aid missions in the south between Jan. 1 and Feb. 12, while 364 health care workers, 165 UN aid workers, and eight humanitarian staff were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7.

11:16 GMT — Germany urges Israel to allow humanitarian aid access to Gaza

Germany urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that the situation is becoming increasingly desperate.

"In view of over 2 million people in Gaza, many, many children who have not had sufficient food for weeks, we finally need this humanitarian ceasefire," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

"We are doing everything we can to achieve this, and as German Chancellor (Olaf Scholz) made clear in Israel this weekend, as friends of Israel we believe that the Israeli government must now finally ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches Gaza," the minister said.

10:41 GMT — Hunger in Gaza is 'man-made' — UNRWA chief

The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency has said the hunger in Gaza is "man-made".

"We are engaged in a race against the clock to try to reverse the impact of the spreading hunger and the looming famine in Gaza," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said during a press conference in Cairo with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry.

The crisis can be resolved and reversed through proper political will and Gaza can be "flooded" with food through the crossings, he added.

10:41 GMT — Israeli army says 250 soldiers killed since start of Gaza invasion

The number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza has reached 250 since ground invasion in the besieged territory began in late October, according to the latest toll on the army's website on Monday.

The 250th soldier was killed on Monday in what a security source said was the offensive centred on the Al Shifa hospital complex, Gaza's largest.

09:26 GMT — Israel orders Gaza city evacuation, pushing Palestinians south

The Israeli army has ordered residents and displaced people in the Al Rimal neighbourhood and the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to evacuate immediately to the southern part of Gaza.

"For your safety, to all those present and displaced in the Al Rimal neighbourhood and in the vicinity of Al Shifa Hospital, you must evacuate the area immediately to the west, then southward through Rashid Street to the humanitarian zone in Al Mawasi," army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X.

Early Monday, the Israeli army announced that its forces stormed the Al Shifa Hospital, which houses thousands of ill and wounded patients, as well as displaced people.

09:04 GMT — Israel spy chief to discuss Gaza truce with Qatar PM: source

Israel's intelligence chief, Qatar's premier and Egyptian officials are expected to hold talks in Doha on Monday on a potential Gaza truce and hostage exchange deal, a source with knowledge of the talks has told AFP.

The meeting between Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian envoys "is expected to take place today", the source said on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the talks.

The talks in the Qatari capital are the first after weeks of intense negotiations involving Qatari, US and Egyptian mediators failed to secure a truce between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began last week.

08:37 GMT — Israel is provoking famine in Gaza, EU's Borrell says

Israel is provoking famine in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war, the EU's foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell has said.

"In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people," Borrell said at the opening of a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza in Brussels.

"This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine."

08:28 GMT — Health ministry in Gaza says war death toll at 31,726

Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has said that at least 31,726 people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of Israel's war on Gaza.

The latest toll includes at least 81 deaths in the previous 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 73,792 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war began.

08:12 GMT — Israel to offer six-week Gaza truce for 40 hostages in Qatar talks: officials

Israel will send a high-level delegation headed by its Mossad chief to Qatar on Monday for mediated talks with Hamas designed to secure a six-week Gaza truce under which 40 hostages would be freed, an Israeli official has said.

This stage of the negotiations could take at least two weeks, the official estimated, citing difficulties that Hamas' foreign delegates may have in communicating with the group in the besieged enclave after more than five months of war.

07:16 GMT — Gaza calls for action to stop Israel's attack on Shifa hospital

Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has called on the UN and other international institutions to stop Israel's ongoing assault in the area of Al Shifa Hospital that has killed patients, refugees, and medical personnel.

The ministry in a statement said a fire broke out at the entrance, pointing there were women and children taking shelter in the hospital who were affected by the smoke.

It added that communication was cut off, and a large number of refugees were stranded in the building of the operation theatre and emergency department. Everyone who approached the windows was targeted.

06:49 GMT — Israel says firefight erupts amid its Gaza hospital assault

The Israeli military has said its troops conducted a "precise operation" in the compound of Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital during which there was an exchange of fire with Palestinian resistance fighters.

It said soldiers entering the compound were fired on.

"The troops responded with live fire and hits were identified. Our troops are continuing to operate in the area of the hospital."

Palestinian government media office in Gaza condemned the Israeli assault, saying that "the storming of the Al Shifa medical complex with tanks, drones, and weapons, and shooting inside it, is a war crime".

04:00 GMT — Aid arrives in north Gaza’s Jabalia for 1st time in months

The first aid delivery in about four months reached Gaza’s northern city of Jabalia, local sources said.

The Israeli army allowed nine trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter northern Gaza including Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, sources told Anadolu Agency.

The aid, which consisted of flour, rice, canned food and sugar, arrived at the Jabalia refugee camp under the auspices of the security services of the Gaza government in cooperation with Palestinian tribes.

03:42 GMT — Israeli army says operation under way in Gaza's Al Shifa hospital

The Israeli army announced an operation is under way in Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, saying the complex was being used by senior Hamas fighters.

Soldiers "are currently conducting a precise operation in the area of the Shifa hospital," a statement from the military said. "The operation is based on intelligence information indicating the use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists".

03:06 GMT — Netherlands commemorates Palestinian children killed in Gaza war

A commemorative event was held in the Netherlands for Palestinian children killed in Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Around 14,000 pairs of children's shoes were laid out in Vredenburg Square in the city of Utrecht by the Olive Tree Planting Foundation to symbolize the tragic toll of the conflict.

Every 10 minutes, pairs of shoes were added to the display, symbolising the alarming frequency with which children are killed in the region.

02:30 GMT — Israeli army says officer killed on October 7, his body being held by Hamas in Gaza

The Israeli army announced that an officer within its ranks who was previously classified as a hostage was killed in action on October 7, 2023.

“The kidnapped IDF officer Daniel Peretz, 22, from Yad Binyamin, was killed in the fighting on October 7 and his body has been held in Gaza ever since,” the army said in a statement.

For our live updates from Sunday, March 17, click here.