Four Gaza patients dead as oxygen cut off during Israel raid on Nasser hospital, doctors say - latest
Rafah in southern Gaza was also hit by Israeli airstrikes ahead of a planned ground invasion into the city
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Your support makes all the difference.At least four patients in intensive care died because their oxygen supply was cut off when Israeli troops stormed Gaza’s main hospital, according to the doctors.
Israeli special forces have stormed the last major hospital in southern Gaza, with the military saying it is a limited operation to seeking the remains of hostages taken by Hamas.
The raid came a day after the army sought to evacuate thousands of displaced people who had taken shelter at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The southern city has been the main target of Israel's offensive against Hamas in recent weeks. The military said it had "credible intelligence" that Hamas had held hostages at the hospital and that the remains of hostages might still be inside.
This comes after the UN warned that an Israeli ground invasion into Rafah could lead to slaughter as more tha one million Palestinians shelter there.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned offensive could leave an “already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door.”
Why Israel’s assault on Rafah could mean the worst is yet to come: ‘We have nowhere left to go’
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Airstrike from Israeli hostage rescue wipes out entire Palestinian family in Gaza border town
Budget carrier Ryanair cancels all flights to Israel
Irish budget air carrier Ryanair has cancelled all its flights to and from Israel for the months of March and April, Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
Ryanair had initially cancelled its services to Israel following a Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, but resumed operations just two weeks ago.
While flights scheduled for February were still listed, they are likely to be cancelled, according to the report.
Latest Gaza death toll
At least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed and 68,291 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza has said.
In the last 24 hours, 103 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured, the ministry's statement added.
Hostage families head to the Hague
Israeli survivors of the 7 October Hamas attack – and family members of hostages – are stepping up efforts to get the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to scrutinise Hamas' crimes as part of his investigation into the attack and Israel's response in Gaza.
"We want to make sure that the world acts and that their freedom is hindered," Udi Goren, cousin of 41-year-old Tal Haimi who was abducted on 7 October. Mr Haimi was later confirmed dead, his body still being held in Gaza.
"We want to ... make sure that the leaders of Hamas are taken into custody or that they cannot leave Qatar anymore and that this puts pressure on them to release the hostages," Mr Goren said, speaking at Israel's Ben Gurion airport.
Mr Goren was among a group of around 100 family members of hostages preparing to fly to the ICC's headquarters in The Hague.
Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognise its jurisdiction. But prosecutor Karim Khan reaffirmed to Reuters this week that the court has jurisdiction over the events of 7 October and they form part of the court's investigation. He declined to comment further on the ongoing investigation.
Gas pipeline explosions
Explosions have struck a natural gas pipeline in Iran, with an official blaming the blasts on "sabotage and terrorist action" as tensions remain high in the Middle East amid Israel's war on Hamas.
The pipeline runs from Iran's western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province up north to cities on the Caspian Sea. The roughly 790-mile structure begins in Asaluyeh, a hub for Iran's offshore South Pars gas field.
Saeed Aghli, the manager of Iran's gas network control centre, told Iranian state television that "sabotage and terrorist action" caused explosions along several areas of the line.
There are no known insurgent groups operating in that province, home to the Bakhtiari, a branch of Iran's Lur ethnic group. In the past, Arab separatists in south-western Iran have claimed attacks against oil pipelines. However, attacks against such infrastructure are rare elsewhere.
Here are some of the latest pictures from Gaza, focusing on the southern border city of Rafah:
Security survey
About two-thirds of Jewish Americans felt less secure in late 2023 than they did a year earlier, according to a survey mostly conducted after the Hamas attack on Israel on and released now.
The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group, said the survey was based on telephone and online interviews from Octiber to November. The findings were compared to the same survey a year earlier.
Gaza warning from UK
As the UN warns of dire consequences of an Israeli asasault into the Gaza border city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering, the UK’s foreign secretary – David Cameron – has warned Israel to “stop and think” befire moving in any further,
David Cameron urges Israel to ‘think seriously’ before taking further action in Rafah
Lord Cameron cautions against looming ground invasion of Gaza’s southern city as ‘there’s nowhere for civilians to go’ – after two hostages freed under cover of airstrikes
Gaza reaction to ceasefire talks
Palestinians are increasingly conncerned about an Israeli assault into Gaza, particulary in the wake of there being no major breakthrough in recent ceasefire talks.
"The news was disappointing, we hoped there could be a deal reached in Cairo. We are now counting down the days before Israel sends in tanks. We hope they don't but who can prevent them?" Said Jaber, a Gaza businessman who is sheltering in Rafah with his family, told Reuters via a chat app. "We've lost our homes, our jobs. Isn't that enough? We've had enough of this war, and we will need decades to rebuild Gaza and regain our lives. When will the world stop Israel's slaughter of our people?"
Erdogan visits Egypt
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making his first visit to Egypt since 2012 , taking a big step toward rebuilding relations between the regional powers.
Mr Erdogan has said discussions would focus on Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. Mr Erdogan and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose relations frayed over Egypt's 2013 military coup and its fallout for the Muslim Brotherhood, planned to hold a joint press conference later.
The visit caps diplomatic efforts in recent years to thaw the nations' frosty relations. They mutually appointed ambassadors last year, and this month Turkey said it would provide Egypt with armed drones.
Relations between Ankara and Cairo broke down in 2013 after Egypt's then-army chief, Mr Sisi, led the ousting of the Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, an ally of Turkey who had become Egypt's first democratically elected president the year before.
Mr Sisi greeted Erdogan as he emerged from his plane in Cairo with his wife and they conversed as they walked along a red carpet amid a fanfare, live television footage showed.
According to a draft programme, Mr Sisi and Mr Erdogan were to hold bilateral talks before a meeting between the two delegations, with a formal dinner planned.
Mr Erdogan has sought to ease tensions with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel since 2021 - though since October he has publicly sniped with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's devastating war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Israel-Lebanon strikes
In northern Israel, a rocket attack from Lebanon has killed an Israeli woman in a barrage that also hit a military base and wounded several other people on Wednesday, an Israeli government spokesperson has said.
Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon in response, killing four people, including a Syrian woman and her two Lebanese children, and wounding at least nine, Lebanese security officials and local media said.
Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which supports Hamas, have traded fire along the border nearly every day since the start of the war in Gaza, raising the risk of a wider conflict. Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for the rocket attack.
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