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Editor’s Note: For the latest news on the Israeli-Hamas conflict, please see Friday’s live updates here.An explosion at a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City late Thursday resulted in casualties and injuries along with displacing Palestinians who were taking refuge there.
Mohammed Abu Selmia, director general of Shifa Hospital, told The Associated Press that dozens were wounded at the Church of Saint Porphyrios but could not give a precise death toll because bodies were still under the rubble. The Holy Orthodox Order of the Holy Great Martyr George confirmed the bombing, adding that more than 500 people were being housed at the church and monastery.
“The bombs hit the two church halls where the refugees, including children and babies, were sleeping. Presently, survivors are searching the rubble for other casualties,” the order said in a statement Thursday.
The blast comes after an explosion Tuesday that rocked the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, in whose compound many Palestinians had been seeking refuge from the persistent Israeli bombardment. According to a preliminary U.S. intelligence analysis, the death toll was on the “low end” of 100 to 300.
The incident triggered outrage across the Middle East, as Hamas and Israel blamed each other for the attack. Since the war began on Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 others have been wounded. And in Israel, more than 1,400 people have been killed.
Israel’s defense minister has told troops to be ready for a ground offensive in Gaza but he has not said when the assault will begin. In a televised address on Thursday, President Joe Biden urged people to support Ukraine and Israel, saying “American leadership is what holds the world together.”
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Developments:
∎ The Rafah crossing at the Egypt-Hamas border, which had been expected to open Friday to allow humanitarian aid to come in, probably won’t be ready until later in the weekend because of road repairs and other concerns, CNN reported. The aid deal struck Wednesday had included a stipulation that roads essential to the flow of aid would first be fixed.
∎ Israeli Minister of Economy Nir Barkat told reporters the military, not political leaders, will decide when to invade Gaza. “The Israeli government made a decision, they green-lighted the army, ‘Wipe them out,’ and now it’s in the hands of the army,” he said.
∎ More than 100 retired U.S. generals have signed an open letter from the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to give Israel all the support it needs militarily, diplomatically and logistically against the “Iran-backed terrorist threats that surround it on all sides.”
∎ The U.S. is waiving travel visa requirements for Israelis earlier than expected.
∎ Hamas fighters likely fired North Korean weapons during their Oct. 7 assault on Israel, a video and weapons seized by Israel show, despite Pyongyang’s denials that it arms the militant group. South Korean officials, two experts on North Korean arms and an Associated Press analysis of weapons captured on the battlefield by Israel point toward Hamas using Pyongyang’s F-7 rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-fired weapon that fighters typically use against armored vehicles.
Gaza’s dwindling water, electricity supply could turn hospitals into ‘morgues’
Israel bombing Gaza ‘safe zones’ in south
No place was safe for more than 2 million Palestinians as Israeli bombs slammed the Gaza Strip, including parts of the Palestinian territory that Israel had declared “safe zones.”
At least 12 people were killed and dozens wounded when a residential building in the southern city of Khan Younis was struck, medical personnel at Nasser Hospital said. The intensified shelling came one day after Israel agreed to allow limited shipments of humanitarian aid into southern Gaza from Egypt.
“Israeli Air Forces continued to strike southern areas despite the directive for people in #Gaza to move south,” the UN Relief and Works Agency said. The agency said at least 14 of its own staff had been killed and nine more wounded − adding that the “actual number is likely to be much higher” − in less than two weeks since a stunning, bloody incursion of Hamas militants killed more than 1,000 Israeli citizens and fueled military reprisals from Israel.
The commander of the Hamas-led National Security Forces, Maj. Gen. Jihad Muheisen, was killed in an Israeli strike on his Gaza City home along with some relatives, Hamas said. Israel Defense Forces says it is attacking Hamas militants wherever they hide in Gaza and has accused the militants of taking shelter among the civilian population.
The death toll of Israelis and Palestinians surpassed 5,000, making the conflict the deadliest of five wars involving the narrow, densely populated strip of land bordering Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
US issues ‘worldwide’ travel caution
The U.S. State Department on Thursday issued a “worldwide caution” for U.S. travelers. The travel advisory cites “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.”
The agency urges Americans overseas to exercise increased caution and stay alert in known tourist spots that might be attractive targets. It also suggests travelers sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive information and alerts − and to make it easier to locate someone in an emergency overseas.
US warship shoots down missiles, drones in Red Sea
A U.S. warship in the northern Red Sea shot down three missiles and several drones fired from Yemen, the Pentagon said Thursday, in the latest danger sign of how the Israel-Hamas war could expand into a regional conflict.
A Pentagon spokesman said the projectiles were launched by Iranian-backed Houthi militants, who have expressed support for the Palestinians and threatened Israel. Last week, their leader cautioned that they may fire missiles and drones if the U.S. intervened in the war.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press the missiles were likely not aimed at the USS Carney, the Navy destroyer that intercepted them over the water. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations that have not been made public.
“We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters.
Ryder said the Defense Department is still trying to ascertain the missiles’ target, adding they were destroyed because their flight pattern indicated a possible threat. He said the U.S. is prepared to do whatever is required “to protect our partners and our interests in this important region.”
Houthi officials declined to comment.
− Tom Vanden Brook, Associated Press
UN to supervise aid going into Gaza despite lack of cease-fire
The United Nations will inspect the trucks bringing in humanitarian aid from Egypt into Gaza and will help oversee the process, but the organization’s head would prefer the desperately needed supplies could be carried in under a cease-fire.
The warring parties have not agreed to suspend hostilities, although a U.N. flag will fly over the Rafah crossing to dissuade Israeli airstrikes. The crossing has been expected to open Friday, but CNN reported that road repairs and other concerns will likely delay that till later in the weekend.
“Civilians in Gaza need core services and supplies, and for that we need rapid and immediate humanitarian access, we need water, food and medicine now,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said. “We need it at scale, and we need it to be sustained.”
Israel agreed Wednesday to allow aid into Gaza after a request from Biden, but demanded the assistance not go through its territory, only via Egypt, and that it be kept away from Hamas. Israeli officials have said their siege of the Palestinian territory won’t be lifted until Hamas releases the approximately 200 hostages it captured during its Oct. 7 rampage.
One unresolved issue is whether Israeli will allow fuel into Gaza, a particularly important matter at a time when several hospitals in the territory have closed for lack of diesel. Negotiations are ongoing.
As war in Israel, Gaza rages onAs war in Israel, Gaza rages on, President Biden is having a moment
US armored vehicles delivered to Israel
A U.S. cargo plane arrived in Israel carrying the initial shipment of armored vehicles designated to replace vehicles damaged during the war, the Israel Ministry of Defense said Thursday. Armored ambulances, trucks and mechanical engineering equipment are expected to arrive in coming days, the ministry said.
The first delivery came the day after Biden’s trip to Tel Aviv, where he pledged the U.S. would stand by Israel and provide whatever is needed to defend itself in its war with Hamas. Biden said he would seek congressional approval of an “unprecedented support package” to bolster Israel’s defense.
He also pledged $100 million in U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Palestinians, Israelis flee homes
More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israel invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas’ leadership after its deadly assault. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis. About 300,000 Israelis have been internally displaced since the start of the war, the Times of Israel reports, citing Israel Democracy Institute research. Most are from southern Israel in the Gaza border towns where Hamas carried out its murderous rampage.
Biden emerges as leading global backer of Israel
The president has made a sudden transformation from a political figure whose commitment to Israel was often questioned by conservative critics inside and outside the Jewish state to arguably the world’s leading champion of Israel outside the Middle East. Biden’s actions and words since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, capped by a dramatic visit to Israel on Wednesday, have been lauded even by many of Biden’s biggest skeptics in Israel as he stands in solidarity with the country and pledges “unprecedented” military assistance.
“Israelis were hungry for a father figure that will hug them and show empathy. And the president has done that in such a way that really touched every Israeli,” said Nimrod Novik, a former foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and now a fellow with the Israel Policy Forum.
− Joey Garrison
Gaza hospital explosion:How a deadly blast near al-Ahli center unfolded
Palestinian-Americans face backlash in US
Palestinian Americans are seeing two fronts in the Israel-Hamas war: One is the bloodshed in the Middle East, the other is emotional backlash from bigotry and hate in the U.S.
A U.S. Department of Justice hate crime investigation into the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American Muslim boy in Illinois is one of several incidents of alleged hate being directed at Palestinian Americans, allies and people who look like them since the war began.
The community feels under siege, American Muslims for Palestine executive director Osama Abu Irshaid told USA TODAY, but at the same time wants to show support and express grief in the crisis.
“They’re not out there to threaten anyone,” Irshaid said. “They’re not there to delegitimize another narrative. They’re out there to assert a narrative that is being diminished.”
− Minnah Arshad
Battle against hate:Violence, bigotry toward Palestinian Americans spiking across U.S.
What is the IDF?
The Israel Defense Forces, also known as the IDF, is the national military of Israel. It has three branches: the army, navy and air force. It is a conscripted military service, meaning Israel mandates IDF service for Jewish, Druze and Circassian citizens over the age of 18, with some exceptions. It was established in 1948, two weeks after Israel became an independent country.
Before the war began, the IDF had 169,500 active troops and was the 28th largest military in the world by active personnel, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance 2023. There were also 465,000 reserve personnel to supplement active military forces if deemed necessary. Read more here.
− Olivia Munson
More:Biden: Gaza to get aid by Friday; US says Israel not to blame for hospital blast. Live updates
What is Hamas?
Hamas – an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, or the Islamic resistance movement – was founded in 1987 by activists connected to the Muslim Brotherhood during the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. The State Department designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1997, and several other nations also consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
In 2006, Hamas won parliamentary elections, and in 2007 the group violently seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, which was controlled by the rival Fatah movement that still governs the West Bank. There have been no elections since. The group calls for the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state that would replace the current state of Israel and believes in the use of violence to carry out the destruction of Israel.
Hamas receives financial, material, and logistical support from Iran. So far, however, the U.S. and other nations have said there is no evidence that Iran was directly involved in Hamas’ attack.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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