9 rockets fired from Lebanon crossed into northern Israel on Wednesday, IDF says
From CNN’s Hadas Gold
A total of nine rockets fired from Lebanese territory crossed into northern Israel on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
Four of the rockets were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array, it said.
Sirens warning of possible incoming rockets sounded in northern Israel near the Lebanon border on Wednesday afternoon.
“Several launches of anti-tank missiles toward the areas of Metula, Malkia, and Manara were identified. The IDF is responding with fire toward the origins of the shootings,” the Israeli military said. “An IDF UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) thwarted a terrorist cell which fired mortar shells toward the area of Turmus.”
Earlier Wednesday, the IDF said anti-tank missiles were fired toward Israeli communities Manara and the Rosh HaNikra along the Lebanese border. Hezbollah said in a statement that it attacked an Israeli position just south of Manara.
12:20 p.m. ET, October 18, 2023
Israel sharing "misleading disinformation" about hospital blast, Palestinian National Initiative leader says
From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi and Abeer Salman in Jerusalem
A view of damage on Wednesday at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Israeli military is sharing "misleading disinformation" regarding the explosion on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, said Mustafa Barghouti, leader of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI).
Barghouti is a former minister in a Palestinian unity government and a prominent and unaligned activist for Palestinian rights.
The Israeli military has “a consistent track record of lying on many occasions regarding its crimes,” he added, saying it has “changed its official narrative several times in order to avoid culpability.”
Barghouti said that the Israelis had “already threatened the hospital with evacuation” but the staff refused to leave because “it was impossible to transfer critical patients without them dying.”
“The (World Health Organization) has said that moving them would be a death sentence,” Barghouti said.
In a statement Saturday, the WHO said it "strongly condemns Israel's repeated orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2000 inpatients in northern Gaza. The forced evacuation of patients and health workers will further worsen the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe."
CNN cannot independently confirm what caused the blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital. Palestinian officials blame Israel for the explosion, but the Israel Defense Forces have rejected the allegation, accusing Islamic Jihad of conducting a “failed rocket launch”– a claim the Islamist militant group denies.
11:56 a.m. ET, October 18, 2023
US vetoes UN Security Council resolution for humanitarian pause
From CNN's Richard Roth and Caitlin Hu
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield votes during a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Wednesday. Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
The United States on Wednesday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution proposing a humanitarian pause for the delivery of aid to Gaza, with the American ambassador to the UN saying more time was needed for on-the-ground diplomacy to take place.
"Yes, resolutions are important. And yes, this council must speak out," Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. "But the actions we take must be informed by the facts on the support of direct diplomacy efforts that can save lives. The council needs to get this right."
Thomas-Greenfield also said the US was disappointed that the resolution — which also called for the release of hostages and condemned terrorism and acts of violence against civilians — made no mention of Israel's right to self-defense.
UN Human Rights Watch Director Louis Charbonneau condemned the US veto, which he said took place "at a time of unprecedented carnage."
"In so doing, they blocked the very demands they so often insist upon in other contexts: all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and ensure that vital humanitarian aid and essential services reach people in need," Charbonneau said of the veto.
The UN ambassador for Brazil, the president of the Security Council this month, said in a statement after the US veto that "silence and inaction prevailed," adding he hoped "efforts by other actors will yield positive results."
"Hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza cannot wait any longer," Ambassador Sergio Franca Danese said.
12:03 p.m. ET, October 18, 2023
Explosions observed near Rafah crossing on Egypt-Gaza border
From Asmaa Khalil in Rafah, Egypt
Intermittent explosions were witnessed throughout the day on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing, according to a CNN stringer on the Egyptian side of the border.
A minor explosion was seen in the area between the Gazan and Egyptian sides of the crossing at roughly 4 p.m. local time in Egypt (9 a.m. ET). The cause is unclear.
An Egyptian military drone has been observed flying over the Egyptian side of the border, and what is believed to be an Israeli drone is flying on the other side of the crossing.
Egyptian volunteers gather in Rafah, Egypt, on Wednesday for a funeral prayer for those killed in the blast at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. Reuters
Aid convoy drivers and volunteers have been waiting at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing since the early hours of Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, they performed funeral prayers for the victims of the Gaza hospital blast near the crossing.
Remember: The Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the south of the Gaza Strip has been touted as the last hope for Gazans to escape, and many Palestinians have begun moving in its direction in anticipation. That crossing, however, is currently shut.
11:49 a.m. ET, October 18, 2023
US will provide $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Gaza civilians through international organizations
From CNN's Donald Judd
The US will provide $100 million in humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza and the West Bank “through trusted partners including UN agencies and international NGOs," the White House said in a statement Wednesday.
“Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism,” the White House said. “Civilian lives must be protected and assistance must urgently reach those in need. We will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of upholding the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter.”
In remarks from Tel Aviv Wednesday, Biden warned that the aid was meant for Palestinian civilians, not Hamas.
“Israel agreed humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza,” he said in Tel Aviv. “Let me be clear — if Hamas diverts or steals the assistance, they will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people, and it will end — as a practical matter, it will stop the international community from being able to provide this aid.”
11:44 a.m. ET, October 18, 2023
Saudi Embassy in Beirut calls on Saudi citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately
From CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali
The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Lebanon is closely following the developments of the current events in the southern Lebanon region, calling on “all citizens to adhere to the travel ban decision, and to leave Lebanese territory immediately for those who are currently in Lebanon,” it said on Wednesday, according to state news Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The Saudi embassy also called on citizens in Lebanon to exercise caution and stay away from places where gatherings or demonstrations are taking place until they leave, according to the SPA .
The statement comes as hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Lebanon Tuesday following a blast at a hospital in Gaza. Demonstrations on Wednesday led to skirmishes between police and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Police fired tear gas and used water cannons against the demonstrators on Wednesday afternoon, according to local media. Video footage of the protests released by AFP also showed water cannons being used against the demonstrators.
11:40 a.m. ET, October 18, 2023
Israel will allow aid to enter Gaza via Egypt but won't allow supplies to enter from Israel, PM's office says
From Tamar Michaelis in Jerusalem
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians sit on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday waiting for the corridor into Gaza to reopen. Reuters
Israel will not block humanitarian aid going into Gaza from Egypt, according to a statement Wednesday from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But it will not allow supplies into Gaza from its own territory until Hamas releases all hostages.
"In light of President Biden’s demand, Israel will not block humanitarian aid deliveries, as long as they consist water, food, and drugs for the civilian population in the southern Gaza Strip ... and as long as the aid doesn’t reach Hamas," the statement said.
The statement comes shortly after US President Joe Biden said in remarks in Tel Aviv that Israel had agreed to allow aid into Gaza, with the understanding there would be inspections to ensure the supplies are not diverted or stolen by Hamas.
11:38 a.m. ET, October 18, 2023
US currently assesses that Israel is "not responsible" for Gaza hospital blast
From CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Lillis and Jeremy Herb
The site of the blast at al-Ahli Baptist Hospital is seen in Gaza City on Wednesday. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images
The US government currently believes that Israel "is not responsible" for the blast at a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, according to the National Security Council, following President Joe Biden's comments that a Palestinian militant group was behind the strike.
A spokesperson for the NSC, Adrienne Watson, said the assessment is based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information.
"While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday," Watson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Officials told CNN separately that the initial evidence gathered by the US intelligence community suggests that the hospital strike came from a rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
Among the evidence that's been gathered is a blast analysis that suggests it was a ground explosion rather than an airstrike that hit the hospital, one of the sources said. There was no singular crater suggesting there was a bomb, but there was extensive fire damage and scattered debris that is consistent with an explosion starting from the ground level, according to the source.
That analysis is one datapoint that's led intelligence officials to lean toward assessing that the attack on the hospital was a rocket launch gone wrong.
Still, the blast analysis is just one of the things being examined by the intelligence community, which has surged intelligence collection assets to the region. US intelligence officials have not made a final assessment and are still gathering evidence, the officials said.
IDF says anti-tank missiles were fired toward Israeli communities along Lebanese border
From CNN's Hadas Gold and Tamara Qiblawi
Anti-tank missiles were fired toward Israeli communities Manara and the Rosh HaNikra along the Lebanese border, Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it attacked an Israeli position just south of Manara.
The IDF said it "is currently striking the origins of the fire in Lebanon, and will continue to strike terror targets” belonging to Hezbollah.
The IDF also said shots were fired toward an IDF military post in the area of Zar'it along the Lebanese border. "IDF soldiers are responding with fire toward the origin of the shooting," it added.
Hezbollah said it attacked Jal al-Alam, Zar'it and the Bahri positions of Israeli military with guided missiles.
