At least 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to a statement Wednesday by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
More than 12,000 others have been injured, the statement said.
October 18, 2023 - Israel-Hamas war news
By Tara Subramaniam, Rob Picheta, Sophie Tanno, Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal, Dakin Andone, Tori B. Powell and Amir Vera, CNN
Updated 0549 GMT (1349 HKT) October 19, 2023
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Gaza death toll rises to nearly 3,500, Palestinian health ministry says
From CNN's Abeer Salman in Jerusalem
Blinken speaks with Palestinian Authority president to express condolences about hospital blast
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Tuesday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “to express profound condolences for the civilian lives lost in the explosion at the Al-Ahli Anglican hospital in Gaza City,” according to a readout from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
"The Secretary expressed continuing U.S. support for the Palestinian people, stressing that Hamas terrorists do not represent Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations for self-determination and equal measures of dignity, freedom, security, and justice," the readout Wednesday said.
The call between Blinken and Abbas follows an earlier meeting in Amman prior to the hospital blast, in which hundreds of people were reported killed. Authorities in Gaza have said Israel was behind it, while the Israel Defense Forces assert that its intelligence showed it was a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
After the blast, Abbas pulled out of a meeting with US President Joe Biden.
In their call Wednesday, Blinken "emphasized that that the United States unequivocally condemns all terrorism and stressed the United States’ firm commitment to upholding the law of war, to include important protections for civilians."
"The Secretary and the President discussed continuing U.S. efforts to coordinate the provision of urgent, life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, in tandem with partners, and efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading," the readout said.
Hezbollah claims responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Israeli tank
From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Mohammed Abdelbary, and Sarah el-Sirgany in southern Lebanon
Hezbollah’s military wing has claimed responsibility for an attack on an Israeli tank at the border between Israel and Lebanon early on Wednesday morning.
The attack targeted a Merkava tank and recorded a direct hit “killing and wounding its crew," according to a statement released by the Iran-backed armed group.
Hezbollah announced on Tuesday that five of its fighters were killed, without providing further details about the date or the location. Its statement did not mention the number of Israeli casualties.
In a separate video released on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it targeted another Merkava tank on Tuesday afternoon at the Israeli army's Al-Bayad site, and claimed that it "achieved confirmed casualties" with guided missiles.
Geolocated video shows moment of blast at Gaza hospital
From CNN’s Teele Rebane and Mihir Melwani in Hong Kong
A video geolocated by CNN shows the moment a large blast happened at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza in which hundreds of people are reported to have been killed.
In the video, the sky lights up as a large blast erupts on the hospital grounds, sending a cloud of smoke into the air.
Authorities in Gaza have said Israel was behind Tuesday's deadly blast, while the Israel Defense Forces assert that its intelligence showed it was a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
CNN cannot independently verify what caused the blast.
Watch here:
US "will continue to have Israel's back," Biden says in meeting with Israeli war cabinet
From CNN's Donald Judd
President Joe Biden pledged US support for Israel in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the country's war cabinet in an expanded bilateral meeting in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, saying, "We will continue to have Israel's back as you work to defend your people.”
“We’ll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians,” Biden told Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet, blasting Hamas’ attack as “brutal, inhuman, almost beyond belief.”
For his part, Netanyahu slammed Hamas for committing “this terrible, double-war crime against humanity.”
“While Israel seeks to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas seeks to maximize civilian casualties,” Netanyahu said. “Hamas wants to kill as many Israelis as possible and has no regard whatsoever to Palestinian lives – every day they perpetrate a double war crime, targeting our civilians while hiding behind their civilians, embedding themselves in the civilian population and using them as human shields.”
The Israeli prime minister also addressed the hospital bombing in Gaza overnight, in which preliminary estimates indicate hundreds were killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza,
“We saw the cost of this terrible war crime yesterday, when a rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists misfired and landed on a Palestinian hospital,” Netanayahu said. “The entire world was rightfully outraged – but this outrage should be directed not at Israel, but at the terrorists. As we proceed in this war, Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm's way.”
Authorities in Gaza have said Israel was behind the blast, while the Israel Defense Forces said its intelligence showed a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was responsible.
Earlier Wednesday, Biden briefly addressed the hospital bombing during a meeting with Netanyahu, telling the Israeli prime minister that it “appears as though it was done by the other team.”
Egyptian president suggests Gaza civilians should be relocated to desert inside Israel
From CNN's Eyad Kourdi
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi suggested Wednesday that displaced Palestinian civilians in Gaza could be relocated to a desert area within Israel while the current conflict continues.
El-Sisi was speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a news conference in Cairo.
“I would suggest Israel to relocate civilian Palestinians to the desert in Nakab in Israel till it finishes its operations with Hamas and other Islamist militias,” President El-Sisi said. The Nakab is also called the Negev desert.
The president emphasized that his country currently hosts 8.5 million refugees and cannot accommodate more while voicing concern over the potential security risks of a significant influx of Palestinians into Egypt.
“If we allow Palestinians to cross in large numbers potentially there could be terrorist operations against Israel and Israel can strike back,” El-Sisi added.
Sisi condemned the killing of civilians and highlighted the importance of the Palestinian cause among Arab states.
Some context: His words come after King Abdullah II of Jordan warned Tuesday that the displacement of Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt is a "red line," and said there would be no refugees in Jordan and no refugees in Egypt.
Biden is in Israel after a devastating blast at Gaza hospital. Here’s what you need to know
US President Joe Biden arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, beginning a high-stakes visit just hours after a horrifying bombing at a Gaza hospital.
Biden again pledged American support for Israel, telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I wanted to be here today for the simple reason I want the people of Israel, people of the world to know the United States stands."
"I wanted to personally come and make that clear," Biden said.
Here are the key headlines on an extraordinary and tense day in the region.
- Biden suggests hospital blast was “done by the other team”: The US president told the Israeli leader that the bombing of a Gaza hospital “appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.” But the president added that “there's a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got a lot — we’ve got to overcome a lot of things.” Authorities in Gaza have said Israel was behind the deadly blast at the hospital, while the Israel Defense Forces said its intelligence showed a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was responsible for the bombing.
- Hundreds feared dead: Preliminary estimates indicate hundreds of people were killed in the blast at the Al-Ahli hospital, which was sheltering thousands of displaced people who were evacuated from their homes during Israeli airstrikes, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement. "The magnitude of the devastation was overwhelming," one doctor told CNN.
- Jordan cancels Biden summit: Jordan scrapped a planned Wednesday summit between Biden and the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority after the bombing. "There is no point in doing anything at this time other than stopping this war,” Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Al Jazeera Arabic early Wednesday morning. A White House official told reporters that Biden will "postpone" his trip to Jordan after consulting with the country's King Abdullah II
- Protests across the region: Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa saw protesters march after hundreds of people died in the Gaza hospital explosion. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Jordan's capital Amman, and near the US embassy in Lebanon.
- Widespread condemnation: Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that the hospital blast was “a crime and an act of dehumanization.” The hospital is funded by the Anglican Church, and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby expressed his devastation at the “appalling" loss of innocent lives. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the families of the victims. "Civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a matter of serious and continuing concern. Those involved should be held responsible,” Modi added in a post on X.
Situation in Gaza is spiraling "out of control," World Health Organization chief says
From CNN’s Akanksha Sharma in Hong Kong
The situation in Gaza is spiraling “out of control,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Wednesday.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tedros said that WHO’s supplies have been stuck at the border for four days, adding “every second we wait to get medical aid in, we lose lives.”
He called for the “violence on all sides to stop” and immediate access to “start delivering life-saving supplies” to Gaza.
Some context: On Saturday, Tedros had said that a plane with WHO’s medical supplies arrived in Egypt close to the Rafah crossing into Gaza.
With Gaza’s sole power plant running out of fuel last week, seawater desalination plants have been shut off, and drinking water is running out for hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Hospitals are facing shortages of medical supplies and, in some cases, have been forced to makeshift morgues out of ice cream trucks to manage overflow.
Doctor at Gaza hospital recounts overwhelming devastation after Tuesday explosion
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder and Eyad Kourdi
A doctor at al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza has recounted the minutes after the explosion there on Tuesday evening, saying that the magnitude of the devastation was overwhelming.
Dr. Fadel Na’eem, head of the orthopedic department, said he was performing surgery when a deafening blast resounded through the hospital. He said panic ensued as staff members ran into the theatre screaming for help and reporting multiple casualties.
“I just finished one surgery and suddenly we heard a big explosion, we thought it's outside the hospital because we never thought that they would bomb the hospital,” he told CNN in a recorded video.
Hamas officials and Islamic Jihad have said the hospital was targeted in an Israeli airstrike. The Israel Defense Forces said it had evidence the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launch by the group Islamic Jihad from a site near the hospital.
After he left the operating theater, Dr Na’eem said he found an overwhelming scene.
"Many people were beheaded. Everywhere there was a big fire," he said. “The medical team scrambled to tend to the wounded and dying, but the magnitude of the devastation was overwhelming. The number was big and huge that we can't do anything," Na’eem said.
He added that a hospital building had been struck on October 14 but staff thought it was a mistake, given that warnings usually precede bombings.
He repeated the claim by Hamas officials that the following day, the hospital’s medical director had received a phone call from the IDF saying that the strike had been a warning and demanding the hospital be evacuated.
CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on that claim.