- LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
- Israeli attack on ambulance ‘ugly massacre,’ says Palestinian health ministry
- Health Ministry requires Israel to provide proof that militants were transported in the ambulance
- The US says it is “indirectly” involved in efforts to release hostages
- US official says there is no guarantee of success or time frame for releasing hostages
GAZA/AMMAN, Nov 4 (Portal) – Gaza health officials said 15 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance that the military said targeted Hamas militants, and Washington’s top diplomat was due to meet at an Arab meeting Calls for a ceasefire will be heard in Jordan on Saturday.
The ambulance hit by the Israeli attack was part of a convoy transporting injured Palestinians to Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, health officials in the Hamas-controlled enclave said on Friday.
“Upon their arrival in al-Shifa, (Israel) directly targeted the second vehicle in the convoy and carried out a horrific massacre that left 15 people dead and more than 60 injured,” Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said .
The Israeli military said it identified and attacked an ambulance “used by a Hamas terrorist cell” and that several Hamas militants were killed.
“We emphasize that this area is a combat zone. Civilians in the area are continually being urged to evacuate south for their own safety,” the military said.
The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry confronted Israel over the bombing of the ambulance and demanded proof that the ambulance was carrying militants.
“The occupation carried out a heinous massacre in which 15 people were martyred and 60 others were injured, including some displaced people,” al-Qidra said.
The Israeli military did not provide evidence to support its claim that the ambulance was linked to Hamas, but said it planned to release additional information.
Portal could not independently verify either side’s accounts.
Israel has accused Hamas of hiding command centers and tunnel entrances in al-Shifa, which Hamas and the hospital deny.
Israel’s ground forces encircled Gaza City on Thursday after stepping up bombing raids said to be aimed at destroying Hamas after the militant group killed 1,400 people and took more than 240 hostage in an Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel .
Last month, Israel ordered all civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, and head to the south of the enclave, which it continues to bomb.
Living conditions in Gaza, already dire before the fighting, have continued to deteriorate. Food is scarce, residents have resorted to salt water, medical supplies are collapsing and health officials in the Gaza Strip say more than 9,250 Palestinians have been killed.
Three people, including two women, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Friday morning, according to Gaza health authorities.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA estimates that almost 1.5 million of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip are internally displaced.
“CONTINUE WITH FULL POWER”
[1/3]A view of smoke rising from Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, seen from southern Israel, November 4, 2023. Portal/Evelyn Hockstein ACKNOWLEDGE RIGHTS
Hamas has been preparing for a protracted war in Gaza and believes it can hold off Israel’s advance long enough to force its arch-enemy to agree to a ceasefire, two sources close to the organization’s leadership said.
The group believes international pressure on Israel to end the siege could force a ceasefire and negotiated settlement in which the militant group would receive a concrete concession, such as the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages, the sources said.
During a visit to the region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and called for a humanitarian pause in fighting, which he said would ease the work of releasing hostages and allow aid to Gaza, but would not allow Israel to participate defense would hinder itself.
In a televised address, Netanyahu rejected the idea of a pause until the hostages were released.
“I have made it clear that we are continuing with full force and that Israel rejects a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
A senior Biden administration official said Friday the U.S. took “indirect action” to free the hostages.
Explaining why it took “so long” to get foreign nationals out, the official said Hamas had initially made the release of foreigners conditional on wounded Palestinians also being allowed to leave, but a third of the Palestinians on the list were Hamas members.
On Saturday, Blinken is scheduled to meet the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Emirates and Egypt as well as Palestinian representatives in Amman, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said.
The Arab leaders will emphasize the “Arab stance calling for an immediate ceasefire, the provision of humanitarian assistance and ways to end the dangerous deterioration that threatens the region’s security,” the ministry said in a statement.
Washington has continued to provide strong military and political support to Israel, while urging its ally to take action to prevent civilian deaths and address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
SECOND OR THIRD FRONT
While Blinken was in Israel, the leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon warned the United States that the conflict could escalate into a regional war if Israel did not stop its attack on Gaza.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also threatened the United States in his first speech since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted, suggesting that his paramilitary group was ready to confront American warships in the Mediterranean.
Hezbollah, a heavily armed Hamas ally, has attacked Israeli forces on the Lebanese-Israeli border in the biggest flare-up since its 2006 war with Israel.
“You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression,” Nasrallah said. “Anyone who wants to prevent a regional war, and I’m talking about the Americans, must quickly stop the aggression against Gaza.”
He added that Hezbollah, the spearhead of a Tehran-backed regional alliance hostile to Israel and the United States, was not afraid of the U.S. naval firepower that Washington has built up in the region since the crisis erupted.
Since October 7, other Iran-allied groups have also joined the fight, including Iran-backed Shiite groups firing on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria and the Houthis in Yemen firing drones at Israel.
Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Simon Lewis and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Rami Ayyub, Diane Craft, Michael Perry and William Mallard
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