Israel-Hamas war: Deadly strikes hit close to Gaza hospitals

Saudi Arabia will host an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh on Saturday, its foreign ministry said late Friday.

The country, which was scheduled to host two extraordinary summits — the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit and the Arab League summit — will replace them with a joint summit. 

This meeting "will be held in response to the exceptional circumstances taking place in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as countries feel the need to unify efforts and come out with a unified collective position," the ministry said. 

The change in plans came after Saudi Arabia consulted with the two organizations.

Israel's embassy to the United States has issued a public response to the US State Department's Office of Palestinian Affairs in a social media post.

"The government of Israel has demolished the home of a Palestinian family in response to the actions of their 13-year-old child," the US Office of Palestinian Affairs said on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"An entire family should not lose their home because of the actions of one individual," it said.

Israel's embassy said that the teen was a "terrorist" in its response to the State Department office.

"Context is helpful: the '13-year-old' is a terrorist who murdered an Israeli citizen by stabbing him to death."

Various human rights groups have condemned as collective punishment Israel's policy of destroying the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks on Israeli citizens.

French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC Israel must stop bombing Gaza and killing civilians.

In an interview published late on Friday, the French leader said France "clearly condemns" the "terrorist" actions of Hamas, but that while recognizing Israel's right to protect itself, "we do urge them to stop this bombing" in Gaza.

"These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop," the British broadcaster quoted Macron. 

When asked if he wanted other leaders to join his calls for a ceasefire, Macron said, "I hope they will."

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said world leaders should be condemning Hamas, and not Israel.

"These crimes that Hamas (is) committing today in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York and anywhere in the world," Netanyahu said.

 

The health care system in the Gaza Strip is "on its knees," the head of the World Health Organization told the UN Security Council.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the "situation on the ground was impossible to describe."

"Hospital corridors crammed with the injured, the sick, the dying, morgues overflowing, surgery without anesthesia, tens of thousands of displaced people sheltering at hospitals, families crammed into overcrowded schools, desperate for food and water," he said.

Tedros was speaking at another emergency session of the Security Council, called by the United Arab Emirates, to focus on "the spiraling health crisis amidst continued attacks on hospitals."

"Half of the Gaza Strip's 36 hospitals and two-thirds of its primary health care centers are not functioning at all," he said.

He called for a ceasefire to prevent deaths of civilians and further damage to Gaza’s hospitals and health facilities.

He said health workers in the territory are "physically and mentally exhausted and are doing their best in unimaginable conditions."

Tedros said more than 10 800 people have been killed in Gaza, almost 70% of them women and children.

"On average, a child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza," Tedros said.

Israel has revised the death toll from last month's Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 down to about 1,200, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

"This is the updated number," spokesperson Lior Haiat was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. "It is due to the fact that there were a lot of corpses that were not identified and now we think those belong to terrorists ... not Israeli casualties."

Israel previously said Hamas militants who poured across the heavily militarized border with the Gaza Strip on October 7 killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince has called for an end to the war in Gaza, a stance that was 
echoed in a declaration with African leaders attending a summit in Riyadh.

"We condemn what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities," Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said during the African-Saudi summit in the kingdom's capital.

"We stress the need to stop this war and the forced displacement of Palestinians," he added in his first public comments since the conflict started. 

The joint declaration from leaders at the summit voiced "deep concern" about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for an end to military operations and for civilians to be protected.

Israel has carried out airstrikes and launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip following a deadly terror attack by Hamas militants on Israeli communities on October 7.

Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents have been displaced, and more than 11,000 have died, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Israel has said that its conflict is solely with Hamas and that it seeks to protect civilians by providing corridors for them to flee the fighting. 

Leaders who attended the Riyadh summit included the presidents of Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Djibouti and Mauritania, the prime ministers of Ethiopia and Niger, and the foreign minister of Egypt.

More than 100,000 residents of the Gaza Strip have fled southwards over the last two days as Israeli forces operate "deep in Gaza City," chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

In a televised briefing, Hagari also said efforts were underway to release hostages held in Gaza but that such efforts take time.

"We are working all the time and with initiative on a range of efforts to return the hostages. These efforts are complex, they are not final. They take time, they are going to take time," he said.

Some 240 people were taken hostage and more than 1,400 were killed by armed militants who stormed communities in southern Israel on October 7. 

The leaders of Qatar and Egypt have held talks in Cairo, with both seeking to mediate a de-escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip and increase humanitarian aid to the territory.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed intensified efforts to bring about a cease-fire in Gaza and channel more aid to the territory's 2.3 million besieged residents, according to a statement from El-Sissi's office.

The two also "discussed the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip and the subsequent regional challenges that push the region in dangerous and uncalculated directions," the statement said. 

Qatar, where several Hamas political leaders are based, has played a leading role in mediation with the Palestinian militant group.

Hamas is categorized as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, and Germany, among others. 

Israeli officials are calling for the release of more than 200 hostages taken by the militants in the October 7 attacks on Israel that killed some 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

Besides Qatar, Egypt has also been involved in the hostage negotiations.

The United Nations is urging Israel to open its Kerem Shalom border crossing to the Gaza Strip to allow more aid to flow into the territory. 

Facilities at Kerem Shalom between the strip and Israel are designed to handle trucks, whereas the Rafah crossing to Egypt that is currently being used was built for pedestrians.

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said there had been repeated logistical problems in Rafah handling large quantities of relief supplies. 

"Rafah is the second-best solution. The best solution is the Kerem Shalom crossing," Laerke said.

He added that 65 trucks laden with food and medical supplies had come through Rafah into Gaza on Thursday, plus seven ambulances. However, none of that aid had been able to reach northern Gaza, he said.

A total of 821 trucks have brought aid to the besieged strip since October 21. Before the war began, some 500 trucks brought goods to Gaza each day.

A total of 594 foreigners and Palestinian dual nationals were expected to leave the Gaza Strip for Egypt on Friday, according to Palestinian sources cited by Germany's DPA news agency.

Those leaving via the Rafah border crossing were said to include citizens of Canada, the US, Germany, Romania, Russia, Brazil, Poland, and other countries. 

The border authority told the travelers to arrive at the crossing early in the morning to wait to leave the besieged territory.

The Rafah border in southern Gaza is the only crossing not controlled by Israel.

It has been used for aid deliveries and to allow some wounded Palestinians, foreigners and dual nationals out of the enclave.

Only 500-600 people have been able to leave via the crossing each day the border is open.

Thousands of Palestinians have been fleeing fighting in northern Gaza, using the territory's north-to-south highway after Israel announced a window for safe passage.

The exodus comes amid an intensifying campaign of airstrikes and ground battles in Gaza City, with the search for safety growing increasingly desperate. 

Among those on the move are thousands of displaced people who had sheltered at Shifa Hospital in the heart of Gaza City and fled after overnight explosions at and around the facility.

The Israeli Cogat Authority, which is responsible for Palestinian affairs, has warned that people need to move quickly.

"Time is running out for an evacuation," an army spokesperson warned on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. 

Medical officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza accused Israel of striking near hospitals on Friday, while Israel said at least one strike was the result of a misfired Palestinian rocket.

Tens of thousands of people have already moved south, where they still face the prospect of ongoing bombardment and shortages of food and water. 

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza says the work of humanitarian teams in the territory has become difficult and fraught with danger. 

Hisham Mhanna told DW the organization has been receiving news that hospitals in the northern part of Gaza City are being subjected to attacks resulting in the injury of medical personnel and damage to facilities and ambulances. 

"Hospitals and medical teams enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law. And these reports about these incidents imply that there is a disrespect for these principles," he said.

Mhanna described a "very, very challenging situation" that humanitarian organizations "now have to worry for the safety of their own teams on the ground while they are trying to get life-saving aid to the hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza in dire need."

He said he had been with an ICRC convoy that came under fire — although it was unclear from whom — while on its way to reach the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

"We had to immediately evacuate the area," Mhanna said, with two of the trucks damaged and a driver injured.

"We were clearly visible in that location, and both parties were aware of our convoys," he said.

At least 11,078 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7,  the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement.

The figures include 4,506 children, the ministry said, adding that 21 hospitals and 47 health centers had gone out of service.

The numbers could not be independently verified. However, international aid organizations, including the United Nations and the World Health Organization, consider them broadly accurate and historically reliable from previous conflicts.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mainly in the Hamas attacks on October 7, with some 240 hostages taken from Israel.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist group by the US, the EU, Germany and others.

The German news agency DPA reported, citing police figures, that officers in Berlin have registered 1,199 criminal offenses in connection with the conflict in the Middle East. 

The agency said around a third of the incidents concerned property and involved mainly pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli graffiti. 

Some 50 incidents involving assault were also registered. 

According to DPA, most offenses occurred at one of the many protests organized by pro-Palestinian groups.

Across Germany, more than 2,600 offenses related to the conflict have been reported since October 7, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said sirens were sounding in Tel Aviv and central Israel, with reports of two injuries. 

The Magen David Adom rescue service said two women were wounded by shrapnel from the salvo.

Israeli media reported that Hamas had claimed responsibility for Friday's rockets. 

According to the IDF, some 9,500 missiles, rockets and drones have been fired at Israel from Gaza and other fronts since Israel launched war against Hamas over the October 7 terror attacks that left 1,400 dead and saw militants take some 240 people hostage.

The Hamas-led Health Ministry has reported that over 10,500 people have been killed by the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the United States as well as several other countries.