Labour ceasefire vote - live: Starmer braced for resignations as he orders MPs not to back Gaza motion

Keir Starmer is braced for resignations from his frontbench after ordering Labour MPs not to vote for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Labour leader has called for a humanitarian pause in the war, but he has warned a ceasefire would only allow Hamas to regroup and plan more atrocities.

Labour MPs are under a three-line whip to back the party’s amendment to the King’s Speech later, which calls for longer humanitarian pauses in the besieged enclave.

This comes as Israel says its forces have entered the Al Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, as part of the IDF’s ground offensive against Hamas.

The Israeli military said it had killed several militants at the outset of the raid, and claimed they had been confronted by “explosive devices and terrorist squads”.

Gunfire and explosions were heard inside the hospital complex, which had been surrounded by Israeli forces in recent days but continued to operate with hundreds of patients and medical personnel still inside.

Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its fighters, alleging that Hamas has set up its main command centre in and beneath Al Shifa hospital. Both Hamas and hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations.

Key points

• Israeli forces raid Gaza’s largest hospital in ‘targeted operation’

• Big explosions heard from inside Al Shifa Hospital

• Israel accuses Hamas of operating underneath hospital

• White House says Hamas using hospitals for military operations but condemns fighting

Watch: Protesters disrupt Labour’s Israel-Hamas speech in House of Commons

18:10 , Matt Mathers

Protesters disrupted Yvette Cooper’s speech in the House of Commons as she spoke about the Israel-Hamas conflict on Wednesday, 15 November, Holly Patrick reports.

A group of around five or six people were removed from the public gallery after holding up “Ceasefire now” signs during the King’s Speech debate.

Doorkeepers approached the group and removed them from the public gallery.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) claimed responsibility for the protest.

It comes as Labour MPs were due to be subject to a three-line whip to abstain on the SNP’s amendment to the King’s Speech calling for a ceasefire.

Watch the clip here:

Protesters disrupt Labour’s Israel-Hamas speech in House of Commons

Two more frontbenchers signal intention to vote for amendment

17:44 , Matt Mathers

Two more Labour frontbenchers have signalled their intention to vote for the SNP’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Helen Hayes, shadow minister for children and early years , said her “conscience” she should back a ceasfire.

Labour shadow business minister Afzal Khan also called for a ceasefire.

The MP for Manchester Gorton told the Commons: “If we had a ceasefire yesterday 144 Gazan children would still be alive today. Israel has already crossed every red line imaginable and broken international humanitarian laws.

“History has shown us that military action alone does not resolve conflicts and Israel’s use of force will not resolve this one.

“We need to call an immediate ceasefire now. My constituents have demanded this and I will not refuse them. Supporting a ceasefire is the very least we can do.”

Labour frontbencher confirms she’ll back SNP call for Gaza ceasefire

16:45 , Matt Mathers

The shadow minister for crime reduction Naz Shah has become the first Labour frontbencher to publicly confirm she will for the SNP’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“I will be supporting the amendment which seeks an immediate ceasefire,” she told the Commons earlier.

Labour MPs have been ordered by the whips’ office to abstain on the vote, meaning she could be sacked.

Vote on Labour and SNP motions expected after 7pm

16:30 , Matt Mathers

The votes on the competing Labour and SNP motions will come after a debate on the King’s Speech ends after 7pm.

Nearly 70 Labour MPs have defied their Sir Keir Starmer to call for a ceasefire now, including 19 members of the frontbench.

Shadow minister and frontbencher Imran Hussain was the first to quit his position last week, in order to advocate for an immediate ceasefire.

The al-Shifa hospital raid shows the limits of US influence on Israel

16:09 , Holly Evans

The attack on al-Shifa hospital has shown the apparent limits of the influence of the US, the main international ally of Israel, on military decisions taken by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the Gaza conflict.

The US administration of Joe Biden has stressed that it does not wish to see Israeli forces carrying out assaults on medical facilities, and has counselled extreme caution on the part of the Israeli military while conducting operations in surrounding areas.

President Biden said: “My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals. I remain somewhat hopeful, but the hospital must be protected.”

Read more from world affairs editor Kim Sengupta here

Israel’s al-Shifa hospital raid shows the limits of US influence on the war in Gaza

Stephen Flynn calls for MPs to have 'free vote' on Israel-Hamas ceasefire

16:05 , Holly Evans

SNP Westminster leader says Gaza to turn into ‘graveyard’ without ceasefire

15:58 , Holly Evans

Gaza will be turned into a graveyard if there is not an immediate ceasefire, the SNP has said.

Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “In 2010, the then prime minister and now Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that people in Gaza are living under constant attacks and pressure in an open air prison, does the current Prime Minister not agree that if there is not an immediate ceasefire then all of us in this chamber will be watching on as that open air prison is turned into a graveyard?”

He added: “How much worse does it need to get, 4,609 children are already dead in Gaza, babies in the neo-natal intensive care unit are dying because they don’t have access to oxygen.”

UN aid chief begs Israel to open second crossing into Gaza

15:48 , Holly Evans

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths on Wednesday implored Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel.

“Kerem Shalom, please Israel, give us that for our crossing point,” Griffiths told reporters in Geneva.

Griffiths said that the Kerem Shalom crossing was used to carry more than 60% of the truckloads going into Gaza before this conflict.

The aid currently going into Gaza comes from the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border.

Resignations over ceasefire to be largest challenge to Sir Keir leadership

15:40 , Kate Devlin

A series of resignation would be the largest challenge to Sir Keir’s authority since the early days of his leadership of the party.

Last month four shadow ministers were said to be on resignation watch over Sir Keir’s refusal to back a ceasefire.

The Labour leader was forced to hold a crunch meeting with a group of Muslim Labour MPs to address anger over his handling of the crisis – including comments in which he appeared to back the cutting of power and water to Gaza.

One frontbencher Imran Hussain, the MP for Bradford East, did resign saying he was quitting his role as a shadow minister to be able to “strongly advocate” for a ceasefire.

The decision not to back a ceasefire also prompted the exodus of a series of councillors from the party.

Labour MPs will be under a three-line whip to abstain on the SNP’s call for a ceasefire

15:29 , Holly Evans

Labour MPs will be under a three-line whip to back the party’s amendment to the King’s Speech calling for longer humanitarian pauses in Gaza.

They will also be under a three-line whip to abstain on the SNP’s amendment calling for a ceasefire, meaning frontbenchers will almost certainly be sacked if they rebel and support it.

A Labour spokesman said: “This is a whipped vote and every MP knows what the consequence of that means.”

The spokesman acknowledged that shadow ministers had been given some freedom to speak in favour of a ceasefire, but said a Commons vote was a different matter.

“There is an understanding that there is a difference when it comes to the space that we have allowed, given that we fully understand that this is a very challenging subject … in the debate that there has been up to this point, but at the point at which there is a vote in Parliament that clearly is something that has a significance to it that everybody understands,” the spokesman said.

IDF incursion into hospital is ‘totally unacceptable’, says WHO chief

15:25 , Holly Evans

Israel’s incursion into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza has been criticised as “totally unacceptable” by the World Health Organisation’s chief.

Israeli troops entered Shifa, Gaza’s biggest hospital, on Wednesday as part of their assault on the Palestinian territory.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva that patients and staff must be protected even if hospitals were used for military purposes.

“Hospitals are not battlegrounds,” he said.

He said that the WHO had lost touch with medical personnel and the organisation had no reports on the number of deaths in Gaza over the last three days, making it difficult to assess the state of their current healthcare system.

He said one WHO staff member had described it as: “No water, no electricity, only bombing, bombing, bombing.”

Gunfire from Israeli raid on Gaza’s largest hospital leaves medics ‘unable to move between buildings’

15:14 , Holly Evans

Israel forces have raided Gaza’s largest hospital, with doctors saying inside al-Shifa saying it is a “gamble to move between the buildings” as gunfire continues.

Witnesses say the troops have been searching wards of questioning people inside, having surrounded the complex where more than 2,000 patients, staff and people sheltering have been trapped without electricity and supplies.

Israel’s military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that troops were carrying out “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in Shifa Hospital” which the military claim sits atop a command centre and a network of militant tunnels. It is an accusation Hamas denies.

Read the full report from international correspondent Bel Trew below

Gunfire from Israeli raid on Gaza hospital leaves medics ‘unable to move’

A Pennsylvania family waited weeks to be evacuated from Gaza. Then they were bombed

15:06 , Holly Evans

Pennsylvania mother Noha Abuolba and her two teenage daughters were travelling south on a bus through Gaza on their way to the border.

They didn’t know if they would be able to cross, since only a limited number of American citizens had permission to leave each day, but after weeks of being stranded in a warzone, they were desperate enough to try.

As the family made their way along the coastal road, what they believe to be an Israeli airstrike hit their vehicle, followed by gunfire. Multiple people died around them. Eighteen-year-old Saja Abuolba suffered shrapnel wounds in her shoulder and back. Her sister, 17-year-old Farah, lost two fingers on her left hand.

Read the full story from Richard Hall here

A Pennsylvania family waited weeks to be evacuated from Gaza. Then they were bombed

Extinction Rebellion stage protest in public gallery with ‘ceasefire now’ signs

15:01 , Holly Evans

A group of Extinction Rebellion protesters has been removed from the House of Commons public gallery after holding up “ceasefire now” signs.

The group’s action came during the King’s Speech debate as shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper spoke about the Israel-Hamas conflict and Labour’s amendment.

Extinction Rebellion said its activists had staged the protest in the House of Commons in order to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

XR spokesperson Rosie Merrifield said: “Parliament must today demand that the Government calls for an immediate ceasefire and commits to back an internationally arbitrated resolution which ensures the absolute protection of human rights for all, and lasting safety and peace for the Palestinian and Israeli people.”

Commons showdown looming for Sir Keir Starmer

14:57 , Holly Evans

Sir Keir Starmer is battling to avoid a damaging split in Labour as rebel MPs appear set to defy him to back calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The SNP has tabled an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for a ceasefire which could be selected for a vote by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said Parliament must “show moral leadership” and vote in favour of backing an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Labour MPs have been ordered to abstain on the SNP move and have instead been told to back Sir Keir’s position calling for longer “humanitarian pauses” rather than a ceasefire.

Labour frontbenchers who rebel to back a rival amendment would normally face the sack for breaking the party whip.

Medical charity says 300 patients and staff inside hospital

14:40 , Holly Evans

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said that there are at least 300 patients and staff inside the Al-Shifa hospital, which is currently “at the mercy of gunfire, shelling and fire from drones”.

Deputy medical co-ordinator Natalie Thurtle said that her team had only managed to establish brief communication with staff inside the hospital and said that another 100 members and families were in the surrounding vicinity.

She told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One programme: “We’ve been trying to evacuate them for three days”, she said, but the action had been hindered due to “sustained” fighting around the hospital.

“It’s very perilous and there is no opportunity for people to leave Shifa at the moment.”

Turkish president calls Israel a ‘terror state’ in latest address

14:30 , Holly Evans

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called Israel a “terror state” committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, sharpening his repeated criticism of Israeli leaders and their backers in the West.

Speaking two days before a planned visit to Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Erdogan said Israel’s military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas included “the most treacherous attacks in human history” with “unlimited” support from the West.

He called for Israeli leaders to be tried for war crimes at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and repeated his view - and Turkey’s position - that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation but a political party that won past elections.

Hospital unable to treat patients or perform operations as raid continues

14:00 , Holly Evans

Speaking on Wednesday morning, Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati said he felt relief when troops finally entered the complex, because the fear of being bombarded from outside had been immense.

“All kinds of weapons were used around the hospital. They targeted the hospital directly. We try to avoid being near the windows,” he said, describing a large hole that had been blasted through the wall of a room in an outpatient building.

“Everyone got really, really terrified. It’s continuous shooting from the tanks,” he said.

Mokhallalati said Israel had warned the administration in advance of the raid, but staff did not know how it would be carried out.

“No one is operating, no one is seeing anyone. We are all waiting for the end point of this one, are we going to survive this moment or not. We are unable to perform anything, we are all waiting for the attack to settle down or to come to an end.”

Doctor says IDF tanks have parked in front of the hospital

13:28 , Holly Evans

A doctor in Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital said staff, patients and displaced Palestinians sheltering there were terrified as Israeli forces moved to raid the complex.

Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati said explosions and gunfire which they had been hearing for over a month suddenly stepped up early Tuesday evening.

“The sound was really horrible,” he said by telephone. “And then we realized that the tanks are moving around the hospital. One of the big tanks entered within the hospital from the eastern main gate, and they were, they were they just parked in the front of the hospital emergency department.”

Israel said the military had launched the raid because Hamas has a command centre under the hospital and uses connected tunnels to hold hostages.

WHO loses touch with medical staff at Al-Shifa hospital

13:07 , Holly Evans

The director-general of the World Health Organisation has said they have lost touch with medical staff at the Al-Shifa hospital.

“Reports of military incursion into Al Shifa hospital are deeply concerning,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media platform X.

“We’ve lost touch again with health personnel at the hospital. We’re extremely worried for their and their patients’ safety.”

Qatar seeking Israel-Hamas deal to release 50 hostages and 3-day truce

12:37 , Holly Evans

Qatari mediators are seeking to negotiate a deal between Hamas and Israel that includes the release of around 50 civilian hostages from Gaza. An official briefed on the negotiations said this would be in exchange for a three-day ceasefire on the besieged enclave.

The deal, which has been coordinated with the US, would also see Israel release some Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails and increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, the official said.

It would mark the biggest release in hostages held by Hamas since the Palestinian militant group burst over the Gaza border, attacked parts of Israel and took hostages into the enclave.

Hamas has agreed to the general outlines of this deal, but Israel has not and it is still negotiating the details, the official said.

First UN fuel delivery crosses into Gaza

12:02 , Holly Evans

The first truck carrying a United Nations fuel shipment into Gaza since Israel imposed a siege on the Palestinian enclave in its war with Hamas has crossed from Egypt on Wednesday, though it will do little to alleviate shortages that have hampered relief efforts.

The delivery was made possible by Israel giving its approval for 24,000 litres (6,340 gallons) of diesel fuel to be allowed into Gaza for U.N. aid distribution trucks, though not for use at hospitals, according to a humanitarian source.

“This is only 9% of what we need daily to sustain lifesaving activities,” Tom White, director of the U.N. relief agency in Gaza, posted on social media platform X. He confirmed that just over 23,000 litres, or half a tanker, had been received.

Aid workers say a lack of fuel, which is needed for hospital generators, provision of water, sewage treatment and communications as well as for the distribution of relief, has contributed to a sharp deterioration of conditions for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

Limited deliveries of humanitarian aid have been crossing from Egypt into Gaza since Oct. 21, but Israel had refused to allow in fuel, saying it could be used by Hamas.

Public support for Israel in the US drops as majority back a ceasefire

11:16 , Holly Evans

U.S. public support for Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza is eroding and most Americans think Israel should call a ceasefire to a conflict that has ballooned into a humanitarian crisis, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Some 32 per cent of respondents in the two-day opinion poll, which closed on Tuesday, said “the U.S. should support Israel” when asked what role the United States should take in the fighting. That was down from 41 per cent who said the U.S. should back Israel in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Oct. 12-13.

The share saying “the U.S. should be a neutral mediator” rose to 39 per cent in the new poll from 27 per cent a month earlier. Four percent of respondents in the poll said the U.S. should support Palestinians and 15 per cent said the U.S. shouldn’t be involved at all, both similar readings to a month ago.

Latest pictures from Al-Shifa hospital

11:05 , Holly Evans

Warnings of imminent ‘telecom blackout’ in Gaza

10:30 , Holly Evans

Gaza’s two main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal warned on Wednesday of a “complete telecom blackout in the coming hours” in the Gaza Strip.

“Main data centers and switches in the Gaza Strip are gradually shutting down due to fuel depletion,” the companies said in a joint statement.

Hamas calls hospital raid a ‘barbaric assault'

10:08 , Holly Evans

Hamas have released a statement condemning the military operation at Al-Shifa Hospital, where patients and displaced persons are currently being treated.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told CNN the hospital and compound were for Hamas “a central hub of their operations, perhaps even the beating heart and maybe even a centre of gravity.”

The United States said on Tuesday that its own intelligence supported Israel’s conclusions about the presence of a Hamas headquarters at Al Shifa.

However, Hamas said that amounted to giving Israel a “green light” to raid the hospital, and it held U.S. President Joe Biden fully responsible alongside Israel itself for a “war crime”.

Medical personnel and the multitude of internally displaced people are now facing a “barbaric assault” on a health facility safeguarded by the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hamas statement said.

Bank of Israel says proposed wartime budget changes fall short

09:46 , Holly Evans

The Bank of Israel on Wednesday said that proposed amendments to the state budget were insufficient and that the government needed to show more fiscal responsibility.

The central bank statement came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late on Tuesday gave initial approval to changes in the budget meant to help cover the impact of the war in Gaza.

Among its concerns, the central bank said proposed budget cuts are limited and that the government needed to further curb new continuous expenditures unrelated to the war.

Al-Shifa doctor says shooting is taking place within the hospital

09:06 , Holly Evans

A doctor inside Al-Shifa hospital has said that IDF soldiers are parked in front of the emergency department, and that tanks are moving around the hospital grounds.

He told Reuters: “Bombardment. Shooting around the hospital and within the hospital. It’s really horrible you can feel that it’s very near to the hospital. And then we realised that the tanks are moving around the hospital,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“They just parked in front of the hospital emergency department. All kinds of weapons were used around the hospital. They targeted the hospital directly. We try to avoid being near the windows.”

Global calls for a humanitarian ceasefire have mounted in recent days, and the fate of Al Shifa, Gaza’s biggest hospital has become a focus of international alarm because of worsening conditions in the facility.

Thousands of patients, medical staff and displaced people have been trapped during the Israeli assault on Gaza in the past five weeks. Israel says it has urged civilians to surrender, saying they are being used by Hamas as human shields.

“We know this is a lie,” said Mokhallalati.

Gun permit requests skyrocket in Israel after Hamas incursion

08:44 , Holly Evans

Requests for gun permits in Israel have skyrocketed since Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 incursion, according to a press release from the Ministry of National Security.

More than 236,000 new requests for permits have been filed since the attack — a figure equal to the number filed over 20 years, the statement said.

A sense of insecurity gripped Israel following the attack and the army’s hourslong delay in responding, leading to a rush to buy guns.

Armed civilian security squads entered the breach in the army’s absence to fight off some of the attackers. Shortly after, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would expand and arm such squads with 10,000 assault rifles that would be distributed particularly in border towns, mixed Jewish-Arab cities and West Bank settlements. Ben-Gvir has a long record of anti-Arab rhetoric, and Palestinians feared these guns would be used against them.

Full statement from IDF

08:27 , Holly Evans

In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the IDF said that they had warned that Hamas’ use of the Shifa hospital “jeopardizes its protected status under international law”.

They also called upon Hamas terrorists present in the hospital to surrender.

Both Hamas and hospital staff have repeatedly denied using the Al-Shifa hospital as a military base for their operations.

Staff at Al-Shifa hospital ‘forced to stay away from windows’

08:17 , Holly Evans

A doctor at the Gaza Strip’s Al Shifa hospital told Reuters on Wednesday that gunfire outside the compound forced staff to stay away from windows for their safety after an Israeli raid.

Israeli forces said they were raiding the complex because Hamas has a command centre underneath it and uses connected tunnels to hold hostages, an allegation that doctor Ahmed El Mokhallalati denied.

Watch live view of Israel-Gaza border as IDF enters al-Shifa Hospital

07:56 , Holly Evans

Watch live view of Israel-Gaza border as IDF enters al-Shifa Hospital

Israeli military kill several Hamas militants in raid on Al-Shifa hospital

07:47 , Holly Evans

Israeli soldiers killed several Hamas militants at the outset of a raid on the Al Shifa hospital on Wednesday, where thousands of Palestinian civilians - patients, displaced people and medical staff - have been trapped during weeks of fighting.

Israel said it launched the raid because Hamas has a command centre underneath Al Shifa and uses connected tunnels to conceal military operations and to hold hostages which Hamas denies.

“Before entering the hospital our forces were confronted by explosive devices and terrorist squads, fighting ensued in which terrorists were killed,” the Israeli military said, without specifying exactly where the firefight took place.

Israeli Army Radio said five militants had been killed and that weapons were found inside the Al Shifa compound.

IDF claims it has provided baby incubators to Al-Shifa hospital

07:40 , Holly Evans

The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces have provided incubators and baby food to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza even as it conducts a raid against Hamas there.

“Our precise and targeted operation against Hamas in the Shifa Hospital is still underway. We can confirm that incubators, baby food and medical supplies brought by IDF (Israel Defence Forces) tanks from Israel have successfully reached the Shifa hospital,” the military said.

Hamas has denied Israel’s allegations over Al-Shifa hospital.

Labour proposes amendment to King’s Speech as SNP urges MPs to call for ceasefire

06:31 , Namita Singh

Labour is to put forward an amendment to the King’s Speech to “reaffirm” its position on the conflict in the Middle East while the SNP has urged MPs to demand a ceasefire.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said parliament must “show moral leadership” and vote in favour of backing an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Labour said it is “not going to be engaging” with the amendment put forward by the SNP to the King’s Speech, but is to seek its own motion addressing concerns on both sides of the Middle East conflict.

Report:

Labour proposes amendment to King’s Speech as SNP urges MPs to call for ceasefire

Israel ‘has become a country blinded by rage waging a war on children’

05:55 , Namita Singh

Israel has become a country “blinded by rage waging a war on children”, an Irish government minister has said.

Minister for higher education Simon Harris slammed the attack by Hamas on Israel in October as despicable.

He said that while Israel had the right to defend itself, it was not waging a war on children.

Mr Harris was speaking in the Irish parliament yesterday, following a question from Labour leader Ivana Bacik.

Report:

Israel ‘has become a country blinded by rage waging a war on children’

Keir Starmer to stage showdown vote with Labour’s Gaza rebels

05:48 , Namita Singh

Sir Keir Starmer will stage a showdown vote in parliament today calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza in a bid to force Labour rebels who want a ceasefire to back his stance.

The Labour leader’s Commons motion will criticise Israel’s conduct and mourn the “insufficient aid” getting into the strip, but it will not support a ceasefire.Sir Keir is attempting to head off an embarrassing rebellion by Labour MPs, with the SNP likely to secure its own vote calling for a ceasefire as an amendment to the King’s Speech.

More than 65 Labour MPs – including 18 Labour frontbenchers – have defied Sir Keir’s position. Almost 50 councillors have quit the party and more than 330 local leaders have urged him to change position.

Our political correspondent Adam Forrest has more:

Keir Starmer to stage showdown vote with Labour’s Gaza rebels

In video: Speaker Johnson says calls for Israel-Hamas ceasefire are ‘outrageous’

05:47 , Namita Singh

Speaker Johnson says calls for Israel-Hamas ceasefire are ‘outrageous’

Israel’s move toward Al Shifa raises concerns about protection of medical facilities under international laws

05:31 , Namita Singh

Israel’s move toward Al Shifa hospital has raised questions about how it would interpret international laws on the protection of medical facilities and the thousands of displaced people sheltering there, UN human rights officials have said.

Hospitals are protected buildings under international humanitarian law. But allegations that Shifa is also being used for military purposes complicated the situation because that would also breach international law, UN officials have said.

Medical units used for acts harmful to the enemy, and which have ignored a warning to stop doing so, lose their special protection under international law.

Israel said in its statement yesterday that it had given Gaza authorities 12 hours to cease military activities within the hospital. “Unfortunately, it did not,” the military statement said.

UN chief calls for ‘humanitarian ceasefire’

04:57 , Namita Singh

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was deeply disturbed by the “dramatic loss of life” in Gaza hospitals, his spokesman said. “In the name of humanity, the secretary-general calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” the spokesperson told reporters.

Medical officials in Hamas-run Gaza say more than 11,000 people are confirmed dead from Israeli strikes, around 40 per cent of them children, and countless others were trapped under rubble.

Around two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been made homeless, unable to escape the territory where food, fuel, fresh water and medical supplies are running out.

Dire conditions in Al Shifa hospital amid IDF strike

04:56 , Namita Singh

Al Shifa is a sprawling complex of buildings and courtyards a few hundred metres from Gaza City’s fishing port. Buildings on the western side of the complex, which the Gaza official said was the site of the raid, include the internal medicine and dialysis departments.

Hamas says 650 patients and 5,000 to 7,000 other civilians are trapped inside the hospital grounds, under constant fire from Israeli snipers and drones. Amid shortages of fuel, water and supplies, it says 40 patients have died in recent days.

Thirty-six babies are left from the neo-natal ward after three died. Without fuel for generators to power incubators, the babies were being kept as warm as possible, lined up eight to a bed.

Palestinians trapped in the hospital dug a mass grave yesterday to bury patients who died and no plan was in place to evacuate babies despite Israel announcing an offer to send portable incubators, Qidra, Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson, said.

Qidra said there were about 100 bodies decomposing inside and no way to get them out.

Families of hostages held by Hamas begin protest march

04:42 , Namita Singh

Families and supporters of the around 240 people being held hostage by Hamas started a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The plight of the hostages has dominated public discourse since the 7 October attack, with solidarity protests held across the country.

The marchers, who expect to reach Jerusalem on Saturday, say the government must do more to bring home their loved-ones.

“Where are you?” Shelly Shem Tov, whose 21-year-old son, Omer, is among the captives, called out to Benjamin Netanyahu. “We have no strength anymore. We have no strength. Bring back our children and our families home.”

Jewish groups condemn appearance of controversial televangelist at March for Israel

04:39 , Namita Singh

A controversial Christian televangelist who once suggested Adolf Hitler was sent by God addressed one of the largest gatherings of Jewish Americans in decades.

Jewish progressive groups and peace demonstrators condemned an appearance from megachurch pastor John Hagee at yesterday’s March for Israel outside the US Capitol in Washington DC, where tens of thousands of people rallied against antisemitism in the wake of Hamas attacks on 7 October and Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

Alex Woodward reports:

Jewish groups condemn controversial televangelist at March for Israel

Fighting around Al Shifa Hospital has turned it to a ‘cemetery’

04:21 , Namita Singh

Fighting has raged for days around the Al Shifa Hospital complex at the centre of Gaza City that has seen it “turned into a cemetery,” its director said in a statement.

The Gaza health ministry said 40 patients, including three babies, have died since Al Shifa’s emergency generator ran out of fuel on Saturday. Another 36 babies are at risk of dying because there is no power for incubators, according to the ministry.

The Israeli military said it started an effort to transfer incubators to Al Shifa. But they would be useless without electricity, said Christian Lindmeier, a World Health Organization spokesperson.

The health ministry has proposed evacuating the hospital with the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross and transferring the patients to hospitals in Egypt, but has not received any response, spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said.

While Israel says it is willing to allow staff and patients to evacuate, some Palestinians who have made it out say Israeli forces have fired at evacuees.

Hamas loses control of northern Gaza, announces Israel defence minister

04:09 , Namita Singh

Inside some of the newly captured buildings, soldiers held up the Israeli flag and military flags in celebration. In a nationally televised news conference, defense minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas had “lost control” of northern Gaza and that Israel made significant gains in Gaza City.

But asked about the time frame for the war, Gallant said: “We’re talking about long months, not a day or two.”One Israeli commander in Gaza, identified only as Lt Col Gilad, said in a video that his forces near Al Shifa Hospital had seized government buildings, schools and residential buildings where they found weapons and eliminated fighters.

The army said it captured the legislature, the Hamas police headquarters and a compound housing Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters. The buildings are powerful symbols, but their strategic value was unclear. Hamas fighters are believed to be in underground bunkers.

For days, the Israeli army had encircled the hospital. Hundreds of patients, staff and displaced people were trapped inside, with supplies dwindling and no electricity to run incubators and other lifesaving equipment. After days without refrigeration, morgue staff on Tuesday dug a mass grave in the yard for more than 120 bodies, officials said.

IDF to allow fuel shipment in Gaza for humanitarian operations

04:07 , Namita Singh

Israeli defense officials also said they will allow fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian operations.

That announcement came hours after the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees said its fuel reserves in Gaza ran dry yesterday. Meanwhile, Israeli army have entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital, after it accused Hamas of setting up its main command center in and beneath Shifa hospital.Both Hamas and Shifa hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations.

Israel had refused to allow fuel shipments into Gaza following Hamas’s deadly 7 October incursion into southern Israel that set off the war, saying the militant group will divert any fuel for its own use.

Fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in northern Gaza has caused 200,000 people to flee south in the past 10 days, the UN humanitarian agency yesterday. More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began.

More than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.

More than 1,200 people in Israel died, most of them in the Hamas attack, and about 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by Palestinian militants.

UN Security Council trying for a fifth time to adopt resolution on Israel-Hamas war

03:48 , Namita Singh

After four failed attempts, the UN Security Council is trying for a fifth time to come up with a resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, but it remains to be seen whether serious divisions can be overcome to produce a consensus on wording.

The current draft under negotiation would demand “immediate extended humanitarian pauses” throughout the Gaza Strip to provide civilians with desperately needed aid. It also would demand that “all parties” comply with international humanitarian law that requires protection for civilians, calls for special protections for children, and bans hostage-taking.

But the draft proposed by council member Malta makes no mention of a ceasefire. It also doesn’t refer to Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on 7 October that killed around 1,200 people and took some 240 others hostage. Nor does it cite Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes and ground offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza that the Gaza health ministry says has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.

The 15-member council, which has the responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, has been paralysed since the war began by its internal divisions. This is especially the case between China and Russia, which want an immediate ceasefire, and the United States, Israel’s closest ally, that has called for humanitarian pauses but objects to any mention of a ceasefire.

Hamas blames US for giving ‘green light’ to IDF for hospital raid

03:39 , Namita Singh

Hamas said on Wednesday that the US announcement had effectively given a “green light” for Israel to raid the hospital. The group said it held Israel and US president Joe Biden fully responsible for the operation.

Mr Biden was due to speak at a fundraiser a few hours after the raid.

White House says Hamas using hospitals for military operations but condemns fighting in medical facility

03:31 , Namita Singh

Just hours before Israel said its forces had entered Al Shifa, the White House said it had its own intelligence that Hamas was using hospitals to run its military operations and store weapons.

However, national security spokesperson John Kirby said the US does not support either air strikes or ground operations being conducted against the medical facility.

The US does “not support striking a hospital from the air“, he said.

“We do not want to see a firefight in a hospital where innocent people, helpless people, sick people are simply trying to get the medical care they deserve,” he added.

Israel accuses Hamas of operating underneath Al Shifa hospital

03:24 , Namita Singh

Israel has said that Hamas has a command centre underneath Al Shifa and uses the hospital and tunnels beneath it to conceal military operations and to hold hostages. Hamas denies it.

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said: “Based on intelligence information and an operational necessity, IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa hospital.”

The military added: “The IDF forces include medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians.”

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told CNN the hospital and compound were for Hamas “a central hub of their operations, perhaps even the beating heart and maybe even a centre of gravity.

Big explosions heard from inside of Al Shifa hospital

03:21 , Namita Singh

The Israeli military said it was carrying out a raid against Hamas militants in Al Shifa Hospital, having urged them to surrender, with thousands of Palestinian civilians still sheltering inside Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital.

Dr Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Gaza health ministry, told Al Jazeera television that Israeli forces had raided the western side of the medical complex.

“There are big explosions and dust entered the areas where we are. We believe an explosion occurred inside the hospital,” Dr Bursh said.

Less than an hour earlier, around 1am local time, a Gaza health ministry spokesman said Israel had told officials in the enclave that it would raid the Al Shifa hospital complex “in the coming minutes.”

Israeli forces raid Gaza’s largest hospital in ‘targeted operation’ and urge Hamas to surrender

03:21 , Namita Singh

Israel says it has launched a “targeted” operation in Gaza‘s largest hospital as Palestinian health officials said forces “stormed” the besieged complex in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

According to the United Nations, over 2,500 patients, medics and internally displaced people – including dozens of vulnerable newborn babies that need incubators – are still inside Al Shifa Hospital. The UN said in recent days the medical complex had run out of generator fuel and was low on vital medical supplies including anaesthesia.

The hospital administration reported that after days of siege they were informed early on Wednesday that Israeli troops would raid the complex “within minutes”, shortly before reporting intense gunfire inside the walls of the hospital.

Our chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:

Israeli forces raid Gaza’s largest hospital in ‘targeted operation’

03:08 , Namita Singh

Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog for Wednesday 15 November 2023, where we provide the latest on the Israel’s ground assault in Gaza following Hamas’ 7 October incursion.