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Hamas-Israel conflict as it happened: Gaza hospital explosion kills hundreds; Joe Biden arrives in Israel

Jewel Topsfield, Caitlin Fitzsimmons and Latika Bourke
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

‘Done by the other team’: Biden on hospital explosion
Joe Biden touches down in Tel Aviv
Biden to ask Israel ‘tough questions’
Israel renews call for Gaza City residents to evacuate
PM condemns indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza
Israel posts video to support its claim of Islamic militants’ guilt for hospital bombing
Palestinians clash with Abbas’ West Bank forces after Gaza hospital explosion
Joe Biden could face physical risks in flying to war-torn Middle East

Wrapping up today’s live coverage

By Latika Bourke

And that is where we will end today’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

Recapping events:

  • US President Joe Biden said it appeared the “other team” and not Israel was responsible for the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab Hospital hospital in Gaza, which Hamas claimed was the fault of Israel and the cause of the deaths of 500 people
President Joe Biden listens as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.AP
  • Biden was speaking in Tel Aviv where he arrived on Wednesday
  • The explosion sparked protests in the Ramallah, in the West Bank and outside the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon

UK not in a position to verify cause of hospital attack

By Latika Bourke

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says British intelligence officers are “rapidly analysing” data to “independently” establish the facts about the cause of the hospital explosion.

Unlike US President Joe Biden, Sunak did not offer a similar endorsement of Israel’s position denying responsibility and said that an assessment was not yet available.

He was speaking in the House of Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions.

The US and UK, along with Australia, Canada and New Zealand share intelligence under the Five Eyes arrangement.

In daylight, pictures from the hospital

By Latika Bourke

The AP’s photojournalist has filed these pictures from the Al Ahli Arab Hospital - the scene of the explosion on Tuesday night, local time.

Palestinians inspect the damage in a church people were using as a shelter, at Al Ahli hospital, in Gaza City, Wednesday, October 18, 2023.AP
A Palestinian girl carries blankets as she walks past the explosion scene at Al Ahli hospital, in Gaza City.AP
Palestinians carry belongings leaving the Al Ahli hospital. AP
A Palestinian man carries an elderly woman past the site of the explosion at al-Ahli hospital. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike caused the explosion that killed hundreds at al-Ahli, but the Israeli military says it was a misfired Palestinian rocket. AP
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Putin laments war dead in Gaza

By Latika Bourke

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who is fighting a war with Ukraine that has killed hundreds of thousands of troops and thousands of civilians, has said the hundreds of people killed in Gaza at the Al Ahil Arab Hospital is a catastrophe.

“The tragedy that happened there is a terrible event,” he said.

“Hundreds of dead and hundreds of wounded are of course a catastrophe.

“I really hope this will be a signal that we need to end this conflict as soon as possible.

“In any case, we need to focus on the possibility of starting some contacts and negotiations.”

UK Foreign Secretary calls for media to wait and report facts

By Latika Bourke

The UK’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has called for cool heads to prevail, saying rushing to the wrong conclusions over who is responsible for attacks in the Israel-Hamas conflict could cost more lives.

Cleverly was the first figure from a foreign government to visit Israel in the aftermath of Hamas’ deadly raids on October 7.

He condemned those who declared that Israel was responsible for the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.

“Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital,” he said in a post on X.

“Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk.

Palestinians say death toll is 3300

By Latika Bourke

The Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila has said that the death toll since October 7 – when Hamas launched its deadly attacks on Israelis, prompting retaliatory airstrikes – has reached 3300.

Palestinian families rush out of their homes after Israeli airstrikes targeting their neighbourhood on Tuesday.AP
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‘Done by the other team’: Biden on hospital explosion

By Latika Bourke

US President Joe Biden is speaking in Tel Aviv alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden said that Hamas’ atrocities were so bad that they made ISIS look “somewhat more rational”.

US President Joe Biden speaking to the media with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Wednesday October 18, 2023.AP

He said the US wanted to ensure Israel had what it needs to defend itself, while at the same time keeping in mind that Hamas does not represent all Palestinian people, who are suffering as a result of the terrorist organisation’s actions.

Biden waded into the furious counter-accusations over who was responsible for the hospital explosion and said that based on what he had seen, Israel was not responsible.

“Based on what I’ve seen it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” he told Netanyahu.

Egypt proposes moving Palestinians to Israeli desert

By Latika Bourke

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has suggested sending Palestinian refugees in Gaza to the Israeli desert.

Israel is blockading Gaza and controls all entry and exit to the strip of land except for at the Rafah crossing at the border with Egypt.

But both Egypt and Jordan say will not accept Palestinian refugees into their countries, intensifying the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Sisi said that Palestinians could be moved to the Negev desert in Israel “till militants are dealt with”.

with Reuters

Joe Biden touches down in Tel Aviv

By Latika Bourke

US President Joe Biden has arrived in Israel.

Air Force One touched down in Tel Aviv a short time ago.

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He was greeted on the tarmac by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. Biden and Netanyahu embraced.

Biden’s visit comes following the explosion at al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of Palestinians, which both Hamas and Israel accused each other of causing.

President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport.AP

Jordan was to hold a summit aimed at negotiating a possible resolution to the current conflict that included Biden, but the country’s leader King Abdullah cancelled the meeting following the hospital blast.

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Israeli military holds briefing on hospital explosion

By Latika Bourke

Hello, Latika Bourke logging on to take you through developments this evening.

Israel’s military has categorically denied hitting a hospital in Gaza that Hamas says killed 500 people. Israel said that Islamic Jihad caused the explosion and that Hamas had inflated the death toll as part of its global media campaign.

Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defence Force held a briefing for the media and said that no IDF fire, by either land, sea or air hit the hospital.

“I want to make something clear, it is impossible to know what happened as quickly as Hamas claimed,” he said. “That should have been an initial warning sign for many.”

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