Live
By Usaid Siddiqui, Joseph Stepansky, Dalia Hatuqa and Arwa Ibrahim
Published On 17 Oct 2023

This live page is now closed. Please follow our new live coverage here.

18 Oct 2023 - 23:01
 (23:01 GMT)

Thanks for joining us

Thanks for following along with all of today’s updates on the Israel-Hamas war.

You can continue following our live updates on our new blog here.

You can also read about Israel’s announcement that it won’t block aid from entering Gaza via Egypt here, and the US decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution urging a pause in the fighting here.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets US President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on October 18, 2023 [Brendan Smialowski/AFP]
18 Oct 2023 - 22:55
 (22:55 GMT)

Here’s a recap of today’s events

We are going to bring our live coverage to an end soon. Here’s a summary of today’s main events:

  • The US has announced that about 20 aid trucks will be allowed to enter Gaza via Egypt in the coming days, with Israel saying it won’t block the aid.
  • The announcement follows a visit to Israel by US President Joe Biden, after which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Washington’s support “will ensure continuation” of the war.
  • The Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues as an area near a school in Khan Younis was hit; The Palestine Red Crescent Society also says Israeli strikes were carried out near al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City.
  • The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 1,300 people remain missing under the rubble in the besieged Palestinian enclave, including 600 children.
  • As calls grow for a ceasefire, the US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
  • Outrage and protests continue across the Middle East over the attack on a Gaza hospital that Palestinian officials say killed more than 470 people.
  • Israel and fighters in Lebanon have engaged in more cross-border fighting, with an observer also reporting Israeli strikes in Syria.
18 Oct 2023 - 22:38
 (22:38 GMT)

US president ‘lacks political courage’ to urge Gaza ceasefire, analyst says

Omar Baddar, a US-based political analyst, says Biden “lacks the political courage” to demand an end to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Such a call “would require the Biden administration to stand in sharp contrast with [its] Israeli counterparts, and that seems to be something that Biden is unwilling to do at the moment”, Baddar told Al Jazeera.

“He lacks the political courage, partly for domestic reasons and partly for what seems to be genuine emotional ties to Israel and Netanyahu, that have basically eliminated his backbone in this entire dynamic.”

18 Oct 2023 - 22:25
 (22:25 GMT)

Biden to deliver Oval Office address tomorrow on Israel, Ukraine

The US president will speak at 8pm local time (00:00 GMT) on Thursday.

He will discuss his administration’s “response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel and Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine”, the White House says.

Palestinian rights advocates have accused Biden of hypocrisy for backing Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country while failing to demand a ceasefire during Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

18 Oct 2023 - 22:20
 (22:20 GMT)

Israel conducts more strikes on Syria: Observer

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said Israeli strikes targeted a Syrian army position in the southern province of Quneitra.

It also said the sound of an explosion was reported in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Israel and groups in Syria have regularly exchanged fire since the war in Gaza began, threatening to open another front in the conflict. Last week, Israel bombed Damascus and Aleppo airports in what was believed to be an attempt to stem the delivery of Iranian supplies.

18 Oct 2023 - 22:09
 (22:09 GMT)

HRW says Israel pledge to allow aid to Gaza falls short

While Israel has said it will not block aid from entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says without electricity or fuel, or clear provisions to assure the aid reaches those in northern Gaza, “this falls short of meeting the needs of Gaza’s population”.

UN and public health officials have warned that the Palestinian enclave faces the risk of an infectious disease outbreak amid a lack of water, sewage contamination, and the inability to safely store dead bodies.

“Israel’s bombardment and unlawful total blockade of Gaza mean that countless wounded and sick children, among many other civilians, will die for want of medical care,” Bill Van Esveld, HRW’s associate children’s rights director, said in a statement.

He called on the US to pressure Israel to “completely lift the unlawful blockade and ensure the entire civilian population has prompt access to water, food, fuel, and electricity”.

18 Oct 2023 - 22:06
 (22:06 GMT)

Biden’s Israel visit a way to ‘flex muscles’ with little cost: Expert

By Ali Harb

George Bisharat, a professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, has said that Biden’s approach to the Gaza war – including his visit to Israel – has an “element of political performance” aimed at a domestic audience before the US elections next year.

“This is ‘Sleepy Joe’ proving that he’s awake, that he’s an expert on foreign policy,” Bisharat told Al Jazeera, invoking former President Donald Trump’s nickname for Biden.

“Of course, most of the time, American voters don’t really care very much about foreign policy; they don’t vote on foreign policy grounds. But wartime is an exception. This, in a way, is an opportunity to kind of flex muscles without the actual concrete costs to American soldiers in particular.”

18 Oct 2023 - 21:55
 (21:55 GMT)

Channel 4 investigation highlights holes in Israeli narrative over hospital bombing

Experts have expressed doubt over the authenticity of an intercepted audio recording released by Israel, purporting to show two Hamas fighters putting the blame for the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital attack on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In an investigation into the bombing published by the UK’s Channel 4 News, the broadcaster said that two independent Arab journalists had deduced that the language used in the recording, as well as the accent, syntax and tone, led them to believe that the recording was not authentic.

While emphasising that independent verification of the circumstances of the bombing has been impossible, Channel 4 also highlighted that while the small size of the impact crater in the hospital courtyard would likely discount an air strike, it did not necessarily rule out another form of Israeli attack, such as an air-burst munition.

The investigation also pointed out the contradictory information put forward by the Israelis. For example, in the Israeli presentation on Wednesday morning, two different locations were given for the alleged Islamic Jihad rocket’s launch site.

A view of debris in the area of al-Ahli hospital where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in an airstrike Palestinian officials have blamed on Israel [Ahmed Zakot/Reuters]
18 Oct 2023 - 21:51
 (21:51 GMT)

‘Things could go out of control’, warns Middle East analyst

Aicha Elbasri, a former UN official, is warning the continuing Israel attacks and siege of Gaza are pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional conflagration with potentially devastating consequences.

“Everyone is worried about escalation, including the Israelis themselves. I don’t think they are ready to open a second front with Lebanon’s Hezbollah – let alone Iran. Everything is possible. Things could go out of control,” she told Al Jazeera.

“People should be talking about lifting the siege on Gaza. We’re not living in the Middle Ages, we are in the 21st century. For any country like the US and Israel that claims to be democratic, that follows the rule of law, the kind of siege we’re seeing is just unacceptable. For the people of Gaza, it’s going to be hell,” said Elbasri from the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.

 

18 Oct 2023 - 21:40
 (21:40 GMT)

UK prime minister to visit Israel for talks with Netanyahu, Herzog

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will arrive in Israel tomorrow to meet with Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Sunak will share his condolences for the loss of life in Israel and Gaza, his office said, and warn against further escalation in the region.

He will also urge the opening up of a route to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible and to enable British nationals trapped in the besieged Palestinian enclave to leave.

“Every civilian death is a tragedy. And too many lives have been lost following Hamas’s horrific act of terror,” the UK leader said in a statement ahead of his visit.

18 Oct 2023 - 21:39
 (21:39 GMT)

Announced Gaza aid a ‘drop in the bucket’

By Marwan Bishara

Senior political analyst

If the president of the world’s superpower is going to make a 13-hour journey on Air Force One in order to give a big hug to Prime Minister Netanyahu, and then end up with 20 trucks going to 2.3 million people … this is like just a drop in the bucket.

This is horrific, to be honest. I mean the indifference of politicians – whether they are in Washington, New York, or Tel Aviv – is just beyond me.

Why would the American president not push more for humanitarian assistance to innocent people? You don’t need international humanitarian laws for that. You just need morality and common sense.

18 Oct 2023 - 21:06
 (21:06 GMT)

Aid delivery to Gaza likely to begin Friday: Biden

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Biden says aid access to Gaza will likely begin on Friday because Egypt needs to “patch the road” to the crossing.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza has come under heavy Israeli bombing, despite it being the only place for civilians to enter and exit Gaza to Egypt.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s presidency said the US president and his Egyptian counterpart el-Sisi also discussed ways to accelerate the entry of humanitarian aid into the bombarded enclave during their phone call.

18 Oct 2023 - 21:05
 (21:05 GMT)

At least five Palestinians in occupied West Bank killed by Israeli forces

By Ayman Nobani

Reporting from Ramallah, occupied West Bank

At least five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, says the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, with two in or near the city of Nablus and three in Ramallah.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victims from Nablus as 24-year-old Ibrahim Nazih Hajj Ali and 26-year-old Nael Dwaikat. It also identified victims from or near Ramallah as 21-year-old Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Hussein Fawaqa, Qais Shalash, 18, and Khalil Shalash, 16.

18 Oct 2023 - 20:52
 (20:52 GMT)

Biden says agreement reached with Egypt to allow 20 aid trucks into Gaza

The US president says an agreement has been reached with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to open the Rafah crossing to allow about 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The announcement comes after Biden visited Israel, where the Israeli government pledged not to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the bombarded enclave via Egypt. Biden and el-Sisi held a call following the trip, according to the White House.

El-Sisi had previously denied that Egypt had closed the Rafah border – the only crossing from Gaza that does not lead into Israel. He instead had said the “repeated bombings by Israel of the Palestinian side of crossing have prevented operations”.

Nevertheless, Biden praised his Egyptian counterpart today, telling reporters that “[el-]Sisi deserves some real credit because he was accommodating”.

18 Oct 2023 - 20:43
 (20:43 GMT)

How will aid reach besieged Gaza – and how much?

Richard Brennan from the World Health Organization explains the process of getting desperately needed humanitarian relief to the besieged people of Gaza during relentless Israeli attacks:

“We can do ‘de-confliction’ – that means informing both sides in the conflict of the geographic coordinates where the aid is and where it’s going – with the trust then they will not target the area and allow the safe passage of the supplies,” he told Al Jazeera.

“It’s important to note, the supplies not only need to get through the Rafah crossing on Egypt’s border, then [they] must be distributed throughout Gaza – that’s why we need this de-confliction process so both sides respect the neutrality of humanitarian aid. The aid will be handed over to the Palestine Red Crescent for wider distribution.

“We understand we’re going to start rather small, 20 trucks, then building up to as many as 100 trucks per day. We’re really just trying to kick the door open just to get a few trucks in. What is needed is food, water, sanitation supplies, medical supplies, et cetera.

“I don’t think it gets much more heroic than working in the conditions in Gaza. It’s absolutely harrowing to see the way the health workers in those hospitals are handling the care of the acutely injured – people whose bodies have been torn apart. It’s saintly work.”

18 Oct 2023 - 20:40
 (20:40 GMT)

Two more US lawmakers add names to ceasefire resolution

Pramila Jayapal, chair of the progressive caucus in the US Congress, and Barbara Lee, a veteran California Democrat, have backed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Their support brings the number of lawmakers supporting the congressional measure, introduced by Congresswoman Cori Bush last week, to 15.

Biden has so far dismissed calls for de-escalation, stressing that Israel needs to “go after” Hamas.

18 Oct 2023 - 20:29
 (20:29 GMT)

Mohamed Salah calls for aid to be allowed into Gaza

Mohamed Salah has urged the international community to help bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

In a video posted on X, Liverpool’s Egyptian football striker said “humanitarian aid to Gaza must be allowed immediately” into the Palestinian enclave.

“The people there are in terrible conditions. The scenes at the hospital last night were horrifying. The people of Gaza need food, water and medical supplies urgently,” he added.

“I’m calling on world leaders to come together to prevent the further slaughter of innocent souls. Humanity must prevail.”

18 Oct 2023 - 20:28
 (20:28 GMT)

If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of the latest developments

It’s almost 11:30pm (20:30 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

  • Israel has struck an area adjacent to a school in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis where hundreds had taken refuge, leading to deaths and injuries.
  • The Palestine Red Crescent Society says Israeli bombardments also took place near al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City.
  • After a visit from US President Joe Biden, Israel says it won’t block aid coming into Gaza from Egypt.
  • At least 3,478 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip since October 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
  • At least 1,300 others also remain missing under the rubble, including 600 children, the ministry says.
  • The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian pause.
  • Marches in several Arab capitals continue in support of Palestinians.
  • At least three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and 78 others were injured, the Palestine Red Crescent Society says.
18 Oct 2023 - 20:14
 (20:14 GMT)

Hezbollah says two fighters killed in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah has said that two of its members were killed today in southern Lebanon while “they were engaging in fighting”.

Israel’s military had previously said they struck a “squad” of Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon with a drone.

18 Oct 2023 - 20:10
 (20:10 GMT)

Israel-Hamas war: Mapping the past 24 hours’ major events

This interactive map summarises the displacement of people, Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Hamas rocket attacks, fighting on the ground and military movements. Please have a look: