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UN says agency in Gaza ‘practically out of business’ – as it happened [1]

['Adam Fulton', 'Léonie Chao-Fong', 'Tom Ambrose', 'Sam Jones', 'Maya Yang', 'Helen Sullivan']

Date: 2023-11-03

23h ago 13.21 EDT Dozens of casualties reported after incident near Gaza's biggest hospital Dozens of casualties have been reported after an incident near al-Shifa hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza City, today. Gaza’s health ministry said “several citizens were killed and dozens wounded” in what it said was an Israeli strike at the entrance to the hospital. A statement by the Hamas-run government in Gaza said Israeli forces targeted “a convoy of ambulances which was transporting the wounded” from Gaza City towards Rafah in the south. The cause of the incident is not immediately clear. The Guardian has not been able to verify the claims. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have said they are looking into the report. An AFP journalist at the scene saw multiple bodies beside a damaged ambulance, while a doctor at the hospital told Sky News that up to 50 casualties had been brought in. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which operates at the hospital, shared an image of a damaged ambulance in front of the hospital. Targeting a PRCS ambulance while it was in front of Al-Shifa Hospital. Our colleagues were saved by a miracle 🙏#GazaUnderAttack #NotATarget pic.twitter.com/WUJBGrsxXi — PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 3, 2023

Updated at 13.24 EDT

23h ago 13.10 EDT A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip landed outside a daycare centre in Sderot, southern Israel, the Times of Israel reported. No injuries were reported. Rocket fired from Gaza landed in the courtyard of a kindergarten in Sderot. No injuries. pic.twitter.com/UgIuLY8paN — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 3, 2023



23h ago 13.07 EDT 'At least 19' Britons unable to leave Gaza - report At least 19 British nationals who are on a list to evacuate from Gaza to Egypt have been unable to do so, the BBC has reported. Nearly 100 Britons trapped in Gaza were expected to cross into Egypt today, after the Rafah border crossing opened on Wednesday for the first time to allow foreign nationals and seriously wounded Palestinians to leave. But three family groups have told the news outlet that they are located in the north of Gaza and that it is too dangerous to travel to the south, where the Rafah crossing is located. By Friday, 127 British nationals had been listed to evacuate into Egypt. Those who crossed into Egypt described the Rafah crossing as “absolute chaos”, and said they had been “abandoned” by the government.

Updated at 13.17 EDT

24h ago 12.54 EDT The mother-in-law of Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has shared her experience of leaving Gaza after being trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory since Hamas militants attacked Israel last month. In a statement this morning, Yousaf and his wife, Nadia El-Nakla, said her parents were evacuated from Gaza on Friday. They said the last four weeks had been “a living nightmare” for the family, and that while they felt “deep personal relief, we are heartbroken at the continued suffering of the people of Gaza”. Speaking to the BBC while on a coach to Cairo with her husband, Maged, Elizabeth El-Nakla said: We are completely exhausted as we haven’t slept properly for the past 27 days. The past few days have been particularly traumatic. We don’t really know what’s been going on in the outside world as there’s been no internet, electricity, clean water and food has been difficult to get. She said that leaving Gaza had been “incredibly hard” as they were leaving their family behind, adding that she was worried about her son who works in the A&E department in Nasser hospital in southern Gaza.

Updated at 13.18 EDT

24h ago 12.38 EDT Richard Luscombe Officials at a Pittsburgh museum have promised to “repair our relationships with the Muslim community” amid criticism of its decision to postpone an Islamic art exhibition because of the Israel-Hamas war. Staff at Frick Pittsburgh believed pressing ahead with its Treasured Ornament: 10 Centuries of Islamic Art exhibition, which had been scheduled to open Saturday, would be “insensitive” to the Jewish community and others, according to the museum’s director and internal emails reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. But the postponement until August 2024 angered both Muslims and Jewish people locally, the newspaper reports, particularly because the museum cited only a scheduling conflict and not concerns over the war for its decision. In a statement posted to its website: The Frick is devastated to have hurt neighbors we deeply respect with our unclear communication about the postponement of this exhibition featuring ten centuries of Islamic art. We will work earnestly to repair our relationships with the Muslim community. Elizabeth Barker, director of Frick Pittsburgh, attempted to explain the rescheduling in comments to the Tribune. When war broke out in the Middle East, we were as heartbroken as everyone, and we realized that we were about to open an exhibition that a forgiving person would call insensitive, but for many people, especially in our community, would be traumatic.



1d ago 12.32 EDT The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has ended his trip to Israel, where he met the country’s war cabinet to urge it to show greater restraint in its campaign to destroy Hamas. Blinken said he urged Israeli leaders to allow more aid to enter Gaza and to implement humanitarian pauses to secure the release of hostages. But in a televised statement a short time later, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed back on the idea of a temporary ceasefire. In a statement to reporters, Netanyahu said Israel was continuing with “all of its power” and “refuses a temporary ceasefire that doesn’t include a return of our hostages”. US secretary of state Antony Blinken about to board a plane in Tel Aviv, as he leaves for Jordan Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/AP Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting in Tel Aviv. Photograph: GPO/Amos Ben Gershom/EPA US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) stands next to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as he holds in his hand a copy of a pamphlet that he said was sent to Palestinians in Jabalia asking them to vacate before military action. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/AFP/Getty Images Blinken speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 13.21 EDT

1d ago 12.19 EDT We reported earlier that scores of Palestinians were reportedly killed and injured on Friday in an Israeli targeting of an ambulance convoy carrying critically wounded people in Gaza, according to Reuters. That report had originally cited the Gaza health ministry, but has since been corrected to cite Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV quoting the health ministry.

Updated at 13.22 EDT

1d ago 12.09 EDT Aletha Adu The UK Labour leader, Keir Starmer, sought to portray the Labour party as unified over its position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, as he insisted calls for a ceasefire and humanitarian pauses were “coming from the same place”. A number of senior Labour MPs do not feel Starmer’s comments on the Middle East conflict this week have done enough to “hold the parliamentary Labour party together”, given “the level of anger within Labour’s grassroots”. The Labour leader faced accusations from senior colleagues that his previous comments on the conflict lacked “empathy” and “humanity”. Starmer, in an address to the North East Chamber of Commerce in County Durham on Friday, said he was “not surprised that people are trying to go for any option that they think would alleviate the awful situation”, adding: “I don’t think that should be taken as great division.” “That is a human emotion,” the Labour leader said. What I’ve done is share that emotion, when I see children dying. I have two children. I know exactly how this goes to the heart. 00:02:03 Keir Starmer defends call for humanitarian pause in Gaza – video Senior Labour figures had sought to play down the idea of permanent divisions emerging within the party, saying that disagreements over the party’s stance on Israel and Gaza was not unique to Labour, with many organisations including universities also coming under pressure. Starmer once again made it clear he would not be sacking any frontbenchers who have deviated from the party’s position on humanitarian corridors and called for a ceasefire. Instead, it appears the Labour leader believes the best way to demonstrate his authority over the party is to focus on “the most practical way to alleviate the situation on the ground”, which he believes means staying aligned with the US president, Joe Biden, and leaders in the Middle East so they can work together and “say the same thing at the same time”.

Updated at 13.23 EDT

1d ago 11.47 EDT Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah should not try to take advantage of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said on Friday. The United States does not want to see the conflict expand into Lebanon, the spokesperson said.



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[1] Url: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/nov/03/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-un-blinken-expected-call-for-pauses-fighting-allow-aid-gaza-tel-aviv-visit?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-654529e88f08af73b5ca7ffc#block-654529e88f08af73b5ca7ffc

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