The Israeli military says that humanitarian aid will be made available to Palestinians who flee Gaza City southward but did not immediately provide details on whether or how such aid will be brought into the enclave.
Israel has been calling on civilians to move south for their own protection as it focuses strikes on the northern and central Gaza Strip as part of a counter-offensive against Hamas that may escalate into a ground invasion.
In a new evacuation advisory posted online, the Israeli military urged Gaza City residents to leave, saying there was a “humanitarian zone” with aid available in Al-Mawasi, 28 km (17miles) down the coast.
“Al-Mawasi is where international #HumanitarianAid will be provided as needed,” the post said.
Asked by Reuters whether aid was being allowed into Gaza -and, if so, where and when, an Israeli military spokesperson had no immediate response.
Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza following the shock October 7 cross-border Hamas attack.
Reactions to strike on Gaza hospital killing hundreds
A blast at a hospital in Gaza City killed some 500 Palestinians on Tuesday in the deadliest single incident since Israel launched an unrelenting bombing campaign in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas cross-border attack.
Israel’s military denied responsibility for the bombing, saying military intelligence suggested the hospital was hit by a failed rocket launch by the enclave’s Palestinian Islamic Jihad military group.
US President Joe Biden
“I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted. Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened. The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy.”
“WHO strongly condemns the attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. The hospital was operational, with patients, health and caregivers, and internally displaced people sheltering there. Early reports indicate hundreds of fatalities and injuries.
The hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military. The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced.
“The hospital massacre confirms the enemy’s brutality and the extent of his feeling of defeat,” he said, adding that the attack will be “a new turning point.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
“The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF. Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children.”
“An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit.
Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.”
Syrian Presidency
“Syria holds Western countries responsible especially the United States of America, for this massacre and others, since they are a partner of the Zionist entity across all organized operations designed to kill Palestinians.”
Trukish President Tayyip Erdogan
“I call on all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza.”
