Israel-Palestine live: Thousands in state of panic as Israel continues to strike hospitals

Around 180 pro-Palestinian human rights activists are holding sit-ins at eight US senators’ offices and more than 40 have been arrested.

Activists are demanding senators publicly call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US weapons and military funding to Israel.

The senators being protested include Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Chris Van Hollen.

Sixty-six percent of US voters support a ceasefire, as found in a recent poll by Data for Progress.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said it was "horrified" by the reports of an Israeli military air strike on al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

“Attacks on hospitals and ambulances must end. They are sanctuaries for the wounded, places where lives are saved and suffering is alleviated. If even hospitals are not protected, then there truly is no safe place anywhere in Gaza,” said Melanie Ward, MAP’s CEO.

“The international community must urgently demand a ceasefire and an end to Israel's indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza. Fourteen hospitals are already out of service; this is not the first attack on hospitals since Israel’s military offensive on Gaza began, and it won’t be the last until those responsible are held fully accountable, and impunity is brought to an end.”

An Israeli air strike on a UN-run school housing displaced Palestinians has left at least 20 people dead, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Dozens were also left injured in the attack on the Osama Ben Zaid school, located in the Saftawi neighbourhood of northern Gaza.

The United Nations humanitarian office had on 7 October appealed for $294mn to support nearly 1.3 million people but the situation has grown “increasingly desperate”, according to the agency.

“The cost of meeting the needs of 2.7 million people - that is the entire population of Gaza and 500,000 people in the occupied West Bank - is estimated to be $1.2 billion.”

Honduras said on Friday it was recalling its ambassador to Israel for "consultations" over Israel's "violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip".

It joins other Latin American countries including Bolivia, Chile and Colombia, which have all taken significant steps to diplomatically distance themselves from Israel.

On Tuesday, Bolivia’s leftist government severed all ties with Israel in response to the ongoing bombardments in Gaza, which have killed over 9,227 Palestinians – with over 3,826 children among the casualties – in response to Hamas’ deadly surprise attack on Israel on 7 October. At least 1,400 Israelis were killed during the attacks and around 242 taken hostage.

Bolivia is the first Latin American country to cut ties with Israel. 

Speaking at a press conference held in the Bolivian capital of La Paz, Freddy Mamani, Bolivia’s deputy foreign minister, said the decision to cut ties came in “repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and its threat to international peace and security”.

Israel’s offensive on Gaza has drawn widespread criticism for its potential violation of international humanitarian law, with the UN Human Rights Office stating that the recent attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp may amount to “war crimes”.

Read more: Latin America distances itself from the US and Israel over Gaza assault

Israel's ambassador to the US has issued a rare direct criticism of a sitting American politician, slamming Senator Bernie Sanders after the left-wing lawmaker said the situation in Gaza "cannot continue".

In comments on social media on Thursday, Sanders said "just as a humanitarian response is critical, it is equally important to lay out a path to a two-state solution and a democratic Palestine" and warned that Israel could not "bomb its way to a long-term solution".

In response, Michael Herzog said that anyone who wanted a "democratic" Palestine needed to support the defeat of Hamas.

"16 years of Hamas' rule of Gaza, since taking over in a bloody coup, produced only misery for Gaza's citizens, tens of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli population centers (including nearly 9,000 since the beginning of this war), and numerous armed clashes with Israel - all culminating in the unimaginably atrocious terror attack on October 7," he said in a quote tweet to Sanders' original comments on X (formerly Twitter).

"How exactly do you propose to defeat these genocidal extremists, who hide behind innocent civilians and use them as human shields?"

Israel confirmed Friday that it had targeted an ambulance at the entrance to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, claiming it was "used by a Hamas terrorist cell".

A military statement said "aircraft struck an ambulance that was identified by forces as being used by a Hamas terrorist cell in close proximity to their position in the battle zone."

Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh has slammed the latest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and said the “resistance will continue to defend our people with all its might”.

“These massacres are a reflection of the predicament the occupation and its ground forces find themselves in as they are combated by our resistance fighters, who are defending our land and avenging thousands of martyrs,” he said in a statement.

He added that Egypt should fully open the Rafah crossing with Gaza and praised international responses in solidarity with the Palestinians.

"The brutality, coinciding with the new visit of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is a result of the green light and open support provided by the United States to the occupation at this level of challenge to all human values and international laws."

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the holding of a conference on 9 November in Paris to work for a "humanitarian truce" in Gaza.

Traveling to Brittany, Macron said the humanitarian conference would take place within the framework of the Paris Peace Forum.

“We call for this humanitarian truce because the fight against terrorism does not justify sacrificing civilians,” he said.

An Iraqi militia said they "targeted" Israeli positions in the city of Eilat on the Dead Sea.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an armed faction formed in the wake of Israel's assault on Gaza, claimed the attack in a statement on Friday but did not go into specifics.

"In support of our people in Gaza, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against Palestinian civilians, including children, women and the elderly, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted this morning a target in the occupied Umm al-Rashash," the group said, using the Arabic name for Eilat.

"The Islamic Resistance confirms its continued destruction of enemy strongholds. Victory is only from God. Indeed, God is Mighty, All-Wise."

Israeli fighter jets targeted three hospitals in Gaza on Friday within the space of a few hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

Bombs were dropped in the courtyards of the Indonesian hospital, the al-Quds hospital, and al-Shifa hospital, Gaza's biggest medical facility.

At least 15 people were killed in the Shifa shelling, according to Al Jazeera.

Dozens of others have been wounded, including people injured during previous attacks.

One of the bombs hit a convoy carrying patients that departed from Shifa and was en route to southern Gaza for further treatment. 

Editor's note: The video included in this update contains images that may be distressing to some viewers 

The Israeli military bombed a convoy carrying critically wounded Palestinians in Gaza, killing and injuring scores, hours after health ministry officials publicly announced the patients would be escorted south.

Ashraf Al Qedra, the spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said on Friday afternoon that a group of critically wounded people would be transferred to Rafah in the south for further treatment.

In a televised press conference, he asked the Red Cross to accompany the convoy to ensure its safety. 

Nonetheless, Israeli fighter jets bombed it. 

"We informed the Red Cross the convoy started moving when the convoy departed from Al-Shifa Hospital, but the occupation targeted it in more than one location while it was still close to the hospital's entrance," Qedra said. 

Israeli fighter jets bombed the entrance of Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, on Friday.

The attack has left several people killed and wounded, according to initial reports. 

Al-Shifa has been housing thousands of displaced and wounded Palestinians, and has received several threats by the Israeli military to empty the facility or be bombed. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a pro-Palestine protest planned on 11 November, which coincides with Armistice Day, would be "provocative and disrespectful". 

“The right to remember, in peace and dignity, those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for those freedoms must be protected,” said Sunak in a statement. 

“There is a clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated,” he added, without providing evidence of what concrete risk existed.

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters have been taking to the streets in London to demand an end to Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

Protests are regularly held on Saturdays. 

Meanwhile, Sunak's government has adopted a staunchly pro-Israeli position so far, refusing to call for a ceasefire.