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

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the largest civil rights groups in the United States, has published an open letter to 650 US universities and colleges, urging them not to engage in investigations or crackdowns on pro-Palestine activism on campuses.

The letter comes after Florida ordered universities in the state to disband chapters of the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), accusing the group of supporting Hamas, which is a US-designated terrorist group.

It also comes after another open letter penned by the Anti-Defamation League, which called on 200 universities in the US to investigate any SJP chapters at their schools, accusing the group of providing support to Hamas.

“University officials may criticize or condemn the statements contained in the National SJP’s toolkit. Those statements, however, are not material support for terrorism, but political advocacy fully protected by the First Amendment,” the ACLU’s letter said.

You can read the full letter here.

Good evening MEE readers,

As the 26th day of Israel's war on Gaza draws to a close, the health ministry’s latest figures suggest more than 8,800 people have been killed in the enclave since 7 October. 

In a statement, the ministry added that the death toll included 3,658 children and 2,290 women.

Israel’s bombardment of the enclave has not ceased, with a health ministry official saying a maternity unit was among those struck.

Here are the latest updates over the past few hours, as the impact of the conflict continues to resonate beyond the region’s borders:

• At least 15 Israeli soldiers have been killed in over 24 hours of Gaza fighting

• Yemen’s Houthis said they launched another drone strike into Israeli territory and said they would continue operations until 'Israeli aggression' against Gaza ends

• The UN Human Rights Office has warned that the repeated strikes on Jabalia refugee camp could amount to ‘war crimes’

• The US has confirmed that it has started evacuating its citizens from the Gaza Strip

• A Likud MP called for Gaza to be 'erased from the face of the earth'

• Jordan summoned its ambassador to Israel over Gaza attacks

For updates around the clock, follow MEE's live blog and our social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

Israeli air strikes hit a maternity ward in a hospital in Gaza City, the enclave's health ministry said on Wednesday.

Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra told reporters the maternity ward in Gaza’s main al-Shifa Hospital was transferred to Tharwat al-Helou Hospital, which was subsequently “bombarded” despite being filled with women and medical staff.

“We call on the international community to urgently intervene to stop Israel and protect hospitals, medical staff, and patients before the [Al-Ahli Hospital] massacre is repeated," said Qudra, referring to the destruction of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza on 17 October, which cost hundreds of lives.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israel was striking targets in the vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital on Wednesday evening:

US President Joe Biden believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only a few months left in office, current and former US officials told Politico.

According to the report, Biden told Netanyahu personally that he should think about "lessons" that he could share with his successor.

The current serving senior official told Politico that the question of Netanyahu's vulnerability as a leader was always “in the background” and that they believed the prime minister's tenure - the longest in Israeli history - would likely end once the current round of fighting in Gaza finished.

“There’s going to have to be a reckoning within Israeli society about what happened,” said the official.

“Ultimately, the buck stops on the prime minister’s desk.”

Dozens of Israeli rabbis have signed a letter addressed to Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli defence officials, stating that there is no prohibition in halakha, or Jewish religious law, to bomb hospitals where enemies are using the civilian population as human shields, if prior warning to evacuate is given.

"We strengthen with all our hearts the hands of the soldiers and ministers to fight bravely with courage and wisdom the war of God and to win," the letter said in Hebrew, according to Israel's Channel 14.

"From the great break and the terrible pain, we will rise and be strengthened with God's help," the rabbis wrote. "The nation of Israel will rise up bravely to strike at its enemies, as David, the King of Israel said, 'I will pursue my enemies and destroy them, and I will not return until they are finished'."

Read more: Dozens of Israeli rabbis endorse bombing hospitals if 'enemies' present

Yemen's Houthi rebels have promised to keep up operations against Israel until the country's "aggression" against the Gaza Strip stopped.

In a statement on Wednesday, the group's military spokesperson said they had launched a "large batch of drones" at targets "deep within" Israeli territory.

"We will continue to carry out military operations in support of the oppression of the Palestinian people until the Israeli aggression against Gaza stops," said Yahya Saree.

On Tuesday, the Houthis said they had launched three drone and missile attacks towards Israel since 7 October.

The Israeli military also said it had intercepted an "aerial threat" over the Red Sea overnight.

Air strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza could amount to "war crimes", the UN Human Rights Office warned on Wednesday.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the body said Israel had carried out "disproportionate" attacks on the camp, which it said were aimed at Hamas officials:

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) for Palestine Refugees has said it "will stay" in Gaza despite the unprecedented humanitarian situation in the enclave.

"I was shocked by the fact that everyone there was asking for food, was asking for water," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the agency, told journalists in Gaza.

Lazzarini, the most senior UN official to visit the enclave since 7 October, said he had "never ever seen" anything like it before.

"Unrwa will stay with the Palestinian refugees in Gaza, with the Palestinians here in Gaza," he said.

The US has confirmed that it has started evacuating its citizens from the Gaza Strip, following a week of diplomacy.

An Egyptian official said that 335 foreigners and 76 wounded Palestinians had been allowed to cross into Egypt on Wednesday through the Rafah crossing, without specifying the nationalities of the former group.

"Today, thanks to American leadership, we secured safe passage for wounded Palestinians and for foreign nationals to exit Gaza," US President Joe Biden said on social media, adding that he expected more departures in the coming days.

"We won't let up working to get Americans out of Gaza," he said.

Hamas and Israel were “two inches away” from a hostage deal which would have resulted in the release of women and children held in Gaza after the 7 October attack, but the deal fell through when Israel launched a ground operation.

Sources with knowledge of the Qatari-led mediation told Middle East Eye that Hamas was willing to go through with the deal, but needed a guarantee from Israel that the hostages would be safe.

Hamas has claimed that 50 of the hostages are among thousands of people killed by the intense bombing campaign Israel has waged for three weeks, although this figure cannot be confirmed.

MEE asked Israeli officials for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Hamas said they also needed time to collect all the hostages, who are spread throughout Gaza and held by different militant groups and others who followed Hamas into southern Israel after the Israeli army’s Gaza Division collapsed.

Read more: Hamas and Israel were 'inches' away from deal on hostages

The Green Party of England and Wales has called on the UK government to support a ceasefire in Gaza.

In a statement, the co-leaders of the party said they had written to the government and the leadership of the opposition Labour Party calling on them to "listen to the people" and help end the violence in the besieged enclave.

“The mass civilian suffering we have seen in Israel and Gaza has shocked the world. Over 700 civilians are being killed every day, one child every ten minutes. The dire humanitarian situation is clearly intolerable and must end. We cannot hear arguments about violence now somehow preventing further violence in future without shuddering. The lives of children cannot be bartered in this way," said co-leader Carla Denyer.

“We are deeply concerned that neither the UK government nor the official opposition has joined international calls for a ceasefire. It is with deep regret that the Green Party feels the need to point out that at times like these, silence is complicity.

Both the ruling Conservative Party and the Labour Party has resisted calls for a ceasefire and have backed Israel's actions.

Denyer added that both the government and the Labour Party should "listen to the British people, three-quarters of whom want an immediate ceasefire."

8,805 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, the enclave's health ministry said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry added that the death toll included 3,658 children and 2,290 women.

An Israeli MP who was arrested over an arson attack on a West Bank mosque has been appointed chair of the Knesset subcommittee overseeing the occupied West Bank.

Tzvi Succot, a member of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, was appointed on Wednesday as head of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee for West Bank Affairs, which deals with security and civil affairs in Israel-administered areas of the West Bank. 

The committee deals with issues such as building in the settlements and supervision of checkpoints between the occupied territory and Israel.

The committee also supervises the Israeli security forces and drafts bills in foreign and defence affairs.

Succot, a settler from Yitzhar near Nablus, was arrested by the Shin Bet intelligence services in 2009 after being suspected of involvement in an arson attack on a mosque in the village of Yasuf in the northern West Bank.

He was later released, but remained monitored by Shin Bet.

Also, in 2015 he organised a protest in support of the Israeli detainees suspected of involvement in the Duma arson attack that killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents.

US President Joe Biden says he expects more US citizens to leave Gaza on Wednesday.

The US says it has around 400 American citizens along with their families - totaling around 1,000 people - stuck in Gaza.

It is estimated that around 100 US citizens live in the besieged enclave, and the majority of the 400 were visiting when the 7 October attack on Israel took place.

Far-right Israeli groups on messaging apps have shared and celebrated graphic videos of what appears to be Palestinian workers in the occupied West Bank being abused by Israeli soldiers.

Several of these videos were published on the "Without Limits" Israeli right-wing Telegram channel on Tuesday, which has over 117,000 subscribers, among other right-wing groups.

In one harrowing video, blindfolded Palestinian men with cable ties around their hands are seen being assaulted by heavily armed troops. The men - some of whom have been stripped entirely naked - can be heard screaming while lying on the floor. 

Soldiers drag them across the ground, while one Israeli soldier steps on a detainee's head. His colleagues are heard laughing in the background. 

The clip has almost 2,000 laughing emoji reactions to it, with hundreds of celebration emojis, as well as love-eye reactions.

Read more: Israelis cheer footage appearing to show Palestinians abused by soldiers