Israel-Palestine live: Biden urges Egypt, Qatar to press Hamas for hostage deal

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that the justifications given by Israel regarding the air strike in Gaza, which resulted in the death of seven people associated with the aid organisation World Central Kitchen, were inadequate and unacceptable.

Sanchez demanded further details.

"That is unacceptable and insufficient, and we are awaiting a much stronger and more detailed clarification, after which we'll see what action to take," Sanchez told a news briefing on Wednesday while visiting Qatar.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident "a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants", adding that "this happens in war".

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the "horrific" killing of the seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza highlights "the extreme danger" under which humanitarians operate in the strip.

He said that aid groups could only operate with "safe access". 

"This means an effective and transparent mechanism for deconfliction must be put in place to ensure humanitarian convoys can move safely," Ghebreyesus said in a press conference. 

He also called for aid entry points, including in northern Gaza, and passages through checkpoints.

"Delays and denials of humanitarian missions not only prevent us from reaching those in need but also impact other operations and deliveries by diverting scarce resources," he added.

He also commented on the amount of destruction at al-Shifa Hospital, saying he was "appalled" that Gaza's largest hospital had been put out of service.

For as long as I remember, over the almost half a century I have lived in the US, but especially since the 1980s and the Ronald Reagan presidency, I have heard the expression “the lesser of two evils”.

This is meant to convey the sentiment that there is not much difference between the leading two candidates of a presidential election, so reasonable and decent Americans will vote for someone who is the lesser evil. 

Though the origin of the phrase might be traced back to classical antiquity and particularly Aristotle, it is since the Vietnam War in the 1960s that the phrase has become a common political position. 

Most recently, we had to choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016, and then between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020. Again, in 2024, we will be facing the same choice.

In an opinion piece I wrote almost four years ago, long before Biden had wholeheartedly underwritten, financed, armed and diplomatically facilitated the Israeli genocide currently under way in Gaza, I explained why I would not vote for Biden.

You can read the full column below. 

Opinion: US elections: Biden and Trump are two sides of the same murderous coin

Israel has destroyed billions of dollars worth of infrastructure in the first four months of its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, according to a new report by the World Bank and the United Nations.

Describing the level of damage inflicted by Israel as "unprecedented", both global bodies said the damage is estimated to be worth at least $18.5bn - the combined GDP of the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

"The level of destruction in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 is unprecedented," said the Interim Damage Assessment report, released on Tuesday. 

"To date, 80 percent of total damages were concentrated in the governorates of Gaza, North Gaza and Khan Younis."

Read more: Gaza infrastructure damage estimated at billions of dollars, say UN and World Bank

Ambulances transporting some of the dead bodies of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers, who were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, have arrived in Egypt, Egyptian state media reports.

Earlier, it was reported that ambulances carrying the corpses are being moved out of Gaza.  

The bodies, which were carried from Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Gaza's southern border city of Rafah, will be met by representatives from their home countries before they are sent for burial.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said Israel did not do enough to protect aid workers operating in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

He added that Israel has pledged to open an investigation, and that Washington would continue to press Israel to allow the flow of aid into the strip.

Belgium's Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib says her country is open to recognising Palestine as a state "when the moment comes".

Her statements come during a Nato summit, where foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels today.

Lahbib has also condemned the international response to the war on Gaza, stating that the UN Security Council resolution that was passed last week calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in the besieged enclave seems to be ineffective. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the resolution "must be implemented without delay".

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the deadly Israeli strike on World Central Kitchens (WCK) staff, killing a Polish citizen and six others, along with Israel's reaction, put the two countries' ties to the test.

"The vast majority of Poles showed full solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack," he said on X. "Today you are putting this solidarity to a really difficult test."

"The tragic attack against volunteers and your reaction are generating an understandable anger," he added.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Polish public radio Trojka it is "obvious something is wrong with the rules on the use of weapons by the Israeli army".

"You cannot [downplay] this matter by saying these things happen in war, as Netanyahu said yesterday," he added.

Additionally, district prosecutor Beata Starzecka told Poland's PAP news agency that prosecutors in Przemysl, the town killed aid worker Damian Sobol is from, are independently investigating his murder.

Lebanese judicial sources told AFP that the Unifil peacekeeping forces were wounded by a landmine near the town of Rmeish, southern Lebanon, on Saturday.

Security sources had previously told Reuters the team were hit by an Israeli strike, while Israel accused Hezbollah of hitting them with a roadside bomb.

Pope Francis expressed his "deep regret" for the World Central Kitchens aid workers killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, and renewed his appeal for the ending of suffering in the enclave.

"I renew my appeal for the exhausted and suffering civilian population to be allowed access to humanitarian aid and for the hostages to be released immediately."

The Pope reiterated his "firm request" for a ceasefire in Gaza and concluded his appeal by asking people to join him in prayer for "the silencing of weapons and the return of peace".

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said that 59 people were killed by Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 32,975 since the beginning of the war on 7 October.

Gaza's government media office also released an update on several statistics relating to Israel's war on the enclave.

According to their numbers, 14,500 children have been killed since the beginning of the war, including 30 of starvation. Of the victims, 73 percent are women and children, while 17,000 children have lost at least one of their parents.

Additionally, 484 medical personnel have been killed, along with 140 journalists and 65 civil defence members.

The media office also says that 1,088,764 people are suffering from infectious diseases due to their displacement, and 350,000 chronic disease patients are at risk due to the lack of medication. Additionally, 32 hospitals are reportedly out of service.

The office also says that Israel has dropped 70,000 tonnes of bombs on Gaza.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reiterated its call for a ceasefire in Gaza as it warns of famine closing in and malnutrition among children spreading at "record pace".

"One in three children below the age of two is now acutely malnourished," the organisation said.

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar issued a warning regarding violence at ongoing anti-government protests in Israel.

"The violent discourse online and some of the scenes we saw tonight in Jerusalem go beyond acceptable protest, harm the ability to maintain public order, could lead to violent clashes with law enforcement, disrupt their ability to carry out their work and even cause harm to individuals under protection," he said.

"There is a clear line between legitimate protest and violent and illegal protest. This is a worrying trend that could lead to dangerous places which we must not come to."

His statement comes after violence erupted at a protest last night in Jerusalem.

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz also spoke out against the violence.

"Unity is the key to our future. We cannot accept violence from any side. We cannot accept people ignoring police instructions and breaking through barriers as we saw yesterday night in Jerusalem," he said. "Protest is legitimate, the pain is understandable, but the law and rules must be kept.

"We mustn't return to October 6."

An investigation by Al Jazeera's Sanad verification agency found that the Israeli strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchens (WCK) aid workers were intentional.

The report was based on open-source information, witness testimonies and images from the site, through which the network constructed a chronological and geographical timeline.

The investigation found that three WCK vehicles were targeted after the group delivered 100 tonnes of food aid in a Deir al-Balah warehouse.

"The second vehicle was targeted approximately 800 metres away from where the first was hit," the report read.

"The third car was targeted about 1.6km away from the second car, based on its location after being bombed."

The WCK said that their convoy was hit "despite coordinating movements" with the Israeli army.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• The State of Palestine has officially relaunched their bid to become a full member state of the UN, as it says it is an essential step in the face of Israel's current war on Gaza
• The Israeli military has bulldozed roads and cut water to homes in parts of the village of Deir Sharaf, occupied West Bank as part of a wider raid in the area
• Four Israeli police officers have been injured in a reported car ramming incident near the city of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, and Israeli police say they shot and killed the suspect
• Literature and human rights organisation PEN America called the Israeli bill that would give Netanyahu the power to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel "a clear violation of press freedom"

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Gaza's health ministry said that 71 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 32,916 people since 7 October.

Additionally, 75,494 people have been injured since the start of the war, 102 of them in the past 24 hours.

• Ships are turning back from Gaza with around 240 tons of undelivered aid following the Israeli air strike which killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers, according to a Cypriot official cited by PA news agency. 
• The British governmment summoned the Israeli ambassador over the death of aid workers in Gaza.
• The UAE is suspending its humanitarian aid operations via the maritime route until further assurance of safety and a comprehensive investigation are conducted.
• The US is "outraged" by the attack that resulted in the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza.
• In the initial four months following the Israeli offensive on Gaza which began on 7 October, Gaza has suffered approximately $18.5 bn in damages to its essential infrastructure.
• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone and called for “a thorough and transparent independent investigation” into the Gaza aid worker deaths.
• The United States said on Tuesday that it had no involvement in the Israeli air strike targeting the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, which resulted in the deaths of two Iranian generals and five military advisors.