Israel has launched an overnight raid on Gaza’s largest medical facility – al Shifa hospital – hours after the US backed claims it was being used by Hamas fighters.
Israeli forces said they entered a “specified area” of the medical complex for a “precise and targeted” operation “against Hamas“.
The raid came hours after the US backed Israel’s claims that the medical facility had been used by Hamas as a base of operations.
Hamas – which flatly denied the claims – blamed US President Joe Biden and his administration for the Israeli raid, saying that the “adopting” of the allegations had effectively given Israel the “green light” to launch the operation.
However, in a statement, the White House said it did not support air strikes on the hospital and that it “did not want to see” a firefight inside the facility.
The White House also urged that patients “must be protected” during the raid.
While thousands have fled the hospital since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, around 650 patients and 500 staff – along with around 2,500 displaced Palestinians – are thought to still be in al Shifa, according to UN estimates.
IsraelDefence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, said their intelligence put the number of people still inside the facility at around 1,000.
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However, he told CNN that Israeli forces were “not overrunning the hospital” and instead were carrying out a targeted operation in a “specific location” of the al Shifa medical complex.
He did not give further details of the “complex” operation, but said it was a “military necessity” based on Israeli and US intelligence.
He also said IDF forces would “perhaps” rescue some of the estimated 240 hostages who were taken into Gaza during Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October.
Israel has repeatedly claimed that al Shifa – a large medical complex in Gaza City – along with other hospitals, have been used as bases by Hamas.
Image: Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari shows what he says are weapons stored by Hamas in the basement of Rantissi Hospital
Pic:Israel Defence Forces/Reuters
It has previously threatened to target al Shifa and has warned about the potential for the facility to lose its protection under international humanitarian law if used to hide fighters or store weapons.
On Monday, President Biden said that the hospital “must be protected” and said it was his “expectation” that there would be “less intrusive action”.
However, on Tuesday, the White House’s national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said the US had its own intelligence that showed Hamas were operating out of al Shifa.
Hamas responded to “strongly condemn and reject the claims”. However, hours later, the IDF announced it had launched its “targeted operation” at the hospital.
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In a statement announcing the raid, the IDF said it had “publicly warned time and again that Hamas’ continued military use of the hospital jeopardised its protected status under international law”.
“Yesterday [Monday], the IDF conveyed to the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, they did not.”
The IDF urged any Hamas fighters in the hospital to surrender immediately.
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8:50
‘Shifa hospital is Hamas HQ’
In response, Hamas said it held Israel, President Biden, and his administration, “fully responsible for the repercussions of the occupation army’s storming of the Shifa Medical Complex, and what the medical staff and thousands of displaced people are exposed to, as a result of this brutal crime against a health facility protected by international law”.
The raid came amid claims of a humanitarian crisis at the hospital, which has been encircled by Israeli troops.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said 32 patients, including three babies, had died since the hospital’s emergency generator ran out of fuel on Saturday.
Image: Premature Palestinian babies in Shifa Hospital. Pic: Dr Marawan Abu Saada via AP
On Monday, the ministry released images of about a dozen premature babies wrapped in blankets together on a bed to keep them warm.
Israel’s military said it was working to bring incubators into Gaza and on Tuesday shared an image showing a soldier unloading incubators from a van.
Image: An images shared by the Israel Defence Forces showing an incubator being taken out of a van
The military did not make it clear if the incubators had been delivered or how they would be powered.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, at least 11,255 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its retaliatory strikes after the 7 October attack.
Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%.
The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply.
The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.
Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”
There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.
Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.
And tariffs on Chinese imports have doubled, raising them from 10% to 20%.
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Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.
China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and “bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.
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2:45
What is America’s trade position?
Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America, prompting a financial market sell-off.
Stock market indexes the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.48% and 2.64% respectively on Monday.
The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.
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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.
Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.
This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.
A truck has collided with a bus in southern Bolivia, killing at least 31 people, according to police – just two days after a deadly crash claimed at least 37 lives.
Officers said the bus rolled some 500m (1,640ft) down a ravine after the collision on Monday, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.
The driver of the truck has been arrested, while the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Police spokesperson Limbert Choque said men and women were among the dead, and 22 people suffered injuries.
Image: Rescue teams operating at the site of the crash. Pic: Bolivia’s attorney general/Reuters
Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, expressed condolences for the victims on social media: “This unfortunate event must be investigated to establish responsibilities,” he said in a post on Facebook.
“We send our most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, wishing them the necessary strength to face these difficult times.”
Image: The crash happened between Oruro and Potosi
On Saturday morning, a crash between two buses killed more than three dozen people in the same region.
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It happened between Colchani and the city of Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world’s largest salt flat.
Image: People stand near the wreckage of one of the two buses involved in a crash on Saturday. Pic: Reuters/Potosi Departmental Command
Coincidentally, one of the buses was heading to Oruro, where one of the most important carnival celebrations in Latin America is currently taking place.
More than 30 people were also killed after a bus crash on 17 February.
In that crash, police said the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to drop more than 800m (2,600ft) off a precipice in the southwestern area of Yocalla.
Bolivia’s mountainous, undermaintained and poorly supervised roads are some of the deadliest in the world, claiming an average 1,400 fatalities every year.
The Pope has had two episodes of “acute respiratory failure”, the Vatican has said.
The 88-year-old has been in hospital since 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.
The Vatican said the respiratory failures were caused by “significant accumulation” of mucus in his lungs and a “bronchospasm”, akin to an asthma attack.
Doctors were then required to perform two bronchoscopies – a test which sees medics use a long, thin, telescope with a light to look into the lungs – to evaluate the Pope’s air passages, the statement said.
“In the afternoon, non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed,” the Vatican continued. “The Holy Father has always remained vigilant, oriented and collaborative. The prognosis remains reserved.”
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1:00
Behind the scenes at the Vatican
The respiratory issues the Pope suffered today are due to an ongoing infection rather than a new one but he is not out of danger, they added.
Asked if the Pope is in good spirits, they gave no answer. When asked if the Vatican’s apartment is getting ready to welcome Francis back, the source said it was too premature to discuss this.
Earlier on Monday, Pope Francis issued a written message after Vatican officials begged him to let his voice be heard following more than two weeks out of public view.
He thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, before praying for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.
“From here, war appears even more absurd,” he wrote.
Image: People at a nightly rosary prayer for the Pope in St. Peter’s Square yesterday evening. Pic: AP
This has become the longest public absence of his 12-year papacy.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski presided over the evening rosary prayer in St Peter’s Square on Sunday night.
“Let us pray together with the entire church for the health of the Holy Father Francis,” he said.