Gaza's Al Shifa hospital suspends operations after running out of fuel, baby dies: Health Ministry - The Straits Times

On Friday, Gaza officials had said missiles landed in a courtyard of Al Shifa, killing one person and wounding others.

Israel’s military said later that a misfired projectile launched by Palestinian militants in Gaza had hit Al Shifa.

Islamic-Arab summit

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Saturday that Israel bears responsibility for what he called “crimes committed against Palestinian people”. He also called for an end to the siege of the Gaza Strip.

Speaking during an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh, he also called for the immediate end of military operations and the release of hostages.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians are facing an “unmatched genocidal war”.

He called on the United States to pressure its ally, Israel, to stop its offensive.

Mr Abbas added that Palestinians needed international protection in the face of Israeli attacks.

Dozens of leaders, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are attending the summit.

As he headed to Riyadh on Saturday, Iran’s Mr Raisi said the time had come for action over the conflict rather than talk.

“Gaza is not an arena for words. It should be for action,” he said at Teheran airport before departing. “Today, the unity of the Islamic countries is very important,” he added.

But divisions remain among the Arab nations.

Foreign ministers from the region held an emergency meeting on Thursday to prepare for the summit.

Some countries, led by Algeria, called to cut all diplomatic ties with Israel, two delegates told Reuters.

But a bloc of Arab countries, which have established diplomatic relations with Israel, pushed back, the delegates said. These countries stressed the need to keep channels open with the Israeli government.

Mounting pressure

Nevertheless, Israel is facing mounting international pressure, including from its main ally the US, to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in its war to flush out Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

More than 11,000 people have been killed in five weeks of fighting, according to Gaza’s health officials.

The war comes in response to an attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct 7. Israel says around 1,200 people were killed, a revision of an earlier death toll.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on a visit to India on Friday that “far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too many have suffered these past weeks”.

Those were his strongest comments to date on the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire.

Similar sentiments were echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

France, he said, “clearly condemns” the “terrorist” actions of Hamas.

But while recognising Israel’s right to protect itself, Mr Macron said “we do urge them to stop this bombing” in Gaza.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said world leaders should be condemning Hamas, not Israel.

“These crimes that Hamas (is) committing today in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York and anywhere in the world,” Mr Netanyahu said. REUTERS

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2023-11-11 10:40:00Z
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