Medics in southern Gaza say hundreds of patients and thousands of displaced people were unable to leave the main hospital in Khan Younis because of heavy fighting Wednesday. The Israeli military said its forces were battling militants there, after encircling the city the day before.
Thousands of people have rushed to escape Khan Younis, the second-largest city in Gaza, in recent days. The U.N. says some 1.5 million people — around two-thirds of Gaza’s population — are crowded into shelters and tent camps in and around Rafah, which is on the border with Egypt.
Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza has set the wider region on edge. Off the coast of Yemen, officials said two American-flagged ships carrying cargo for the U.S. Defense and State departments came under attack Wednesday. The Houthi rebel group, which has been launching attacks on ships since November over Israel’s war, did not immediately acknowledge the latest assault.
The Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 25,400 people have been killed and another 63,000 wounded in the enclave since the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel in which militants from Gaza killed around 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.
Currently:
— Qatar, a top gas producer, says shipments affected by Houthi assaults as vessel attacked off Yemen.
— Rifts within Israel resurface as war in Gaza drags on. Some want elections now.
— US bombs Iraq and Yemen as regional fight with Iran-allied militants intensifies.
— Twenty-one Israeli soldiers are killed in the deadliest single attack on the army since the Gaza offensive began.
— U.N. chief warns that Israel’s rejection of a two-state solution threatens global peace.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
ISRAELI TANK ATTACKS U.N. SHELTER, KILLING 9 AND WOUNDING AT LEAST 75, UNITED NATIONS SAYS
UNITED NATIONS — An Israeli tank attack on a United Nations center sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians has killed at least nine people and wounded 75 others in Gaza’s second largest city, senior U.N. humanitarian officials said Wednesday.
Two tank shells hit a building filled with 800 people at a training center compound where 10,000 Palestinians have sought refuge from Israel’s ground invasion, said Thomas White, the director of UNRWA, the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees.
In a post on X, White said UNRWA employees were unable to reach the area in Khan Younis because the route there has been blocked by an earth bank, without elaborating. Another attack on the same facility on Monday killed six people, UNRWA said earlier this week.
No other information was immediately available. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Israel has accused Hamas militants of operating near U.N. facilities.
James McGoldrick, the acting U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said in a video conference with reporters that intensified Israeli military activity is also taking place in the area, which includes Nasser Hospital and other health facilities where medical staff are hunkering down with patients and displaced people.
For weeks, Khan Younis has been one of the frontlines of the war between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, a conflict now entering its fourth month. On Tuesday, the Israeli army said forces had completely encircled the city.
Elsewhere in Gaza, at least five people were killed when a strike hit a mosque in the far southern city of Rafah Wednesday, according to Associated Press journalists.
The dead and the injured were taken to nearby Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital where they were counted by AP staff.
ATTACKS OFF YEMEN TARGETED 2 SHIPS CARRYING CARGO FOR U.S. DEFENSE AND STATE DEPARTMENTS, OFFICIALS SAY
Two American-flagged ships carrying cargo for the U.S. Defense and State departments came under attack off Yemen on Wednesday, officials said, with the U.S. Navy intercepting some of the incoming fire. Suspicion immediately fell on Yemen’s Houthi rebels for carrying out the assault.
The attacks on the container ships Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake further raise the stakes of the group’s ongoing attacks on shipping through the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The U.S. and the United Kingdom have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes seeking to stop the attacks.
Danish shipper Maersk, in a statement to The Associated Press, identified two of its vessels affected by the attacks as the U.S.-flagged container ships Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake. It said the U.S. Navy was accompanying its ships at the time.
“While en route, both ships reported seeing explosions close by and the U.S. Navy accompaniment also intercepted multiple projectiles,” Maersk said. “The crew, ship, and cargo are safe and unharmed. The U.S. Navy has turned both ships around and is escorting them back to the Gulf of Aden.”
Maersk said both vessels carried cargo belonging to the U.S. Defense and State Departments, as well as other government agencies, meaning they were “afforded the protection of the U.S. Navy for passage through the strait.”
The ships were operated by Maersk Line, a U.S. subsidiary of Maersk that is “suspending transits in the region until further notice,” the company said.
The U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Houthis, who have been launching attacks on ships since November over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, did not immediately acknowledge the
DOZENS IN GAZA HOLD SMALL RALLY IN SUPPORT OF CEASE-FIRE
CAIRO — Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza have protested in support of an immediate cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The demonstration in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah Wednesday was a rare show of protest in the devastated territory, where people are struggling to get by amid the war and the humanitarian crisis it sparked.
Demonstrators, mostly women and children, chanted: “People want to end the war,” and “we want to go back to the north (of Gaza).”
One sign held up by young girl read: “Yes to returning the prisoners,” a reference to the hostages kidnapped by Hamas and other militant groups when they stormed southern Israel and killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7., the event that triggered the war.
There have been few public protests or demonstrations in Gaza since the war erupted.
Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, seized on the protest to show that Palestinians were demanding that Hamas release the hostages to end the war. But there was no indication the protesters directed their demonstration at Hamas specifically.
And the protest did not appear to indicate any change in public opinion against Hamas which according to a survey in December found a rise in support since the war erupted for the militant group among Palestinians, including those in Gaza.
GAS-RICH QATAR SAYS HOUTHI ATTACKS ON SHIPPING ARE AFFECTING ITS DELIVERIES
JERUSALEM — Qatar, one of the world’s top exporters of liquified natural gas, warned Wednesday that its deliveries were affected by ongoing attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Ships carrying liquified natural gas from Qatar had been delayed previously before heading through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. That’s where the Houthi attacks have snarled shipping in a key route for Asia and the Middle East to ship cargo and energy to Europe.
Qatar, which has served as a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, has yet to see any of its ships attacked, however. A statement from its state-owned QatarEnergy producer said that its “production continues uninterrupted, and our commitment to ensuring the reliable supply of LNG to our customers remains unwavering.”
“While the ongoing developments in the Red Sea area may impact the scheduling of some deliveries as they take alternative routes, LNG shipments from Qatar are being managed with our valued buyers,” the statement said.
The statement suggests QatarEnergy’s cargos now are traveling around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, likely adding time to their trips.
EXPLOSION NEAR US-FLAGGED SHIP OFF YEMEN CAUSES NO DAMAGE, UK MILITARY SAYS
JERUSALEM — An explosion struck near a U.S.-flagged ship on Wednesday traveling through a crucial strait near Yemen, although no damage or injuries were reported, the British military said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, an organization monitoring Mideast waterways overseen by the British military, reported the blast happened near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen.
The explosion happened some 100 meters (325 feet) from the vessel, but caused no damage and its crew is safe, the British said.
The Houthis, who have been launching attacks on ships since November over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
The U.S. and the U.K. have launched rounds of airstrikes targeting suspected missile storage and launch sites used by the Houthis over the attacks.
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY WILL SEEK URGENT ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE IN VISIT WITH MIDDLE EAST LEADERS
London — British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is visiting the Middle East to meet with regional leaders this week to call for an “urgent humanitarian pause” in Gaza.
Cameron’s first stop Wednesday is Israel, where he is expected to raise concerns about the high number of civilian casualties in talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and push for water and electricity to be restored to Gaza. He will stress the need for more crossing points to enable more aid deliveries to Gaza, including the port at Ashdod and the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“No one wants to see this conflict go on a moment longer than necessary. An immediate pause is now necessary to get aid in and hostages out. The situation is desperate,” he said in a statement. He added that a permanent cease-fire would require Hamas to relinquish its hostages and control in Gaza, as well as an agreement for the Palestinian Authority to return to the enclave.
Cameron is expected to visit Qatar and Turkey later in the week.