Israel-Hamas War LIVE: Israel searches for traces of Hamas in raid of key Gaza hospital packed with patients

10:18 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Israeli troops deepen search at main Gaza hospital for evidence of Hamas

Israel claimed its forces were operating in and around Gaza's main hospital, a key goal in its campaign to eliminate Palestinian Hamas militants who, according to the army, kept weapons and maintained a command centre in tunnels beneath the structures.

According to the IDF, Israeli troops stormed Al Shifa hospital in the early hours of Wednesday and spent the day expanding their search. According to an army video, automatic weapons, grenades, ammunition and flak jackets were discovered from an unknown facility within the compound.

10:15 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

IDF says 2 soldiers killed in northern Gaza fighting, raising ground op toll to 50

The Israel Defence Forces announced on Wednesday that two troops were killed fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, raising the total number of deaths in the ground battle against Hamas to 50.

Captain Asaf Master, 22, is a platoon commander in the 401st Brigade's 601 Battalion (part of the Combat Engineering Corps), and Cpt. Kfir Itzhak Franco, 22, is a platoon commander in the 401st Brigade's 52nd Infantry Battalion.

09:53 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Police make arrests after protest outside Democratic HQ calling for cease-fire

Last night, police in the nation's capital responded to a protest outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters demanding for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

According to US Capitol Police, some 150 people were "illegally and violently protesting" near the DNC headquarters building in Washington's Capitol Hill district. As the protest began, members of Congress were evacuated from the building.

09:38 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

IDF renews operation at Gaza hospital

On Thursday, Israel resumed its operation at Gaza's main hospital. According to Gaza's health ministry, which is run by Hamas, Israeli bulldozers "destroyed parts of the southern entrance" of the hospital on Thursday.

Both Israel and the United States claim that Hamas has a command centre beneath the Al-Shifa facility. The Palestinian terrorist group and the hospital's executives have both disputed the claim.

09:30 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Biden accuses Hamas of committing 'war crime'

US President Joe Biden accused Hamas of committing a “war crime".

Biden added, “You have a circumstance where the first war crime is being committed by Hamas by having their headquarters, their military hidden under a hospital. And that's a fact. That's what's happened".

09:28 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

3/4 of Gaza's hospitals aren't working

According to the World Health Organisation, only a quarter of Gaza's hospitals are still operational, with about 26 out of 36 facilities now closed – either due to damage or because they ran out of fuel.

The UN health agency has lost contact with Shifa Hospital's health professionals. Yesterday, the Israeli troops raided the hospital. According to the Israeli army, Hamas militants utilise hospitals as cover for their fighters and have established their main command centre in and beneath the hospital.

Shifa's bodies were interred in a mass grave on Wednesday, with another 80 dead left unburied.

08:57 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Israel searches for traces of Hamas in raid of key Gaza hospital packed with patients

On Wednesday, Israeli troops entered Gaza's largest hospital, hunting for remnants of Hamas within and beneath the facility, where newborns and hundreds of other patients had been without electricity and other basic requirements for days as combat raged outside.

Details from the daylong raid remained sketchy, but officials from Israel and Gaza presented different accounts of what was happening at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City: The Israeli army released video showing soldiers carrying boxes labeled as “baby food” and “medical supplies,” while health officials talked of terrified staff and patients as troops moved through the buildings.

After encircling Shifa for days, Israel was under pressure to prove that Hamas had turned the hospital into a command centre, using patients, staff, and civilians sheltering there as cover for its militants. The charge is part of Israel's broader claim that Hamas employs Palestinians as human shields. Israel released footage late Wednesday showing weaponry it claimed to have discovered in one facility, but its search has so far turned up no evidence of tunnels or a sophisticated command centre.

08:57 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Biden says he made it clear to Israel it would be a mistake to occupy Gaza

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Israel-Palestinian problem could only be resolved through a two-state solution, and he warned against invading Gaza as a mistake.

Biden told reporters that he was actively working to obtain the release of hostages held by the Hamas militant group in Gaza, but that such efforts would not include the deployment of US military forces.

08:29 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

'Didn't know about Israel raid on Shifa,' says US

According to US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, the US did not approve Israel's raid on Shifa hospital.

In response to queries regarding the timing of the operation and his comment that the US knows Hamas fighters hide in hospitals, Kirby said the US does not expect early notification from Israel before military actions.

“We did not give an OK to their military operations around the hospital," Kirby said, speaking to reporters from San Francisco, where President Joe Biden was preparing to meet with China’s leader on Wednesday. “We don’t expect the Israelis to inform us."

08:18 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Israel releases video of weapons it says were found in Shifa hospital

The Israeli military revealed guns and military equipment it claims were discovered in Gaza's Shifa Hospital.

However, so far, it has found no evidence of tunnels or a sophisticated command centre, which it claims Hamas keeps on the hospital premises. Shifa is not a militant stronghold, according to Hamas and Gaza health officials.

The army assaulted Gaza's largest hospital early Wednesday. After a day of searching, the army published a video of multiple AK-47 automatic guns, ammunition, grenades, protection vests, and other Hamas equipment. Many of the things were claimed to be in duffel bags in the hospital's MRI section.

08:16 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Biden says 'mildly hopeful' on deal to free Hamas-held hostages

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was "mildly hopeful" that an agreement to free Hamas detainees in Gaza would be reached, and that he had encouraged Israel to be "incredibly careful" in its military operations around hospitals in the territory.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself here because I don't know what's happened in the last four hours, but we have gotten great cooperation from the Qataris," he said when asked about progress on freeing hostages taken on October 7.

Biden noted the "pause the Israelis have agreed to" before cutting off his thought and saying "I'm going to stop. But I am mildly hopeful."

08:11 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

Over 600 people left Gaza at Rafah border crossing, Hamas says

According to Wael Abou Omar, the Hamas spokesperson for the Rafah border crossing, 644 Palestinians crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Wednesday.

There were 587 dual nationals, 37 people who were injured or sick, and 20 companions. There was no other information available at the time.

Earlier, dozens of evacuees waited patiently at the Rafah border, their documents ready for inspection. Toqa al-Zaian, a Palestinian of Norwegian nationality, was among them, struggling to say farewell.

07:50 (IST)

Israel Hamas War LIVE

UN Security Council adopts resolution calling for humanitarian pauses in Gaza

After four failed attempts to respond to the Israel-Hamas war, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution Wednesday calling for "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors" in Gaza.

The result was 12-0, with the US, the UK, and Russia all voting no.

The final draught changed the wording from "demand" to "call" for humanitarian pauses. It also softened its call for "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups." Furthermore, the resolution makes no mention of a cease-fire or Hamas' surprise attacks on Israel on October 7.