‘It’ll be a long war,’ says Netanyahu, Rishi Sunak says ‘We want you to win’

A day after US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak landed in war-torn Israel on Thursday.

Rishi Sunak said that Britain would stand by Israel in “its darkest hour”. Meanwhile, the Australian government today accused Israel of collectively punishing Palestinians in its war on Hamas.

On Wednesday, hours after a blast at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds, Israel said that it would allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Assessing the explosion, the White House said the Gaza hospital explosion appeared to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza.

There were conflicting claims about who was behind the explosion on Tuesday night, but protests flared quickly in the region as many Arab leaders said Israel was responsible. Hamas officials in Gaza quickly blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying hundreds were killed. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Rishi Sunak assured that Britain would stand by Israel in “its darkest hour”.

“I know that you are taking every precaution to avoid harming civilians in direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas which seeks to put civilians in harm’s way,” Rishi Sunak said alongside Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. “I welcome your decision yesterday that you took to ensure that routes into Gaza will be opened for humanitarian aid to enter … I’m proud to stand here with you. In Israel’s darkest hour as your friend. We will stand with you in solidarity. We will stand with your people and we also want you to win.”

Benjamin Netanyahu told Rishi Sunak that the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists was aimed to prevent the expansion of its peaceful relations in the Middle East. “We were on the cusp of expanding that peace, and destroying that move was one of the reasons why this action was taken,” he said.

“This is our darkest hour,” Netanyahu added. “That means that this is a long war, and we’ll need your continuous support.”

The Australian government has accused Israel of collectively punishing Palestinians in its war on Hamas.

“I feel very strongly that Palestinians are being collectively punished here for Hamas’ barbarism. I really do feel there is an obligation on governments, particularly the Israeli government, to follow the rules of international law and to observe in particular that innocents should be protected,” the Associated Press quoted Australian government minister Ed Husic as saying.

In his first comments on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country wants the war to be stopped as soon as possible.

“China wants the Israel-Hamas war to be stopped as soon as possible. Beijing was willing to work with Arab governments for a lasting solution to the conflict. A ceasefire was “imperative” as soon as possible to prevent the conflict from expanding, or spiralling out of control.”

President Joe Biden, who swept into wartime Israel for a seven-and-a-half-hour visit on Wednesday, wrapped up his stay in Tel Aviv.

Likening the October 7 Hamas assault to the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people, Biden said, “I understand. Many Americans understand. You can’t look at what has happened here and not scream out for justice. But I caution this: While you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. And while we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.”

As the United States concluded Israel was not responsible for the Gaza hospital bombing, Biden also said, “I’m not suggesting Hamas deliberately bombed the Gaza hospital.”

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry revised the death toll from an explosion at a Gaza City hospital down from 500 to 471 on Wednesday but did not elaborate on how authorities reached that figure. According to a report with the Associated Press, staff members at al-Ahli Hospital said they could not gauge the toll because the blast had dismembered so many bodies. Hospital director Suhaila Tarazi and Episcopal Church officials that run al-Ahli could only estimate that the toll was “in the hundreds” and refrained from giving an exact number.

Mohammed Abu Selmia, general director of Shifa Hospital where all the wounded and dead were transferred following the explosion, told The Associated Press early Wednesday he believed the death toll was closer to 250, with hundreds more wounded.

Joe Biden will make an address regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict and the war in Ukraine on Thursday evening at 2000 ET (0000 GMT on Friday), the White House said on Wednesday.

During his visit to the war-torn country, Biden said Israel has been victimised but it can relieve the suffering of Gazans. He also pledged to help Israel and the Palestinians. The Associated Press reported that the US will provide $100 million in humanitarian assistance for Palestinians affected by conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. Several sources said on Wednesday that Biden has not settled on a final figure, and the breakdown has not been communicated to Congress.

On Wednesday, Israel said it would allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved in light of a request from visiting US President Joe Biden. In a statement, it said it “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water and medicine, as long as the supplies do not reach Hamas.

The statement from Netanyahu’s office made no mention of badly needed fuel and it was not clear when the aid would start flowing. Egypt’s Rafah crossing has only a limited capacity, and Egypt says it has been damaged by Israeli airstrikes.

In the early hours of Thursday, Israeli air strikes targeted two villages in southern Lebanon, Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV reported. The Israeli missiles were fired at Kafr Shuba and near Odaisseh, the channel added.

An airstrike also hit a home in a southern Gaza town, killing seven children, residents and doctors said. Images shared on social media showed images of dead and bloodied toddlers lined up side by side on a hospital stretcher, sparking outrage in Gaza and the West Bank. Bandaged and caked in dust, the bodies were brought to the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis along with three other dead members of the Bakri family.

Four Hezbollah terrorists were killed near the Lebanon-Israel border and a Hezbollah spokesperson said the Lebanese Red Cross has collected their bodies, the Associated Press reported. The Hezbollah spokesperson also said the bodies belonged to terrorists who were pronounced dead Tuesday. He did not provide details of how they died.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said that its forces killed four terrorists who were allegedly carrying an explosive device and suspected of attempting a cross-border operation.

On Wednesday, protesters around the Middle East staged anti-Israel rallies over the Gaza hospital explosion that killed hundreds. According to a report with news agency Reuters, Palestinian officials said Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near Ramallah in the West Bank during protests against Tuesday’s blast.

In Lebanon, security forces fired tear gas and water canon at protesters who were throwing projectiles as a protest near the US Embassy north of Beirut turned violent, footage by Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed showed.