Israel-Hamas war live: Biden opposes reoccupation of Gaza, says White House, after Netanyahu suggests indefinite ‘security responsibility’ | Israel-Hamas war

The UN Children’s Fund (Unicef); the UN Population Fund (UNFPA); the World Health Organization and other agencies said at the weekend that with 14 of the 35 hospitals and 46 of 72 health centres destroyed or no longer functioning, 180 women a day were giving birth without adequate care, including undergoing caesareans without painkillers, and being discharged, still bleeding, within hours of the delivery.

Noor Hammad, 24, is seven months pregnant with her first chid. She is now homeless and sleeping on her sister’s floor with 25 relatives.

In a joint statement, they warned: “Some women are having to give birth in shelters, in their homes, in the streets amid rubble, or in overwhelmed healthcare facilities, where sanitation is worsening, and the risk of infection and medical complications is on the rise.”

Those medical facilities that remain open are overwhelmed with people wounded in airstrikes. “Maternal deaths are expected to increase, given the lack of access to adequate care,” the agencies said.

“The psychological toll of the hostilities also has direct – and sometimes deadly – consequences on reproductive health, including a rise in stress-induced miscarriages, still births and premature births,” they said.

Dr Zaher Sahloul, president of the aid group MedGlobal, says: “As hospitals turn off the last of their equipment due to lack of fuel, neonatal wards are falling dark, and newborns and mothers are suffering. These are among the saddest, yet easily preventable, tragedies.”

Hammad has witnessed the daily chaos facing healthcare workers while volunteering at Gaza’s Nasser hospital. “Injuries are being treated in the hospital courtyards and corridors,” she says.

On 6 October, Noor Hammad went to work as usual at a clinic in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, where she was employed as a nutritionist. In the evening she made dinner for herself and her husband. They were planning for the birth of their first child in January and had been decorating a bedroom in readiness for her arrival.

The bedroom no longer exists. Their house was destroyed in airstrikes just days after the couple fled to the south of Gaza on 9 October.

Hammad is now living in her sister’s two-bedroom home in Khan Younis, where she sleeps on the floor with 25 other members of her family.

Excited anticipation over the arrival of her baby has been replaced with anxiety about her safety, the health of the unborn child and how she will give birth in a war zone.

“I have no idea where I will give birth to my daughter and how I will receive her without shelter or clothes,” she says. “I don’t have anything.”

Hammad, 24, is one of an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza facing an uncertain birth.

Remains of seven Thai nationals expected to arrive in Bangkok Thursday

Rebecca Ratcliffe

The remains of seven Thai nationals killed in Israel are expected to arrive in Bangkok on Thursday afternoon, Thailand’s foreign ministry has said.

About 30,000 Thais were working in Israel before the Hamas attacks, and the Israeli government has said they make up the biggest group of foreign people killed or missing.

In total, 34 Thai people were killed in the violence, while four are being treated in hospital. A further 24 were abducted.

Thai officials have met with Hamas, as well as Qatar and Egypt in order to secure the hostages’ release. They have also received support from neighbouring Malaysia, a vocal supporter of Palestine.

About 8,000 Thais have now been repatriated.

In case you missed this earlier: in the UK, the shadow minister Imran Hussain has resigned from Keir Starmer’s Labour frontbench in order to “be able to strongly advocate for a ceasefire” in Gaza.

“Over recent weeks, it has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted,” Hussain said in a resignation letter to Starmer published on social media.

“A ceasefire is essential to ending the bloodshed, to ensuring that enough aid can pass into Gaza and reach those most in need, and to help ensure the safe return of the Israeli hostages.”

He said he had been “proud” to work alongside Sir Keir and his deputy Angela Rayner in developing a plan for employment rights, but could not “in all good conscience” push for a cessation of hostilities while remaining part of the frontbench.

The Bradford East MP, who was a shadow minister for work, said he had been “deeply troubled” by Starmer’s comments during an LBC interview on 11 October where said his party leader appeared to endorse Israel cutting off water and power to the Gaza Strip; and while Starmer had since clarified his remarks, “I believe the party needs to go further and call for a ceasefire”.

Chris Stein

More now on the US House voting to censure Rashida Tlaib.

Tlaib provoked criticism last week by defending the controversial slogan “from the river to the sea”.

In remarks on the House floor, Tlaib defended her criticism of the country and urged lawmakers to join in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“I will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words,” Tlaib said. “No government is beyond criticism. The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent, and it’s been used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation.”

She also said she had condemned the Hamas attacks on Israeli citizens several times.

Tlaib, who was first elected in 2018 and is a prominent member of “the Squad” of progressive female lawmakers, grew emotional as she said: “I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable.”

House votes to censure Rashida Tlaib over her criticism of Israel

Chris Stein

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted late on Tuesday to censure the Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan – the only Palestinian American in Congress – in an extraordinary rebuke of her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.

The 234-188 tally came after enough Democrats joined with Republicans to censure Tlaib, a punishment one step below expulsion from the House. The three-term congresswoman has long been a target of criticism for her views on the decades-long conflict in the Middle East.

The debate on the censure resolution on Tuesday afternoon was emotional and intense. The Republican representative Rich McCormick of Georgia pushed the censure measure in response to what he called Tlaib’s promotion of antisemitic rhetoric. He said she had “levied unbelievable falsehoods about our greatest ally, Israel, and the attack on 7 October”.

G7 foreign ministers are set to issue a joint statement on the Israel-Hamas war today and are expected to call for temporary pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.

It would mark the second joint statement from the group of wealthy nations on the crisis since 7 October.

The communique, to be issued near the end of a two-day meeting in Tokyo, is also likely to reiterate that G7 support for Ukraine in its war with Russia remains undimmed despite the spiralling conflict in the Middle East.

“We hope to be able to present a united G7 position on the situation in the Middle East in the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Statement, which we understand is currently being coordinated,” said Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.

The United States would oppose a reoccupation of Gaza by Israel’s military in post-conflict Gaza, the White House said on Tuesday.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, who was responding to comments by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu earlier.

“Reoccupation by Israeli forces of gaza is not the right thing to do,” Kirby said. He aded that, “Israel and the United states are Friends and we do not have to agree on every single word,” and that, “Netanyahu and Biden are not always exactly in the same place on every issue.”

Netanyahu told ABC News that Gaza should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas,” without elaborating.

“I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it. When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine,” Netanyahu said.

Kirby told reporters that Israel and the United States do not have to agree on every single issue.

This is the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war with me, Helen Sullivan.

The top developments this morning: the United States would oppose a reoccupation of Gaza by Israel’s military in post-conflict Gaza, the White House said on Tuesday.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, who was responding to comments by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu earlier.

Netanyahu told ABC News that Gaza should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas,” without elaborating.

“I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it. When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine,” Netanyahu said.

Kirby told reporters that Israel and the United States do not have to agree on every single issue.

Other recent developments include:

• Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are encircling Gaza City and operating inside it. In a televised statement on Tuesday, Netanyahu said there would be no ceasefire before hostages were released and urged people in Gaza to move south “because Israel will not stop”.

• Netanyahu said Israel may consider “tactical little pauses” in fighting to allow the entry of aid or the exit of hostages from the Gaza Strip and said it may govern the territory indefinitely. The Israeli prime minister told ABC news in an interview broadcast on Monday night: “Israel will for an indefinite period … have the overall security responsibility [in Gaza] because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t.”

• The US does not believe Israel should reoccupy Gaza, the White House said following Netanyahu’s comments. National security spokesperson John Kirby added on Tuesday that “Hamas cannot be part of the equation” about who will administer Gaza.

• Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, also said the IDF were operating in the heart of Gaza City and “tightening the chokehold” around it. In a televised statement on Tuesday, Gallant rejected any humanitarian pauses without the return of hostages.

• A drone attack on Tuesday targeted a military base at Arbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan that hosts troops from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition, officials said. “At two different points, three drones attacked the international coalition” on Tuesday morning, the autonomous Kurdish region’s anti-terrorism service said in a statement. American and allied forces were also targeted in Syria on Tuesday, where rockets were fired at Mission Support Site Euphrates without causing casualties or damage, the Pentagon said.

• Joe Biden urged Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a three-day pause in fighting to allow progress in releasing some of the hostages held by Hamas, according to a Axios report, citing two US and Israeli officials. The US president and Israeli prime minister spoke in a call on Monday. In a readout of the call, the White House said the two leaders “discussed the possibility of tactical pauses”.

• Waving white flags and holding their hands above their heads, Palestinian families fled past tanks waiting to storm Gaza City. Israel’s military gave civilians inside the encircled city a four-hour window to leave on Tuesday, as its forces prepared to retake the biggest city in the strip. The IDF said they would allow residents to leave from 10am until 2pm local time, and published a video of dozens of people along a main road. Hundreds of thousands of people are feared to still be trapped.

• Israel’s military claims to have captured a Hamas military stronghold and detonated a Hamas weapons depot “in a civilian area” adjacent to Al-Quds hospital. Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas is using hospital buildings to carry out military operations. Israeli forces on Monday said they had severed northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory.

• The Israel Defence Forces military spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said that on Tuesday Israel again fired into Lebanon in response to an attack. The IDF also claimed it intercepted “a suspicious aerial target” near the blue line which marks the UN-drawn boundary between Israel and Lebanon.

• At least 10,328 Palestinians – including 4,237 children – have been killed within the Gaza Strip by Israeli military actions since 7 October, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday. The number of people wounded has risen to 25,965, according to the health ministry spokesperson Dr Ashraf al-Qudra. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued in Gaza. The bodies of many Palestinians are also thought to remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

• A moment’s silence was held on Tuesday to mark 30 days since the Hamas attack on Israel in which 1,400 people were killed. Vigils were held around the world. Outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, a crowd gathered for a vigil to remember the dead and the estimated 240 hostages still held by Hamas.

• A Palestinian journalist has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza and another was wounded, the official Palestinian news agency reported. Mohammad Abu Hasira was killed along with 42 members of his family “in an Israeli bombing that targeted his house located near the fishermens’ port west of Gaza City”, the Wafa news agency reported.

• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said one of its staff members in Gaza was killed along with his family in northern Gaza. Mohammed Al Ahel had been a laboratory technician for the organisation for two years and was at his home in the Al-Shati refugee camp when the area was bombed and his building collapsed on Monday, MSF said.

• At least 89 people who worked for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have been killed since 7 October. A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Tuesday that more than 160 healthcare workers had died while on duty in Gaza. It makes the conflict the deadliest ever for UN workers.

• The level of death and suffering in the Israel-Palestine crisis is “hard to fathom”, a World Health Organization spokesperson (WHO) has said. “Every day, you think it is the worst day and then the next day is worse,” Christian Lindmeier told journalists on Tuesday. “Nothing justifies the horror being endured by civilians in Gaza.” The WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged all parties involved to agree to a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and “work toward a lasting peace”. “History will judge us all by what we do to end this tragedy,” he said.

• Civilians are Gaza are “drinking water from a swimming pool” and children are “crying for lack of bread”, the international humanitarian organisation Care said as it urged an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory. More than half a million people in northern Gaza face death by starvation as food supplies run “perilously” low, ActionAid Palestine warned. UNRWA has described the situation in Gaza as a “tragedy of colossal proportions”.

• The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, began a five-day visit to the Middle East on Tuesday to engage with government officials and civil society groups on human rights violations taking place amid Israel’s escalation in Gaza. “It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” Türk said in a statement.

• At least 500 people, most of them foreigners or dual nationals and their dependents, were evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday. A dozen Palestinian children who have cancer were allowed to leave Gaza on Tuesday for treatment in Egypt. In total, more than 400 US citizens, lawful permanent residents and other eligible people have been evacuated from Gaza, and more than 100 French nationals and their dependents have crossed the Rafah border.

• The British army is “posturing” itself for the prospect of a “non-combatant evacuation operation” in the Middle East in the event the Israel-Hamas conflict expands, the UK’s chief of the general staff told parliament’s defence select committee on Tuesday.

• The German government has decided to release €91m (£79m) for UNRWA after a review launched in response to the Hamas attacks on Israel.

• The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has defied calls for a ban on a pro-Palestinian march through London on Armistice Day. Scotland Yard does not believe it has grounds to support a ban on the planned pro-Palestine demonstration, the Guardian has learned.