Israel’s young military conscripts busy with the demands of war
TEL AVIV — Among Tel Aviv’s anxious calm, the Camp Rabin downtown military headquarters is an island of activity.
Under the imposing Matcal Tower, a cylindrical structure surrounded by an arch-shaped building of steel and glass, Israelis in olive green military fatigues come and go through the gates guarded by units dressed in black and armed with automatic rifles. Media were invited here for a briefing on last night’s hospital explosion.
One of their number explains that these are mainly desk-based personnel; most of the soldiers who would be involved in a ground offensive at already at the front line.
“Have you been to the south?” she asks, referencing the region where hundreds of her colleagues were killed during a surprise raid by Hamas. “I wouldn’t want to go down there.”
Israel’s conscription law, under which most people over the age of 18 must serve more than two years in the military, means there are many people here who wouldn’t strike you as typical servicemen and women.
There are subtle variations in uniform: some wear their pants baggy, others are all neatly pressed lines. A few wear fashionable wire frame glasses. One carries a Zara shopping bag. Almost all are young.
Biden lands in Israel for high-stakes trip
President Joe Biden has landed in Tel Aviv for a brief but crucial trip meant to demonstrate U.S. solidarity with Israel ahead of an expected ground assault against Hamas and concerns about humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Biden’s visit will include a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Biden plans to deliver public remarks, Kirby said, and he’ll also meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as well as first responders, families who lost loved ones in the attack and families whose relatives Hamas may be holding hostage in Gaza.
On his way back to the U.S., Biden is expected to speak with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in discussions likely to focus on a path forward in Gaza as Israeli military leaders consider next steps and Palestinian civilians call for humanitarian aid. Biden initially planned to meet with Arab leaders at a summit hosted by Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman, but the event was canceled following the deadly Gaza hospital blast.
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U.N. Security Council to vote Wednesday on Israel-Gaza conflict, discuss Gaza hospital blast
The United Nations Security Council will vote on Wednesday on a Brazilian-drafted resolution that calls for humanitarian pauses in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
The council is then expected to discuss — at the request of the United Arab Emirates and Russia — a Gaza hospital blast on Tuesday, diplomats said.
U.N. chief ‘horrified’ by deaths at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday and condemned the explosion at a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of people.
Blinken expresses ‘profound condolences’ over hospital blast in call with Abbas
Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “profound condolences” for the civilian lives lost in the explosion at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza late Tuesday in a phone call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Blinken and Abbas discussed “the continuing U.S. support for the Palestinian people” and provision of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, according to spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Daylight aftermath of Gaza hospital blast
Scorched vehicles sit outside the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in central Gaza on Wednesday morning, following an explosion at the facility, late Tuesday.
Israeli troops prepare for possible two-front war
TEL AVIV — While Israel and Hamas fight near Gaza in the south, Hezbollah is launching missiles from Lebanon along the northern border. And Israeli troops are preparing for the possibility of a simultaneous war along both borders.
Violent protests erupt outside U.S. embassy in Beirut
Lebanese people gathered in front of the U.S. embassy in Beirut into the early hours of Wednesday morning, after the blast at Gaza’s al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
Biden set to arrive in Israel after Jordan summit canceled
President Joe Biden is expected to arrive in Israel Wednesday to demonstrate steadfast support and consult with the Israeli government.
But he arrives in the wake of the deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital, which has left the Middle East at perhaps its most tense in 11 days of war between Israel and Hamas.
Biden said in a statement that he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted.”
He had planned to travel to Amman for talks with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority that were set to focus on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but the meeting has been canceled after the hospital explosion.
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