Israel-Gaza conflict: 5 key developments on Monday 23 October

Sunak - hospital missile 'came from Gaza'; Israel mounts ground raid; Met wants tougher terror powers; Yousaf's family in 'torture'; Child's harrowing Hamas drawing

Stuart Henderson
Updated ·4-min read
GAZA CITY, GAZA - OCTOBER 18: Palestinians carry a wounded man as they inspect the garden of Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital after it was hit in Gaza City, Gaza on October 18, 2023. Over 500 people were killed on Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told. According to the Palestinian authorities, Israeli army is responsible for the deadly bombing. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Palestinians carry a wounded man as they inspect the garden of Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital. (Getty)

On the day Israeli soldiers entered Gaza and mounted limited ground raids, Rishi Sunak said the missile which exploded at the hospital in the Palestinian territory last week was probably fired from within the enclave.

Here are the main stories from today:

1. Hospital missile 'came from Gaza'

  • The UK Government has judged that a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital last week was “likely caused by a missile, or part of one, that was launched from within Gaza towards Israel”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told MPs.

  • Israel and Hamas both issued competing versions of events regarding the cause of the blast, with the Palestinian militant group blaming an Israeli airstrike. Hamas has claimed - without evidence - that the blast killed more than 400 people.

Read more: Rishi Sunak Says Al-Ahli Hospital Blast Was 'Likely' Caused By Rocket Fired From Gaza (HuffPost)

2. Israel mounts ground raid

  • Israel said ground forces mounted limited raids to fight Palestinian gunmen. "These raids are raids that kill squads of terrorists who are preparing for our next stage in the war. These are raids that go deep," chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

  • Hamas's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said its fighters engaged with an Israeli force that infiltrated Gaza and destroyed some Israeli military equipment.

Read more: Israel Confirms Ground Raids in Gaza Ahead of War’s ‘Next Stage’ (Daily Beast)

London, UK. 17th Oct, 2023. Suella Braverman QC MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department. British Conservative Party politicians and ministers in the Sunak government attend the weekly cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in Westminster. Credit: Imageplotter/Alamy Live News
Suella Braverman met Met Chief Sir Mark Rowley. (Alamy)

3. Met wants tougher terror powers

  • Police are unlikely to be given more powers to address chants deemed to be extremist after comments at a Palestine rally over the weekend, despite suggestions from the Metropolitan Police chief that laws may need to be redrawn.

  • Home Secretary Suella Braverman met Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley on Monday, where she had been expected to urge the use of the “full force of the law” after video emerged of a pro-Palestinian protester chanting “jihad”. Officers had said no offences were identified in the footage.

Read more: Met boss calls for tougher terror powers (Independent)

BNAI BRAK, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 22: A mobile phone screen displays a drawing by a young child showing the events he witnessed during the Hamas attack of 7/10, at Klil Malhchut Hall on October 22, 2023 in Bnai Brak, Israel. In this detail view, a man is shooting a house while sirens are heard in the distance. The centre has been opened by volunteers to provide food, clothing, entertainment and support for members of the ultra-Orthodox community of Netivot, who were forced to flee their homes following the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023. As Israel prepares to invade the Gaza Strip in its campaign to vanquish Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that launched a deadly attack in southern Israel on October 7th, worries are growing of a wider war with multiple fronts, including at the country's northern border with Lebanon. Countries have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from Israel, and Israel has begun relocating residents some communities on its northern border. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of residents of northern Gaza have fled to the southern part of the territory, following Israel's vow to launch a ground invasion. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
A drawing by a young child showing the events he witnessed during the Hamas attack of 7 October. (Getty)

4. Yousaf's family in 'torture'

  • Scotland’s First Minister has said his mother-in-law has described living through “torture” in Gaza. Elizabeth El-Nakla and her husband Maged – the parents of Humza Yousaf’s wife Nadia – travelled to Gaza before hostilities flared up earlier this month to visit family, becoming trapped.

  • During a visit to the flood-hit town of Brechin, Angus, Yousaf could be seen speaking on the phone, walking away from his advisers to take the call, which was later revealed to be from his mother-in-law. He said: “They’re really living in a situation that my mother-in-law describes as torture."

Read more: Mother-in-law living through ‘torture’ in Gaza (PA)

5. Child's harrowing Hamas drawing

  • A drawing by a young child reportedly showing the events he witnessed when Hamas militants launched a brutal attack in Israel has emerged.

  • According to the Getty news agency, the child’s drawing has been placed at Klil Malhchut Hall in Bnai Brak, Israel. It is a centre opened by volunteers to provide food, clothing and support for members of the ultra-Orthodox community of Netivot, who fled their homes following the Hamas attack.

  • Leon Neal, who took the picture image, told Yahoo News UK: "The image was shown to me by one of the organisers at a centre for internally-displaced people. It's a heart-breaking image and the only solace available was when visiting the entertainment centre upstairs where children were laughing and enjoying a puppet show."

Read more: Harrowing drawing by Israeli child depicts Hamas terrorist attack (Telegraph)

Where is Gaza?

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: Getty Images
Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: Getty Images
Map of Gaza Strip with roads and cities. (Getty)
Map of Gaza Strip with roads and cities. (Getty)

Gaza, also known as the Gaza Strip, is a densely-populated Palestinian enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, north-east of the Sinai Peninsula.

Bound by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south, it is just 25 miles long and six miles wide.

Gaza is one of two Palestinian territories. The other is the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

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