Israel–Hamas conflict: Tanks at gates of Gaza hospital even as Biden urges "less intrusive action"

• Israeli tanks are now positioned outside Al-Shifa hospital

• US President Joe Biden urges restraint around Al-Shifa Hospital

• Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says Israel's actions in Gaza are "as grave" as the 7 October attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas

Lula accuses Israel of 'killing innocent people'

Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Israel of "killing innocent people without any criteria" in the Gaza Strip, saying its actions are "as grave" as the 7 October 7 by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"After the act of terrorism provoked by Hamas, the consequences, the solution of the state of Israel is as grave as that of Hamas. They are killing innocent people without any criteria," Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday, 13 November.

The leader of Latin America's largest country also accused Israel of "dropping bombs where there are children, hospitals, on the pretext that a terrorist is there".

Representatives of Brazil's Jewish community denounced these remarks as "erroneous", "unfair" and "dangerous", adding that they "put Israel and Hamas on the same level".

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 11,078 people, mostly civilians, according to figures released on Friday, 10 November, from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

Meanwhile, Israel on the same day revised the official estimated death toll of the 7 October Hamas attack, lowering the number to about 1,200 people from the originally stated "more than 1,400".

Israeli tanks at gates of Gaza hospital, Biden urges care

Israeli tanks have today, 14 November, taken up positions outside Al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza, according to reports citing witnesses in the area.

Fighting has raged around the medical complex, which Israel says sits above the subterranean headquarters of the Hamas militant group.

Hamas denies the Israeli claim.

Israel says it is not targeting the hospital but has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group launched a large-scale terror attack on southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people.

Meanwhile, in comments made yesterday, US president Joe Biden has said hospitals should be protected amid efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

"My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals, and we remain in contact with the Israelis," Biden told reporters at the White House.

"Also there is an effort to get this pause to deal with the release of prisoners and that's being negotiated, as well, with the Qataris... being engaged," he added.

"So I remain somewhat hopeful, but hospitals must be protected."

IDF confirms identity of soldier held by Hamas

The Israeli army confirmed the identity of a soldier being held hostage by Hamas, after the Palestinian group published a video showing the woman in captivity.

"Our hearts go out to the Marciano family, whose daughter, Noa, was brutally kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organisation," the IDF said in a statement released shortly after midnight of 13–14 November.

It was the first time the army officially confirmed a hostage's identity since Hamas gunmen abducted about 240 people when they stormed across the militarised line from Gaza on 7 October.

Developments in Gaza on 13 November

While US president Joe Biden said he hoped for "less intrusive action" at Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed the facility was no longer able to function.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that fuel shortages mean that it would have to suspend its aid operations in Gaza.

Meanwhile, relatives of people taken hostage by Hamas during its 7 October attack in Israel were gathered in Jerusalem yesterday to urge the United Nations to secure their release.

Israel's military said that its air force and ground forces have conducted 4,300 strikes since the beginning of the ground offensive in Gaza.

However, Israel did not agree to free the Palestinians it has been holding in exchange for the hostages taken by Hamas.