Israel-Hamas war live: UN secretary general ‘shocked’ by ‘misrepresentations’ of his statement on Gaza as row with Israel escalates

Israel on Wednesday rejected Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s assertion that the Palestinian militant group Hamas was “not a terrorist organisation”.

“Israel wholeheartedly rejects the Turkish president’s harsh words about the terrorist organisation Hamas,” the foreign ministry spokesperson, Lior Haiat, wrote on social media.

“Even the Turkish president’s attempt to defend the terrorist organisation and his inciting words will not change the horrors that the whole world has seen,” Haiat wrote.

Speaking earlier to a group of his party’s MPs, Erdoğan said Israel “can view Hamas as a terrorist organisation along with the west. The west owes you a lot. But Turkey does not owe you anything. Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it is a liberation group, mujahideen, defending their lands.”

He urged Israel to heed calls for peace and said it must stop attacks on Gaza, saying that Israel’s action in Gaza was one of the “bloodiest, most disgusting and most savage attacks in history”.

Erdoğan also announced he had cancelled a planned trip to Israel, saying the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had “misused our goodwill”.

Italy’s deputy prime minister has also condemned Erdoğan’s words, suggesting that the Italian foreign ministry should summon Turkey’s ambassador to Rome to lodge a protest.

Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Gaza, Israel and Egypt.

The Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, have made a joint appearance in Cairo in which the pair said they had agreed to work to contain the crisis in Gaza, introduce aid and seek to prevent other parties from entering the conflict.

Reuters reports Sisi said Macron understood that any displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip towards Egyptian territory would be “extremely dangerous”.

“We condemn all actions that affect all civilians and this should be addressed with one standard,” Sisi added.

Macron said it was essential to get fuel supplies to hospitals, adding that a French navy ship would arrive soon to help bring support to Gaza hospitals and a plane will arrive in Egypt with key supplies.

The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has said he has been shocked by misinterpretations of his statement to the UN security council. Israel has called for his resignation over the speech.

“I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement … as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite,” Reuters reports. “I believe it’s necessary to set the record straight – especially out of respect for the victims and their families.”

On Tuesday in New York, having said no injustice to the Palestinians could justify the appalling attacks by Hamas, the UN chief continued: “It is important to … recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”

The UN secretary general had created fury in Israel and among some Republicans in the US by describing Israel’s bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip as the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” and “clear violations of international humanitarian law”.

The acting prime minister of Spain – which now holds the EU presidency – has also offered his support to António Guterres.

“I add my voice to all those – particularly the secretary general of the UN – calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza so that the necessary aid can reach the Palestinian population,” Pedro Sánchez wrote on social media.

“All my support to António Guterres. We have to find a diplomatic way out of this conflict.”

In comments to reporters, Sánchez added: “I’d like to offer the Spanish government’s full support – and doubtless the support of the majority of Spaniards – to our UN secretary general, Portugal’s António Guterres.

“I think what he’s doing is speaking out on behalf of the great majority of societies around the world who want a humanitarian pause and humanitarian aid, who want this humanitarian disaster to end, and who want this indiscriminate death to end.

“They want a diplomatic route that will lead to a solution to this grave crisis, whose clear origin was Hamas’s attack on Israeli soil, which deserves the full condemnation of Spanish society, the Spanish government and of the international community.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the US of “directing” Israel’s attack on Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

It quotes him speaking in Tehran, saying: “America is a definite accomplice of criminals. The US is in some way directing the crime that is being committed in Gaza.”

He added that the US was “tainted with the blood of the oppressed, children, patients, women and others”.

Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister who was for 10 years the UN high commissioner for refugees before becoming secretary general six years ago, said Hamas’s “appalling attacks” could not justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” who, he added, “have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation”.

His words drew a furious response from Israel’s ambassador to the UN, who called for Guterres to resign, saying his words “constitute a justification for terrorism and murder”.

Gomes Cravinho told Lusa: “We fully understand and share the position of António Guterres, who was unequivocal when he condemned Hamas terrorism, which is absolutely unacceptable. He was absolutely crystal clear in his analysis.”

The minister added that there was “no way it could be said that António Guterres is in any way excusing terrorism”. Any such assertion, Gomes Cravinho said, “is an absolute error that cannot be allowed to go unnoticed”.

Portugal’s prime minister, António Costa, also backed his predecessor. A source within his administration told Lusa that the prime minister had sent Guterres a message of solidarity, adding that the secretary general had been “exemplary” in his defence of international law in the face of the “humanitarian tragedy”.

It is approaching 4.30pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here is a summary of the latest news in the conflict between Israel and Hamas …

• Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said on army radio: “Due to his remarks we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives. We have already refused a visa for the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.”

• Israel called on UN secretary general Guterres to resign after he said the “appalling attacks” by Hamas against Israel on 7 October cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”, and spoke of “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza”.

• The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said 6,546 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October, including 2,704 children. The figure includes 756 people – 344 of whom were children – killed in the last 24 hours. It said 17,439 had been wounded in total. It has not been possible for media organisations to independently verify the casualty figures being issued from Gaza.

• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told a group of MPs from his Justice and Development party (AKP) that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, Israel’s actions in Gaza are “savage”, and that he has cancelled a planned trip to Israel. Turkey’s president was swiftly criticised for the comments, which the Italian deputy PM labelled as “disgusting”.

• Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani of Qatar expressed the hope that there might be some movement on the release of hostages “soon”. He condemned what he termed “the collective punishment policy” inflicted by Israel on Gaza, saying the only way to reach a peaceful solution in Gaza is to keep communication channels open.

• Eight Syrian military personnel have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Deraa, Syrian state media has reported. The strikes targeted the Daraa countryside overnight, and came from the direction of the Golan Heights. Syrian state TV also reported an Israeli air attack targeted Aleppo international airport.

You will have spotted frequent references to UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. If you wondered how it came about and what it does, my colleague Rafqa Touma has this explainer:

Here is the latest instalment of the Gaza diary from Ziad, a 35-year-old Palestinian:

When the whole situation started, I made a decision not to write. But then a man who I consider a mentor encouraged me to do so. I am grateful that I did.

During this period, writing has been my therapy, reflecting on the ongoing crazy events, taking a moment to absorb what is going on and putting things into perspective. With time, it has become my own shelter, the secret friend with whom I can’t wait to share the chaos of my heart, soul and mind.

But I haven’t had the energy to write lately, I just decided not to. I did not write anything yesterday, and was not planning to do it today. However, I found myself, late at night, writing.

Writing means that I am trying my best to survive. It means that I have hope that one day I will look back at these diaries and think of how long I have gone on. Because writing means that my heart is still beating … and my voice deserves to be heard.

Read more of Ziad’s diary here: Gaza diary part nine: ‘Writing this means my heart is still beating’

The charity Oxfam has claimed that ‘starvation is being used as a weapon of war against Gaza civilians’ by Israel.

It has produced a study which suggests that since Israel tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip after the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October, just 2% of food that would normally have been delivered has entered Gaza.

Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s regional Middle East director, said: “The situation is nothing short of horrific – where is humanity? Millions of civilians are being collectively punished in full view of the world, there can be no justification for using starvation as a weapon of war. World leaders cannot continue to sit back and watch, they have an obligation to act and to act now.”

Oxfam called upon the UN security council and UN member states to act immediately to prevent the situation from deteriorating even further.

Here is what the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said in parliament in London today, when asked “How much worse does this situation have to get before he will join us in calls for a humanitarian ceasefire?” by the Scottish National party’s deputy Westminster leader, Mhairi Black.

Sunak replied:

From the start we have said that the first and most important principle is that Israel has the right to defend itself under international law – our support for that position is absolute and unchanged.

But from the start we have also said that we do want British nationals to be able to leave Gaza, and that we want hostages to be released and for humanitarian aid to get in.

And we recognise that for all of that to happen there has to be a safer environment, which of course necessitates specific pauses as distinct from a ceasefire.

And we discussed this with partners yesterday evening at the United Nations, and we have also been consistently clear that everything must be done to protect civilians in line with international law and continue getting more aid flowing into Gaza.

Sunak’s Downing Street office has subsequently gone further on why the UK government is backing a pause, not a ceasefire, saying: “A wholesale ceasefire would only serve to benefit Hamas. Humanitarian pauses, which are temporary, which are limited in scope, can be an operational tool.”

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said on social media that a plane delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians is en route to Egypt.

In a statement, the government said it would deliver supplies including “76,800 wound care packs, 1,350 water filters and 2,560 solar lights”.

The German government has confidence in the UN secretary general, António Guterres, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN has called for Guterres to resign, after the secretary general’s address in New York yesterday raised the issue of “clear violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza. He said the “appalling attacks” by Hamas against Israel on 7 October cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.

Earlier, a UK government minister said he did not agree with Guterres’s assessment.

In the last few minutes Hamas has claimed to have launched a rocket at the southern Israeli city of Eilat. At 220km from the Gaza Strip, it would represent the longest-range attack by Hamas since the current war began on 7 October.

An IDF spokesperson said “one launch was detected from Gaza towards the Eilat region, which fell in an open area”. There were no reports of any damage or casualties.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has issued updated casualty figures. It says 6,546 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October, including 2,704 children.

The figure includes 756 people – 344 of whom were children – killed in the last 24 hours. It said 17,439 had been wounded in total.

It has not been possible for media organisations to independently verify the casualty figures being issued from Gaza. Israel began the latest wave of air bombardments after Hamas staged its attack in Israel on 7 October, which killed at least 1,400 Israelis.

According to Reuters, Syrian state TV is reporting that an Israeli air attack has targeted Aleppo international airport. It would mark the fourth such attack in the last couple of weeks.