World
Attack on Gaza hospital ‘unprecedented’ in scale, WHO says
A strike on the Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip that killed hundreds was “unprecedented in scale,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, condemning the attack.
The strike was the bloodiest single incident in Gaza since Israel launched a bombing campaign against the densely populated Gaza Strip in retaliation for a deadly cross-border Hamas assault on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, Reuters reported.
“This attack is unprecedented in scale,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the West Bank and Gaza. “We have seen consistent attacks on healthcare in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
Peeperkorn said there so far have been 51 attacks against healthcare facilities in Gaza, with 15 health workers killed and 27 injured.
The Israeli military blamed a failed rocket launch by a Palestinian militant group.
Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said there were patients, healthcare workers and internally displaced people in the hospital when it was struck.
“The hospital was one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military,” he said.
“The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced,” he added.
Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said it was “inhumane” to leave Gaza’s health workers with the dilemma of caring for their patients or fleeing to save their own lives. He said doctors and nurses were choosing their patients over themselves.
“It is absolutely clear to all sides of this conflict where the health facilities are,” Ryan said.
“It is absolutely clear healthcare is not a target… That is enshrined in international humanitarian law. And we’re seeing this breached again and again and again over the last week. And it has to stop. It must stop.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he was “outraged” by the explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed about 500 people and said he had directed his national security team to gather information about exactly what had happened.
World
Trump says United States will get uranium from Iran
One of Trump’s central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States would get enriched uranium from Iran, as the two countries struggle to reach an agreement on ending the Gulf war, Reuters reported.
“We’re going to get it,” Trump told a reporter as he left a White House event.
One of Trump’s central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has yet to hand over more than 900 pounds (408 kg) of highly enriched uranium.
World
Trump says Iran “should wave the white flag of surrender”
When asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “Well, you’ll find out, because I’ll let you know … They know what not to do.”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed Iran’s military capability and said Tehran “should wave the white flag of surrender” but is too proud to do so, Reuters reported.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Iran’s military has been reduced to firing “peashooters” and that Tehran privately wants to make a deal despite its public sabre-rattling.
“They play games, but let me just tell you, they want to make a deal. And who wouldn’t, when your military is totally gone?” he said.
Trump heaped praise on the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the region. “It’s like a piece of steel. Nobody’s going to challenge the blockade. And I think it’s working out very well,” he said, read the report.
When asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “Well, you’ll find out, because I’ll let you know … They know what not to do.”
Trump said Iran “should save the white flag of surrender.”
“If this were a fight, they’d stop it,” said Trump.
World
Secret Service says it exchanged gunfire with armed suspect near White House
The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.
The U.S. Secret Service said on Monday its officers confronted an armed and “suspicious individual” near the White House who later fired at them before fleeing on foot and being shot by law enforcement, Reuters reported.
The incident led to a brief lockdown at the White House.
Agents patrolling the outer perimeter of the White House complex identified a person who Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said was a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm.”
He briefly fled on foot after being approached by Secret Service officers and fired in their direction, Quinn said at a press conference.
Secret Service then fired at the suspect who was hit and subsequently hospitalized, Quinn added.
Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade transited through the area “not long before” the incident, Quinn said. There was no indication that the suspect intended to approach Vance’s motorcade, the Secret Service deputy director said.
A juvenile bystander was hit by the suspect but did not receive any life-threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital, Quinn added.
Agents observed “visual print of a firearm” in considering the individual’s behavior as suspicious when he was spotted, Quinn told reporters.
The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.
Law enforcement have been on alert in recent days in the U.S. capital following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner late last month over which a man has been arrested, read the report.
Quinn was asked if Monday’s incident was linked to “other recent attempts” on President Donald Trump’s life. Trump was in the White House when this incident unfolded.
“Whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know but we will find out,” Quinn said.
The Secret Service deputy director confirmed that a weapon was recovered from the suspect but did not elaborate.
The Secret Service said earlier its personnel were on the scene of the officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.
The DC Police Department was handling the probe.
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