Israel Hamas war updates | Gaza City hospital encircled by Israeli forces ‘must be protected: Biden

The Israeli army confirmed Tuesday the identity of a soldier held hostage by Hamas, after the publication by the armed wing of the Palestinian group showed the young woman in captivity.

The army wrote in a statement that “our hearts go out to the Marciano family, whose daughter, Noa, was brutally kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organisation”, officially confirming a hostage’s identity for the first time, after Hamas gunmen abducted about 240 people when they stormed across the militarised border from Gaza on October 7. - AFP

Hundreds of Jewish peace activists and their allies converged at a major train station in downtown Chicago during rush hour Monday morning, blocking the entrance to the Israeli consulate and demanding US support for an Israel cease-fire as battles rage in northern Gaza.

Midwestern Jews and allies travelled to Chicago from Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois for the demonstration, organizers said.

The Israeli consulate in Chicago is in a building connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Centre, a major commuter rail station.

Over 100 protesters who had blocked escalators leading to the consulate were arrested for misdemeanour trespassing and escorted out of the building, according to Ben Lorber, who helped organize the protest led by Chicago chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and Never Again Action. That information was not confirmed by Chicago police, who could not immediately provide information on the number and reasons for arrests, and how many demonstrators participated. - AP

The Israeli military shared video and photographs on Monday showing what it said were weapons stored by Hamas in the basement of a children’s hospital in Gaza where it also said hostages appear to have been held.

Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said troops had found a command centre with an armoury of weapons including grenades, suicide vests and other explosives stored by Hamas fighters in the basement of Rantissi Hospital, a paediatric hospital with a specialty in treating cancer patients.

“And we also found signs that indicate that Hamas held hostages here,” he told a televised briefing. “This is currently under our investigation. But we also have intelligence that verifies it.”

He showed footage of what appeared to be rudimentary living quarters, including a small kitchen, as well as a nearby tunnel shaft which he said led to the house of a senior Hamas naval commander.

“Hamas took all this area under its control and conducted its war against Israelis from this hospital,” he said. - Reuters

President Joe Biden Monday said that Gaza’s largest hospital “must be protected,” and called for “less intrusive action” by Israeli forces.

Fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants has encircled the sprawling medical facility, Shifa Hospital, prompting thousands to flee.

Shifa has been without electricity and water for three days, and gunfire and bombings outside the compound have made the situation more difficult.

“It is my hope and expectation that there will be less intrusive action,” Mr. Biden said in the Oval Office. - AFP

Gaza’s Hamas government said the death toll from the ongoing war reached 11,240 on Monday, after more than five weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.

Among the dead were 4,630 children and 3,130 women, the government said, with another 29,000 people wounded.

Separately, the Hamas-run health ministry said there were dozens of bodies on the streets of northern Gaza, where the heaviest fighting was raging, saying ambulances were coming under Israeli fire when they tried to retrieve them. - AFP

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said Hamas has “lost control” of the Gaza Strip it has ruled for 16 years.

“Hamas has lost control of Gaza. Terrorists are fleeing southward. Civilians are looting Hamas bases,” he said without providing evidence. “They don’t have faith in the government anymore,” Gallant added in a video broadcast on Israel’s main TV stations.- AFP

United Airlines will resume flights to Tel Aviv, Israel from Newark, New Jersey on November 24, a company spokesperson said.

The airline was one of several to suspend or scale back flights to or from Tel Aviv after a surprise attack by Hamas militants last month and a threat of escalating conflict raised safety concerns. American Airlines temporarily suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv through December 4, while Delta Air Lines said it would cancel its flights between Tel Aviv and New York through November 21 - Reuters

At least three Palestinians have been killed and 20 others injured after an Israeli air strike hit Bani Suhaila, a town east of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, health officials on Monday said. - Reuters

Jordan’s King Abdullah rejects any plans by Israel to occupy parts of Gaza or to create security zones within the enclave, state media said on Monday.

In comments he made at the royal palace, the king was quoted as telling senior politicians he met as saying there could be “no military or security solution” to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. - Reuters

Israel has raised about 30 billion shekels ($7.8 billion) in debt since the start of the war with Hamas militants, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

Slightly more than half of that - 16 billion shekels - was dollar-denominated debt raised in issuances in international markets, it said. - Reuters

President Joe Biden will urge his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo to take a larger role in resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict in talks at the White House on Monday, US officials said.

The meeting had been aimed at showing unity ahead of Mr. Biden’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco this week, with Washington trying to counter Beijing in the Asia-Pacific region. - AFP

Israeli firm Tower Semiconductor forecast a decline in quarterly revenue on Monday as chip firms faced with a supply glut continue to correct inventory.

U.S.-listed shares of the contract chipmaker were down nearly 6% in premarket trading.

- Reuters

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday the death toll at Al-Shifa hospital rose to 34 since the weekend as the facility suffered fuel shortages.

The latest toll included 27 adult intensive care patients and seven babies, deputy health minister in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, Youssef Abu Rish, told AFP.

(JERUSALEM) The Israeli government has blocked the Hezbollah-affiliated, Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV news channel from broadcasting in Israel.

“Broadcasts that identify with the enemy are harmful to the state’s security and should be blocked,” Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi wrote in a joint statement with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Last month, the government approved emergency regulations allowing it to block the wartime operations of foreign channels it deems hostile to the state. Mr. Karhi had also pressed to shut down the Israeli office of Qatar-based Al Jazeera, but Doha is leading efforts to release hostages captured from southern Israel during Hamas’ bloody October 7 incursion, and the Israeli government hasn’t moved ahead on his plan. - AP

(BEIRUT) World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN agency was in contact with Shifa Hospital on November 12, which he said had been without electricity and water for three days.

“The constant gunfire and bombings in the area have exacerbated the already critical circumstances,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore.”

Several charities and humanitarian agencies that support Shifa have told The Associated Press they were unable to reach the hospital throughout the day. - AP

(BUCHAREST, Romania) “A group of 86 Romanian citizens were evacuated on November 12 from the Gaza Strip into Egypt,” Romania’s Foreign Ministry said.

“The latest group of evacuees left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing and were on their way to Cairo,” it said. Earlier on Sunday, 41 Romanians were flown to Romania from Egypt after being evacuated from Gaza, bringing the total to 134 since the conflict with Israel started.

Since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, at least five Romanian citizens have been confirmed killed. Six Romanians who hold dual Romanian-Israeli citizenship are also among the hostages held by Hamas.

Meanwhile, Albania’s Foreign Minister said on Sunday that the first Albanian citizens, a mother and her four children, were evacuated from Gaza. Igli Hasani posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the five people were safe in Egypt “while we continue the procedures for their return to Albania as soon as possible.”

Mr. Hasani thanked Israel and Egypt for their cooperation and UN migration and the International Committee of the Red Cross for their support “in this complex operation.”

Also on Sunday, a group of 32 Brazilians was en route to Cairo after they were allowed to cross from Gaza into Egypt, according to a statement from Brazil’s Foreign Ministry posted on X. From Cairo, the group will fly to Brazil on a plane belonging to the Brazilian armed forces. They are scheduled to arrive Monday evening. - AP

(BEIRUT) Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on November 12 that he asked European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to apply the same “legal, moral grounds” for its support of Ukraine to “define its stand on Israel’s war crimes.”

“Israel crossed every legal, ethical (and) humanitarian red line in its barbaric war on Gazans,” Mr. Safadi said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Message to the region: Identity of aggressor & victim determines applicability of Int’l law.” - AP

Thousands of people appear to have fled from Gaza’s largest hospital as Israeli forces and Palestinian militants battle outside its gates, but hundreds of patients, including dozens of babies at risk of dying because of a lack of electricity, remained inside, health officials said.

With only intermittent communications, it was difficult to reconcile competing claims from the Israeli military, which said it was providing a safe corridor for people to move south, and Palestinian health officials inside the hospital, who said the compound was surrounded by constant heavy gunfire.

The military also said it had placed 300 litres (79 gallons) of fuel near the hospital to help power its generators, but that Hamas militants had prevented staff from reaching it. The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza disputed that, and said the fuel would have provided less than an hour of electricity.

World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Shifa has been without water for three days and “is not functioning as a hospital anymore,” in a post on social media. - AP

Exhibition stands for Israeli weapons makers Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems were empty at the start of the opening day of the week-long Dubai Airshow on Monday, amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Israeli companies have only formally participated at conferences and exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates since 2020, when the Gulf Arab power established ties with Israel.

It was not clear why the IAI and Rafael stands were empty. Neither company immediately responded to emailed requests for comment.

Reuters

Flags flew at half-mast at United Nations compounds across Asia on Monday, as staff observed a minute’s silence in memory of colleagues killed in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The blue and white UN flag was lowered at 9:30 am local time at offices in Bangkok, Tokyo and Beijing, a day after the world body reported “a significant number of deaths and injuries” in strikes on a facility in Gaza.

Events were also held in Kathmandu and Kabul, where the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva led about 250 people in observing the minute’s silence.

AFP

In the early days and hours after the horrific Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, President Joe Biden spoke with stark declarations and unqualified support for the longtime US ally.

Now, a month on, that unambiguous backing has given way to the complexities and haunting casualties of the war, and the Biden administration is imploring Israel to rein in some of its tactics to ease civilian suffering in Gaza.

As condemnation of the conflict has grown around the world, stoking anti-Israel sentiment, the president is also confronting the limits of the US ability to direct the outcome — not only about the war, but what comes after it.

AP

As lines of division around the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza become more pronounced, questions arise about where big powers may position themselves.

While most Western governments have united in supporting Israel’s right to self-defence, China and Russia have made their own calculations. Along with the broader Global South, they have not shied from criticising Israel’s military response in Gaza and its impact on Palestinian civilians.

Whether the fighting between Israel and Hamas benefits Russia and China will largely be a matter of perception. While the West may view Russian and Chinese positions as opportunistic and driven by their desire to oppose Western countries for strategic advantage, the opinion of the Global South may well still be up for grabs.

PTI

Israelis have been hit with a wave of frightening and false text messages in relation to the ongoing war in Gaza on service like WhatsApp. So, Israel’s National Cyber System sent out a message of its own telling people that they have nothing to be afraid of - “most of the time there is nothing in these messages and their whole purpose is to make you afraid and afraid.”

The agency told Israelis It is advisable to inform children and older family members of the problem so that they will not panic or send such messages on to other people.

ANI

Hundreds of patients were trapped and thousands of people sought shelter around Gaza’s largest hospital on Monday, as Israeli troops and Hamas fighters battled near the compound.

The Al-Shifa facility in Gaza City has become a focal point in the territory’s bloodiest ever war, which erupted five weeks ago.

On October 7, Hamas launched a wave of attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

AFP

Israelis have been hit with a wave of frightening and false text messages in relation to the ongoing war in Gaza on service like WhatsApp. So, Israel’s National Cyber System sent out a message of its own telling people that they have nothing to be afraid of - “most of the time there is nothing in these messages and their whole purpose is to make you afraid and afraid.”

The agency told Israelis It is advisable to inform children and older family members of the problem so that they will not panic or send such messages on to other people.

ANI

Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie on Sunday visited Israel, saying the U.S. must stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Israel in its war against the Hamas militant group.

Christie toured a kibbutz that was ravaged in the Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas militants that triggered the war and was meeting Israeli leaders, wounded soldiers and families of Israeli hostages during his one-day visit. The former New Jersey governor is the first candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination to visit Israel.

AP

The World Health Organization (WHO) has managed to restore communication with health professionals at the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday, November 12, 2023

“Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore,” he added in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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