Israel-Hamas war, Day 40 Updates | UNSC adopts resolution calling for urgent humanitarian pauses and corridors in Gaza

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said Thursday that the Israeli army had deployed bulldozers at the Al-Shifa hospital, which Israel has said sits above a Hamas command centre.

“Israeli bulldozers destroyed parts of the southern entrance” to the hospital, the ministry said in a brief statement in Arabic.

The Israeli army told AFP that an operation was currently underway at the hospital complex.

“Tonight we conducted a targeted operation into Shifa hospital. We continue to move forward,” Major General Yaron Finkelman, head of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, said on the army’s Telegram channel. - AFP

More than two dozen Palestinian cancer patients, who had crossed from Gaza into Egypt, arrived in Turkey for treatment in the early hours of Thursday, Turkey’s Anadolu agency reported.

Two planes carrying the patients, many of them children, landed at Ankara airport shortly after 00:30 am local time (2130 GMT).

Turkey has sent a ship loaded with material for field hospitals, ambulances and generators to Egypt to treat civilians who have been able to flee Israel’s military operation against Hamas militants in the enclave. - AFP

The UN Security Council approved a resolution on Wednesday calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip” after four failed attempts to respond to the Israel-Hamas war.

The vote was 12-0 with the United States, United Kingdom, and Russia abstaining.

The final draft watered down language from a “demand” to a “call” for humanitarian pauses. It also watered down a demand for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.” The resolution makes no mention of a cease-fire or Hamas’ surprise October 7 attacks on Israel.

Russia proposed an amendment to the resolution before the vote that would have called for durable humanitarian pauses leading to a ceasefire. But it was rejected by a vote of 5-1 with nine abstentions because it failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes.

But the resolution, sponsored by Malta, did bring the 15 members of the UN’s most powerful body together in a first response to the ongoing war that is having catastrophic humanitarian consequences in Gaza.- AP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday urged Israel to end the “indiscriminate killing of Palestinians” in Gaza, in his sharpest criticism of Israel since war against Hamas broke out over a month ago.

“We demand an immediate ceasefire on the part of Israel in Gaza and strict compliance with international humanitarian law, which today is clearly not respected,” he said during a debate in parliament ahead of a vote in confidence on Thursday in which he is poised to be re-appointed for another term. Read more

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on November 15 that Israel’s war with Hamas was “against the existence of Palestinians”, in a speech marking the 35th anniversary of the Palestinian declaration of independence..

“It is a war against the existence of the Palestinians, against the Palestinian national identity, the identity of the land and the identity of its inhabitants,” Mr. Abbas said in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which is separated geographically from the Gaza Strip. Read more

The head of the UN children’s agency said Wednesday she had witnessed “devastating” scenes on a visit to war-ravaged Gaza and urged Israel and Hamas to “stop this horror”.

“What I saw and heard was devastating. They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement,” UNICEF’s executive director Catherine Russell said, describing a rare visit to the Palestinian territory by a top UN official.

“Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn,” Russell said in a statement. Read more

A journalist trapped inside Gaza’s largest hospital told AFP on November 15 that the Israeli troops had withdrawn from the facility after entering it overnight and have redeployed around its outskirts.

Israeli forces pushed into Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital in the early hours of the morning, raising fears for the safety of thousands of patients, staff and other civilians trapped inside.

Meanwhile, an adviser to Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with MSNBC that Israeli forces found weapons during a raid into the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza.

“We have discovered weapons and other things. We entered the hospital on the basis of actionable intelligence,” the adviser, Mark Regev, said. - Agencies

The United States did not give Israel any kind of green light for its raid on Gaza’s main hospital, the White House said, adding that such decisions were for the Israeli military.

“We did not give an OK to their military operations around the hospital,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters after Hamas said President Joe Biden was “wholly responsible” for the raid. - AFP

The United Nations Security Council is due to vote later on Wednesday on a draft resolution that calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable aid access, diplomats said.

Some diplomats said they expected the 15-member council to adopt the resolution, though some countries were likely to abstain. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, Russia, China, France or Britain. - Reuters

Palestinian health authorities said it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain accurate casualty figures from Gaza due to the collapse of the hospital and health system in parts of the Israeli-besieged enclave.

As Israeli forces pushed deep into the Gaza Strip and communications infrastructure degraded, contact with hospitals has buckled and systematic data collection has become more problematic, the Ministry said.

The latest total since Oct. 7 shows 11,320 people killed, including 4,650 children or minors. In addition, 202 medical personnel have been killed and 3,600 civilians, including 1,750 children, have been declared missing, the Ministry said. - Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned there is no safe place for the Hamas militants behind the October 7 attacks and “no place in Gaza” the Israeli Army wouldn’t reach.

“They told us we wouldn’t reach the outskirts of Gaza City and we did, they told us we wouldn’t enter Al-Shifa (hospital) and we did,” he said hours after troops raided the territory’s biggest hospital. “There is no place in Gaza that we won’t reach,” he said. - AFP

The Palestinian population should not pay the price for the atrocities committed by militant Islamist group Hamas against Israel, France said, expressing “serious concern” about Israeli operations inside the Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip.

“The Palestinian population should not be made to pay for Hamas’s crimes, even less so the vulnerable, injured or sick and the humanitarian workers who courageously continue their work in extremely dangerous conditions,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. - AFP

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Israel was a “terror state” committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, sharpening his repeated criticism of Israeli leaders and their backers in the West.

He said Israel’s military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas included “the most treacherous attacks in human history” with “unlimited” support from the West.

He called for Israeli leaders to be tried for war crimes at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and repeated his view — and Turkiye’s position — that the Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a political party that won past elections.

He likened the conflict between Israel, a Jewish state, and the Palestinians to a war between the Christian and Muslim worlds, saying the fighting was “a matter of cross and crescent”. Ankara would take steps to ensure Israeli settlers in occupied Palestinian territories are recognised as “terrorists”, he added. - Reuters

Just hours after receiving its first wartime delivery of fuel from outside Gaza, the U.N. warned on November 15 that its operations in the territory was on the verge of collapse, with most people soon unable to access drinking water.

“Our entire operation is now on the verge of collapse,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. “To have fuel for trucks only will not save lives anymore,” the UNRWA chief wrote on X, formerly Twitter, saying the fuel shortages had prompted critical shortages of drinking water.

“By the end of today, around 70 percent of the population in Gaza won’t have access to clean water,” he said of the 2.4 million people living in the tiny territory. - AFP

The United Nations humanitarian chief demanded on November 15 immediate action to “rein in the carnage” in Gaza, after Israeli forces raided the Palestinian territory’s largest hospital.

“As the carnage in Gaza reaches new levels of horror every day, the world continues to watch in shock as hospitals come under fire, premature babies die, and an entire population is deprived of the basic means of survival. This cannot be allowed to continue,” Martin Griffiths said in a statement. - AFP

Qatari mediators were on November 15 seeking to negotiate a deal between Hamas and Israel that includes the release of around 50 civilian hostages from Gaza in exchange for a three-day ceasefire, an official briefed on the negotiations said.

The deal, under discussion, which has been coordinated with the U.S., would also see Israel release some Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails and increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, the official said. Hamas has agreed to the general outlines of this deal, but Israel has not and it is still negotiating the details, the official said. - Reuters

Fuel that entered Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing on November 15 was “not at all enough”, the United Nations agency for supporting Palestinian refugees said.

“This is the equivalent of half a truck! Not at all enough. Much more is needed. Fuel is being used as weapon of war, this must stop,” UNRWA said on X, formerly Twitter. In a separate post, the UNRWA confirmed receiving 23,027 litres of fuel, saying it met only “nine percent” of what the agency needs daily to sustain lifesaving work. - AFP

Israeli troops found weapons and “terrorist infrastructure” during an on-going raid at one specific location within Al Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, a military official said on Wednesday.

The official told reporters that there had been no fighting inside the hospital complex after the soldiers arrived during the night, and no friction with medical staff or patients.

-Reuters

U.S. public support for Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza is eroding and most Americans think Israel should call a ceasefire to a conflict that has ballooned into a humanitarian crisis, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Some 32% of respondents said “the U.S. should support Israel” when asked what role the United States should take in the fighting. That was down from 41% who said the U.S. should back Israel in the poll conducted a month ago.

Some 68% of respondents in the poll said they agreed with a statement that “Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate.”

-Reuters

The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday denounced Israel’s operation inside Gaza’s largest hospital as a “flagrant violation” of international law, demanding world action to protect patients and civilians inside the facility.

The Israeli military’s overnight entry into Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital was a “flagrant violation of international law”, a statement from the Palestinian foreign ministry said, demanding “urgent international intervention to protect the civilians there”.

-AFP

Gaza’s two main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal warned on Wednesday of a “complete telecom blackout in the coming hours” in the Gaza Strip.

“Main data centers and switches in the Gaza Strip are gradually shutting down due to fuel depletion,” the companies said in a joint statement.

-Reuters

The head of the World Health Organization said on X that they have lost touch with health personnel at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after Israeli forces began raiding the facility.

A fuel truck entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt Wednesday, state-aligned Al Qahera News reported, in the first such delivery since the war began.

An Egyptian source said the fuel would be delivered to the United Nations “to facilitate the delivery of aid after trucks on the Palestinian side stopped operating for lack of fuel”.

-AFP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on Israel to “exercise maximum restraint”, saying the killing “of women, of children, of babies” in the war between Israel and Hamas must stop.

“The human tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza is heart-wrenching, especially the suffering we see in and around the Al-Shifa hospital,” Mr. Trudeau said at an event.

“The world is watching, on TV, on social media, we are hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who have lost their parents,” he said. “The world is witnessing this killing of women, of children, of babies. This has to stop.”

-AFP

A doctor at the Gaza Strip’s Al Shifa hospital told Reuters on Wednesday that gunfire outside the compound forced staff to stay away from windows for their safety after an Israeli raid.

Israeli forces said they were raiding the complex because Hamas has a command centre underneath it and uses connected tunnels to hold hostages, an allegation that doctor Ahmed El Mokhallalati denied.

The Israel-Gaza conflict is a “worrying manifestation” of geopolitical challenges for the U.S.-backed multinational economic corridor, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.

Read the story here.

Southeast Asian defence ministers have called for the fighting in Gaza to cease and for collaborations for the setting up of humanitarian aid corridors.

The defence chiefs are meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, this week. Though the Myanmar civil war is high on the agenda, the leaders are struggling to address it, but were on the same page in calling for ceasefire in Gaza.

ASEAN has not made a formal statement though about the Israel-Hamas war, which is not surprising given each member of the bloc sees the conflict differently.

-AP

Israeli military says its forces have provided incubators and baby food to Al Shifa hospital in Gaza

Reuters

Hundreds of protesters led by Jewish peace activists calling for a cease-fire in Gaza staged a sit-in inside of the federal building in Oakland, California, leading to multiple arrests.

Families of hostages held by Hamas since its October 7 attack on Israel have begun a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem demanding that the government do more to secure their release.

The marchers held a moment of silence for a 19-year-old Israeli soldier, among the approximately 240 people seized by Hamas, who was confirmed to have died in captivity. The Israeli military did not give a reason for her death, while Hamas said she was killed in an Israeli strike.

AP

Vivian Silver, a Canadian-born Israeli activist who devoted her life to seeking peace with the Palestinians, was confirmed killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel.

Silver, who moved to Israel in the 1970s, had been believed to be among the nearly 240 hostages seized by Hamas and held in the Gaza Strip. But identification of some of the most badly burned remains has gone slowly, and her family was notified of her death on Monday.

Silver was a dominant figure in several groups that promoted peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as a prominent Israeli human rights group. She also volunteered with a group that drove Gaza cancer patients to Israeli hospitals for medical care.

AP

The U.N. Security Council is negotiating a new resolution that demands “immediate extended humanitarian pauses” throughout the Gaza Strip but makes no mention of a cease-fire.

The resolution, drafted by Malta, does demand that “all parties” comply with their obligations under international law.

The Security Council has rejected four resolutions on the war, and many of its 15 members have said they don’t want a vote on a new resolution unless it’s going to be approved.

AP

Israeli defense officials say they have agreed to allow fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian operations.

It is the first time that Israel has allowed fuel into the besieged territory since the Hamas militant group’s bloody cross-border invasion on Oct. 7.

Israel declared war and barred fuel shipments after the attack, saying Hamas would divert supplies for military use. But fuel is key to operations at Gaza hospitals, which run on generators, and the shortages hindered the United Nations from delivering humanitarian aid.

AP

Residents of Kfar Aza kibbutz in southern Israel have started to return to pick up what remains of their belongings.

The kibbutz was one of more than 20 towns and villages that were attacked on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants, sparking the war with Israel.

Ayelet Katzir’s husband, David Kachko Kazir, was killed by Hamas during the raid.

AP

Thirteen days after Hamas carried out a brutal attack on Israel, killing some 1,400 people, Israel’s air strikes on the besieged, defenceless Gaza continue with disproportionate ferocity, killing 3,785 Palestinians, including hundreds of children. As Israel is amassing troops and tanks on its border with Gaza in preparation for a ground invasion, after ordering some one million people to evacuate from the northern half of the land strip, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travelled to Israel to declare their support for the Jewish nation’s “right to defend itself”. Read here.

The captain of Israel’s soccer team has displayed the shoe of a young boy he said was kidnapped by Hamas militants during their deadly October 7 raid, an act of solidarity with Israelis held captive in Gaza ahead of the team’s game in Hungary.

Team captain Eli Dasa was addressing a news conference in Felcsut on Tuesday, the small Hungarian village where Israel’s team is set to face Switzerland on Wednesday in a Euro 2024 qualifying match, when he raised the small athletic shoe and displayed it to reporters.

AP

After four failed attempts, the U.N. Security Council is trying for a fifth time to come up with a resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, but it remains to be seen whether serious divisions can be overcome to produce a consensus on wording.

The current draft under negotiation would demand “immediate extended humanitarian pauses” throughout the Gaza Strip to provide civilians with desperately needed aid. It also would demand that “all parties” comply with international humanitarian law that requires protection for civilians, calls for special protections for children, and bans hostage-taking.

AP

Adam Benett and his friend Yoav Ben David have rescued over 600 animals, including some 430 dogs, 200 cats, birds, fish and guinea pigs, in southern Israel since Hamas’ October 7 terror massacre.“On Oct. 10, I joined my friend Yoav to rescue dogs in the South. We thought we were dealing with 10 or 15. We didn’t know the scope of the crisis,” Benett, 30, from Kibbutz Kvutzat Shiller, told the Tazpit Press Service. “I then posted on Facebook to let everyone know we were going and offer assistance to those missing a pet.”

Within a few hours, Benett had received thousands of phone calls and over 800 messages from volunteers and families seeking to retrieve their pets.

ANI

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday held talks with Israel PM Netanyahu and discussed at length the ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, the White House said.

Reuters

Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday it “holds the occupation (Israel) and President Biden fully responsible for (the) occupation army’s raid of Al Shifa medical complex”.

Hamas said a U.S. intelligence statement on Tuesday that the U.S. supported Israel’s conclusion that the militants had operations at Al Shifa “was a green light” for the raid.

“The White House and the Pentagon’s adoption of the false (Israeli) narrative, claiming that the resistance is using Al Shifa medical complex for military purposes, was a green light for the occupation to commit more massacres against civilians,” Hamas said. There was no immediate U.S. comment on the raid.

Reuter

The Israeli Army said on Tuesday it had captured Gaza’s Parliament and other government institutions run by Hamas in Gaza City, as its forces deepened their offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Military units “took over the Hamas Parliament, the government building, the Hamas police headquarters and an engineering faculty that served as an institute for the production and development of weapons,” the Army said in a statement.

Read more here...