Israel-Palestine Escalation
Israel was hit by an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, with Hamas movement's troops infiltrating border areas. On October 8, the Israeli government announced that it had invoked Article 40 of the Basic Law, which means the country was officially in a state of war.
Israeli tanks manoeuvre near the Israeli-Gaza border - Sputnik Africa

Live Updates: Rights Group Demands Probe Into Israeli Strikes on Gazan Medical Objects as War Crimes

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - World attention has recently focused on the Middle East following the escalation of relations between Palestine and Israel in October. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip with the stated goal of destroying Hamas militants and rescuing hostages.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that it would coordinate the transfer of incubators for newborns to Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
"Following the IDF's offer of humanitarian assistance to the director general of the Shifa Hospital, the IDF initiated a humanitarian effort to coordinate transfer of incubators from a hospital in Israel to the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip … The IDF is willing to work with any reliable mediating party to ensure the transfer of the incubators," the IDF said on Telegram.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel.
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18:23 14.11.2023
Biden Believes Release of US Hostages in Gaza 'Going to Happen'
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he believed that US hostages held in Gaza would be released, although he did not offer any specificity.
"I've been talking with people involved every single day. I believe it’s going to happen but I don't want to get into any detail," he said in response to a question at a press briefing.
When asked if he had a message for families of the hostages, Biden replied, "Hang in there, we’re coming."
18:22 14.11.2023
Russian deputy foreign minister, Egyptian ambassador discuss situation in Gaza Strip, emphasizing catastrophic humanitarian situation
17:46 14.11.2023
UK Working With Partners to Broker Longer Humanitarian Pauses in Gaza, Foreign Ministry Says
The United Kingdom is calling for longer humanitarian pauses in the Gaza Strip amid the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is working with partners to achieve this goal, UK Minister of State for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared a four-hour humanitarian pause in military operations in Gaza City to allow the civil population to leave the embattled enclave.
"We welcome any initiatives, which will allow more aid to be delivered and hostages to be released. We have therefore consistently called for humanitarian pauses. Four-hour pauses in northern Gaza are an important first step. But longer pauses that cover wider areas will be needed. We are discussing with the UN and other partners how best to achieve this," Mitchell told the parliament.
As for the UK's efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, the country is considering air and maritime options, including through its bases in Cyprus, the lawmaker said, adding that at this point, London believes that "land presently offers the most viable and safe way to get humanitarian aid into Gaza."
As of now, over 150 British nationals were able to leave Gaza safely, Mitchell said, adding that the UK will continue to offer support to its nationals remaining in Gaza.
17:46 14.11.2023
Israeli Universities Delay Reopening Until December 24 Due to War - Reports
Israeli research universities will not reopen until at least December 24 in light of the ongoing conflict, Israeli media reported Tuesday.
The decision was announced by the Committee of University Heads in Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Tel Aviv University said on its website that studies would not begin before December 24 and urged students to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command.
"In light of the difficult security situation, please note the opening of the school year has been postponed and won't begin before December 24th," it said.
The Post reported that universities would notify students and faculty staff at least two weeks before the academic year began.
16:55 14.11.2023
Turkey Files Lawsuit Against Netanyahu With ICC on 'Genocide' in Gaza Strip
Turkey has filed a lawsuit against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing him of committing "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, the lawyers for the ruling Justice and Development Party said on Tuesday.
On November 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara is working to declare Israel a "war criminal" and Turkey no longer viewed Netanyahu as its "interlocutor" but the head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, Ibrahim Kalin, maintained contacts with Israel.
"Today... we have filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court in The Hague against the Hitler of the 21st century of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who must stand trial for the genocide he committed in the Gaza Strip and all crimes against humanity," lawyer Metin Kulunk said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Kulunk published the first out of 23 pages of the lawsuit and clarified that he filed the lawsuit together with two other lawyers through the Turkish Ministry of Justice, which will send the document to the ICC.
16:53 14.11.2023
Hamas Military Wing Says Controlling Situation on Battlefield in Gaza Strip
The military wing of Palestinian movement Hamas, Al Qassam Brigades is controlling the situation on the battlefield in the Gaza Strip, Hamas official in Lebanon Osama Hamdan said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel has dealt significant damage to Hamas, which has "lost control of Gaza," and members of the movement were fleeing to the south of the enclave.
"We assure our people and all free people that the resistance and the Al-Qassam Brigades are in control of the situation on the battlefield [in the Gaza Strip]. We say to the occupiers — the battle is just beginning, there will be more to come," Hamdan told a press conference in Beirut.
16:51 14.11.2023
Rights Group Demands Probe Into Israeli Strikes on Gazan Medical Facilities as War Crimes
A prominent international human rights organization on Tuesday condemned Israel's "unlawful" attacks on medical facilities, personnel and transport in the Gaza Strip and said that such incidents devastate the enclave's healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes, as hospitals and their staff are protected by international humanitarian law.
"Israel's broad-based attack on Gaza's healthcare system is an attack on the sick and the injured, on babies in incubators, on pregnant people, on cancer patients [...] These actions need to be investigated as war crimes," A. Kayum Ahmed, special adviser on the right to health at Human Rights Watch (HRW), was quoted as saying by the rights organization.
The attacks, which killed, according to the World Health Organization, at least 521 people, including 16 medical workers, as of November 12, have "severely impeded" health care access and stopped the operation of two-thirds of primary care facilities and half of all hospitals in Gaza, while its medical facilities and personnel are overwhelmed with severely injured patients, HRW said. Moreover, Gazan doctors have told the rights group that they were forced to operate without anesthesia and to use vinegar as an antiseptic.
16:44 14.11.2023
ICRC Denies Abandoning Gaza, Continues Delivering Aid to Civilians
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a comment to Sputnik has denied accusations by the Gaza authorities that it abandoned the people of the Palestinian enclave.
Earlier on Tuesday, Munir al-Boursh, the undersecretary of the health ministry of the Gaza Strip, said that the ICRC and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East were complicit in the killings of Gazans by Israel because they were no longer present in the enclave or providing life-saving aid to people in need.
"We have a surgical team in Gaza working on patients every day. Despite logistical and security challenges, our teams are working tirelessly to deliver aid to those who have lost their homes and safety," the health charity’s press service said, when questioned about the accusation.
The ICRC denied that the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza had stopped. It said a team had delivered essential supplies, like blankets and cleaning kits, to 8,000 families in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip on Monday.
14:51 14.11.2023
UN and WHO leave Gaza, reports citing Gaza Health Ministry say
UN agencies were submitted to Israel and left the Gaza Strip, according to reports.
14:21 14.11.2023
Only 1 Hospital Still Operating in Gaza City as Blockade Drags On, Red Crescent Says
Al-Muamadani Hospital remains the only operating hospital in Gaza City after the Israeli siege of the Gaza exclave and continued bombardment cut off supplies to all medical facilities, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said Tuesday.
"The work continues at the injury assessment point organized by the PRCS in collaboration with Al-Muamadani Hospital in Gaza – the only hospital currently operating in Gaza," the Palestinian aid charity said on X.
PRCS staff are helping the hospital handle mild and moderate injuries to ease the burden on Al-Muamadani’s emergency unit after Al-Quds Hospital went out of service over the weekend due to a depletion of fuel and medical supplies.
14:20 14.11.2023
Israeli Forces Took Control of Gaza Gov’t Institutions Used by Hamas, IDF Says
The Israeli military has secured control over government institutions in the Gaza Strip that were used by Hamas for military purposes, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.
“In recent days, forces from both the 7th Brigade and the Golani Brigade conducted operations in Sheikh Ijlin and Rimal, securing control over government institutions that Hamas utilized for military purposes,” the IDF wrote on its Telegram channel.
The IDF said that its units took control of legislative and government buildings used by Hamas, the police headquarters of the Palestinian movement, and other facilities.
14:20 14.11.2023
US Sanctions Additional Hamas-Linked Individuals, Entities Over October 7 Attack on Israel
The United States targeted Hamas-affiliated individuals and entities in a new batch of sanctions in connection with the October 7 attacks on Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.
"The United States is announcing today its third round of sanctions targeting Hamas-affiliated individuals and entities in connection with the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel," Blinken said in a statement.
The Department of State is designating Akram al-Ajouri as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for being a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Separately, the Department of the Treasury is designating seven individuals and two entities that have provided support to or acted on behalf of Hamas or PIJ, the statement added.
The statement also accused Iran of enabling Hamas and PIJ's activities, "including through the transfer of funds and the provision of both weapons and operational training."
The sanctions were adopted in coordination with the United Kingdom.
11:13 14.11.2023
UNRWA Warns of Possible Telecommunications Blackout in Gaza Strip From November 16
The Gaza Strip may start to face a telecommunications blackout from November 16 when the internet provider companies run out of fuel to operate their data centers and connection sites, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said.
"In some areas, the telecommunications companies have stopped operating. It is expected that communications will start to fail as of Thursday 16 November, when telecommunications companies run out of fuel to operate their data centres and major connection sites," the UNRWA said in a statement.
The agency said that currently "serious communication breakdowns" hinder the operation of telecommunication services in the Gaza Strip and obtaining updated figures and information is becoming "increasingly challenging, especially in the Middle area."
11:02 14.11.2023
Number of Civilians Evacuated From Northern Gaza Strip Likely Exceeds 1Mln
The number of civilians who evacuated southward from the northern Gaza Strip may have surpassed 1 million people, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said on Tuesday.
"For several weeks, we have been trying to encourage people, the civilians to get out of northern Gaza, to go south towards the southern area … over the different periods of time, I can say that we have had quite a substantial success with several hundreds of thousands, some estimates [suggest that] over million people have evacuated from the northern areas and headed down south," Lerner told a briefing.
The evacuation of civilians has provided the Israel Defense Forces with "room for maneuver," Lerner said, adding that the Israeli troops destroyed about 15,000 targets and seized more than 6,000 weapons since the start of the Hamas–Israel conflict escalation.
08:18 14.11.2023
Sole Power Generator at Al Amal Hospital in Gaza Stops Working, Red Crescent Says
The sole power generator at Al Amal Hospital in the Gaza Strip has stopped working, which put lives of 90 patients under threat, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Tuesday.
"Today, the sole power generator at Al-Amal Hospital, affiliated with the PRCS in Khan Younis, stopped working. This threatens the lives of 90 patients receiving treatment, including 25 in the medical rehabilitation section who now face the risk of death at any moment. Additionally, around 9,000 displaced individuals have sought refuge in the PRCS premises and the hospital," the society wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The hospital is currently using a small generator to supply power to the maternity ward and for emergency lighting, however, the remaining fuel is expected to run out within the next 24 hours, the PRCS said.
Both the PRCS headquarters and Al Amal Hospital were relying on the generator as an electricity supply source, and the failure is affecting all operations rooms located around the enclave due to the cessation of VHF communication services, the statement read.
08:17 14.11.2023
IDF Says Found Basement With Weapons Under Hospital in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has discovered underground infrastructure beneath Rantisi Hospital in Gaza that was allegedly used by Hamas to store weapons and hold hostages, IDF spokesperson RDML Daniel Hagari said.
"I just got back from Gaza, where I joined an operation inside the Rantisi Children’s Hospital. I went to the hospital with a video camera and personally documented more concrete evidence … that Hamas uses hospitals as an instrument of war. Underneath the hospital, in the basement, we found: a Hamas command-and-control center; suicide-bomb vests; grenades; AK-47 assault rifles; explosive devices; RPGs and other weapons, computers, money … And we also found signs that indicated that Hamas held hostages here," Hagari told a briefing.
08:16 14.11.2023
APEC Finance Ministers Agree Gaza Conflict Threatening Global Economy: US Treasury Secretary
The finance ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) agreed that the expansion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict poses a threat to the global economy, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday.
"We did talk about risk to the global economic outlook and I believe there was a strongly shared view that it is important for all of us to do everything we can to contain the conflict between Israel and Hamas so that it does not become a broader regional conflict. If it does, it could pose risks to the global outlook that all of us would be concerned about," Yellen said at a press conference following the APEC finance ministers' meeting in San Francisco.
08:15 14.11.2023
Netanyahu Unlikely to Heed Calls for Ceasefire, Even If From US, Ex-State Dept. Official Says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to listen to calls for a ceasefire in Gaza even if they were made by the United States, former State Department official Wa'el Alzayat told Sputnik.
Last week, President Joe Biden said that there was no possibility for a ceasefire in Gaza, despite the announcement of four-hour humanitarian pauses in the territory to let civilians leave for southern Gaza.
"I don't think there'll be a ceasefire soon... I really think even if the Biden administration eventually decides to support a ceasefire, I don't think [Netanyahu] he's going to listen to them for a while," Alzayat said. "I don't think anybody will be able to control him."
Alzayat, who served as senior policy advisor to US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and Syria Outreach Coordinator with Ambassador Robert Ford, said he expects Netanyahu will want to continue military operations in Gaza for a while.
08:14 14.11.2023
Blinken, New UK Counterpart Cameron Discuss Gaza Conflict, Ukraine: US State Department
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone with newly-appointed UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and discussed bilateral ties, Israel's invasion of Gaza and Ukraine conflict, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with UK Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron today," Miller said in a press release on Monday. "Secretary Blinken and Lord Cameron underscored continuity in the US-UK Special Relationship and its importance to regional and global security. They discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict, including efforts to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza."
Blinken and Cameron also discussed the West's relations with China and the conflict in Ukraine, Miller added.
08:13 14.11.2023
US Must Stop Gaza Atrocities, Ceasefire Needed for Sake of Humanity: Indonesian President
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has appealed to the United States to do more to end the atrocities in the Gaza Strip and stressed that a ceasefire is required to be established immediately for the sake of humanity.
"Indonesia also wishes our partnership contributes to regional and global peace and prosperity. So Indonesia appeals to the US to do more to stop the atrocities in Gaza," Widodo said during a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House. "Ceasefire is a must for the sake of humanity."
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