Live blog: Premature babies evacuated from Al Shifa Hospital as Israel still bombs Gaza

Sunday, November 19, 2023

1222 GMT — At least 31 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza's main hospital and will be transferred to Egypt, Palestinian health officials said, as scores of other critically wounded patients remained stranded there days after Israeli forces stormed the compound.

Medhat Abbas, a spokesman for the ministry, confirmed the evacuation of 30 babies. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said it evacuated 31 babies in coordination with UN bodies.

It said they would be transferred to a hospital run by the United Arab Emirates in the Egyptian border city of Rafah.

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2000 GMT — 2 more Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza battles

The Israeli army announced that two more of its soldiers were killed and another four injured with serious wounds during ground battles in Gaza.

The two personnel were aged 23 and 21, serving in the elite Givati Brigade.

With the announcement, the number of Israeli troops killed in Gaza on Sunday reached five.

Earlier, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it killed a “large number” of Israeli soldiers in the southeast of Gaza City.

There are conflicting reports on the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground operation in the besieged enclave on October 27. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari on Saturday put the number of troops killed since October 7 at 378.

1921 GMT — Israeli army unveils footage it says shows hostages at Gaza hospital

Israel's military released security camera footage it said showed hostages being brought into Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City on October 7.

The first clip shows a man in shorts and a pale blue shirt being dragged through what looks like an entrance hall by five men, at least three of whom are armed.

In the second, seemingly time-stamped 10:55 am, an injured man in underwear is wheeled in on a gurney by seven men, at least four of them armed, as several men in blue hospital scrubs look on.

AFP was not immediately able to verify the footage.

1920 GMT — Three more journalists killed in Gaza in Israeli offensive, relatives say

The head of a prominent media institution in Gaza and two other journalists were killed during the weekend in Israel's offensive in the territory, their relatives said, adding to the dozens of reporters who have died in the six-week conflict.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the weekend deaths raised to 48 the number of journalists and media workers it had confirmed killed in the region since October 7.

The CPJ, whose list covers journalists killed on both sides of the conflict although most have been in Gaza, said it seeks at least two sources to verify each death. It said its list of those killed comprised 43 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese.

1902 GMT — Israel minister urges ‘voluntary resettlement’

An Israeli minister said that the international community should not fund rebuilding of the Israel-devastated Gaza and instead promote the "voluntary resettlement" of Palestinians from the territory around the globe.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel said one "option" after the war would be "to promote the voluntary resettlement of Palestinians in Gaza, for humanitarian reasons, outside of the Strip".

Writing in The Jerusalem Post, she said that "instead of funnelling money to rebuild Gaza or to the failed UNRWA, the international community can assist in the costs of resettlement, helping the people of Gaza build new lives in their new host countries".

"It could be a win-win solution: a win for those civilians of Gaza who seek a better life and a win for Israel after this devastating tragedy."

Palestinian authorities both in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have repeatedly rejected similar proposals by Israeli officials, calling it ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

1840 GMT — Israel army claims finds '55-metre long tunnel' under Gaza hospital

The Israeli military claimed it had uncovered a tunnel under Gaza's Al Shifa hospital that stretched 55-metres beneath the war-torn complex where troops have been conducting a major operation.

"IDF troops exposed a 55-meter-long terror tunnel 10 metres deep underneath the Shifa hospital complex," which ran under the hospital and ended at a blast door, an army statement said.

Al Shifa hospital has become a focal point for Israeli raids, with the army claiming Hamas uses it as a base. The government in Gaza and medical staff at the hospital have denied the accusations.

Israel did not produce evidence to back up its assertion after its soldiers stormed the enclave's largest health facility.

1837 GMT — Only few trucks of aid can reach families in Gaza amid shortage of fuel: WFP

A World Food Program (WFP) official said that only a limited number of aid trucks are able to deliver aid and food supplies to those in need in Gaza due to shortage of fuel and extreme weather conditions.

"With the limited fuel now available, a few trucks can deliver essential food to people in Gaza who have been cut off for days," Samer Abdeljaber, the WFP's country director for Palestine, said on X.

"Our team is on the ground overseeing the move. Today’s horrible weather is making it harder and is expected to worsen as winter approaches."

1816 GMT — Russian, Iranian foreign ministers discuss situation in Gaza

The Russian and Iranian foreign ministers discussed over phone the situation in Gaza as Israel's war rages on.

Sergey Lavrov and Hossein Amirabdollahian underscored the importance of an immediate ceasefire and aid delivery to the impacted civilian population, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.

1622 GMT — Israeli army claims to have detained 1,100 Hamas members

The Israeli army claimed that it had arrested 1,100 Hamas members in the occupied West Bank since October 7, out of a total of 1,800 Palestinians.

The army, in a statement viewed by Anadolu, said, “Since the outbreak of the war, more than 1,800 wanted individuals (Palestinians) have been arrested in various parts of the West Bank, with about 1,100 of them belonging to Hamas.

Hamas had not yet responded to the Israeli army’s announcement.

1614 GMT — France sending warship to provide medical aid to Gaza

France is preparing to send its Dixmude helicopter carrier to the eastern Mediterranean to offer medical assistance in Gaza, the office of the French president said.

The Dixmude will set sail "at the start of the week and arrive in Egypt in the coming days," President Emmanuel Macron's office said.

A charter flight carrying more than 10 tonnes of medical supplies is also planned for the start of the week.

It added that "France is mobilising all its available means to contribute to the evacuation of wounded and sick children requiring emergency care from Gaza to its hospitals".

1601 GMT — UNRWA official says ‘started receiving half of fuel needed in Gaza'

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said it has begun receiving half of the fuel it needs to run its daily operations in Gaza, which will allow it to operate at a minimum level.

“Finally, the agency has been allowed to obtain 60,000 liters of fuel daily. This quantity represents half of our needs to meet the minimum requirements of our operations,” spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna said.

"These quantities will be distributed to water desalination stations, to generate power for hospitals, bakeries, and to handle sewage water, as well as the collection of solid waste,” the spokesperson added.

He said “many streets in the Gaza Strip are flooded with sewage water due to insufficient fuel to pump the water, and residents will only receive two-thirds of their drinking water needs".

About 70 percent of solid waste in the enclave will not be collected "due to the lack of the necessary fuel to carry out our tasks,” he said.

1528 GMT — UN chief shocked by deadly strikes on UN schools in Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was "deeply shocked" that two UN schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza, killing and injuring dozens of people – many women and children – "as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises".

"Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at United Nations facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable," Guterres said in a statement.

He said the war between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas, who run Gaza, was causing a "staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties" and again called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

1227 GMT — Pro-Palestine protestor disrupts Cricket World Cup final in India

A person wearing a pro-Palestine T-shirt entered the ground where India and Australia were playing the Cricket World Cup final in Ahmedabad, the capital city of the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Images posted by Asian News International show the pitch invader wearing a Palestinian flag mask over his face and a T-shirt with the slogans "Free Palestine" and "Stop Bombing Palestine" written on it.

The security personnel soon took the invader away. The person’s identity was not revealed immediately.

1224 GMT — Israeli army detains dozens, including women, journalists, in West Bank raids

The Israeli army detained three women and two journalists among 70 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, a local nongovernmental organization said.

Israeli forces conducted raids in various areas of the occupied West Bank throughout the night, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a written statement.

It reported that in these raids, 70 Palestinians, mostly from the Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, were detained, including three women and two journalists.

1215 GMT — Israeli army orders civilians in northern Gaza to flee south amid escalating attacks

The Israeli army ordered Palestinian civilians in Gaza to move to further south with severe attacks in four more areas in the northern Gaza.

In an Arabic statement on X, army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, called on civilians in the densely populated areas of Jabalia, Deir al-Balah, Tuffah, and Shuja'iyya to "immediately evacuate the region" using Salah al-Din Road, which the Israeli army claims to be "safe."

Civilians were given until 4 p.m. local time (1400GMT) to leave their homes and move to southern areas of the besieged enclave.

1205 GMT — Sirens sounded in Israeli towns as Hezbollah, Israeli army trade mortar shells

Sirens sounded in a number of Israeli towns near the Lebanese border as the Hezbollah group and the Israeli army traded mortar shells on each other's positions, with no reports of casualties on either side.

“About ten mortar shell attacks were detected towards the Shlomi region, which fell in an open area,” the Israeli army said on social media platform X.

"An aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array," the army said, adding that it had responded to the shelling from Lebanon.

1041 GMT — Iran's Khamenei urges Muslim states to cut ties with Israel for 'limited period'

Iran's Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei urged Muslim states to "at least cut off political ties with Israel for a limited period of time," the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, weeks after calling for an Islamic oil and food embargo on Israel.

During a joint summit between members of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League in Saudi Arabia's capital on November 11, Muslim states did not agree to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Israel as requested by Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.

1035 GMT — Israeli army forcibly removes 500 patients from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

The Israeli army forcibly evacuated about 500 patients from Al-Shifa Hospital in the west of Gaza city, including those who had been injured by its extensive onslaughts, and left them to meet their fate on the streets as they were in serious conditions and needed extensive medical care, the government’s media office in Gaza said.

The Israeli army had given all those inside the Al Shifa Medical Complex a one-hour deadline, forcing even patients in critical need of medical care to leave the health care facility.

The Gaza media office said in a statement: “More than 500 patients and wounded, exhausted by hunger, thirst, and pain, were forced by the Israeli army to leave the Al Shifa medical complex, to meet their fate in the streets, while they are in dire need of extensive health and medical care, especially since the majority of them are in serious conditions.”

0957 GMT — Qatar PM says 'minor' challenges remain to hostage deal

A deal to free hostages seized by Hamas in its October 7 attack on Israel now hinges on "minor" practical issues, Qatar's prime minister said, without providing details or a timeline.

Qatar has helped to broker talks aiming to free some of the about 220 hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza war.

"The challenges that remain in the negotiations are very minor compared to the bigger challenges, they are more logistical, they are more practical," Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

0955 GMT — Jordan: immediate ceasefire in Gaza needed to avert humanitarian catastrophe

Jordan's King Abdullah said on Sunday the international community should push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to stop a humanitarian catastrophe caused by what he termed Israel's "ugly war against civilians".

In remarks made during a meeting with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, the monarch said global powers should force Israel to comply with international law to protect civilians and ensure Israel heeds calls to allow an uninterrupted flow of aid into the enclave.

0837 GMT — Houthis threaten to target all Israeli-owned ships

A spokesman for Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi military, Yahya Sarea, said the group will target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag, according to the group's Telegram channel.

The spokesman called on all countries to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of any such ships.

0817 GMT — Al Qassam Brigades: Six Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, announced on Sunday that it had killed six Israeli soldiers at zero range in the Juhor ad-Dik neighbourhood in the southeast of Gaza City. The brigades said in a statement that “Al Qassam members eliminated six Zionist soldiers from a zero distance, in the Juhor ad-Dik area, after attacking them with an anti-personnel missile, and closing in on them with machine guns.”

So far, no Israeli comment has been made on the statement.

0603 GMT — Over dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Khan Younis

At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, as well as in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Palestinian media.

Fifteen Palestinians were "killed, at dawn, after Israeli warplanes bombed two homes in the Nuseirat camp and Khan Younis in Gaza," the official Palestinian News Agency Wafa reported.

The agency added that 13 civilians were killed after "occupation aircraft bombed a house of the Zuhd family in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza."

It also said that a woman and her child were killed, while several others were injured, after the bombing of a house of the Abu Akar family in the vicinity of the European Hospital, southeast of Khan Younis.”

0555 GMT — 2 more Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza ground assault

The Israeli army said that another two of its soldiers were killed in Gaza, bringing the death toll from its ongoing ground offensive in the blockaded enclave to 59 since Oct. 31.

A statement from the military said another soldier was seriously injured in the fighting in the Palestinian territory.

0457 GMT — Hamas vows to hold Israel accountable for massacre at Al Fakhoura School

Hamas said that Israel "will be held accountable” for the massacre at a UN-affiliated school in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

“We will not leave this land, and you (Israel) will be held accountable sooner or later for your massacre at Al Fakhoura School and your continuous crimes against children and civilians,” it said on Telegram

"Dozens were martyred and wounded in this massacre, adding up to the hundreds of massacres committed deliberately by the occupation with premeditation and planning, benefitting from the green light given by the American administration, and the shameful silence of the international community," said Hamas.

"We will remain on this land, and there will be no forced immigration after today," Hamas added.

0335 GMT — Hamas urges Arab-Islamic committee to stop Israeli attacks

The head of the Hamas group's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, urged the Arab-Islamic Committee to urgently convene "to discuss ways to halt the war and to break the siege on Gaza."

Haniyeh stressed "the need to quickly act to oblige Israel to abide by the international resolutions that called for ending the (Israeli) aggression on the Palestinian people and to protect the hospitals (in Gaza)."

A statement noted that the Hamas chief held talks with leaders and officials on the regional and international levels in light of the Israeli "brutal massacres" against Palestinians displaced in UN-run schools.

0330 GMT — Israeli army kills disabled Palestinian in West Bank

The Israeli army has killed a disabled Palestinian in an incursion in the West Bank refugee camp ofJenin, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said.

"The director of Jenin Government Hospital, Wissam Bakr, told WAFA that Issam Al Fayed (46 years), a disabled person, was shot dead by the Israeli occupation army at the entrance of the camp," WAFA reported.

Israeli troops killed another Palestinian during the incursion, WAFA reported.

0204 GMT — Spanish minister urges increased pressure on Israel to halt ‘planned genocide’

Spain’s social rights minister Ione Belarra participated in a march from the Israeli Embassy in Madrid to the US Embassy to protest attacks on Gaza.

Belarra told reporters that Israel's attacks are a "planned genocide."

"For Israel to stop annihilating the Palestinian people, Spain and European governments must take very urgent measures," she said.

The first step for the new Spanish government should be to sever relations with Israel and join a coalition of countries, led by South Africa, that is attempting to bring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the International Criminal Court (ICC), she said.

"We must stop this barbarism," said Belarra, expressing the urgent need for the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

0109 GMT — London police responds with violence against pro-Palestine protesters

Demonstrators at a train station sit-in to support Palestine have clashed with London police Saturday, resulting in five arrests.

Protesters from the Now Ceasefire group gathered at Waterloo train station at 4 pm local time to initiate the sit-in.

Carrying Palestinian flags and chanting slogans such as "Free Palestine" and "From River to Sea, Palestine will be free," hundreds of demonstrators demanded an urgent ceasefire in Gaza.

Police surrounded demonstrators and distributed notices that said conducting a protest at the train station was illegal and requested that protesters leave the station.

Officials intervened when the group refused to end the protest, which led to a skirmish. Some protesters were seen being dragged during the arrests.

As police attempted to clear demonstrators from the station after the protest, some protesters fell to the ground and appeared to struggle to breathe.

0034 GMT — Netanyahu says no prisoner swap deal 'as of now'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government has yet not signed a prisoner swap deal with the Hamas resistance group.

"As of now, there is no deal," Netanyahu said at a news conference, dismissing reports about a possible agreement to free a portion or all of the captives held by the Palestinian resistance group in besieged Gaza.

He said once a deal emerges, the Israeli public will be informed.

2341 GMT — Gaza's Al Shifa hospital a 'death zone' — WHO

The World Health Organization [WHO] has said it had led an assessment mission to Al Shifa Hospital in besieged Gaza and determined it was a "death zone", urging a full evacuation.

"WHO and partners are urgently developing plans for the immediate evacuation of the remaining patients, staff and their families," the United Nations health agency said in a statement, adding that 291 patients and 25 health workers remained inside the hospital.

The team included public health experts, logistics officers and security staff from various United Nations departments.

Signs of shelling and gunfire were evident. The team saw a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and was told more than 80 people were buried there, the WHO statement said.

2326 GMT — 6 Palestinians died in Israeli prisons

The Israel Prison Service announced the death of a Palestinian detainee in an Israeli jail.

Thaer Samih Abu Assab, who has been detained in 2005 and sentenced to 25 years in jail, died in the Negev desert prison, the agency said, quoting the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs.

It added that since Oct. 7, six Palestinian detainees have died inside Israeli jails.

2100 GMT — Gaza, West Bank should be reunited under new Palestinian Authority: Biden

US President Joe Biden has said in an opinion piece in the Washington Post that besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank should eventually be "reunited" under a new Palestinian Authority.

"As we strive for peace, Gaza and the [occupied] West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalised Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution," Biden wrote.

"There must be no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction in the territory."

2055 GMT — UNRWA chief receiving 'horrifying images' from Gaza

The head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees UNRWA has reiterated his call for a truce in besieged Gaza, saying they were receiving "horrifying images and footage of scores of people killed and injured" in the Israeli attack on its Al Fakhoura school in the enclave.

"Receiving horrifying images & footage of scores of people killed and injured in another UNRWA school sheltering thousands of displaced in the north of the Gaza Strip.

These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer," Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

"Constant horrors, another @UNRWA school bombarded several times in the north of #Gaza sheltering more than 4,000 people. Dozens reported killed, including children. Second time in less than 24 hours, schools are not spared. ENOUGH, these horrors must stop," he wrote in another post.

2040 GMT – Israel kills more than 80 Palestinians in refugee camp strikes

A Palestinian health official in besieged Gaza has said more than 80 Palestinians were killed in twin strikes on a northern Gaza refugee camp, including a UN school used as a shelter for people displaced by Israel's attacks on the tiny enclave.

"At least 50 people" were killed in a dawn strike on the UN-run Al Fakhura school in the camp, which has been converted into a shelter for displaced Palestinians, a health ministry official in Gaza told AFP.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths denounced the "tragic news of the children, women and men killed".

"Shelters are a place for safety," he posted on X, formerly Twitter. "Civilians cannot and should not have to bear this any longer."

Egypt called the bombing of the UN-run school a "war crime" and "a deliberate insult to the United Nations".

A separate strike on Saturday on another building in Jabalia camp killed 32 people from the same family, 19 of them children, the official said.

For more on this story, click here

2029 GMT — German chancellor calls for two-state solution

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has criticised Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and called for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestine.

"In our view, there must be a two-state solution. There should be a possibility of peaceful coexistence between Israel as a state and a Palestinian state," German news agency DPA quoted him as saying during a visit to Nuthetal in Brandenburg state.

"This is also in the best interest of Israel."

Scholz criticised Israel's construction of new illegal settlements on Palestinian territory, saying: "We do not want new settlements in the [occupied] West Bank."

He also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him that the humanitarian situation in besieged Gaza needs "urgent" improvement.

"In a phone call with Israeli PM Netanyahu, I assured him of the full solidarity with the people of Israel and emphasised the urgent need to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," Scholz said on X after the conversation.

"Humanitarian ceasefires can contribute to a significant improvement," he added.

2027 GMT — Anadolu journalists lose several family members in Israeli bombings on Gaza

Several family members of two journalists working for Anadolu Agency were killed in separate Israeli air strikes on their homes, according to information shared by their colleagues.

Loved ones of photojournalist Montaser al Sawwaf and correspondent Ramzi Abu al Qumsan were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City and north of besieged Gaza.

"Israeli warplanes bombed the home of the Al Sawwaf’s family in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, at dawn on Saturday," his relative told Anadolu.

He added that the bombing resulted in the death of about 30 members of the family, including his father, political analyst Mustafa Al Sawwaf, his mother, two of his brothers, and their children.

He said Al Sawwaf sustained moderate injuries in the face, but does not suffer from a life-threatening condition.

Meanwhile, the home of al Qumsan in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern besieged Gaza was bombed by an Israeli aircraft.

The bombing led to the killing of a large number of members of the Abu al Qumsan family, but the exact casualty count is not known yet.

For our live updates from Saturday (November 18), click here.