Live blog: Scores of Palestinians feared dead in Israeli bombing of UN schools in Gaza

Saturday, November 18, 2023

1247 GMT — The Israeli army bombed another UN-affiliated school in northern Gaza, where thousands of displaced civilians are living, killing and injuring dozens of people, as Palestinian medical and local sources report that it is currently difficult to remove bodies and shift the wounded for treatment.

Dozens of Palestinians were killed or injured when Israel bombed Al Fakhoura School in Jabalia, northern Gaza, which is affiliated with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

"We consider this a new evidence proving that Israel's declared war on Palestinian civilians aims to empty the entire area of the northern Gaza of any Palestinian presence," said Palestinian Foreign Ministry.

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1718 GMT — Israel allowed half of fuel needed for daily humanitarian aid in Gaza: UN official

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Gaza Director Thomas White announced that Israel has allowed just half of the fuel into Gaza needed for daily humanitarian aid.

“A limited amount of fuel has entered Gaza,” White said in a statement on X.

The official pointed out that “as Israeli authorities restrict fuel entering Gaza - this means reduced capacity at the Rafah Crossing to receive aid trucks.”

White stated that “the Israeli authorities have only permitted 50 percent of the daily fuel requirement for lifesaving humanitarian aid.”

There are “major gaps in the response – e.g. people will have only two thirds of their daily need of clean drinking water,” the official stressed.

1635 GMT — Palestinian health minister wants premature babies to be moved from Al Shifa Hospital to occupied West Bank

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al Kaila sought international help to put pressure on Israel to allow the transfer of premature babies from the Al Shifa Medical Complex to hospitals in occupied West Bank or Egypt for the best possible care.

During a press conference at the ministry's headquarters in Ramallah, the minister said, "The Israeli authorities are wreaking havoc in the Al Shifa Complex."

“Al Shifa Hospital has become a military barracks, and those inside are evacuated at gunpoint,” the minister said.

She noted that "126 patients, 34 premature babies along with some medical staff remained in the hospital.”

The minister called on “international institutions to intervene to transfer premature babies and wounded children from Al Shifa Hospital to hospitals in the West Bank or Egypt."

“There is no hospital in Gaza that has the capacity to accommodate these premature babies,” Al Kaila said.

1556 GMT — 'This is ongoing Nakba': Pro-Palestine protests sweep across UK

Over 100 pro-Palestine local protests are taking place across the UK this weekend, in addition to the large-scale marches seen in London.

Protesters chanted anti-Israel slogans and carried Palestinian flags and signs, some of which read, "You decided Palestinian lives are dispensable," "You should be ashamed," "From river to sea Palestine will be free," "Freedom for Palestine," "End Genocide," and "Ceasefire now."

"Palestinians, like any other people, deserve the right to self-determination, dignity, and a future free from the hardships of conflict. Understanding and acknowledging their narrative is essential for fostering a just and lasting resolution," a Camden protestor told Anadolu news agency.

1520 GMT — UN Palestinian refugee agency condemns 'horrifying' school attacks

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees denounced strikes on UN-run schools in Gaza after the Palestinian health ministry in the besieged enclave said at least 50 people had been killed in Jabalia.

Philippe Lazzarini said he had seen "horrifying images and footage of scores of people killed and injured" in one of his agency's schools "sheltering thousands of displaced". "These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop," he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

1518 GMT — Rallies held across Iran to support war-battered Gaza

Thousands of Iranians held rallies across the country against Israel's unrelenting bombardment of Gaza following the shock attacks by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas last month.

The demonstrations in the capital Tehran and other cities were held in "support of the oppressed children of Gaza" under the slogan "Palestine is not alone", according to local media.

In Tehran, crowds of demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, while others held banners reading "Down with America" and "Down with Israel", according to AFP news agency journalists.

Others burnt Israeli flags while some waved the flags of Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has been engaged in border skirmishes with Israel since October 7.

1326 GMT — 32 dead from one family, including 19 children, in new strike: Health Ministry

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said 32 people from one family were killed in an Israeli strike on a building in a refugee camp, with 19 children among the dead.

The ministry released a list of the names of 32 members of the Abu Habal family killed in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, the largest in the Palestinian territory.

1331 GMT — Israeli army arrests 40 Palestinians in occupied West Bank

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club said the Israeli army arrested another 40 Palestinians in occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of detainees in the occupied territory to 2,850 since October 7.

The non-governmental organization in a statement said “occupation forces arrested at least 40 citizens between Friday night and Saturday dawn, from cities and towns in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

1217 GMT — Israeli bombing of its committee’s HQ in Gaza ‘will not deter’ from providing aid: Qatar

Doha announced that the bombing carried out by the Israeli army on November 13 on the headquarters of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza “would not deter it from providing aid to the enclave.”

During an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations, Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, stressed that "this crime constitutes a blatant violation of international law.”

“This crime is an extension of the approach of targeting humanitarian work, which is represented by the Committee's headquarters,” the Qatari representative added.

“Qatar confirmed that the bombing carried out by the Israeli occupation forces last week on the headquarters of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza will not deter it from providing aid to Gaza,” she stated.

1123 GMT — Israel again strikes deep into Lebanese territory: state media

Israel struck an aluminium factory deep in Lebanese territory, state media in Lebanon said, a week after its furthest strike since border skirmishes began last month.

"An enemy (Israeli) drone fired two missiles at an aluminium factory on the road between Toul and Kfour, setting it on fire," Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said, without specifying whether there were casualties.

But Kfour mayor Khodr Saad told AFP news agency two wounded civilians were transported to a hospital in the village.

1013 GMT — About 20 shells fired from Lebanon towards Upper Galilee region in Israel

Roughly 20 shells were fired from Lebanon towards the Upper Galilee area in Israel near the border between the two countries, local reports said.

"About 20 shells were fired within minutes towards the Upper Galilee region," Israeli Army Radio reported, adding that sirens sounded in Shtula in the Western Galilee, near the Lebanese border.

Army Radio did not indicate whether the shells led to injuries or damage.

0924 GMT — Hezbollah, Israel trade strikes at Lebanese border

Hezbollah and Israel traded rocket and missile fire in areas near the Lebanese-Israeli border, officials on both sides have said, in the latest flare-up of violence which the United States worries will cause conflict to spiral in the Middle East.

Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone near the border in the early hours of Saturday. Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile fired at an Israeli drone.

Lebanese officials said an Israeli air strike hit a building in an industrial area near the town of Nabatieh, one of the deepest Israeli strikes inside Lebanese territory since fighting began last month.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

0920 GMT — Al Quds Brigades says it destroyed 2 Israeli tanks, bulldozer in Gaza

The military wing of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad has said that its fighters had destroyed two Israeli tanks and a bulldozer in Gaza while targeting several other military vehicles.

In a statement, the Al Quds Brigades said it "bombed enemy gatherings in the woods of the Kissufim settlement on the Gaza Strip, with mortar shells."

It added that its forces "targeted, in separate operations, seven enemy military vehicles in Tal al Hawa and al Sabra, southwest of Gaza City."

"During tonight's clashes, our members were able to destroy two Zionist tanks and a bulldozer with tandem shells and RPGs in Beit Hanoun and west of Beit Lahia," the statement said.

0859 GMT — UAE: Israel's statements on longer-term presence in Gaza worrying

A top foreign policy adviser to the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has said that statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a longer-term presence in Gaza were worrying.

"We hear now from the Israeli prime minister and indeed the Israeli president about the sort of longer-term Israeli connection to Gaza. They are very worrying," Anwar Gargash said at the IISS Manama Security Summit in Bahrain.

"This indicates that perhaps the lesson that we as the majority of people in the region are taking away from the Gaza crisis which is the need to go back to the two-state solution, we need to go back to an Israeli and Palestinian state living side by side. That lesson has perhaps not been the same."

0838 GMT — Exodus begins from Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital, many still inside

The Israeli army has forcibly deported all the refugees and most of the patients from the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

About 120 out of 650 patients are unable to leave due to medical conditions and 30 premature babies remain at the hospital and it is in coordination with the Red Cross to get them out, says the hospital director.

The Israeli army destroyed Al Shifa Hospital's oxygen stations, water lines and drug stores, according to the director.

Separately about 5,000 people are now walking towards Salah al Din Street and they will walk for 25 kilometres, a TRT World journalist in Gaza has reported.

The United Nations estimated 2,300 patients, staff and displaced Palestinians were sheltering at Al-Shifa before Israeli troops moved in on Wednesday.

0718 GMT — Only the Palestinian Authority can run post-war Gaza -EU's Borrell

Only the Palestinian Authority can run Gaza after Israel's war on the enclave is over, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.

"Hamas cannot be in control of Gaza any longer," Borrell told the Manama Dialogue, an annual conference on foreign and security policy in Bahrain.

"So who will be in control of Gaza? I think only one could do that - the Palestinian Authority," he said.

0717 GMT — Dozens of bodies arrive at Indonesian, Kamal Adwan hospitals in Gaza

Scores of bodies arrived at the Indonesian and Kamal Adwan hospitals as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombing in northern Gaza, the enclave's Ministry of Interior has announced.

"A number of bodies arrived at the Indonesian and Kamal Adwan hospitals as a result of the massacres committed by the occupation artillery against citizens in various areas of the northern Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a statement.

"Six bodies also arrived at Al Aqsa Hospital as a result of the occupation targeting a house of the Aqtifan family in Deir Al Balah in the central Gaza Strip," it added.

0705 GMT — White House adviser: Hamas hostage release will lead 'significant' fighting pause

US President Joe Biden's top adviser on the Middle East has said the release of hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas would lead to a surge in the delivery of humanitarian aid and a significant pause in fighting in Gaza.

"The hostages are released, you will see a significant, significant change," Brett McGurk said at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain.

0655 GMT — Israel gives Palestinians 'one hour' to empty Gaza Al Shifa Hospital

Israeli troops have ordered the evacuation of the Al Shifa hospital "in the next hour" over loudspeakers, an AFP journalist at the scene reported.

They called the hospital's director, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, to instruct him to ensure "the evacuation of patients, wounded, the displaced and medical staff, and that they should move on foot towards the seafront", he told AFP.

0655 GMT — Jordan will do 'whatever it takes' to stop displacement of Palestinians

Jordan's foreign minister has warned the Arab kingdom would do "whatever it takes to stop" the displacement of Palestinians.

"We will never allow that to happen, in addition to it being a war crime, it would be a direct threat to our national security. We'll do whatever it takes to stop it" Ayman Safadisaid at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain.

Israel's war has reawakened long-standing fears in Jordan, home to a large population of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. They fear that Israel could expel Palestinians en masse from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian inhabitants have surged since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

Israel kills six Palestinians in West Bank

Six Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank early Saturday, according to a medical source and state media.

Five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone attack targeting the headquarters of the Palestinian group, Fatah, in the Balata Refugee camp east of Nablus, the Palestinian state news agency, WAFA, reported.

Massive damage was reported in the area following the attack.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said earlier that seven victims were seriously injured in the attack and five later died at the hospital.

It said another Palestinian was seriously injured and later died during an Israeli military raid in Tubas in the North West Bank.

0522 GMT — Israel provides limited access to communication in Gaza Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel has said that phone and internet services were partially working again across Gaza, after fuel was delivered to restart generators that power the networks.

NetBlocks, a group tracking internet outages, confirmed that “internet connectivity is being partially restored” in the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, Paltel announced that all communication services, including landline connection, mobile network and Internet connection, dropped due to a lack of fuel. The next day, Israel agreed to allow two tanker trucks of fuel, equaling 60,000 liters (15,850 gallons), into the Gaza Strip each day.

0230 GMT — Israel kills dozens in southern Gaza's Khan Younis city: Palestine

Israel has killed about 26 Palestinians, mostly children, in bombardment of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Palestine's WAFA news agency.

Israeli warplanes struck residential buildings in Hamad Town, northwest of Khan Younis, killing 26 people, including several children, and wounding dozens, WAFA said, citing local sources.

Several people were also killed and wounded in fresh air strikes in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, it reported.

​​​​​​​Another Israeli strike targeted a house east of Rafah in southern Gaza amid reports of casualties.

0200 GMT — Gaza warns of starvation at Al Shifa Hospital amid Israeli onslaught

Gaza’s Health Ministry has warned of starvation at the Al Shifa Hospital amid an ongoing Israeli incursion on the facility.

"No food or water supplies have entered the Al Shifa complex for the past eight days," ministry spokesman Ashraf al Qudra said in a statement carried by Al Jazeera television.

"The patients at Al Shifa are starving and in pain, and the displaced people cannot find a piece of bread," he said.

The spokesman said that the hospital has become completely isolated from the world amid a communication outage. "Patients are starving. The accumulated garbage poses a new threat to those trapped in the medical complex," he said.

"There are between 7,000 and 10,000 inside the hospital, and the food that was allowed into the facility is only sufficient for 400 people," said Qudra.

​​​​​​​At least 51 patients, including four premature babies, have lost their lives inside the hospital since Friday, he said.

Since Israel started bombarding Gaza on October 7, more than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 8,300 women and children, and more than 30,000 others have been wounded, according to the latest figures. Some 2,700 Palestinians are under missing or buried under debris of bombed buildings.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have also been damaged or destroyed in Israel's relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave.

An Israeli blockade has also cut Gaza off from fuel, electricity and water supplies, and reduced aid deliveries to a trickle.

2200 GMT — Pro-Palestine rally in Washington demands US end military support to Israel

Pro-Palestine protesters have gathered near the Union station in the US capital, Washington, DC, demanding ceasefire in besieged Gaza and that US end sending money and military support to Israel.

Hundreds of protesters on Friday waved the Palestinian flag and held placards that read "Free Palestine", "End all US aid to Israel," and "End the occupation now." They also chanted chanted "Shut it down!," referring to Union Station, and "Biden, Biden you can't hide, we charge you with genocide."

The rally comes a day after officers responded with violence against anti-war activists who organised a candlelight vigil and ceasefire event in the capital, wounding around 90 of them.

Entry to the Union Station was blocked, and only those who had tickets were allowed inside.

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2228 GMT — Netanyahu looking for 'illusion' at Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital: Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking for an "illusion" at the Al Shifa Hospital in besieged Gaza, Hamas resistance group has said.

"Netanyahu and his war cabinet are looking for a mirage that indicates their inability and hollow arrogance," Abu Obaida, a spokesperson for the Palestinian group's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a recorded speech.

"[The army] raid on the hospital to show off their force is evidence of their failure and defeat," he said.

Abu Obaida said Hamas fighters have prepared for a "long battle." "The longer the occupation stays in Gaza, the highest their losses will be," he said.

More than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 8,300 women and children, and over 30,000 others wounded, according to the latest figures from Palestinian authorities.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have been damaged or destroyed in the Israeli assault. Some 2,700 people are missing or believed to be buried under the rubble.

0053 GMT — IMF head says war 'devastating' for Gaza

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has told Reuter news agency the Fund was "seriously considering" a possible augmentation of Egypt's $3 billion loan programme due to economic difficulties posed by the Israel's war in Gaza.

Georgieva told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of. the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit that the conflict is "devastating" Gaza's population and economy and has "severe impacts" on the West Bank's economy and is also posing difficulties for neighbouring countries Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan through the loss of tourism and higher energy costs.

2320 GMT — Israeli strike on West Bank refugee camp kills five

At least five Palestinians have been killed and two more woiunded in an Israeli strike on a building in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said.

Palestinian state news agency, WAFA reported Israeli strike targeted the headquarters of the Palestinian group, Fatah, in the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus.

Massive damage was reported in the area following the attack.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said earlier that seven victims were seriously wounded in the attack and five later died at the hospital.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank amid an Israeli military onslaught on Gaza.

More than 200 Palestinians have since been killed and over 2,700 wounded by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

2216 GMT — Portugal urges Israel to stop attacks after 3 nationals killed in Gaza

Portugal's Foreign Minister Jose Gomes Cravinho has expressed deep sorrow for the tragic deaths of three Portuguese nationals, including two children, in recent Israeli bombing attacks in besieged Gaza.

The deaths occurred on November 15 during a bombing attack south of the blockaded enclave.

Cravinho conveyed condolences to the government in a statement and said it was saddened by the deaths of five people, three of whom were Portuguese, in the bombing.

He noted that he expressed his "dissatisfaction" with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, about the bombing in a telephone call where he said he urged Israel to "stop these bombings."

Meanwhile, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced two citizens in besieged Gaza, along with six family members, totalling eight individuals, crossed from the Rafah Border Crossing to Egypt.

2128 GMT — Palestinian death toll from Israeli violence at 206

The Palestinian Health Ministry has announced the death of a Palestinian who was shot by the Israeli army one week ago in Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

"Jamal Mahmoud Abdel Rahman Masharqa, 21, died as a result of critical wounds sustained by occupation bullets about a week ago in Jenin," it said without providing further details.

It brings the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since October 7 to 206, in addition to 2,780 wounded, it said. The announcement came before a new Israeli strike killed five Palestinians.

For our live updates from Friday (November 17), click here.