Live blog: US wants to see safe evacuation of patients at Gaza hospitals

Tuesday, November 14

1841 GMT — The United States would like to see safe evacuation for patients at Gaza hospitals to get out of harm’s way and will support an independent third party to conduct those evacuations, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.

Speaking at a news briefing, Miller said Washington did not want to see any civilians, "certainly not babies in incubators" and other vulnerable populations caught in the crossfire.

He added the US was in conversations with humanitarian organizations and third parties on the possible evacuation.

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1841 GMT — Right groups to sue Dutch government for ‘supporting’ Israel's violations in Gaza

Four rights groups are suing the Dutch government for its stance on its war on Gaza, which they say is tantamount to supporting Israel’s violations.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, Oxfam Novib, Amnesty International, PAX, and The Rights Forum argued that the Netherlands is "partly responsible for violations of the laws of war and collective punishment of the Gazan civilian population," particularly due to its continued weapons exports to Israel.

They have demanded the Dutch government act in accordance with its policy frameworks, constitutional obligations, and international agreements.

1754 GMT — Israel urges the Red Cross to prioritise well-being of Gaza hostages

Israel’s foreign minister has urged the Red Cross to be "more loud and clear" on the issue of Israeli hostages taken to the besieged Gaza by Hamas.

Asked about his previous remarks saying the Red Cross has "no right to exist if it does not succeed in visiting the hostages," Eli Cohen told a press briefing at the UN's Geneva Office: "Red Cross should be more loud and clear with their statements and with the pressure."

"We don’t ask them to negotiate in regard of the releasing of the hostages. This is our role and we are doing it through our allies," Cohen said, adding that the minimum for the Red Cross to do is meet the hostages, receive proof of life and transfer medicine to them.

1745 GMT — UN chief 'deeply disturbed' by dramatic loss of life in Gaza hospitals

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed profound disturbance about the dramatic loss of life in hospitals in Gaza with ongoing Israeli attacks.

"The Secretary-General is deeply disturbed by the horrible situation and a dramatic loss of life in several hospitals in Gaza," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

"In the name of humanity, the Secretary-General calls for an immediate ceasefire," said Dujarric. He added that Guterres continues to talk with "a variety of interlocutors and his colleagues in the field."

1720 GMT — Rocket fire from Gaza injures 2 Israelis in Tel Aviv

Two Israelis were injured by shrapnel in Tel Aviv in central Israel after rocket fire from Gaza, according to local media.

Israeli public broadcaster said a 20-year-old man was seriously injured and a woman moderately wounded when rockets struck Tel Aviv and the Gush Dan area.

Rockets launched from Gaza had injured two Israelis in the southern city of Ashkelon early Tuesday.

1720 GMT — Palestinian death toll in Gaza soars to 11,320: authorities

The authorities in Gaza have said the death toll from fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters in the Palestinian territory had reached 11,320.

The dead included 4,650 children and 3,145 women, according to the government, which has struggled to keep an exact toll of the dead amidst intense urban combat in northern Gaza.

1637 GMT — Hamas claims to kill 7 Israeli soldiers in Gaza

Palestinian group Hamas has claimed to have killed seven Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

The group's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that the soldiers were killed by its fighters from "point-blank range" north of Gaza City.

Hamas said its fighters also attacked three Israeli tanks, three armoured vehicles and a personnel carrier with anti-armour shells north and west of Gaza City.

The group’s military arm said two more tanks and a bulldozer were struck northwest of Gaza City and another tank southwest of the city. There was no comment from the Israeli army on the Hamas' claim.

1626 GMT — Biden believes hostage release will happen

US President Joe Biden has said he is engaged in daily discussions to secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas and he believes it is going to happen.

"Hang in there, we’re coming," Biden said at the White House when asked by reporters what his message to family members of hostages would be.

Biden said he speaks every day with the parties involved in negotiations over a possible hostage release but did not want to share the details.

1626 GMT — Major pro-Israel rally planned in Washington

After weeks dominated by largely pro-Palestinian protests in the United States, a high-profile pro-Israel demonstration attended by members of Congress and tens of thousands of demonstrators was planned for Tuesday in Washington.

Hours ahead of the event, protesters streamed toward the National Mall in front of the Capitol in what was billed as a show of unity by multiple Jewish groups backing US support for Israel since the attack by the Hamas group last month.

The demonstration is set to start around 1800 GMT, according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, one of the organisers.

1550 GMT — Egypt slams ‘irresponsible’ Israeli call for displacement of Gaza’s population

Egypt has termed a call by far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for the "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from Gaza as "irresponsible."

Smotrich has said that the "voluntary migration" of Palestinians in Gaza is the "right humanitarian solution" for the besieged enclave and for the region.

This statement "is an expression of the Israeli government’s policy that violates international laws," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in remarks cited by a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.

"Any attempt to justify and encourage the displacement of Palestinians outside Gaza is completely rejected by Egypt and internationally," he added.

1417 GMT — Gaza war puts 25 out of Gaza’s 35 hospitals out of use - Hamas official

A Hamas official has said that Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza had put 25 of the besieged territory’s 35 hospitals out of use.

"It has also destroyed 94 government buildings and 253 schools," Osama Hamdan, a Beirut-based Hamas official, told a news conference in the Lebanese capital.

1409 GMT — Israeli army detains injured Palestinian from inside ambulance: Palestinian Red Crescent

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said that the Israeli army detained a Palestinian from inside an ambulance while the team were transferring him to a hospital.

The Red Crescent said the incident took place in Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank, and Israeli forces are hindering the work of medical teams in Tulkarem.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces stormed the Thabet Thabet Government Hospital in Tulkarem with dozens of tear gas canisters. Dozens of Palestinians, including medical staff in the hospital, suffered asphyxiation.

1349 GMT — Gaza official denies contact with Israel for evacuation of babies from Al Shifa

Health authorities in Gaza have denied Israeli claims that it was coordinating the transfer of incubators into Gaza, which could possibly enable the evacuation of newborn babies from Al Shifa Hospital.

Israel claims the hospital hides a Hamas base, a claim denied by the group as well as doctors at the facility. Its military in a statement on social media earlier said "it is in the process of coordinating the transfer of incubators from a hospital in Israel to Gaza," to "minimise harm to civilians, assist in evacuation, and facilitate the transfer of medical supplies and food."

Speaking to Anadolu, Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al Qudra said the Israeli side "did not contact them" and the situation in Al Shifa Hospital is "worsening."

1347 GMT — Qatar calls on Israel, Hamas to make hostage deal

Qatar has urged Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement on releasing hostages seized in the October 7 attack, cautioning the situation in Gaza was worsening on a daily basis.

Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari told a news conference in Doha that the "deteriorating" situation in Gaza was hampering mediation efforts.

"We believe that there is no other chance for both sides other than for this mediation to take place and to reach a situation where we can see a glimmer of hope in this terrible crisis," he added.

1332 GMT — 36 premature babies at risk in Gaza hospital, 3 already dead

The lives of 36 babies at Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital were hanging in the balance, according to medical staff there who said there was no clear mechanism to move them despite an Israeli effort to supply incubators for an evacuation.

Three of the original 39 premature babies have already died since Gaza’s biggest hospital ran out of fuel at the weekend to power generators that had kept their incubators going.

"Luckily they are still 36, we didn’t lose any of them overnight," Dr Ahmed El Mokhatallali, a surgeon, told Reuters by telephone from Al Shifa. "But still the risks are really high ... We have still the risk of losing them."

1325 GMT — Hezbollah strikes Israeli military sites

Lebanese Hezbollah has said that it struck Israeli military sites near the border, inflicting injuries.

1246 GMT — Thousands more flee northern Gaza

Fighting between Israeli troops and the Palestinian Hamas group in northern Gaza caused another 200,000 people to flee south in the past 10 days, the UN humanitarian office has said.

The humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said only one hospital in the north is capable of treating patients. Some of the fighting is around hospitals where patients, newborns and medics are stranded with no electricity and dwindling supplies.

The southern part of Gaza is not much safer. Israel carries out frequent air strikes against what it says are group targets that often kill women and children.

1239 GMT — UK minister: longer humanitarian pauses needed in Israel-Palestine conflict

Britain’s minister of state for development, Andrew Mitchell, said that longer humanitarian pauses covering wider areas would be needed in the Israel-Palestine conflict in order to deliver aid to the region.

"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 lawmakers.

1146 GMT — Israel claims to seize Gaza parliament, other govt institutions

The Israeli army claimed to have captured the parliament and other government institutions in Gaza, 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.

Hamas has not responded to Israeli claims.

1137 GMT — Hardline Israeli minister backs 'voluntary immigration' of Palestinians

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has suggested that "voluntary immigration" of Palestinians in Gaza is a "right humanitarian solution" to end the ongoing conflict.

In a statement on X, Smotrich backed an initiative by hardline Israeli lawmakers, who called for expelling residents of Gaza to countries worldwide as a solution to the conflict between what he said was "Arabs and Jews."

"This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the entire region," the far-right minister added.

1125 GMT — 'Best way' to ensure safety of patients, civilians at Al Shifa Hospital not evacuation but 'stopping hostilities': WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the "best way" to ensure the safety of patients as well as civilians taking shelter at Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital is not evacuation but "stopping hostilities now."

Taking Anadolu’s question at a UN press conference in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said the hostilities should be stopped for the sake of "saving lives, not taking lives."

On the Israeli army’s order to evacuate the hospital, Gaza's largest, Harris said that it would not be possible to evacuate 700 at-risk patients, underlining it would be "very hard," even if they have to move if and when the hospital stops working due to lack of fuel, as most in Gaza have. She noted that the WHO still defines Al Shifa Hospital as a functioning hospital due to "heroic efforts."

1112 GMT — Israel’s targeting of Gaza hospitals violates international law: Türkiye

Turkey’s foreign minister told his Australian counterpart in a call that Israel’s targeting of hospitals and schools in Gaza amounted to an "open violation of international law", a Turkish diplomatic source said.

Hakan Fidan also emphasised the urgency of achieving a full ceasefire as soon as possible and the need for unhindered access to humanitarian aid into the enclave, the source said.

0825 GMT — 179 buried in 'mass grave' in Gaza hospital compound: official

The director of Gaza's biggest hospital has said that 179 people, including babies and patients who died in the intensive care unit, had been buried in a "mass grave" at the complex.

"We were forced to bury them in a mass grave," said Al Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiyah, adding that seven babies and 29 intensive care patients were among those buried after the hospital's fuel supplies ran out.

0815 GMT — Israeli hospital attacks 'should be investigated as war crimes': HRW

In a new report, Human Rights Watch says the Israeli military's "unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel and transport are further destroying Gaza's healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes".

The organisation urged the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the International Criminal Court to investigate.

"Despite the Israeli military's claims on November 5, 2023, of 'Hamas's cynical use of hospitals,' no evidence put forward would justify depriving hospitals and ambulances of their protected status under international humanitarian law," it said.

"Human Rights Watch investigated attacks on or near the Indonesian Hospital, al Ahli Hospital, the International Eye Care Center, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, and the Al Quds Hospital between October 7 and November 7."

0745 GMT — China, other nations condemn Israeli minister's statement on nuclear option

China, many Arab nations and Iran condemned an Israeli minister’s statement that an option in Israel’s war on Gaza could be to drop a nuclear bomb on the enclave.

At Monday’s opening of a UN conference whose goal is to establish a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, speaker after speaker said the Israeli statement posed a threat to the region and the wider international community.

The condemnations and criticisms were in response to comments by Israel’s Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu on the possible use of nuclear weapons in Gaza.

China’s deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang said Beijing was “shocked” at what “Israeli officials said about the use of nuclear weapons in Gaza,” calling the statements “extremely irresponsible and disturbing” and saying they should be universally condemned.

0720 GMT — China backs calls for Middle East free of nuclear arms

Backing calls for a nuclear arms-free Middle East, China at the UN has voiced opposition against the presence of such weapons in the region as a major destabilising factor.

"Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have been a major factor causing a trust deficit in the Middle East, undermining regional peace and stability," China's deputy chief at the UN, Ambassador Geng Shuang said, addressing a UN conference in New York.

The top issue at the conference was the establishment of a zone in the Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, a cause, Geng said China supports.

At the event, Beijing also launched a broadside at Israeli officials who recently proposed the use of nuclear arms in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which, China said, "has caused an uproar."

0740 GMT — Gaza hospitals out of service: OCHA

Another 200,000 people have fled northern Gaza since Nov. 5, the UN humanitarian office said, as Israeli ground forces are around hospitals where patients, newborns and medics are stranded with no electricity and dwindling supplies.

The humanitarian office, known as OCHA, says only one hospital in the north is capable of receiving patients.

All the others are no longer able to function and mostly serve as shelters from the fighting, including Gaza’s largest, Al Shifa, which is surrounded by Israeli troops and where 36 babies are at risk of dying because there is no power for incubators.

0646 GMT — Israel says supplying incubators for possible baby transfer from Gaza hospital

The Israeli military has said it was coordinating the transfer of incubators into Gaza, in a possible measure to enable the evacuation of newborn babies from the Palestinian enclave's biggest hospital.

The statement, posted on social media with an image of a soldier unloading incubators from a van, followed distress calls from Al Shifa Hospital regarding its neonatology patients as Israeli ground forces closed in and generator fuel ran out.

0623 GMT — Palestinian death toll in West Bank surges to 194

At least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks overnight in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and Palestinian media have said.

Five Palestinians were killed in Tulkarem city in an Israeli air strike, which also left nine others injured – including three in critical condition, according to the Wafa news agency.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian was killed near Hebron city by the Israeli army, which claimed he attempted to carry out a stabbing attack.

At least 194 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli forces in the West Bank since Oct. 7 in addition to over 2,700 others injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

0414 GMT — Last generator at Al Amal hospital stopped working

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that the only power generator at Al Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza has stopped working.

“Today, the sole power generator at Al Amal Hospital, affiliated with the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis, stopped working. This threatens the lives of 90 patients receiving treatment at the hospital, including 25 patients in the medical rehabilitation department who are now facing the risk of death at any moment,” it said.

The statement confirmed that around 9,000 displaced people have sought refuge in the society's headquarters and the hospital.

It added that “the hospital now relies on a small generator for limited electricity in the maternity ward and emergency department with the remaining fuel expected to run out within 24 hours.”

0316 GMT — US Senator Sanders calls for immediate action on Gaza

US senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says the humanitarian situation in Gaza must be addressed immediately “or thousands of people may die,” following a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“The goal now is to do everything we can to save lives — get the humanitarian aid in as quickly as possible,” he said.

0300 GMT — UN: fuel shortage hampers aid delivery inside Gaza

The fuel crisis in Gaza is so dramatic that trucks filled with aid arriving through the Rafah crossing from Egypt won’t be unloaded because there is no fuel for the forklifts, or for vehicles to deliver the food, water and medicine they’re carrying to those in desperate need, a senior UN humanitarian official has said.

Andrea De Domenico, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said: “lives in Gaza are hanging by a thread due to the bleeding of fuel and medical supplies.”

He also said that since Israeli troops arrived in the Gaza City centre five days ago, it has been too dangerous for the UN to coordinate any operation in the north.

0239 GMT — US Yellen: APEC agrees on need to contain Israel-Palestine conflict

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that finance ministers from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries agreed to do everything they could to prevent the Israel-Palestine war from expanding into a regional conflict.

Yellen told a press conference that while human suffering was top of mind, it was "critical" that the conflict not expand, and "that if it does, it could pose risks to the global outlook that all of us would be concerned about."

0123 GMT — Brazil's Lula says Israel response 'as grave' as Hamas attack

Brazil's president accused Israel of "killing innocent people without any criteria" in Gaza, deeming its actions there "as grave" as the October 7 attacks by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

After the Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack "the consequences, the solution of the state of Israel, is as grave as that of Hamas. They are killing innocent people without any criteria," said Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at an official ceremony in Brasilia.

The leader of Latin America's largest country also accused Israel of "dropping bombs where there are children, hospitals, on the pretext that a terrorist is there."

"This is inexplicable. First, you have to save the women and children, then you fight with whomever you want," Lula said.

0122 GMT — Palestinian victims file ICC complaint over Israel’s Gaza massacres

Lawyers for the Palestinian victims of Israeli attacks on Gaza filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Dutch city of The Hague.

The victims’ representative before the ICC, Gilles Devers, and a four-person delegation that accompanied him submitted the complaint to the court’s prosecutor.

Addressing the press, Devers asserted that Israeli acts in Gaza constitute factors of the crime of genocide.

“The ICC is currently investigating the war crimes in a related investigation. The crime of genocide should also be included in this,” he said, adding that forcing over one million people to be displaced and cutting access to water, energy, food and medicine indicates that Israel wants total annihilation of the population in Gaza."

0036 GMT — Red Crescent denies Israeli claims that gunmen are present inside Al Quds Hospital

The Palestine Red Crescent Society issued a statement denying Israeli claims of the presence of Palestinian gunmen inside Al Quds Hospital in Gaza.

The Red Crescent condemned the Israeli army’s "false allegations of gunmen firing from inside Al Quds Hospital."

It also considered the claims "incitement to target the hospital" in a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

0022 GMT — Medics, patients stranded as battles rage around Gaza hospitals

Battles between Israel and Palestinian resistance fighters around hospitals forced thousands of civilians to flee from some of the last perceived safe places in northern Gaza, stranding critically wounded patients, newborns and their caregivers with dwindling supplies and no electricity, Palestinian health officials said.

Gunfire and explosions raged around Gaza City's main hospital, Al Shifa, which has been encircled by Israeli troops for days.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the hospital in the past few days and headed to southern Gaza, including large numbers of displaced people who had taken shelter there, as well as patients who could move.

0017 GMT -- Israeli defense minister says Hamas has lost control over Gaza City

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the Hamas has lost control over Gaza City as his army continues to advance inside Gaza.

In a statement cited by the Times of Israel news website, Gallant said following an army assessment session that "there is no force of Hamas capable of stopping" the Israeli army.

He added that the Israeli army is advancing inside Gaza “according to plans and carry out the tasks accurately, lethally.”

Meanwhile, Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that its fighters are clashing with Israeli forces in areas across Gaza.

0006 GMT — EU foreign policy chief says international community failed to find solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The international community has failed to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as shown by its continuation, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said.

"This dramatic crisis, with its very high cost in terms of Israeli and Palestinian human lives, shows the political and moral failure of the international community in failing to find a solution to this conflict. This tragedy should be an occasion for everyone to understand that a solution must be sought that can only be based on the construction of two states," Josep Borrell told a press conference after an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

Saying that he put forward a proposal which participants of the meeting agreed to support, he summed it up as follows: No to forced displacement of Palestinian people out of Gaza, no re-occupation of Gaza by Israel, and no to the disassociation of Gaza from the overall issue of Palestine.

0000 GMT — Israeli army confirms identity of soldier held hostage by Hamas

The Israeli army confirmed the identity of a soldier being held hostage by Hamas, after the military wing of the Palestinian resistance group published a video showing the young woman in captivity.

The army expressed sympathy for the Marciano family, stating that their daughter, Noa, was abducted by Hamas.

"We are using all means, both intelligence and operational, to bring the hostages home," the army said in a statement released shortly after midnight.

It was the first time the army has officially confirmed a hostage's identity since Hamas fighters abducted about 240 people when they stormed across the militarised border from Gaza on October 7.

For our live updates from Monday (November 13), click here.