Here is the situation on Sunday, November 5, 2023:
Latest developments
- More than 50 people were killed in the Israeli bombing of al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza and the Jabalia camp in the enclave’s north.
- Hamas’s military wing Qassam Brigades said its fighters killed five more Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza during intense fighting on Saturday. In a statement, it said Qassam forces “attacked a Zionist force holed up in a building northwest of Gaza City”.
- The Israeli army has once again given civilians in the Gaza Strip a time window for Sunday to flee to the south of the coastal region. Traffic would be allowed on a southbound road between 10am and 2pm (08:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT) on Sunday, an Israeli army spokesperson wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Saturday evening. The army also published a map showing the designated road.
- Qassam Brigades said on Saturday more than 60 hostages are missing after the latest Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Brigades, also said on Hamas’s telegram account that 23 bodies of Israeli hostages were trapped under the rubble.
- Many demonstrations continued to be held across the globe in support of Palestinians. Large protests were organised in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and elsewhere on Saturday and Sunday. Demonstrators also rallied inside Israel, including outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, to call for the release of captives in Gaza and for the prime minister to resign.
Human impact and fighting
- At least 9,488 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attack, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
- Israeli forces on Sunday killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, raising the death toll to 151 since October 7.
- A rights group says thousands of Palestinians from Gaza who worked inside Israel have had their permits revoked and many were detained and subject to inhumane treatment. Ramallah-based Al-Haq said it documented “punitive measures, arbitrary detention, and degrading treatment of Palestinian workers from Gaza who were present inside the Green Line” on October 7.
Diplomacy
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rebuffed the calls for a Gaza ceasefire by Arab leaders. Jordanian and Egyptian leaders want an immediate ceasefire, but Blinken said he would back only a “humanitarian pause” to provide a window for supplies to come in and some civilians to get out. Blinken is set to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday during his third diplomatic trip to the Middle East within a month.
- The Palestinian foreign ministry has welcomed Turkey’s recalling of its ambassador to Israel for consultations due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, calling it an “extension of Istanbul’s support for the rights and safety of our people”.
- Israel said it shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “siding with the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
- Iran is staying active on its diplomacy initiative as well, with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian holding a phone call with his Iraqi counterpart on Saturday night to discuss “genocide” in Gaza.
