Here is the situation on Friday, November 12, 2023:
The latest developments
- Israel continues to target hospitals in Gaza from the air as its ground forces have also surrounded several hospitals in the northern part of the besieged enclave. Ahmad Mokhallalati, a surgeon at the al-Shifa Hospital, told Al Jazeera that medical staff and patients “are in the middle of the warzone”.
- At least 13 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis, health officials in Gaza said on Sunday.
- Are Israel and the United States not on the same page about the future of Gaza? Washington has asked Tel Aviv to clarify Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on “not giving up security control of Gaza” that clash with US suggestions that the Palestinian Authority should take over the strip after Hamas is “destroyed”.
- Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday in his second speech since the start of the war that the Lebanese war front remains “active” and that the armed group has used new weapons against the Israeli military.
- Major cities around the world, including New York, London, Melbourne, Paris, Baghdad, Karachi, Berlin and Edinburgh have continued to see large demonstrations, involving hundreds of thousands, in support of Palestinians and an immediate ceasefire. Thousands rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for the release of captives held by Hamas in Gaza.
Human impact and fighting
- More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. But the United Nations said on Sunday that the “collapse of services and communications at hospitals in the north of Gaza” is delaying the Ministry of Health in Gaza from updating the numbers.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it has lost communication with its contacts inside al-Shifa Hospital, and people have been targeted and killed while trying to get out.
- At least two premature babies have died in the hospital due to power blackouts and dozens more are at risk.
- Tens of thousands have fled the northern parts of Gaza in recent days as the Israeli military ramps up its operations there. But Israeli forces also continue to pound Rafah and other spots in the south, leaving no safe place in the strip. More than 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now displaced.
Diplomacy
- Leaders from across the Arab and Islamic world convened on Saturday in Riyadh as Saudi Arabia hosted members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League to discuss Gaza. They rejected justifying the Israeli aggression as self-defence and called for a ceasefire.
- Tense talks are ongoing at the UN Security Council to break a deadlock that has prevented the world’s most powerful decision-making authority from having any real effect on stopping the killing of civilians. A new resolution has been circulated among members, coming after several failed efforts.
- Ireland’s parliament is expected to vote next week, based on a motion by the left-wing Social Democrats, on whether it will expel the Israeli ambassador.
No respite for the occupied West Bank
- Israeli forces continue to exponentially intensify their raids in the occupied West Bank. Sources in the Palestinian Authority have told Al Jazeera that the number of raids has increased to about 40 per day in the past week.
- The number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7 has now risen to 185, and about 2,500 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli forces in that time.
- Families, many of them carrying children, are trying to flee areas in the occupied West Bank that are heavily raided, including the Jenin refugee camp.
