2023-11-18 00:05:00
The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 42nd day on Friday November 17, was triggered by the bloody attack of the terrorist organization on October 7 on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip. In retaliation, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, relentlessly shelling the besieged territory where 2.4 million Palestinians are crowded. The Israeli army launched a ground operation in Gaza on October 27.
Situation at al-Chifa hospital
The Hamas Ministry of Health claimed that 24 patients had died in “48 hours” in al-Chifa hospital, located in the northern Gaza City, due to a lack of fuel to power the generators. A new premature baby died on Friday after his incubator stopped receiving electricity, Ashraf al-Qidreh, ministry spokesperson, told AFP. The situation is “catastrophic” for the patients, caregivers and displaced people who have found refuge there (around 2,300 people according to the UN) without electricity, water or food, lamented the hospital director.
Body of hostage found
The Israeli army, which continues its search operations in this establishment, which it presents as a strategic and military center of Hamas, announced that it had extracted, from “a structure adjacent to the hospital”, the remains of a 19-year-old soldier, Noa Marciano, taken hostage on October 7. This is the second hostage remains that the army has announced the discovery of in Gaza in less than 24 hours. US President Joe Biden and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose country is a key mediator in hostage release negotiations, discussed the ‘urgent’ need for Hamas to release “without delay” the captives, according to the White House.
Communications cut with Gaza
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said communications were “totally cut” with the Gaza Strip due to lack of fuel. The Palestinian Authority in charge of the Rafah crossing, which links Egypt to the Gaza Strip, then announced that 17,000 liters of fuel had been delivered to the territory on Friday to power the telecommunications company’s generators.
Risk of “starvation”
For the second day in a row, no humanitarian aid has been able to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing in Egypt, the UN said, with its vehicles immobilized due to lack of fuel. Israel later said the war cabinet had authorized the entry of two fuel trucks daily. According to a US official, they should start being shipped on Saturday. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) had warned of the “immediate risk of famine” in Gaza. According to the UN, 1.65 of the 2.4 million Palestinians have been displaced by the war.
In the West Bank
The Israeli army announced that it had killed “five terrorists” in Jenin, a stronghold of the Palestinian armed movements. Hamas claimed responsibility for an attack near Jerusalem on Thursday, in which an Israeli soldier was killed. Two Palestinians were also killed by the Israeli army in Hebron, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The army confirmed the death toll, indicating that the two men had “fired on soldiers who […] responded with gunfire.
Number of deaths
According to the latest report from the Hamas government, 12,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, including 5,000 children and 3,300 women. Figures currently unverifiable. According to Israeli authorities, the Hamas attack left 1,200 dead on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians killed on October 7. The Israeli military estimates that around 240 people were taken hostage. According to her, 51 soldiers have been killed in the Palestinian territory since October 7.
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