2023-11-16 10:47:00
Israeli police announced this Thursday that they had killed three attackers after a “shootout” near a security checkpoint linking Jerusalem to the occupied West Bank. The Israeli emergency services, for their part, reported “four gunshot wounds, including a man aged around 20 in very serious condition”. Two other people were slightly injured. All the injured were members of the security services.
Israeli police explained that “three terrorists who arrived by car from the West Bank fired on security forces.” “Given the amount of ammunition, pistols and axes found in the car, it appears that the attackers were planning a major attack or massacre in Israel,” Israeli police chief Kobi Shabtai told reporters.
Israeli soldiers killed
In a new report, published this Thursday, the Israeli army indicated that 50 IDF soldiers had died in combat since October 7. The Israeli army announced Thursday the death of two new soldiers in the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Chifa Hospital: IDF continues its raid
For the second day in a row, the Israeli army is present in the main hospital in the Gaza Strip: al-Chifa. According to the IDF, it is a strategic military site used by Hamas terrorists. Which the latter deny. Wednesday evening, General Yaron Finkelman indicated, on the Telegram application, that the army was continuing its “targeted” operation in the hospital while fighting had raged for days in this sector of the west of the city of Gaza.
The Israeli army confirmed to AFP this Thursday that its “soldiers” were still deployed in this hospital where, according to the UN, there are around 2,300 people (patients, caregivers, displaced people). The site would be searched “building by building”, AFP reported in the afternoon. The Israeli military claims to have found Hamas “ammunition, weapons and military equipment” at the hospital, releasing images of what it claims are weapons, grenades and other equipment. The IDF also claimed, later on Thursday, to have seized “images relating to the hostages”, without initially providing further details.
“Israeli bulldozers have partly destroyed the southern entrance” to the complex, “near the maternity ward”, already damaged by tank shell fire in recent days, the Ministry of Health of controlled Gaza reported overnight. by the terrorist group Hamas. In either case, it is impossible to independently verify these claims.
The ministry added other details on Thursday about the damage observed in the al-Chifa hospital, reporting the destruction of the “radiology department” and the bombing of the “burn and burn department.” dialysis,” according to a statement to AFP from Ashraf al-Qidreh, spokesperson for the ministry.
Security Council calls for humanitarian “pauses”
Breaking silence for the first time since the start of the conflict, the UN Security Council called for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in the Gaza Strip. This text received 12 votes in favor and 3 abstentions (United States, United Kingdom, Russia). US President Joe Biden, a key supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas, called on his ally on the night of Wednesday to Thursday to be “extremely cautious” in the conduct of his operation at al-Chifa hospital. , in Gaza.
UN calls for international investigation, anger of Israel
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday cited “extremely serious allegations” of violations of international law in the war between Israel and Hamas terrorist fighters and called for an international investigation. “The extremely serious allegations of multiple and serious violations of international humanitarian law, regardless of their perpetrators, demand rigorous investigation and establishment of responsibilities,” said Volker Türk, during a briefing of member countries on his recent trip in the Middle East, adding that “an international investigation is necessary”.
Israel has strongly denounced UN criticism of alleged violations during its war with the terrorist group Hamas, stressing that international law was not a “suicidal pact”. If a state cannot defend itself “or if it is criticized for doing so in accordance with international law, then terrorist organizations will inevitably become increasingly emboldened and continue to use their methods, sure of receiving international support constant,” said Meirav Eilon Shahar, the Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva.
Shortly after, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN called in Geneva on countries to “wake up” to the operations carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip following the bloody Hamas attack, affirming that it It was a “genocide”. “You should wake up in this room. It’s a massacre, it’s a genocide. And we see it on television. This cannot continue,” Palestinian diplomat Ibrahim Khraishi told representatives of UN member states.
Netanyahu: first calls for resignation in Israel
On the political front, the leader of the Israeli opposition Yaïr Lapid called for the departure of the head of government Benjamin Netanyahu without waiting for the end of the military operation against Hamas in Gaza. “We cannot afford to have a long campaign [militaire, NDLR] with a Prime Minister in whom the population no longer has any confidence,” he told channel N12. Yaïr Lapid called for the replacement of Benjamin Netanyahu by another member of his party, the Likud, who immediately described such a proposal in “wartime” as “shameful”.
Gaza port under Israeli control, according to IDF
The Israeli army claimed Thursday to have taken “operational control” of the Gaza port, a key infrastructure in the Palestinian territory. A joint operation of armored and naval forces made it possible “in recent days” to “take operational control of the port of Gaza, which was controlled by the terrorist organization Hamas”, the army said in a statement, affirming that the movement The Palestinian Authority used it “as a training center for its naval commando forces to plan and execute naval terrorist attacks.”
EU foreign minister sends message of appeasement to Israel
Alongside the UN declarations, the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, spoke this Thursday, in turn urging Israel to “not let itself be consumed by rage” in the offensive that has led the Jewish state in Gaza since October 7. “I understand your fears and your pain. I understand your rage,” Josep Borrell nevertheless assured, during a visit to a kibbutz in southern Israel ravaged by the attacks of October 7. The diplomat also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of those taken hostage that day.
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