2023-11-18 23:31:00
The war between Israel and Hamas entered its 43rd day, Saturday November 18. The day was marked by US President Joe Biden’s call for a reunification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip under a “revitalized Palestinian Authority”. The Hamas terror group also announced the deaths of more than 80 people in two Israeli strikes on a refugee camp, while hundreds of people evacuated al-Chifa hospital in Gaza. Update on the situation.
Strikes on refugee camp
The Hamas health ministry announced the deaths of more than 80 people on Saturday in two Israeli strikes on the UN-run Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The first left 50 dead in a school in the camp, the largest in the territory. The second, on a house, killed 32 members of the same family. According to the Israeli army, “the area is home to the command and control of the Northern Gaza Brigade” of Hamas. On the same day, the director of the Nasser hospital announced that 26 people had died in a strike against three buildings in Khan Younes to the south.
Evacuations in al-Chifa
Hundreds of people evacuated the al-Chifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, where there were patients, doctors and displaced people, after receiving orders from the Israeli army, according to the director of the establishment and an AFP journalist on site. The army denied having ordered the evacuation, claiming to have “responded to a request” from the hospital director. According to Israel, Hamas terrorists use this establishment as a military base, which the movement denies.
March for the hostages
Thousands of relatives of hostages held in Gaza arrived in Jerusalem on foot on Saturday to demand “answers” from the Israeli government, under pressure after the announcement of the death of two captives recently. “Take them home now. All,” proclaimed the demonstrators of this march that left Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Fuel delivery
Under pressure from Washington, Israel authorized the daily entry of tanker trucks into the territory on Friday. After a first delivery on Friday to the Rafah terminal, 120,000 liters entered from Egypt on Saturday, according to the UN. The UN urgently requested the delivery of fuel to operate generators in hospitals, pump and purify water.
Violence in the West Bank
Five Palestinian fighters from Fatah, the movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, were killed in a rare airstrike on Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent and Fatah sources. The Israeli army said it had “eliminated a number of terrorists in Balata”, the Nablus refugee camp, which houses 24,000 people under the auspices of the UN.
“Reunify” Gaza and the West Bank
US President Joe Biden called in an op-ed published Saturday in the Washington Post, for a reunification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip under a “revitalized Palestinian Authority,” and called for sanctions for “extremist” settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank.
For its part, Germany said it stood “on the side of Israel”. During a telephone interview with Benyamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz estimated that “humanitarian ceasefires could contribute to a substantial improvement in the assistance provided to the populations”, while committing “that Germany stands unwaveringly on the side of Israel.”
Balance
According to the latest report from the government of the Hamas terrorist movement, 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, including more than 5,000 children and 3,300 women. These figures are currently impossible to verify. The Hamas attack left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians killed on October 7, according to Israeli authorities. 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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