Israel-Hamas war live: WHO chief says Gaza hospitals must be protected

17- November-2023- Aljazeera

➡WHO chief says hospitals in the Gaza Strip must be protected as facilities crumble under Israeli attacks, lack of fuel and other supplies.

➡Al-Shifa Hospital director says 7,000 people — patients, medics and other civilians seeking shelter — are trapped in Gaza’s largest hospital, which remains cut of from water, electricity and communications.

➡Israeli air attacks on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza kill at least 18 people

➡Gaza is under a communications blackout due to a lack of fuel for generators.

➡At least 11,470 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, but the death toll has not been updated for days due to the collapse of the enclave’s health system, which collected data. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s attacks stands at about 1,200

No real pressure on Israel to end war: Analyst

Yaser Alashqar, an assistant professor of international peace studies at Trinity College in Dublin, told Al Jazeera that international condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza has yet to translate into real action.

So far, international powers and EU countries have spoken about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including a lack of food and medical supplies.

“But we haven’t seen really actions through policy or through international pressure,” Alashqar said.

“The US, if we look at it, is facilitating the Israeli war in Gaza. If we look at the EU, as well, it’s facilitating the Israeli war.

Despite two fuel trucks a day, water will remain woefully short: Oxfam

The aid group said that even with more fuel coming into Gaza, the territory will only have access to 17 percent of its pre-war water supplies.

The bare minimum international standard for water in an emergency is 15 litres per person each day, Oxfam said.

But right now, Gaza residents are trying to survive on one to three litres a day for all water use.

Oxfam added that an analysis shows the total bottled water delivered since aid trucks were allowed into Gaza via the Rafah crossing is equivalent to just 1.6 litres per person.

Displaced Palestinians sheltering in a tent camp collect rainwater, due to the lack of drinking water, following a rainfall, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Khan Younis
Displaced Palestinians sheltering in a tent camp collect rainwater amid water shortage, following a rainfall, in Khan Younis [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

Five more countries refer situation in Palestine to International Criminal Court

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said the referral came from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti.

The ICC has an ongoing investigation into “the situation in the State of Palestine” for alleged war crimes committed since June 2014, Khan said in the statement.

That investigation began in March 2021, shortly after the court ruled it had jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories – a decision that opened the door to the possible prosecution of war crimes committed by Israel there.

The Palestinian authorities are a signatory to the Rome Statute, which establishes ICC jurisdiction. Israel is not.

Khan said the invesï»żçŠ€ćˆ©ćŁ« tigation “extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the attacks that took place on 7 October 2023”

Amnesty urges Israel to rescind order for Palestinians to leave parts of southern Gaza

The rights group is again responding to Israeli leaflets telling residents of several Khan Younis neighbourhoods – including al-Qarara, Khuza’a, Bani Suheila and Abasan – to evacuate and go to “known shelters”.

That comes after over 1.5 million people in Gaza were already forced to evacuate their homes in the north of the enclave, including children, pregnant women, elderly and wounded people, the rights group said.

Amnesty reiterated its call for Israel to rescind the latest evacuation orders, which it said amount to “forced displacement and violate [international] law”.

It added the humanitarian situation is expected to get worse as the rainy season approaches.

Palestinian children wounded in Israeli bombardments evacuated to UAE

We have photos of the evacuation of Palestinian children from Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, in the centre of Gaza.

The children, accompanied by their relatives in ambulances, are being transported to the United Arab Emirates on a humanitarian flight from Egypt’s El Arish.

Palestinian children wounded in Israeli bombardments wait with relatives in an ambulance outside Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, as patients start the process of being evacuated to the United Arab Emirates in a humanitarian flight from al-Arish, in Egypt, on November 17
[Mahmud Hams/AFP]
Palestinian children wounded in Israeli bombardments wait with relatives in an ambulance outside Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, as patients start the process of being evacuated to the United Arab Emirates in a humanitarian flight from al-Arish, in Egypt, on November 17
[Mahmud Hams/AFP]
Palestinian children wounded in Israeli bombardments wait with relatives in an ambulance outside Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip, as patients start the process of being evacuated to the United Arab Emirates in a humanitarian flight from al-Arish, in Egypt, on November 17
[Mahmud Hams/AFP]

Qatar’s emir holds calls with US president, Bahraini king

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed the situation in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories in a call with US President Joe Biden, the Qatari Emiri Diwan said.

The pair discussed “strategic relations between the two countries” and ways strengthen them, it added.

A separate readout from the White House said the US and Qatari leaders also “discussed the urgent need for all hostages held by Hamas to be released without further delay”, as well as efforts to get more aid into Gaza and Israel’s decision to resume some fuel deliveries.

The diwan also said Sheikh Tamim held a call with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

The two leaders also discussed developments in Gaza, as well as other “regional and international developments of common interest”.

The call with Bahrain’s monarch comes as Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister travelled to Manama for meetings with the country’s crown prince and other top officials.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said the two sides “stressed the need to immediately stop the war in Gaza and protect civilians”.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani reacts during a meeting, in Astana,
Sheikh Tamim discussed the situation in Gaza with US President Joe Biden [File: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik/ Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

As Israel bombs Gaza, Ireland’s enduring support of Palestine gets stronger

Ireland is once again an outlier in the West, home to some of the loudest criticism of Israel and support of Palestinian rights, as the Middle East conflict rages.

Niamh Nichillin – a 50-year-old primary school teacher in Tipperary and a member of Fianna Fail, one of two governing centre-right parties – is among the many in Ireland who sympathise with the people of Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated areas often described as an open-air prison due to Israel’s blockade of the enclave.

“Israeli air strikes on Gaza are clearly disproportionate towards a civilian population with little or no defences,” she told Al Jazeera. “This can hardly be called a war in the usual sense of the word.”

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US protesters rally at Fox News building in New York

Videos shared on social media showed a group of protesters chanting slogans and holding a banner reading, “Fox News’ Lies Cover Up Genocide!”.

US media outlets have been criticised for their coverage of the war in Gaza.

The decision by some American journalists and media networks to embed with the Israeli military has drawn particular scorn, with observers saying the reports that emerge from such a deployment cannot be considered fair.

Media outlets with the Israeli forces have acknowledged that they can only film with military approval and that Israel must also greenlight any footage before it is released

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