explainer
From the attack on an Indonesian hospital to the seizure of a cargo ship by the Houthis in the Red Sea, here are the key updates.
Here’s what happened on Monday, November 20, 2023:
Latest development status
- Yemen’s Houthi fighters on Sunday hijacked a Japanese-run cargo ship in the Red Sea and took 25 crew members hostage in response to an “Israeli attack on Gaza.” A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had no involvement in the ship’s ownership, operation or crew. However, public ownership records list the ship as belonging to Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Unger. The Japanese government condemned the seizure of the ship, which was en route from Turkey to India.
- The Washington Post reported Sunday that the United States, Hamas and Israel have reached a tentative agreement that includes the release of more than 50 prisoners of war in the Gaza Strip each day during a five-day cessation of fighting, but the U.S. and Israel He claimed there was no agreement. Still in place. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that only “minor” challenges remained that were “more logistical”.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement on Sunday that he was “deeply shocked by the attacks on two UNRWA schools within 24 hours in Gaza.” He called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and thanked Qatar for leading mediation efforts.
Human influence and combat
- At least 31 people were killed in Israeli military attacks on the Breiji and Nuseyrat refugee camps in central Gaza on Sunday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
- On Sunday, 31 premature babies from Gaza’s largest al-Shifa hospital were evacuated to a medical center in southern Gaza following an Israeli attack on the hospital last week. But all of them are battling serious infections, according to the World Health Organization. “Preparations are underway” for them to enter Egypt, along with three doctors and two nurses, said Mohamed Zakut, director of the Gaza Strip hospital. Eight other premature babies died in al-Shifa after incubators stopped working after Israel banned fuel from entering the enclave early in the war.
- The Israeli military announced on Monday that two Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Gaza, bringing the number of soldiers killed since October 7 to 387.
- According to the latest bulletin from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 69,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Sunday. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency will distribute fuel to support food distribution, and operate critical facilities such as hospital generators and water and sanitation systems.
- OCHA reported that at least six Palestinian journalists were killed in the 24 hours before the update.
Hospital situation in Gaza
- Continued attacks on an Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza early Monday left the hospital’s main operating room damaged and operations no longer possible, Al Jazeera correspondent Safwat Karut said. Several people, including doctors and patients, were also killed or injured.
- Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported on Monday that around 250 seriously injured people were unable to leave Al Shifa and remain stranded there.
- Médecins Sans Frontières reported on Sunday that 122 patients arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis within minutes of the Israeli attack in the neighborhood. Seventy people were dead on arrival, some with burns and injuries.
diplomacy
- French President Emmanuel Macron told Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday that “the civilian losses are too high” in Israel’s war in Gaza, and that “we need a humanitarian ceasefire that will lead to a ceasefire,” according to a Sunday statement from Macron’s presidential palace. “It reminded us of the importance of achieving immediate results,” he said. . The country plans to send more medical supplies and a second hospital ship to Gaza.
- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei called on Islamic countries on Sunday to sever political ties with Israel, at least “for a limited time,” Reuters reported, citing state media.
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a visiting delegation of Arab and Islamic officials on Monday that Beijing would cooperate to “restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible,” according to AFP news agency. The delegation called for an immediate ceasefire, but added that the Chinese government “has always firmly supported the cause of restoring the legitimate national rights and interests of the Palestinian people,” according to Reuters.
- U.S. President Joe Biden said in an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Saturday that a “revitalized Palestinian Authority” should ultimately govern the West Bank.
Arrests and attacks in the occupied West Bank
- Israeli forces attacked at least one Palestinian worker from Gaza during a raid on Deir al-Ghasn and the neighboring town of Atir in the occupied northwest of the West Bank, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Monday. 30 people were arrested.
- Israeli forces shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man near Hebron on Sunday, blocking ambulance access until he died, Wafa news agency reported. The soldiers then handed him over to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.