Here’s what happened on Monday, November 13, 2023:
Human impact and combat updates
- With medical centers and communication services collapsed across Gaza, the Ministry of Health has been unable to update casualty figures since 2pm (12:00 GMT) on 10 November. But on Sunday, the Gaza government’s press office updated figures, bringing the death toll to 11,100, including more than 8,000 children and women.
- At least seven people were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Monday, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
- US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Sunday that the US had conducted two airstrikes against Iranian-linked facilities in Syria. Fox News, citing Pentagon sources, reported that six to seven pro-Iranian fighters were also killed.
- Two Israeli soldiers were killed and one seriously injured in clashes with Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the Israeli military said.
- The Israeli military said Sunday that its warplanes struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in retaliation for anti-tank missiles that injured Israelis near the border.
Hospital situation in Gaza
- The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced on Sunday that Gaza’s second-largest Al-Quds Hospital had ceased operations due to a lack of fuel.
- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) announced on Sunday that three nurses were killed at Al Shifa Hospital. Gaza’s health minister told the Palestinian Wafa news agency on Monday that hospital staff were struggling to bury at least 100 decomposed bodies killed by Israeli shelling across the enclave. The hospital has also stopped accepting new patients.
- The World Health Organization has successfully restored communication with staff at Al Shifa Hospital, the organization’s director general announced on Sunday.
- In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had rejected an offer to provide fuel to al-Shifa hospital. In a statement Sunday, the Palestinian group denied any connection between the allegations and al-Shifa’s management or decision-making.
- White House NSA Director Jake Sullivan spoke on CBS News’ Face the Nation program Sunday about concerns about “shootouts inside hospitals where innocent people and patients receiving medical care are caught in the crossfire.” The United States said it was in “active discussions” with the Israeli military.
- European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for a “temporary pause” on the evacuation of hospitalized patients in the Gaza Strip who require urgent treatment.
diplomacy
- Six United Nations offices in East Asia lowered their national flags to half-staff on Monday in memory of their colleagues killed in Gaza. Other United Nations headquarters around the world are expected to hold similar commemorations on Monday.
- US President Joe Biden spoke by phone on Sunday with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The two discussed the need for protection of civilians and humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Biden thanked the emir for Qatar’s efforts to rescue prisoners in the Gaza Strip, according to a White House reading of the call. During the call, the emir called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
- Hamas announced on Sunday it was suspending hostage negotiations over Israel’s handling of Al-Shifa hospital, a Palestinian official told Reuters.
Attacks in the West Bank
- A man driving a car was shot in the head by Israeli forces early Monday morning in Hebron’s al-Hawz district and died, Wafa news agency reported. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that at least 186 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
- Al Jazeera Arabic reported nightly clashes in Nablus and an explosion in Qalqilya on Monday.