explainer
As the Israel-Gaza conflict enters its 42nd day, key developments include:
Here is the situation on Friday, November 17, 2023, almost six weeks into the war.
Human impact and combat updates
- The Syrian military announced early Friday that Syrian air defense forces shot down an Israeli missile near the capital Damascus. The military said most of the missiles were intercepted, but some caused property damage.
- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has warned that Gaza faces the possibility of immediate famine, adding that the besieged enclave has only 10 percent of the food supplies it needs. Air raids on bakeries and flour mills in southern Gaza have left only one company producing flour in the enclave.
- Communications failures in large parts of Gaza and attacks on Gaza’s medical system have made it difficult for the Ministry of Health to gather information on areas hit by Israeli attacks.
- The Israeli military announced on Friday that it had recovered the body of Noah Marciano, a soldier held by Hamas. The Israeli military announced Thursday that the body of another Hamas prisoner, Yehudit Weiss, had also been found.
- At least 11 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian officials said.
Hospital situation in Gaza
- The situation in Gaza’s hospitals continues to deteriorate.
- Israeli forces continue to stay at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, for the third day in a row. The hospital’s radiology department was damaged and several bodies were removed from the medical facility.
- The Israeli military announced Thursday night that it had discovered a usable tunnel shaft beneath Al Shifa Hospital. The military has claimed that Hamas is operating a command center from below the hospital, but has so far provided no evidence to support that claim.
- Gaza’s hospitals are running out of beds to accommodate patients, forcing many to be treated on hospital floors. Additionally, due to a lack of medical supplies and equipment, treatments are being carried out manually.
- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Said On Friday, he announced that a medical facility in Gaza established by his foundation had been destroyed by Israeli bombing.
diplomacy
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced On Friday’s X, he said he had discussed the current situation with Australian Anthony Albanese. Prime Minister Trudeau is under pressure from Canadian voters to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Albanon government is resisting calls for a ceasefire.
- The US State Department issued a statement on Thursday after an attack on a Jordanian military hospital in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday left seven people injured. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller expressed concern for the injured and praised the Jordanian government for establishing the hospital. But Miller did not condemn the strike or say who was responsible.
- The State Department also said Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israel’s wartime cabinet secretary Benny Gantz to discuss the urgent need to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank, including countering rising levels of settler violence. Announced.
- Mr. Blinken also spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry about efforts to increase humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and reaffirmed Washington’s rejection of forced displacement of Palestinians. However, calls for a ceasefire in Gaza remain off the table.
- Elders, a group of former world leaders working for peace, has written an open letter to President Joe Biden saying Israel’s destruction of Gaza and killing of civilians endangers “America’s credibility and interests around the world.” He said he was exposing it.
Latest information on the West Bank
- The head of the Palestinian emergency services told Reuters on Friday that three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
- Israeli forces arrested two emergency workers and ordered the evacuation of Jenin’s Ibn Sina Hospital as they launched a raid. Ibn Sina is one of the largest medical facilities in the Palestinian territories and is considered a specialized hospital. Armored vehicles damaged cars and roads in the attack.
- Israeli police open fire at a checkpoint in Bethlehem, killing three Palestinians.