Israel’s Gaza invasion - Day 410

  • Israel’s invasion of Gaza Strip, sparked by Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack, surpasses 13 months

  • Hamas’ top leaders, Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Tehran, while Yahya Sinwar killed in southern Gaza

  • Report suggests Israel seeking to carve out ‘buffer zones’ and has no reason to slow down until new US president takes office in Jan

  • Israel invades Lebanon, killing over 1,550 people and displacing 1m; assassinates Hezbollah’s Nasrallah, his likely successor

  • Iran launches missiles on Tel Aviv; Israel retaliates with strikes on military sites

Published 20 Nov, 2024 10:25am

UNSC set to vote on Gaza ceasefire resolution

The vote will take place at 10am local time in New York (15:00 GMT), Al Jazeera reports.

The latest resolution — put forward by the 10 elected members of the UN Security Council — demands “an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.

The supporting members are Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.

The text could still be blocked by the US, one of five non-elected members with the power to veto resolutions, according to Security Council Report, a media outlet which monitors the UN council’s work.

Published 20 Nov, 2024 11:50am

Israeli strike leaves woman footballer in coma

Lebanese footballer Celine Haidar was about to make her dream of playing for the national women’s team come true, but debris from an Israeli strike left the 19-year-old in a medically induced coma.

Last week, she had been seriously wounded in an Israeli strike on her home neighbourhood of Shiyah, as the air force pummelled Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“She dreamt of competing abroad. She said she wanted to be like Ronaldo and Messi … She wanted to be a star and for everyone to talk about her,” her mother Sanaa Sharhour told AFP.

“They killed her dream.”

Published 20 Nov, 2024 10:19am

US envoy says end to Israel-Hezbollah conflict ‘within grasp’

US special envoy Amos Hochstein has said in Beirut that an end to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict was “now within our grasp” as he met officials to discuss a truce plan largely endorsed by Lebanon, AFP reports.

After meeting with Hezbollah-allied parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation on behalf of the group, Hochstein told reporters he saw “a real opportunity” to end the fighting.

“I’m here in Beirut to facilitate that decision, but it’s ultimately the decision of the parties… It is now within our grasp.”

Berri told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat after the meeting that “the situation is good, in principle”, adding his team and US representatives still had “some technical details” to settle.

Hochstein also met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and army chief Joseph Aoun. A Lebanon-based diplomat, requesting anonymity, said “progress” had been made in the talks.

Published 20 Nov, 2024 09:33am

Erdogan says Israel’s Herzog was denied Turkish airspace en route to Azerbaijan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkiye refused to allow Israeli President Isaac Herzog to use its airspace to attend the COP climate summit in Azerbaijan, highlighting Ankara’s stance amid tensions with Israel, Reuters reports.

“We did not allow the Israeli president to use our airspace to attend the COP summit. We suggested alternative routes and other options,” Erdogan told reporters at the G20 Summit in Brazil.

Herzog ended up cancelling the visit.

“In light of the situation assessment and for security reasons, the President of the State has decided to cancel his trip to the Climate Conference in Azerbaijan,” the Israeli presidency said.

Published 20 Nov, 2024 08:30am

Israeli forces kill 3 Islamic Jihad fighters in West Bank raid, medics say

Israeli forces have shot dead three members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group during an army raid into Qabatiya in the Israel-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and the group say.

According to Reuters, the armed wing of the PIJ said three of its members were killed as they confronted Israeli forces who raided Qabatiya near the city of Jenin. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Later on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said two Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the West Bank. Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the incident.

Updated 20 Nov, 2024 08:46am

US, Israeli officials to discuss civilian harm in Gaza in early December: State Dept

Senior US and Israeli officials will hold talks in early December in the first meeting of a new channel requested by Washington to raise concerns over civilian harm in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.

According to Reuters, an October 13 letter from officials in President Joe Biden’s administration to Israel’s government said previous channels were not working and asked for a new channel to meet virtually before the end of that month.

Miller said at a press briefing that a first meeting had been scheduled to gather information about incidents involving Israel’s use of US-provided weapons that are “a cause of concern or a cause of question”. He declined to say where the meeting would take place.

 Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Anas Al-Masri, who succumbed to wounds sustained from an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on  Nov 19, 2024. — Reuters
Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Anas Al-Masri, who succumbed to wounds sustained from an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov 19, 2024. — Reuters

“We take all the information we gather… and feed it into our processes, both our policy making processes and the judgments that we have to make about potential violations of international humanitarian law, and we will continue to do that,” Miller added.

Miller declined to say whether the new channel would accelerate US government assessments of potential violations of international law by Israel, and did not commit to any assessments concluding before Biden leaves office on January 20.

“Our work is already moving as quickly as we can possibly make it move, but they are difficult assessments that we have to make,” he said.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 11:18pm

Netanyahu says Israel offering $5m reward for each Gaza hostage

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is offering a reward of $5 million to anybody who brings out a hostage held in Gaza, AFP reports.

“Anybody who brings out a hostage will find with us a secure way for them and their family to leave” Gaza, Netanyahu said in a video filmed inside the Palestinian territory, according to a statement from his office.

“We will also give them a reward of $5m for each hostage.”

Published 19 Nov, 2024 10:50pm

Netanyahu claims Hamas will no longer rule Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Hamas will not rule Gaza after the conflict ends and that Israel has destroyed Hamas’ military force, Reuters reports.

Speaking from within Gaza itself during a visit, Netanyahu also said Israel had not given up on locating the remaining hostages in Gaza.

“Anyone who dares to harm our hostages will have blood on their head. We will hunt you down and get you,” he said.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 09:41pm

Israeli helicopters fire on homes in central Gaza

Israeli helicopters and drones are firing at homes in the Bureij refugee camp, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.

Meanwhile, there are also reports that Israeli war helicopters are firing machine guns at areas in the south of Gaza City.

Updated 19 Nov, 2024 09:23pm

US imposes sanctions on 6 senior Hamas officials

The US has imposed sanctions on six senior Hamas officials in further action against the Palestinian group as Washington has sought to achieve a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, Reuters reports.

The Treasury Department said in a statement the sanctions targeted the group’s representatives abroad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing and those involved in supporting fundraising efforts for the group and weapons smuggling into Gaza.

Hamas continues to rely on key officials who seemingly maintain legitimate, public-facing roles within the group, yet who facilitate their activities, represent their interests abroad and coordinate the transfer of money and goods into Gaza, Treasury’s Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley Smith, said in the statement.

“Treasury remains committed to disrupting Hamas’ efforts to secure additional revenue and holding those who facilitate the group’s terrorist activities to account.”

Among those targeted was Abd al-Rahman Ismail abd al-Rahman Ghanimat, a longtime member of Hamas’ military wing who is now based in Turkiye, the Treasury said, accusing him of being involved in multiple attempted and successful terrorist attacks.

Two other officials based in Turkiye, a member based in Gaza who has participated in Hamas’s engagements with Russia and a leader authorised to speak publicly on behalf of the group and who previously oversaw border crossings at Gaza were also among those targeted, according to the Treasury.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 08:49pm

Israeli settler group slams US sanctions over West Bank

Israeli organisation Amana, a movement that backs developing settlements in the occupied West Bank, has denounced sanctions imposed on it by the United States the previous day, AFP reports.

A statement by the group said the sanctions “result from baseless slander directed at Amana by hostile and extremist elements”.

“Had the US administration bothered to verify the claims … it would have found them to be factually unfounded and refrained from taking action against us,” the statement said.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 08:19pm

Israeli soldier killed in southern Lebanon: army

The Israeli military has said in a statement that the family of the soldier, who was 30 years old and served in the Golani Brigade, has been notified, Al Jazeera reports.

The military also said that three other soldiers — also from the Golani Brigade — were severely wounded and evacuated to hospital.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 07:16pm

France urges collective EU response to anti-Semitism ‘explosion’

France called for a collective response to “one of the worst explosions of anti-Semitism” in Europe’s recent history, as EU ministers gathered to discuss the issue, AFP reports.

French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad said he organised the gathering in Brussels with his Dutch counterpart to tackle a resurgence in anti-Semitic violence since the start of the offensive in Gaza.

“I wanted us to have… a frank conversation about the causes of the rise in anti-Semitism and the best ways to address it and really make it a priority for the European institutions,” Haddad told AFP.

The meeting was arranged after supporters of an Israeli football team were attacked in Amsterdam this month, in an incident condemned by Dutch and Israeli authorities as anti-Semitic.

Speaking after the talks, Haddad said however that Europe was witnessing “one of the worst outbreaks of anti-Semitism” since World War II.

“When we talk about anti-Semitism, it is not just the defence of European Jewish communities that is at stake, it is the preservation… of our fundamental values,” he said.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 06:46pm

PHOTOS: Gazans scramble to receive cooked food amid hunger crisis

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19. — Reuters

Published 19 Nov, 2024 06:44pm

Israeli forces kill 3 Islamic Jihad fighters in West Bank raid, medics say

Israeli forces shot and killed three members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group during an army raid into Qabatiya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and the group said, Reuters reports.

The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group said three of its members were killed as they confronted Israeli forces who raided Qabatiya near the city of Jenin. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 05:53pm

More than 100 of 183 UNRWA schools sheltering displaced families

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says more than 100 of its 183 schools in Gaza “now shelter displaced families, leaving countless children without access to education”.

“An entire generation’s future is at stake — education is their right, not a privilege,” UNRWA said on X.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 05:30pm

More than 200 children killed in Lebanon in 2 months: UN

Unicef says children in Lebanon are facing a “silent normalisation of horror”, with more than 200 killed and 1,100 injured in the last two months, Al Jazeera reports.

“In Lebanon, much the same as has become the case in Gaza, the intolerable is quietly transforming into the acceptable. And the appalling is slipping into the realm of the expected,” said Unicef spokesperson James Elder at a press briefing in Geneva.

“And once more, the cries of children go unheard, the world’s silence grows deafening, and again we allow the unimaginable to become the landscape of childhood. A horrific and unacceptable new normal.”

Published 19 Nov, 2024 05:30pm

Patients at a risk of death, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital says

Al Jazeera reports from the Gaza Strip that Israeli forces have renewed shelling in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, in the northern part of the territory.

The director, Hussam Abu Safiya, spoke to Al Jazeera about the situation there, painting a bleak picture.

Here is what he said:

  • Malnutrition cases have begun arriving at the hospital, most of them children and the elderly, due to famine.
  • The risk of death threatens the lives of elderly patients due to the lack of medication and the spread of famine in northern Gaza.
  • Injured people lose their lives every day because there are no doctors and medication at the hospital.
Published 19 Nov, 2024 05:00pm

Argentina withdraws 3 officers from UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon

Argentina has notified the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Unifil, that it is withdrawing three of its officers, a Unifil spokesperson has confirmed, Al Jazeera reports.

“Correct. Argentina has asked its officers to go back,” said Andrea Tenenti, Unifil spokesperson, in response to a question about a newspaper report. He declined to comment on the reason for their departure, referring the question to the Argentinian government.

Ardiel said eight of those attacks were confirmed to have originated from the Israeli army.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 04:50pm

US envoy in Beirut says ‘real opportunity’ to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

A US special envoy said he was in Beirut because he saw “a real opportunity” to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict raging for two months after nearly a year of clashes, AFP reports.

“I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end,” Amos Hochstein told reporters after meeting Hezbollah-allied parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation on behalf of the group.

“This is a moment of decision making. I’m here in Beirut to facilitate that decision, but it’s ultimately the decision of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict,” he said.

“It is now within our grasp,” he added.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 04:44pm

Hamas negotiators ‘not in Doha’ but political office not closed: Qatar

Hamas negotiators are not in Doha but the Palestinian militant group’s office there has not been permanently closed, Qatar said, AFP reports.

“The leaders of Hamas that are within the negotiating team are now not in Doha,” foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said, adding: “The decision to… close down the office permanently, is a decision that you will hear about from us directly.”

“The mediation process right now… is suspended unless we take a decision to reverse that which is based on the positions of both sides,” Ansari said.

“The office of Hamas in Doha was created for the sake of the mediation process. Obviously, when there is no mediation process, the office itself doesn’t have any function,” he added, declining to confirm whether Qatar had asked Hamas officials to leave.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 04:14pm

Palestinian Authority says 3 Palestinians killed in Israeli West Bank raid

Three Palestinians have been killed during an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank near Jenin, said the governor of the region, citing local authorities, AFP reports.

“There are three bodies of martyrs that are now with the Israeli side, after they killed them,” Kamal Abu al-Rub said, citing the office in charge of liaising between Israeli and Palestinian authorities in the West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry said the District Coordination Office had also informed it of the deaths of “three young men shot by Israeli forces near Qabatiya”, which is in the Jenin governorate.

AFP journalists on the ground reported that an Israeli army operation was still ongoing in Qabatiya at noon.

Published 19 Nov, 2024 04:00pm

Israeli forces demolish Jerusalem mosque

Al-Shiyah Mosque, located in occupied East Jerusalem’s Jabal Mukaber neighbourhood, was built 20 years ago, Al Jazeera reports.

Today, Israeli forces stormed the area, cordoned off the mosque, for which a demolition order had been issued, and began tearing it down, Wafa reports.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows a bulldozer carrying out the demolition.