IsraelPalestineNews.org: Latest Israeli attacks in Gaza, Catholic Church bombed, humanitarian update, escalating Israeli violence in West Bank, Vermont shooting update, rhetoric from the White House, 250 US financial executives signed a letter in support of Israel, and more.
Updates to be added throughout the day. Find latest statistics at the bottom of this report.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
Palestinian human rights organizations have issued a letter calling on UN human rights experts specializing in the prevention of genocide to take ‘immediate’ action as ‘genocide is unfolding in the Gaza Strip.’
RECOMMENDED READING: From north to south, nowhere safe in Gaza as 700 killed in 24 hours
Recent Israeli attacks:
- An entire block in the Shujaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza city was heavily bombarded and about fifty residential buildings destroyed. More than 60 people were killed, crews were working to rescue or retrieve more than 300 others from under the rubble.
- More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza.
- More than 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids Sunday morning that targeted areas in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
- Israeli forces in the vicinity of Shifa Hospital, in Gaza city, reportedly hit an ambulance evacuating wounded people; two paramedics were reportedly killed and several others injured.
- There have been hundreds of Israeli attacks across Gaza on Saturday, including more than 50 in Khan Younis and surrounding areas.
- The Israeli Air Force reportedly bombed the Holy Family School in Gaza City that belongs to the Catholic Church and hosts hundreds of internally displaced people, on the first Sunday of Advent. The school’s website says it’s
“one of the most important schools of the Latin Patriarchate in Palestine and one of the best in the region. It provides a high level of education, supports cultural exchange, and offers a suitable and safe environment for exceptional education for all.”
Catholic Herald reported on Nov 16 about Israeli attacks on Christian institutions:
MORE than 50 Christian family homes and a Catholic school have been destroyed, and other Christian buildings have been badly damaged by airstrikes in Gaza, according to a charity’s project partner.
One of the buildings destroyed has been the Rosary Sisters School, which had 1,250 students, both Christian and Muslim, and was one of the largest institutions in Gaza educating poor communities.
Sister Nabila Saleh of the Rosary Sisters, the principal of the school, told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that she received the tragic news of the school having been hit on Saturday 4th November
Prisoner negotiations: A Hamas official said negotiations on prisoner exchanges were over and would not resume until Israel halted its attacks and handed over all Palestinian prisoners.
RECOMMENDED READING: Israeli assault on southern Gaza could push 1m refugees to Egypt border, UNRWA chief warns
Gaza’s economic disaster: The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) stated that Gaza –loses US$1.6 million daily in farm production losses. These losses are likely higher considering the destruction of farm equipment and farmland, and damage caused to thousands of trees, especially olive trees. The economic impact is significant, considering that 55 per cent of Gaza’s agricultural products used to be sold outside Gaza.
Gaza’s poverty rate is set to soar to more than 90 percent, according to the director of statistics at the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Israel’s devastating war on Gaza since 7 October has resulted in at least $700m worth of losses, just in the first month.
At least 147,000 had stopped working, around 56,000 businesses had closed, and unemployment is expected to rise to about 65%.
Excluding the current conflict, the economic losses in the Gaza Strip since 2007 when Israel began its siege amounts to about $35bn.
A total of 55 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip Saturday after a week-long humanitarian pause ended. The aid, including water, food, medicine, and medical supplies, entered via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Aid from Qatar: Qatar has announced the delivery of an additional 68 tons of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza. The aid, consisting of food and shelter equipment, was provided by the Qatar Fund For Development, the Qatar Red Crescent Society and the Qatar Charity, the ministry said. The latest flights bring the total number of humanitarian flights organized by Qatar to 35, delivering 1,314 tons of aid.
RAISES QUESTIONS: Israeli personnel gave false information about 7 October attack crimes – report
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he learned from his time leading forces against ISIL (ISIS) that “you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians”. He added that Washington “will remain Israel’s closest friend in the world”.
It is important to note that Hamas and ISIS are completely different, and that Hamas actually fought against an ISIS presence in Gaza.
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White House claims Israel is trying to reduce casualties: The White House says Israel is “making an effort” to minimize civilian deaths in Gaza as international concern mounts over the surging death toll in the resumed war with Hamas. A spokesman noted that Israel created an online map to warn civilians of upcoming bombings, adding, “There’s not a whole lot of modern militaries that would do that … to telegraph their punches in that way. So they are making an effort.”
It is not clear how civilians can use this system after Israeli air attacks damaged telecommunications and electrical infrastructure – and apparently does not take into account the fact that many Palestinians in Gaza do not have electricity or internet due to the Israeli aggression.
In spite of the map, over 700 Gazans were killed yesterday.
OCHA points out that under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict must take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event to minimize, civilian harm. This can entail evacuating civilians or giving effective advance warning of attacks, which provides civilians enough time to leave, as well as a safe route and place to go.
All possible measures must be adopted to ensure that those civilians displaced can afford satisfactory conditions of safety, shelter, nutrition, and hygiene and ensure that family members are not separated. Civilians choosing to stay in areas designated for evacuation do not lose their protection (emphasis added).
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Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz launched a new Jewish Caucus in Congress. Wasserman Schultz had earlier said that House members who opposed a resolution affirming support for Israel in its war against Hamas didn’t “have a soul.” Israel’s Jerusalem Post reports about the new caucus:
For decades, Jewish members of Congress had been gathering unofficially. Earlier this month, Axios reported that Wasserman Schultz got the go-ahead from House administrators to make the Jewish Caucus official — though it appears that not all Jews in the House believe the caucus should exist.
For the last decade, the unofficial gatherings were helmed by Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat who is the longest-serving Jew in Congress.
More than 250 US financial executives have signed a letter in support of Israel – Senior managers and executives from companies such as JP Morgan and Bank of America stated: “”We stand united in our support for the State and people of Israel” and asserted: ““The attack in Israel is an attack on all of us.”
The signatories include billionaire Bill Ackman, manager of the New York hedge fund Pershing Square, Jeffrey Talpins, founder-manager of the New York hedge fund Element Capital, Sander Gerber, CEO of Hudson Bay Capital, Boaz Weinstein, founder of Saba Capital, and Jay Seidman, the founder of Altitude Venture.
RECOMMENDED READING: US Muslims pledge to ditch Biden in 2024 over his stance on Israel-Gaza war
West Bank news
Israeli settler and/or military violence:
- A 38-year-old man and father of 6 in Qarawat Bani Hassan, north of the occupied West Bank, was shot in the chest and died as settlers and Israeli soldiers raided the town. The Israeli military stated that while soldiers were there and did deploy their weapons, they only “shot into the air.”
- In another incident, a group of about 15 settlers burned a car and broke the windows of a house with stones.
- A 16-year-old Palestinian child died of wounds sustained after being shot by Israeli forces during an operation in Jenin Refugee Camp on 9 November
- Adnan Issam Zaid, 21, was shot dead this morning by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. The killing took place during an Israeli raid in Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.
- Two Palestinian children were injured Sunday evening by Israeli settlers’ bullets in the village of Deir Qadis, west of Ramallah. Settlers stormed the village and fired bullets at the citizens, wounding two children, aged 12 and 14, with live bullets.
- Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian child at a checkpoint near Tell village (Nablus), reportedly after he attempted to stab a soldier; no injuries among Israeli forces were reported. According to Palestinian medical sources, Israeli forces prevented the evacuation of the boy’s body.
Since October 7, the UN reported at least 305 incidents of settler violence, where at least nine Palestinians were killed.
More than 700,000 settlers – 10 percent of Israel’s nearly 7 million population – now live in 150 settlements and 128 outposts dotting the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Read an explainer on illegal settlements here.
Abductions: Israel has detained at least 60 Palestinians in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. Wafa reported that at least four women were among those arrested.
The latest arrests are among 3,480 Palestinians arrested in the West Bank since October 7. Many prisoners are held without trial or charges, under a system of “administrative detention”.
Israel continued its arrest campaign during the weeklong truce from November 24 to 30. During this time, Israel detained nearly as many new Palestinian prisoners as it released under the terms of the truce.
Al Aqsa mosque imam’s home under demolition orders: Israeli forces on Sunday raided the Sawaneh neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, claiming that a residential building where the Imam or prayer leader of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, lives is an “unauthorized construction,” Anadolu reports. “A large force of Israeli police and intelligence raided the building, including the apartment where 85-year-old Sheikh Sabri resides in the Sawaneh neighbourhood in East Jerusalem on Sunday morning,” eyewitnesses told Anadolu.
They added, “The forces attached the demolition order to the building’s door, citing the reason as ‘unauthorized construction.’”
According to eyewitnesses, the building was constructed many years ago and houses more than 100 Palestinians in 18 residential apartments.
RECOMMENDED READING: Israel escalates its crackdown on Palestinian detainees amidst aggression on Gaza
Elsewhere:
Vermont shooting update: One of the three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot in Vermont last month is paralyzed from the chest down after a bullet lodged in his spine, the student’s family said. Hisham Awartani, a 20-year-old student at Brown University who grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was walking with two friends near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington on Nov. 25 when police say 48-year-old Jason Eaton shot them with a handgun in a suspected hate crime. Eaton has pleaded not guilty.
ICC chief prosecutor’s stern warning: After a 4-day visit to the region – that did not include Gaza – the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor has called on Israel and Hamas to abide by international law, saying his office will ramp up investigations into potential war crimes.
All actors must comply with international humanitarian law. If you do not do so, do not complain when my office is required to act…Civilians must have access to basic food, water and desperately needed medical supplies, without further delay, and at pace and at scale.
Yemen’s Houthi movement targeted two Israeli ships with an armed drone and a naval missile, a spokesperson for the group’s military says. The Pentagon said earlier one of its warships in the Red Sea was also targeted. The attack potentially marked a major escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Middle East linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
As holder of a UNESCO Chair @UofGUnescoRILA @UofGlasgow I am angered & saddened to hear of the killing in Gaza of Dr Tayeh, UNESCO Chair for Physical, Astrophysical and Space Sciences in Palestine at the now destroyed Islamic University of Gaza, where he was President. https://t.co/TFPM6rOGfO
— Alison Phipps አሊሰን 🧡🕊️ (@alison_phipps) December 2, 2023
Gaza's poverty rate is set to soar to more than 90 percent, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Israel's devastating war on Gaza since 7 October has resulted in at least $700m worth of losses, just in the first monthhttps://t.co/ELRxeWy2QE pic.twitter.com/1lNMHhtwHC
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 3, 2023
Statistics as of Dec. 2:
Palestinian death toll: OCHA reports at least 15,295* (~15,052 in Gaza** (including at least 6,150 children and 4,000 women), and at least 243 in the West Bank). This does not include an estimated 7,000 more still buried under rubble. Euro-Med Monitor reports 20,360 Palestinian deaths.
*IAK does not yet include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile is being disputed; although much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, experts are still looking into the incident. Israel is blocking an international investigation. Israel killed more Palestinians in a little over a month after Oct. 7 than in all the previous 22 years combined.
Palestinian injuries: 44,586** (including at least 41,316 in Gaza** and 3,270 in the West Bank). **NOTE: it is impossible to offer an accurate number of injuries in Gaza due to the ongoing bombardment and communication disruption.
It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. in Gaza**. About 1.8 million people have been displaced (nearly 80% of the population).
Reported Israeli death toll ~1,200 (7 killed in West Bank, 77 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and ~5,431 injured, approximately 30 children).
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel may have been caused by Israeli soldiers; additionally, since Israel has a policy of universal conscription, it is unknown how many of those attending the outdoor rave a few miles from Gaza on stolen Palestinian land were Israeli soldiers.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here. For more news, go here and here.**** Live broadcast news from the region is here.
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