IsraelPalestineNews.org: Updates on truce and hostages, hospital, humanitarian, evacuation news, West Bank news, Israel
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.
Some people are led to be skeptical of the Al Jazeera news network. However, the network has won several Emmys, a Peabody and the Overseas Press Association’s Edward R. Murrow award, among many other honors. The New York Times reports that “its reporting hews to international journalistic standards and provides a unique view on events in the Middle East.” it’s important to remember that all news sources may potentially have bias. For example, CNN uses anchors who used to work for the Israel Lobby, who have lifelong attachment to Israel, and who often exhibit pro-Israel spin and omission in their broadcasts. Similarly, Fox News is strongly influenced by Rupert Murdoch, who has a similarly strong attachment to Israel, and who may have fired Tucker Carlson, the network’s most popular host, in part due to the host’s opposition to war and his pattern of failing to exhibit sufficient devotion to Israel).
Latest statistics:
Palestinian death toll: at least 14,560* (~14,329 in Gaza** (including at least 6,000 children and 4,000 women), and at least 231 in the West Bank). *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.
Palestinian injuries: 38,866** (including at least 36,000 in Gaza** and 2,866 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. About 1.7 million people have been displaced; 6,500 are missing (4,400 children) and presumed to be under rubble.
Israel killed more Palestinians in a little over a month after Oct. 7 than in all the previous 22 years combined.
Reported Israeli death toll has been reduced to ~1,200*** (The Israeli spokesman said the original figure of deaths on March 7 was an “initial estimate” – 4 killed in West Bank, 75 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and ~5,400 injured). The names of the 1,219 identified (about 33 of them children) are here.
RECOMMENDED READING: Israel has lost control of the narrative – October 7 truths coming out
***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.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
US News: Harvard Law Review censors article; the piece was solicited, commissioned, contracted, submitted, edited, fact checked, copy edited, and approved by the relevant editors… fear of backlash played a key role in the decision to vote “no” on the piece…. fear among editors that they would have their names and faces plastered on billboard trucks around campus accusing them of being Hamas supporters — something that happened to pro-Palestine Harvard students who signed a controversial open letter.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) claimed checkpoints that separate Muslims and Jews in Israel are “as fictional as Jewish space lasers.” Many showed his claim to be false.
Truce news: Egypt has said 130,000 liters of diesel and four trucks of gas will be delivered daily to Gaza during the four-day truce. UN World Food Programme chief Cindy McCain on Thursday expressed hope that fuel deliveries would allow humanitarian groups to bring much-needed supplies into the enclave, including bread, which she described as “a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of people”.
Over the four days of the truce, a total of 50 women and children, from about 240 people taken captive by Hamas during its assault on southern Israel on October 7, will be freed. In exchange, Israel will release a total of 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons, many being held without charge. The truce may also be extended by increments of one day for every 10 additional captives released by Hamas. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will work in Gaza to help facilitate the release of the captives.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, also said in a statement that 200 trucks of aid would enter Gaza daily during the truce.
The Israeli army says four fuel tankers and four tankers of cooking gas have been transferred from Egypt to UN aid organisations via the Rafah crossing into southern Gaza. (08:30 GMT)
RECOMMENDED READING: Analysis: How to enforce the Israel-Hamas truce
Prisoner exchange:
Thirteen Israeli, 11 Thai, and 1 Filipino prisoners were were released from the Gaza Strip today, and 39 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli jails.
A Hamas spokesperson says the group is open to negotiating to release more civilian captives currently held in Gaza, including men. However, in regards to Israeli soldiers held captive, Hamad told Al Jazeera,
This is another story. At this phase, we are talking about the civilian hostages. Regarding others, we are looking for a comprehensive swap and exchange to release all [7,200] prisoners in Israeli detention centers. This is our goal and aim.
But we will wait and see. We have full patience, power and energy to do that … Israel must release all the prisoners, and we are ready to release the Israeli soldiers. (10:50 GMT)
300 Palestinian women and children were in Israeli jails before prisoner release
RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Why are so many Palestinians imprisoned in Israel? | Inside Story
Humanitarian news: According to the UN humanitarian office, 75,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza via Egypt on Wednesday, after Israel announced last week that it would allow small amounts into the enclave for humanitarian operations. According to the Petroleum Public Commission of the Palestinian Finance Ministry, the Gaza Strip needs 12 million liters of fuel on a monthly basis. Gaza also needs 12 million liters of industrial fuel for its power plant and hospitals.
More than half of Gaza’s housing units have been destroyed or damaged, with dozens of places of worship also hit.
Air strikes on residential buildings in southern Gaza’s Rafah and Khan Younis areas on Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon killed at least 28 people and wounded many others. (03:10 GMT)
On 21 November, 111 Palestinian bodies, including children and women, were buried in a mass grave in Khan Younis. The bodies seem unidentified.
Journalist Amal Zuhd and her family were killed early on Friday morning in an Israeli air attack on their home in Gaza City, the Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 54 journalists and media workers have been killed since the war began on October 7. (02:20 GMT)
While some 200 aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza today under the truce agreement, Farsakh says it’s still a “drop in the ocean” compared to the 500 trucks that were entering the besieged enclave daily before the war broke out. (14:07 GMT)
In recent days, UNRWA, in cooperation with the ‘Humanity and Inclusion’ NGO, has provided 3,830 persons with disabilities, injured people, children and the elderly with hygiene kits, assistive devices, eyeglasses, first aid kits and baby kits.
Since 11 October, the Gaza Strip has been under an electricity blackout, after the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply, and fuel reserves for Gaza’s sole power plant depleted.
RECOMMENDED READING: Humanitarian pause in Gaza reveals humanitarian catastrophe, destruction
Hospital news:
Dr Sarbini Abdul Murad, head of the Indonesian charity Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C), confirmed an attack on the medical facility overnight had caused extensive damage. He said,
Last night, Israeli forces attacked the hospital with tanks and destroyed all of the first floor. The damage was very bad.
Previously, they had attacked the third floor. They arrested at least three people. This is their way of taking over the hospitals before the ceasefire today. (04:30 GMT)
Dr Munir al-Bursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Al Jazeera Arabic that one woman was killed while three others were wounded after Israeli forces stormed the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza.
An infant in an incubator was among three children who died at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area on Wednesday due to a lack of electricity, while there were “dozens of fatalities” from Israeli bombing in the vicinity of the hospital. (03:10 GMT)
Of 24 hospitals operating in the north before the war, 22 are either out of service or unable to admit new patients.
Evacuation news: The Israeli army has been opening fire to stop displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza. (13:00 GMT) At least two people were shot and killed by Israeli troops and another 11 were wounded in the legs, according to AP. A journalist with the news agency saw the two bodies and the wounded as they arrived at a hospital. (11:10 GMT)
Israel has dropped leaflets in southern Gaza demanding that no one return to the north, that it is unsafe to walk around in the north, and tat the war is not over. (11:06 GMT)
There is a sense of frustration for those who did not manage to go back to their houses, check on them or at least pull their loved ones from the rubble. (10:05 GMT)
The OCHA monitoring team noted more people, including women, being detained while crossing on November 23 through the ‘corridor’ compared with previous days. The monitoring team has documented family accounts indicating that women had been detained for several hours and others for days before being released. The movement of unaccompanied children and separated families has also been observed in recent days. Humanitarian actors are assisting these children.
West Bank news:
While there is a pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have continued their raids across the occupied West Bank. Between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon, Israeli forces killed a 14-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank’s Nablus and shot and killed a Palestinian man traveling in his vehicle in Ramallah. (03:10 GMT)
At least 231 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7, including six prisoners who died in Israeli custody. (09:30 GMT)
Israel news:
The firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups towards Israeli population centers has continued over the past 24 hours, with no reported fatalities. (Information on rocket attacks is here.) It appears that the last time a rocket killed an Israeli was October 7-8, as reported by Ha’aretz and the Times of Israel. 15 Israelis were killed – 10 of them Palestinian Israelis who reportedly had no access to bomb shelters. Rockets have killed a total of 35 Israelis over the 22 years they’ve been fired,.
Media bias: Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has proposed that Haaretz be penalized for its critical coverage of the Israeli military operation in Gaza. A member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party accused the newspaper of “sabotaging Israel in wartime” and acting as an “inflammatory mouthpiece for Israel’s enemies”. In a statement, Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken said: “If the government wants to close Haaretz, that’s the time to read Haaretz.”
Israeli apathy: Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy says the current sentiment within Israeli society is united on the release of as many captives as possible. He said,
Israeli media is hardly showing what’s going on in Gaza and Israelis don’t want to know what’s going on in Gaza.
The Israelis, almost all of them are concentrated only on their own mourning and agony and hopes, and nobody cares about Gaza. I’m afraid to say it in a very clear way – nobody in Israel cares about Gaza, and caring about Gaza is almost illegitimate. (08:00 GMT)
בשעה האחרונה שלפני הפסקת האש, כוחות צה"ל השמידו תוואי מנהרות תת קרקעיות ומספר פירי מנהרות במרחב בית החולים שיפאא'. כך זה נראה ונשמע: pic.twitter.com/FHabuf2C6r
— almog boker (@bokeralmog) November 24, 2023
Footage has emerged of Israel violating the truce today, only an hour into it.
Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians returning to their homes, killing two.pic.twitter.com/cVuILd1sIf
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) November 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/shaani092/status/1728061916164096331
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