Here is the situation on Tuesday, November 21, 2023:
Latest developments
- Premature babies who were evacuated from al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza after an Israeli attack arrived in Egypt on Monday for treatment and care. All 28 babies are fighting serious infections, according to a World Health Organization spokesperson.
- Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq told Al Jazeera on Monday that details of a truce agreement with Israel will be announced in the coming hours.
- Japan is attempting to hold direct talks with Yemen’s Houthi group after it hijacked an Israeli-linked ship in the Red Sea that is operated by a Japanese firm. Tokyo said on Monday that it is also urging the international community to persuade the rebels to release the vessel and people on board taken hostage.
- Activists in Italy hung a huge Palestinian flag on the leaning tower of Pisa and lit smoke flares to protest against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza on Monday.
- An Israeli strike on Hafsah school housing displaced Palestinians in the al-Falouja area, northern Gaza, has killed and wounded several people on Tuesday, according to Arab news outlet Al-Mayadeen.
Human Impact and Fighting
- An Israeli strike on Nuseirat refugee camp on Monday has killed 20 people, according to our correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum. Three Palestinians were killed during bombing in Jabalia on Tuesday, reported another Al Jazeera correspondent, Hani Mahmoud.
- Hezbollah said it attacked a house used by Israeli soldiers in Metulla in northern Israel on Tuesday.
- A total of 83 mosques have been destroyed and another 170 damaged by Israeli air strikes across Gaza since October 7, Gaza’s media office said on Tuesday.
- On Monday, Israeli families of captives taken by Hamas urged far-right lawmakers to drop a bill that that would make it easier to use capital punishment against Palestinian detainees. They contested that such a move would put their relatives being held captive at greater risk.
- On Monday, about 25,000 people left northern Gaza through a “safe” corridor established by Israel, according to the latest flash update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Heavy rains in the besieged enclave have worsened the situation of displaced people who are sleeping out in the open due to a lack of space in shelters.
- Palestinian poet and author, Mosab Abu Toha, was detained by Israeli forces while trying to leave Gaza, his family said on Monday.
Situation at Gaza’s hospitals
- The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was surrounded by Israeli tanks on Monday while artillery fire also killed 12 Palestinians in the complex. Israeli snipers have been seen on the roofs of nearby buildings while about 700 people, including medical staff and patients, are inside the hospital, according to medical sources.
- Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Monday that it has lost contact with three Indonesian students volunteering at the hospital.
- Israeli operations continued at al-Shifa for the fifth consecutive day on Monday, according to the UN’s OCHA. As of Saturday, 19 health workers and 259 patients remained at al-Shifa, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Diplomacy
- Coming to Israel’s defence, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that Israel does not want to “wipe the Palestinian people off the map”. He also took issue with the use of the term “genocide” by some critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
- The state of Qatar released a statement on Monday condemning Israel’s attack on the Indonesian Hospital “in the strongest terms”. Expressing “full solidarity” with the Republic of Indonesia, Qatar’s foreign ministry also said it would provide support with political and legal steps towards dealing with the “brutal crime” against the hospital.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the families of Israelis held captive in Gaza on Monday, according to the Times of Israel. He said he talked to the families about “the diplomatic, intelligence and operational efforts we are leading around the clock” the Times reported.
- The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell told 27 EU ministers that the creation of a Palestinian state is “the best guarantee for Israel’s security” on Monday. Borrell recently visited the Middle East where he met leaders of the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Qatar.
