Israel-Palestine live: Thousands in state of panic as Israel continues to strike hospitals

A group of Palestinian children held a press conference at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where they called on the international community to pay attention to the child victims of Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

Around 4,000 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli air strikes since 7 October, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) has released its latest report on the situation in Gaza. It said that in the last 24 hours, another Unrwa staff member was killed, bringing to total death toll to 89 workers for the UN agency killed by Israeli air strikes.

"This is the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations," Unrwa said.

The agency said that more than 565,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are sheltering across 92 facilities in the middle and south of Gaza, while another 160,000 IDPs were sheltering in 57 UNRWA schools in northern Gaza areas as of 12 October 2023, before the order to leave the north was issued by Israel.

Unrwa said that 11 bakeries in Gaza have been destroyed by Israel since 7 October. Only one of the World Food Programme-contracted bakeries, along with another eight bakeries in in the southern and Middle areas of the Strip are able to provide bread, depending on the availability of flour and fuel.

The UN said all bakeries in the north of Gaza are now closed due to “lack of fuel, water and wheat flour” and the damage they have suffered.

The Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition has urged Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to end the dehumanisation of Palestinians and the suppression of their narratives on its social media platforms.

“Amid the intensifying atrocities perpetrated by Israeli authorities against the Palestinian people, characterized by relentless violence and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions 1949, we are compelled to address Meta on the issue of dehumanisation of the Palestinian people, especially during times of crisis,” the coalition said in a statement on Tuesday.

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Digital rights group demands Meta end dehumanisation of Palestinians on its platforms

Israeli air strikes continue to hit areas across Gaza on Wednesday morning, with at least 15 people being killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Shujaiya neighbourhood in Gaza City.

The Palestinian health ministry described the bombardment as a "massacre".

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the bodies of 13 Palestinians who were killed were taken to the Nasser and European Hospitals following air strikes in southern Gaza.

Several Palestinian news outlets have reported that Israeli bombing hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, resulting in several deaths and injuries.

Gaza has experienced the highest number of air strikes recorded within a single month for any area in the Middle East since 2020, according to a data analytics firm tracking Israel’s assault.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled) said in a post on the social media platform X that more than 600 air strikes took place across more than 50 locations in Gaza in October alone.

“The scale of Israel’s air campaign in Gaza is unprecedented,” Acled said.

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Gaza suffers most air strikes in a month in Middle East since 2020

Saudi Arabia will host several summits of Arab, Islamic and African nations in the coming days to discuss the war in Gaza, according to Riyadh's investment minister.

"We will see, this week, in the next few days Saudi Arabia convening an emergency Arab summit in Riyadh," Saudi investment minister Khalid al-Falih said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Tuesday.

"You will see Saudi Arabia convening an Africa-Saudi summit in Riyadh, and in a few days you will see Saudi Arabia convening an Islamic summit," he said.

The minister said the objective of the summits will be "to drive towards [a] peaceful resolution of the conflict".

In the early hours of Wednesday, Israeli forces again launched several overnight raids on several cities in the occupied West Bank.

Several media outlets reported that Israeli forces entered Qalqilya, Jericho, and a village near Nablus.

The Palestinian news outlet Wafa also reported that a Palestinian man was shot by Israeli forces in Hebron.

Human Rights Watch has released a statement saying that the Israeli military’s strike on a marked ambulance just outside of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital on 3 November was "apparently unlawful" and should be probed as a possible war crime.

Israel said that the ambulance was being used by Hamas. HRW said it didn't find any evidence that the ambulance was being used for military purposes.

The rights group also said that according to international law or the laws of war, any warring party is not allowed to target ambulances or hospitals, even if they are being used to "treat enemy fighters".

“The need to safely transport wounded people to hospitals is critical in armed conflicts, so the laws of war provide special protections for ambulances used solely for this purpose,” Lama Fakih, HRW's Middle East and North Africa director.

“For the Israeli authorities to claim that their deadly November 3 attack on an ambulance in a crowded area was lawful, they need to do more than just insist that Palestinian fighters were using an ambulance as transport.”

The air strike killed 15 people and injured 60 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, White House National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said that the US still has no red lines when it comes to Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians so far, including 4,000 children.

"That is still the case," Kirby said, in response to a question asked by a reporter about whether the US still has no red lines for Israel's actions.

"When you are on the ground, while the risk to your troops is higher, you can be more discriminate, you can be more careful in your formations," Kirby said during the briefing, discussing Israel's ground invasion of Gaza.

"It's also true that air strikes continue, and it's also true that civilians keep dying from these air strikes."

Imran Hussain, a UK Member of Parliament for Bradford East, has issued his resignation from his ministerial position over the party's decision to not call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hussain, who served as Labour's shadow minister for employment rights and protections, said in a letter sent to Labour leader Keir Starmer: "It has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted."

Hussain said that he wanted to strongly advocate for a ceasefire, and the only way he could do so was by stepping down from Labour's frontbench - the party's core team of ministers.

The US military needs Congress to approve $3.1bn in order for the army to purchase 155-millimetre artillery rounds and expand production to replace stocks depleted by shipments to Ukraine and now Israel.

The US has sent this type of artillery shell to Israel as it fights Hamas in Gaza. Last month, Bloomberg reported that the US was also fast-tracking the delivery of 1,000 smart bombs to Israel.

The news of the delivery of the bombs, which are made by Boeing, led activists to obstruct every entry point to Building 598 at the Boeing factory in Missouri, where production for them takes place.

Canadian officials have said that nearly 60 Canadian nationals, residents and their dependents have been evacuated from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing.

“The first group of Canadians have left Gaza. Our team of officials has met them on the Egyptian side of the border, providing them with support and care,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The ministry added that there were 400 nationals registered with Canada seeking to leave Gaza.

US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke late on Tuesday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog as the war in Gaza reached the one-month mark.

Harris stressed the importance of protecting civilian life and respecting international law.

“The Vice President emphasized the importance of protecting civilian lives and respecting international humanitarian law.  She emphasized the imperative to further increase the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza,” Harris said, according to a readout from the White House.

Harris also raised concerns about Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, saying there is a need to “hold extremist settlers accountable for violent acts”.

While the US vice president called for protecting civilians and respecting international law, Washington has given unconditional support to Israel’s response to the 7 October attack by Hamas.

Good evening, Middle East Eye readers,

Day 31 of Israel’s war on Gaza is drawing to a close, with the death toll continuing to surpass the milestone of 10,000 dead set on Monday.

One month after the attack by Hamas in southern Israel that left 1,400 dead and saw hundreds taken hostage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again refused calls for a ceasefire before all those taken prisoner in Gaza are released.

He said Israeli forces were in the heart of Gaza City and fighting on the ground has been ongoing.

Other updates that took place during the evening:

• Police in London have rejected calls to ban a pro-Palestinian demonstration over it coinciding with World War One commemorations

• Health ministry reports new “massacre” in Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza

• Israelis have held a minute's silence across the country to mark one month since the 7 October attacks

• Israel’s foreign minister has said ‘we don't want to govern Gaza' as post-Hamas future discussed

• US says 400 of its citizens left the Gaza Strip

• Netanyahu rejected request by Joe Biden for three-day pause to help free hostages

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