Israel-Palestine live: Israel and Palestinians agree to truce, hostage deal

Palestinian TikToker Iyad Banat has been arrested while live-streaming from Hebron, in the south of the occupied West Bank. His children can be heard on the video, screaming, before the Israeli troops turn their weapons on them.

The video shows Banat being beaten and repeatedly kicked by Israeli soldiers before being taken away.

Northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital is the latest in the Strip to shut down completely, Al Jazeera reports.

Having run out of fuel for the hospital's main generator, the hospital - which also houses 5,000 displaced people - has had to shut down its operations.

On Sunday, Al-Quds Hospital, Gaza's second-largest medical facility, was also forced to close due to a lack of fuel, said the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

Al-Shifa Hospital has also been shut down amid chaotic scenes. Israeli snipers continue to shoot at anyone seen in the grounds of the hospital, according to reports. Three nurses have been killed, while critical infrastructure, including the oxygen station, water tanks and a well, the cardiovascular facility, and the maternity ward, was damaged, the UN's Ocha agency reports.

On Saturday afternoon, an airstrike reportedly hit and destroyed the Swedish clinic in Ash Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza city, where some 500 displaced people were sheltering. The casualty toll remains unclear. Overnight (11-12 November), another airstrike hit Al Mahdi Hospital in Gaza City, reportedly killing two doctors and injuring others. 

Hospitals and medical personnel are specifically protected under international humanitarian law (IHL). "They must not be used to shield military objectives from attack," notes Ocha. "Any military operation around or within hospitals must take steps to spare and protect the patients, medical staff, and other civilians. All feasible precautions must be taken, including effective warnings, which consider the ability of patients, medical staff and other civilians to evacuate safely."

The Israeli military, meanwhile, has just released a video which it says shows Israeli personnel delivering cans of fuel to Al Shifa hospital. Even before the latest carnage, Al-Shifa - the largest hospital in Gaza - needed around 10,000 litres of fuel a day.

[An Israeli army soldier walks towards a building structure carrying gallon containers, as they say, while delivering fuel to Al Shifa hospital, in a location given as Gaza, in this screengrab taken from a handout video released on November 12, 2023. Israeli Army/Handout via Reuters]

The Jordanian armed forces has released this image of medical aid sourced from Qatar, the UAE and Jordan which was air-dropped from Amman to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza on November 12 [Handout via Reuters]

The White House has released a summary of a call held between US President Joe Biden and Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, emir of Qatar:

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar. The two leaders discussed the need to protect innocent civilians and ongoing efforts to increase the continuous flow of urgently needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza. The President welcomed the $100 million commitment from the GCC to support the humanitarian response, which matched the U.S. contribution announced last month.

He expressed his appreciation to Qatar and Sheikh Tamim personally for his earlier efforts to secure the release of hostages from Hamas, including two American citizens, and the urgent ongoing efforts to secure additional releases. He condemned unequivocally the holding of hostages by Hamas, including many young children, one of whom is a 3-year old American citizen toddler, whose parents were killed by Hamas on October 7th. The two leaders agreed that all hostages must be released without further delay. 

The President affirmed his vision for a future Palestinian state where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side with equal measures of stability and dignity. He noted that Hamas has long been an impediment to that outcome. The two leaders agreed to continue their efforts to advance a shared vision for a more peaceful, secure, prosperous, and stable Middle East region.

Good evening MEE readers.

Al-Shifa hospital remains under Israeli siege, and reports have emerged that five out of 39 premature babies have now died at the hospital due to Israel cutting off all resources in the Gaza strip.

Israeli air strikes destroyed at least five wards, including the main hospital’s cardiac ward. 

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said al-Shifa is no longer "functioning as a hospital".

While Israel promised on Saturday to provide fuel to keep needed generators working at the hospital, the director for al-Shifa said that none were provided.

For their part, Israeli officials accused the Hamas movement of blocking supplies of fuel -- a claim which the movement and the hospital denied.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has warned Israel's army chiefs against making Gaza's hospitals into battlegrounds.

"The United States does not want to see firefights in hospitals, where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire, and we’ve had active consultations with the [Israeli army] on this," US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS on Sunday.

The Gaza death toll has now reached 11,180 since the start of the war on 7 October.

At least 22 hospitals and 49 medical centres have completely stopped working in Gaza, due to Israeli bombing and electricity cuts.

Other important updates from Sunday include:

• The al-Quds Hospital, the second largest in Gaza, has ceased operations due to a fuel shortage, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. 

• Israeli forces have destroyed more than 40,000 housing units in the Gaza Strip, according to local officials. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardments have damaged at least 50 percent of housing units across the besieged strip, officials said.

• Gaza's internet connectivity remains below half of pre-bombardment levels, according to NetBlocks, a global internet monitor.

• The United Nations agency Unrwa announced that 101 of their staff have been killed by Israel in Gaza.

• A spokesperson for Palestine’s Ministry of Health told Al Jazeera Arabic that stray dogs have started to eat the bodies of the dead piling on the streets.

• Seven Israeli soldiers have been wounded as a result of mortar shells launched by Lebanon's Hezbollah, according to the Israeli army.

A group of 32 Brazilians who were trapped inside Gaza have now crossed the border into Egypt, the foreign ministry said on social media platform X. 

“The group of 32 Brazilians and families are already in Egyptian territory, where they were received by a team from the Brazilian embassy in Cairo, which is responsible for the final step of the repatriation operation,” they said. 

The Brazilians, who travelled through the Rafah crossing, are due back in Brazil late on Monday evening, the ministry said, and are expected to meet with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Their predicament had caused a diplomatic wedge between Israel and Brazil.
 

The Biden administration has expressed concern in conversations with Israeli officials over its siege of Al-Shifa hospital, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS on Sunday.

Sullivan  said the administration feared that the hospital would become a battleground, resulting in a large number of casualties.

"The United States does not want to see firefights in hospitals, where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire, and we’ve had active consultations with the [Israeli army] on this."

Hamas has denied it had refused 300 litres (79.25 gallons) of fuel from Israel intended for medical use at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital.

"The offer belittles the pain and suffering of the patients who are trapped inside without water, food, or electricity. This quantity is not enough to operate hospital generators for more than thirty minutes," they said in a statement. 

The statement also added that Hamas was not associated with Al-Shifa hospital management, "nor is Hamas part of its decision-making structures. The hospital is completely subject to the authority of the Palestinian health ministry."
 

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, issued a warning after making contact with health professionals at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. 

"The situation is dire and perilous," Ghebreyesus said in a post to social media, noting that it has been three days since the hospital had electricity or water. 

"The constant gunfire and bombings in the area have exacerbated the already critical circumstances. Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly. Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore," he continued.

"The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair. Ceasefire. NOW."

The United Nations agency Unrwa announced on Sunday that 101 of their staff have been killed by Israel in Gaza. 

According to the organisation, around one third of those killed were killed in southern and middern areas of the Gaza Strip, which was declared safe.
 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has managed to restore communication with health professionals at the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday.

"Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore," he added in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

WHO lost communication on Saturday and the health ministry in Gaza said that operations at Al Shifa hospital complex, the largest in the Palestinian enclave, were suspended after it ran out of fuel.

Five out of 39 premature babies have now died at al-Shifa Hospital due to Israel cutting off all resources in the Gaza strip, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Sunday.

The neonatal intensive care unit stopped working on 11 November due to a lack of electricity, the facility’s director said.

The remaining babies in the neonatal intensive care unit are at risk of losing their lives as the hospital runs out of fuel.

The spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health also said that seven people in the intensive care unit have also died. 
 

Israeli forces have destroyed more than 40,000 housing units in the Gaza Strip, according to local officials. Meanwhile, Israeli bombardments have damaged at least 50 percent of housing units across the besieged strip, officials said.

Euro-Med Monitor reported on Sunday that a 19-year-old pregnant woman was wounded with shrapnel from an Israeli air strike, which killed her five month old foetus. 

“Women, children and elderly are at greatest risk of Israeli bombardment and they represent 74 percent of casualties,” the rights monitor said. 
 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on 11 November about humanitarian aid in Gaza.

They discussed ongoing efforts to evacuate the critically wounded and urgently increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Secretary Blinken and Prime Minister Al Thani also discussed efforts to ensure the safe passage of foreign nationals out of Gaza.