This is an entry from: Israel-Palestine live: Thousands in state of panic as Israel continues to strike hospitals
Evening recap
5 November 2023 23:08 GMT
Good evening MEE readers,
As the war nears the one month mark, Sunday evening saw yet more escalation in the besieged Gaza Strip. Israel imposed another total communications blackout, while intensely bombing several different parts of the enclave.
Here's what you may have missed from the last few hours:
- The Israeli military pummelled the Gaza Strip with air strikes and artillery, including in Gaza City, Jabalia and al-Shati refugee camps and the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood, among several other areas.
- The bombardment came as all internet and communications were cut in Gaza for the third time since the war began. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had lost contact with its teams in Gaza.
- An Israeli air strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed four civilians, including three children. A Hezbollah lawmaker said Israel would "pay the price" for its crimes against civilians.
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded an immediate ceasefire during a meeting in Ramallah with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The US top diplomat also met Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad.
- Turkish police used teargas and water cannon to disperse a pro-Palestinian rally outside an air base which houses US personnel. Protesters toppled barricades and threw plastic chairs and rocks at police, who fired smoke bombs at the crowds.
- An Israeli minister said that dropping a nuclear weapon on Gaza was "an option". He later claimed his comments were "metaphorical", shortly before being suspended from government meetings indefinitely.
- Cabinet minister Benny Gantz called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw reported comments in which he asked whether there was a need to check if a pre-war protest among army reservists pushed Hamas to carry out its 7 October attack. Netanyahu denied the reports.
- Turkey and Egypt have agreed for around 1,000 cancer patients and other wounded civilians needing urgent care in Gaza to be sent to Turkey for treatment.
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