Gaza telecoms out of service as fuel runs out
All telecom services in the Gaza Strip have gone down as all energy sources sustaining the network have been depleted, Gaza’s main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal said in a statement on Thursday.
Amnesty International had earlier today warned that the occupied Gaza Strip will likely plunge into another ‘total communications blackout’ on Thursday if appropriate fuel supplies are not immediately delivered, worsening an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.
Phone and internet connections in Gaza had gone down three time earlier in Gaza, cutting off the enclave from the outside world, as Israel intensified its ground operations in the past weeks.
Gaza civilians facing immediate possibility of starvation, UN says
Adla Massoud reports from the United Nations:
The UN’s World Food Programme warned on Thursday that civilians in the Gaza Strip are facing starvation because food and water have become “practically non-existent”.
“With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation,” the executive director of the Rome-based WFP, Cindy McCain, said in a statement.
“Supplies of food and water are practically non-existent in Gaza and only a fraction of what is needed is arriving through the borders.”
EU chief Borrell tells Israel: ‘One horror doesn’t justify another’
Soraya Ebrahimi reports from London:
Israel should not to be overcome by rage in its response to last month’s Hamas attack, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday, declaring that “one horror does not justify another”.
Mr Borrell sought to express solidarity with Israel on his first visit to the country since the October 7 attacks and voice international concern about Palestinian casualties as Israeli forces seek to destroy Hamas in Gaza.
The EU’s 27 member countries have deeply rooted differences about the wider Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Mr Borrell faced a difficult task as he tried to find middle ground.
US will not share intel on Hamas and Al Shifa Hospital, White House says
The US will not share any Israeli intelligence or elaborate on its own assessment that Hamas used Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital as a command centre and possibly as a storage facility, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.
The US is confident in an assessment from its own intelligence agencies on Hamas activities in the Gaza facility, Mr Kirby said. He has refused to elaborate or provide details over the past several days.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has not declassified the sources of the intelligence “because some of those same channels are being used to monitor the status of hostages”, a knowledgeable source said.
The intelligence “is definitive”, said the source, and includes communications intercepts of Hamas fighters.
The intercepts were first reported on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.
– Reuters
Protesters calling for Gaza ceasefire shut down San Francisco bridge
Dozens of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza shut down a major bridge in San Francisco on Thursday, disrupting traffic as world leaders met for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ conference.
Videos circulating on social media showed protesters who were chained together demanding US President Joe Biden, who is in San Francisco for the summit, call for a ceasefire and end military aid to Israel.
Protesters chanted “ceasefire now” and laid out large banners reading “stop genocide” and “no US military aid to Israel”.
Several were also seen staging a “die-in” on the bridge, lying on the ground covering themselves in white sheets.
Hezbollah does not want a wider war with Israel, former Lebanese official says
A former top Lebanese security official who has served as a conduit between the US and Hezbollah said on Thursday that at this stage, the Lebanese militant group is not interested in widening its limited cross-border conflict with Israel.
Abbas Ibrahim, former head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that as long as Hamas is able to confront the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, “the situation will remain at the current level of tension” on the Lebanese front.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have regularly exchanged missiles and shelling but have largely avoided killing civilians or taking other actions that would provoke a major response from the other side.
However, the situation could escalate inadvertently, he said.
“If we continue with this degree of tension, it will certainly lead to bad calculations and a war will happen.”
Mr Ibrahim said that US officials had passed messages through him to Hezbollah urging it “not to drag Lebanon into this war”, including during a visit to Beirut last week by Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden.
Hezbollah has not sent messages of its own to the US in response, Mr Ibrahim said.
Mr Ibrahim has frequently served as a mediator on sensitive issues, including the release of westerners held in Syria and the talks that led to last year’s landmark maritime border demarcation agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war six weeks ago, he has also been involved in talks on evacuating dual citizens from Gaza, the issue of emergency humanitarian truces and the exchange of civilian hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
– AP
Iran says it won’t let Israel defeat Hamas, but stops short of promising to enter the conflict
Iran will not allow Israel to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the head of Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force wrote in a message to the commander of the Hamas military wing.
However, Gen Esmail Ghaani stopped short of saying that Iran would join the battle in order to rescue Hamas.
Gen Ghaani’s letter was addressed to Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of the Hamas military wing in Gaza, and was published by Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
Gen Ghaani said Iran, the main Hamas sponsor, and its allies “will carry out all our duties in this historic battle” and will not allow Israel to “reach its dirty goals” of defeating Hamas.
He was referring to Iran-backed groups in the region, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels who have attacked Israel with drones and missiles in the past weeks.
Gen Ghaani was also referring to Iraq’s militants who have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria.
He praised the October 7, attack, saying it showed Israel was “weaker than a spider’s web” and added that Israel had retaliated with an “unprecedented brutal war crimes” against civilians.
– AP
Israel captures 4 Hamas members in attacks in Gaza Strip
Soraya Ebrahimi reports from London:
In recent days, Israel attacked two underground compounds where senior Hamas commanders were hiding, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Thursday.
The commander of Hamas’s northern brigade, Ahmed Ahandor, and the head of the missile systems, Ayman Siam, were captured in one compound.
Mr Ahandor is a senior Hamas figure and according to reports, he had not made contact with other senior Hamas officials since Saturday.
Hamas’s head of government, Essam Al Daalis, and Ruhi Moshtaha, who is close to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, were found hiding in another compound.
“Hamas is trying to hide the results of the attack, but it can be said with certainty that the underground compounds were hit very hard,” Admiral Hagari added.
Netanyahu: We have indications that hostages were held at Al Shifa Hospital
Soraya Ebrahimi reports from London:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the hostages in an interview on Thursday, saying: “We had strong indications that they were being held at Al Shifa Hospital, this is one of the reasons they entered the hospital.
“If they were there, they were taken.”
Israeli military says it found tunnel shaft and vehicle prepared for October 7 at Al Shifa hospital
Soraya Ebrahimi reports from London:
The Israeli military said on Thursday that its forces had uncovered an operational Hamas tunnel and captured a vehicle that had been prepared for the October 7 attack at Al Shifa Hospital.
Jordanian military sends mobile hospital to Nablus in support of West Bank amid Gaza war
Khaled Yacoub Oweis reports from Amman:
The Jordanian military said on Thursday that it has sent a mobile field hospital to Nablus in support of West Bank “resilience”, as the war rages in Gaza.
An army statement said that King Abdullah II had ordered the hospital to be sent “in continuation of the efforts … to support the resilience of our people in the West Bank”.
A Jordanian medical team has also arrived in Nablus to operate the 15-bed hospital, which is equipped to perform surgery, tests and other procedures, the statement said .
The king has repeatedly cautioned against the war in Gaza spreading to the West Bank, citing settler violence against the Palestinians.
He has called for an immediate ceasefire to be followed by a resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
The Jordanian military has operated a 40-bed hospital in Gaza since 2009.
On Wednesday, a military spokesman said that Israeli shelling near the Gaza hospital had lightly wounded seven staffers.
Palestinian Finance Minister demands funds be paid to Palestinian Authority
Soraya Ebrahimi reports from London:
Palestinian Finance Minister Shoukry Bishara demanded on Thursday that Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich transfer the full amount of tax revenue Israel is supposed to send the Palestinian Authority.
“The facts are clear, and the validity of our claims is unquestionable,” Mr Bishara said in a letter to Mr Smotrich. He added that he did not “demonstrate minimal professional courtesy”.
Mr Bishara demanded that the Israeli minister “transfer the full funds for the month of October without unlawful deductions”.
The PA “holds you to be fully responsible for any damage or financial issue that arises as a result of your unsuccessful actions”, he added.
The letter follows a decision made by Israel’s security cabinet two weeks ago to withhold funds bound for the Hamas-run Gaza Strip from the planned transfer of tax revenue to the PA.
Mr Smotrich is also withholding money to offset stipends the PA pays to Palestinians and their families who carry out attacks against Israel.
The funds are desperately needed by the PA to pay members of its security forces.
Israeli forces raid Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip
Soraya Ebrahimi reports from London:
An Israeli military spokesman said on Thursday its forces had raided the Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip in recent days.
Hamas members were killed and infrastructure, buildings and tunnel shafts were destroyed during the raid, he said during the announcement. .
Jordan says it won’t sign energy-for-water deal with Israel
Jordan will not sign a deal to provide energy to Israel in exchange for water that was planned to be ratified last month, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Thursday.
“We had a regional dialogue about regional projects. I think that all of this, … the war [has] proved, will not proceed,” Mr Safadi said in an interview, referring to Israel’s conflict with Hamas.
He added that all of Jordan’s efforts were focused on ending what he described as the “retaliatory barbarism carried out by Israel” in the Hamas-run enclave of Gaza.
Mr Safadi said Jordan would never enter into a dialogue about who runs Gaza after the war, considering such a move right now could be seen as a green light to Israel to do whatever it wants.
“If the international community wants to talk about this, it must stop the war now,” he added.
– Reuters
Israeli military starts ‘next phase’ of ground operation
Soraya Ebrahimi reports from London:
Israeli forces have completed their takeover of part of Gaza city and are commencing “the next phase” of the ground incursion, Israel’s Defence Minister said on Thursday.
Amid increasing international calls for a ceasefire, reports say the main blockage to a possible hostage deal relates to the number of captives to be freed by Hamas and the length of the ceasefire.
Friends and families of Hamas hostages march towards Jerusalem
Hundreds of Israelis, including friends and family members of about 240 people held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip marched towards Jerusalem on Thursday. The walk aims to pressure authorities to secure the release of the hostages.
The marchers camped out in Gezer national park, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, before continuing with their walk. Many hoisted Israeli flags and carried posters with the images of the hostages.
“The first must, in this war, is to bring them home,” said march participant Nilli Getter.
The protest march originally began on November 14 and relatives gathered in Tel Aviv to begin their journey, which is due to finish in Jerusalem.
– AP
UN agencies and humanitarian groups object to Gaza safe zone unless all sides agree
The heads of nearly 20 UN agencies and international humanitarian groups are speaking out against the creation of a possible “safe zone” in Gaza unless all sides agree and the right conditions are established.
The call comes as the Israeli military has presented an area in southern Gaza called Muwasi, which is only a couple of square kilometres in size, as a safe zone. It would not be hit by air strikes and could be used as a destination for humanitarian aid.
“Under the prevalent conditions, proposals to unilaterally create ‘safe zones’ in Gaza risk creating harm for civilians, including large-scale loss of life, and must be rejected,” said the heads of the UN health, migration, refugee, humanitarian aid and children’s agencies, as well as groups including Mercy Corps, Save the Children and Care International.
The army has not provided details about how about two million people in Gaza would fit into such a small area, and agencies have pushed back against the idea.
Meanwhile, army leaflets dropped in southern Gaza have urged people to move.
“Without the right conditions, concentrating civilians in such zones in the context of active hostilities can raise the risk of attack and additional harm,” the signatories said.
“No ‘safe zone’ is truly safe when it is declared unilaterally or enforced by the presence of armed forces.”
The 18 organisations noted the “mass displacement” already of about 1.6 million people in Gaza.
– AP
‘Immediate’ risk of starvation faced in Gaza, says WFP
The UN World Food Programme has warned that a “massive food gap’’ in Gaza poses an ‘’immediate’’ possibility that some will face starvation.
Only 10 per cent of the food needed to support a population of more than two million has been delivered since the start of the war on October 7, while the lack of fuel saw the territory’s last functioning bakery shut down this week.
“Supplies of food and water are practically non-existent in Gaza and only a fraction of what is needed is arriving through the borders,’’ WFP executive director Cindy McCain said on Thursday.
‘’With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation.
‘’There is no way to meet current hunger needs with one operational border crossing. The only hope is opening another, safe passage for humanitarian access to bring life-saving food into Gaza.”
