Middle East War Updates: Ceasefire Announcements, Hospital Evacuations, and Global Response

2023-11-24 07:55:55

9:16 a.m.: Hamas reports Israeli evacuation order for Indonesian hospital

According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Israel is said to have ordered the evacuation of the Indonesian hospital in the north of the coastal area. A ministry representative at the facility, Munir al-Bursch, told Al Jazeera television that hospital staff were currently trying to organize buses. Around 200 patients, including elderly people and children with burn injuries, would have to be evacuated.

9:14 a.m.: Spain urges the establishment of a Palestinian state in a hurry

Spain is urging haste to establish a Palestinian state. His country supports the recognition of an independent Palestinian state “in the very short term,” says Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on radio station RNE. A Palestinian state “will be the best guarantee of peace in the Middle East.” He reiterated that Spain was ready to host a peace conference.

9:06 a.m.: Ceasefire is probably delayed because of details about hostages

9:03 a.m.: Head of the Al-Shifa Clinic arrested

The head of Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip has been arrested by Israeli soldiers, according to a doctor at the clinic. “Doctor Mohammed Abu Salmija was arrested along with several other senior doctors,” said doctor and department head Khalid Abu Samra.

8:19 a.m.: Israeli Air Force attacks more than 300 targets in the Gaza Strip

Israel’s military says it attacked more than 300 targets of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip from the air within one day. These include “military command centers, underground terror tunnels, weapons depots, weapons production facilities and launch pads for anti-tank missiles,” the army said. The information could not initially be independently verified.

In addition to the air force, the ground troops on site also continued their attacks. The troops destroyed underground facilities and attacked several terrorist targets in the north of the sealed-off coastal strip, including a Hamas observation post and “a number of terrorist cells.”

8:06 a.m.: Red Crescent evacuates 190 people from Shifa Hospital

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, more patients have been evacuated from the embattled Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The aid organization said 14 ambulances and two UN buses brought 190 injured and sick people, their companions and some medical staff to hospitals in Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. It remained unclear how many of the 190 were injured and sick. “Many other injured people and their companions, along with medical staff, are still in the hospital.” The Red Crescent said the evacuation with UN support took almost 20 hours. The convoy was hindered and extensively searched at a checkpoint that separates the northern and southern Gaza Strip. The lives of the wounded and sick were endangered as a result.

Israel accuses the Islamist Hamas of using the hospital for terrorist purposes and of operating a command center under the buildings and of having set up a network of tunnels and bunkers. Hamas denies this.

8:01 a.m.: USA intercepts drones launched in Yemen

A US warship patrolling the Red Sea intercepted several attack drones that were launched from areas controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to US military command Centcom. Yesterday the Israeli army announced that it had intercepted a cruise missile that was approaching southern Israel. The Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack and have fired drones and rockets at Israel several times. The Houthis see themselves as part of the self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” directed against Israel.

7.42 a.m.: Qatar – The start of the ceasefire will be announced shortly

According to information from Qatar, the exact time for the start of the ceasefire in Gaza will be announced shortly. “The time for the ceasefire to come into force will be announced in a few hours,” said Majid al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry. The talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt will continue “in a positive way,” said Al-Ansari. Qatar is working with Egypt and the US to ensure that the ceasefire “starts quickly and that everything is made possible to ensure that both sides are committed to the agreement.”

7:29 a.m.: SOS Children’s Villages – Middle East war traumatizes children on both sides

Children in both Israel and Palestine are at risk of suffering serious psychological consequences from the Middle East war. An entire generation is being traumatized, warned psychologists who work on both sides of the border on behalf of the aid organization SOS Children’s Villages. “The children and young people in Gaza suffer from fears, sleep problems, restlessness, depression and social problems,” said a psychologist from the aid organization.

The biggest worry of all children is losing parents, siblings or friends. “They are afraid of being left alone in the world; there is no place where they feel safe anymore,” said the expert from the Gaza Strip. Countless children have already lost parents or relatives as a result of the war.

3:22 a.m.: UN – More than a million displaced people in Gaza

More than a million internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip have found refuge in 156 facilities run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The aid organization said there were currently almost 1,037,000 displaced people in its accommodation. The number of UNRWA employees killed so far in the Gaza war is 108.

UNRWA Secretary-General Lazzarini warned that the plight of Palestinians is likely to worsen in the coming winter. There is also an immediate risk of disease outbreaks due to contaminated water.

1:32 a.m.: Strike against Hezbollah in Lebanon – militia reports several deaths

According to the radical Islamic group Hezbollah, five of its fighters were killed in an Israeli attack on the southern Lebanese village of Beit Yahoun. Among them was Abbas Raad, the son of senior Hezbollah member and parliamentarian Mohammad Raad, said the militia and three people familiar with the matter. Mohammad Raad was sanctioned by the USA in 2019. This brings the total number of Hezbollah fighters killed since violence broke out on the border to 85.

12:59 a.m.: Netanyahu sets Mossad on Hamas leader

Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu says he has sent the foreign intelligence service Mossad to target Hamas leaders who are outside the Gaza Strip. He had instructed the Mossad to take action against the leaders of the militant Islamist group – “wherever they are,” Netanyahu said at a press conference. Most members of Hamas’s leadership live in exile, particularly in the Gulf emirate of Qatar and the Lebanese capital Beirut.

12:02 a.m.: Biden assures Netanyahu of his commitment to hostages

US President Biden has assured Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu that he will work for the release of all hostages held by the Islamist Hamas. Biden welcomed the agreement between Israel and Hamas in a phone call with Netanyahu, the White House said. In addition to a ceasefire, this also provides for the exchange of hostages from Israel for Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu and Biden agreed in the conversation that the work was not yet done. “The two leaders discussed a pause in fighting that will allow urgently needed humanitarian assistance to arrive in the Gaza Strip,” the White House statement said.

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