Muslim and Arab League foreign ministers to meet in Moscow
Foreign ministers from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will meet in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza, according to a report by the Russian news agency RIA that cites a Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson.
The report did not specify which countries would attend the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Russia has held a pro-Palestinian position, condemning Israel for the rising number of civilian casualties and restating its longstanding support for a Palestinian state.
Amnesty urges ICC to probe two Israeli attacks in Gaza as war crimes
The UK-based rights group announced it has determined that two Israeli strikes last month that killed 46 people in Gaza “were indiscriminate attacks or direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects, which must be investigated as war crimes”.
The incidents probed by Amnesty were an attack on Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City on October 19 and another on a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp the following day.
“These deadly, unlawful attacks are part of a documented pattern of disregard for Palestinian civilians and demonstrate the devastating impact of the Israeli military’s unprecedented onslaught has left nowhere safe in Gaza, regardless of where civilians live or seek shelter,” stated Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty director of global research, advocacy and policy.
“We urge the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to take immediate concrete action to expedite the investigation into war crimes and other crimes under international law opened in 2021,” Guevara Rosas added.
During its investigation, Amnesty said it spoke to more than a dozen people, including survivors, and reviewed satellite imagery and open-source audio-visual material.
Presidents of China, France discuss situation in Gaza
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, have discussed the war on Gaza in a phone call and agreed “to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis”, according to the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
“The two heads of state exchanged views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and both believe that the top priority is to avoid further deterioration of the situation between Palestine and Israel, especially to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis,” CCTV said.
Xi and Macron both agreed a “‘two-state solution’ is the fundamental way” to solve the conflict and said they would maintain communications on international and regional issues.
The phone call came days before a delegation – including French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and diplomats from the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan – meet in Beijing for talks aimed at a “de-escalation” in Gaza.
Restrictive Israeli measures lead to West Bank business closures: Economy Ministry
Some 25 percent of industrial and commercial enterprises were closed in the occupied West Bank this past week due to restrictive Israeli military measures, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Economy has announced.
Between 12-16 November, businesses were subject to either complete or partial closure because of Israeli military raids and movement restrictions on individuals and goods, the ministry said.
The ministry added:
- Eight percent of economic establishments were subject to direct attacks by the Israeli army and/or settlers, causing damage to their products or premises.
- The monthly revenue of businesses declined on average by 75 percent – namely restaurants, hotels, the tourism industry, and the travel and transportation sector.
- Seventy-eight percent of establishments said they had difficulty moving and distributing goods between cities due to Israeli lockdowns, checkpoints and raids.
12 killed in Israeli air raid on UNRWA school in Bureij refugee camp
Israeli air strikes have killed at least 12 Palestinians sheltering in a UNRWA school in the Bureij refugee camp.
Hisham Zaqout, a journalist for Al Jazeera Arabic, stated that many more people have been wounded.
Many of the families were looking for food or resting when the air strike hit.
Israel bombs al-Kuwait school in north Gaza
Israeli forces have bombed the al-Kuwait school in north Gaza where hundreds of Palestinians were sheltering, according to the general manager of the Ministry of Health and local media.
The school is located in close proximity to the Indonesian Hospital which is currently surrounded by Israeli tanks.
Photos and videos shared online showed the school engulfed in flames.
There are no reports on the death toll or number of wounded people yet.
17 killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes near hospital in Gaza
At least 17 Palestinians were killed and scores injured in Israeli airstrikes near the Yousef El-Najar Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, according to witnesses.
Fighter jets struck two houses near the hospital in Rafah city, witnesses said.
Dozens of people were reported to remain under the rubble, they added.
“Israeli warplanes struck the houses before dawn, causing massive destruction in the area,” an eyewitness told Anadolu.
On Monday, at least 12 people were killed in Israeli shelling of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.
Diplomats from Muslim majority nations arrive in Beijing for Israel-Hamas conflict talks
China welcomed officials from Arab and Muslim majority countries on Monday for talks on “de-escalating” the Israel-Hamas conflict as Beijing steps-up its efforts to play a role in establishing a ceasefire.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian National Authority, Indonesia, as well as the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the capital Monday.
Beijing described the visit as an opportunity for “in-depth communication and coordination” on de-escalating the “current Palestinian-Israeli conflict”, protecting civilians, and “justly resolving” the Palestinian issue.
Beijing and Washington – an Israeli ally and long a major power broker in the region – have been at odds over their approach to the conflict. In particular, Beijing has criticized Israel’s retaliation and failed to condemn Hamas or name the group in its statements, sparking backlash from Israeli officials.
‘Everything is a target in the Indonesian Hospital’
Anas Al-Sharif, a journalist in Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, told Al Jazeera Arabic on Monday that “everything is a target,” as Israeli forces continue to open fire inside the hospital’s buildings.
He said that the hospital is now fully out of service.
- People are unable to move inside the hospital, especially between wards or to go to different floors.
- Anyone who moves is being shot at, “live fire has not stopped since Sunday night,” he said.
- There are a “large number” of wounded people inside the hospital.
- There is no electricity in the hospital.
- Tanks are still surrounding the hospital’s buildings.
- There are hundreds of wounded patients, staff and displaced Palestinians inside the hospitals, who are unable to leave.
Heavy rainfall is creating “unliveable” conditions in Gaza’s shelters: UN
The UN’s main aid agency in Gaza says heavy rain has been falling in the region on Monday, causing “unliveable” conditions in shelters.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) posted a video on X showing crowds in Gaza stepping through puddles of rain.
“Heavy rain is falling across the Gaza Strip. The situation in shelters is unliveable. People have no options,” the agency said in the post.
Sewage is also flowing through the streets of Gaza, according to a top UNRWA official.
Director of UNRWA Affairs Thomas White said in a post on X that there is only enough fuel to run sewage pumps at 55% capacity.
UNRWA has persistently highlighted the impact of Israel’s fuel restrictions in Gaza on key services, including sewage systems.
Last week, Israel approved the entry of two fuel tanks into Gaza each day, sparking condemnation from UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, who described the quantity as “far from enough.”
Situation in Indonesian hospital ‘catastrophic’
Mohammad Zakkout, the general director of hospitals in Gaza, stated that the situation in Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital is “catastrophic” on Monday morning.
“What is happening here is worse than what happened in al-Shifa Hospital, because this is a much smaller hospital. It will be a bigger massacre here. What is happening is a death sentence to everyone in the hospital,” he said.
- At least 12 people have been killed by Israeli forces
- There are at least 700 patients and staff inside the hospital, in addition to displaced Palestinians sheltering.
- Footage showed the destruction from Israeli attacks inside the hospitals, including collapsed ceilings.
- Anyone trying to leave the hospital is being shot at.
- There is no electricity in the hospital, and it is being surrounded by Israeli tanks.
- Some patients inside the hospital are in critical condition, including women who need c-sections and dialysis patients. Children are getting fevers and high temperatures, which is being worsened due to the lack of water.
Israeli army says 2 more soldiers killed in Gaza fighting
The Israeli army announced Monday two more soldiers were killed in clashes in the northern Gaza Strip.
A military statement said that the two soldiers served in the 890 Paratrooper Battalion.
On Sunday, the army confirmed that five Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
There are conflicting reports about the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, 65 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the army expanded its ground operations in the enclave on Oct. 27.
On Saturday, army spokesman Daniel Hagari put the military death toll since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7 at 378.
Four more killed in Israeli attacks on Indonesian Hospital
The death toll from Israeli attacks on Indonesian Hospital in Gaza has gone up from eight to 12, according to Health Ministry officials in the enclave.
The update comes as Israeli tanks continue to surround the hospital.
Over 30 bodies arrive at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza Strip
The bodies of more than 30 Palestinians killed by Israeli bombings in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps have arrived at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip on Monday morning, according to multiple Palestinian news outlets.
Gaza has been facing intense bombardment in the early hours of Monday, with dozens reported dead across the besieged enclave.
Power outage at Indonesia Hospital as Israeli forces surround medical facility
Palestinian news outlets have reported that the power has gone out at the Indonesian Hospital amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment.
Reports said that Israeli forces are surrounding the hospital, raising fears that the medical facility will face the same fate as al-Shifa Hospital.
Journalists on the ground have also reported that Israeli troops are shooting anyone that tries to leave the hospital.
At least eight people have been killed at Indonesia Hospital, as Israeli soldiers have been bombing on and around the hospital and have also been surrounding the medical facility, reports added.
Aside from the estimated 150 wounded patients being treated at the hospital and about 100 medical workers, thousands of Palestinians are also sheltering at the hospital after being displaced by Israeli bombardments.
Several days ago, Israeli forces launched a military operation on al-Shifa, the largest medical complex in Gaza, forcibly evacuating the hospital while claiming that there were Hamas tunnels underneath the hospital.
‘Misleading and false’: Hamas rejects Israel’s video claims
Hamas has responded after Israel released a CCTV video it claimed to show two captives being brought to al-Shifa Hospital on October 7.
“The statements of the occupation army regarding the use of al-Shifa Hospital to detain Zionist prisoners are misleading and false,” the group said in a statement.
“The occupation’s statements aim to cover up its security and military failures,” it added.
In an earlier briefing, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari stated Hamas attackers brought a Nepalese and a Thai national into the medical facility. They were among the foreign workers seized in the raid. He did not name the two hostages.
Only few trucks of aid can reach families in Gaza amid shortage of fuel: WFP official
A World Food Program (WFP) official said on Sunday that only a limited number of aid trucks are able to deliver aid and food supplies to those in need in the Gaza Strip due to shortage of fuel and extreme weather conditions.
“With the limited fuel now available, a few trucks can deliver essential food to people in Gaza who have been cut off for days,” Samer Abdeljaber, the WFP’s country director for Palestine, wrote on X.
“Our team is on the ground overseeing the move. Today’s horrible weather is making it harder and is expected to worsen as winter approaches.”
‘Pure lie’: Gaza’s top health official refutes Israeli tunnel claim
Mounir el-Boursh, the Gaza health ministry director, dismissed the Israeli statement on a tunnel allegedly found at al-Shifa Hospital as a “pure lie”.
“They have been at the hospital for eight days … and yet they haven’t found anything,” he told Al Jazeera.
At one point a shelter for tens of thousands of Palestinian war refugees, al-Shifa has been evacuating patients and staff since Israeli troops swept in last week on what they called a mission to root out hidden Hamas facilities.
Israel’s repeated attacks on medical facilities, health personnel and ambulances in Gaza should be “investigated as war crimes”, international NGO Human Rights Watch has announced.
White House warns Israel to account for displaced civilians before conducting operations in southern Gaza
The White House has warned Israel against carrying out offensive operations in southern Gaza until it has adjusted to account for the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled south amid fierce fighting in the north.
Israel’s military, which has said Hamas leadership also fled south, is likely to move into the southern enclave, according to White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, who added that the country has the “right” to do so, despite the serious concerns over civilian casualties.
“We think that their operations should not go forward until those people, those additional civilians, have been accounted for,” he said, adding, “We will be conveying that directly to them.”
Finer told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Israel should learn from its operations in the north and focus on “greater and enhanced protections for civilian life”.
Finer suggested “narrowing the area of active combat” and “clarifying where civilians can seek refuge from the fighting” to help that happen.
Finer said the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control of the West Bank, will “have to be part” of any future governing solution in both the West Bank and Gaza following the current hostilities — a prospect that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explicitly opposed.
“Our view is the Palestinian Authority is the only official institutional representative of the Palestinian people in the West Bank, that it will have to be part of any way forward when it comes to governance both in Gaza and the West Bank,” Finer added.
But, Finer acknowledged, the PA faces legitimacy challenges as they work toward any future solution. He said the US government would help the PA enhance “their legitimacy” and “capacity to be able to play this important role”.
‘Nowhere to go’: UN human rights expert decries attacks on shelters
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has said that attacks on UN shelters in Gaza are “painful to see”.
She stated the attacks were “especially” concerning “as they shelter mostly women and children who are left with nowhere to go”.
The UN independent human rights expert added that governments “must call for ceasefire now and ensure its respect”.
Many people were killed in Israeli attacks on two UN-run schools where thousands of people were sheltering on Saturday.
2 more Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza battles
The Israeli army announced on Sunday that two more of its soldiers were killed and another four injured with serious wounds during ground battles in the Gaza Strip.
The two personnel were aged 23 and 21, serving in the elite Givati Brigade.
With the announcement, the number of Israeli troops killed in Gaza on Sunday reached five.
Earlier, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas, said it killed a “large number” of Israeli soldiers in the southeast of Gaza City.
Israel accelerating Palestinian displacement: Hamas
Osama Hamdan, the Beirut-based Hamas representative, accused Israel of carrying out “atrocities with the aim of accelerating Palestinian displacement”.
In a news conference in the Lebanese capital, Hamdan stated President Joe Biden and his administration should withdraw their support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
He reiterated the group’s call for the opening of the Rafah crossing for desperately needed aid and humanitarian corridors, and said the UN should try Israeli “war criminals”.
UNRWA official says ‘started receiving half of fuel needed in Gaza’
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA has announced it has begun receiving half of the fuel it needs to run its daily operations in the Gaza Strip, which will allow it to operate at a minimum level.
Spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna said in a statement that Gaza continues to face a humanitarian crisis due to Israeli attacks on the territory since Oct. 7.
“Finally, the agency has been allowed to obtain 60,000 liters of fuel daily. This quantity represents half of our needs to meet the minimum requirements of our operations,” he stated.
“These quantities will be distributed to water desalination stations, to generate power for hospitals, bakeries, and to handle sewage water, as well as the collection of solid waste,” the spokesperson continued.
He added “many streets in the Gaza Strip are flooded with sewage water due to insufficient fuel to pump the water, and residents will only receive two-thirds of their drinking water needs.”
About 70% of solid waste in the enclave will not be collected “due to the lack of the necessary fuel to carry out our tasks,” he said.
59 Palestinian journalists killed in Israel’s war on Gaza so far: Advocacy group
As many as 59 Palestinian journalists have been killed and dozens injured during the Israeli regime’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, an independent human rights advocacy group has confirmed.
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor provided the information in a press statement released through Palestinian media on Sunday.
According to the statement, the fatalities equaled “the highest-ever number of journalists killed in wars and conflicts in modern history”.
The group attributed Israel’s brutality towards journalists to its efforts to impose “a real and comprehensive media blackout” during the war.
The killing spree targeting journalists, Euro-Med Monitor added, came amid unfounded allegations by some Israeli officials that Palestinian press crews had prior knowledge of the October 7 operation.
According to the group, “Israel purposefully [has] left no safe haven for journalists in the Gaza Strip. Journalists were targeted even when they were wearing press jackets in the field, in press tents erected for media coverage next to hospitals, or even in their family homes.”
According to Euro-Med Monitor, the Israeli war has led to complete or partial destruction of at least 117 press offices.
The regime has also restricted satellite channels operating in the Palestinian territories during the war, including Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network, and has threatened to restrict Qatar’s Al Jazeera network.
The advocacy body added that it has “received identical testimonies from [Palestinian] journalists expressing their fear that the media equipment they received from international organizations via Israel may include location-tracking and eavesdropping devices, which may have facilitated their targeting during the war.”
Euro-Med Monitor asserted that targeting journalists is considered a war crime under international humanitarian law.
Macron to Netanyahu: ‘Too many civilian losses’
French President Emmanuel Macron told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were “too many civilian losses” in Israel’s war in Gaza.
Macron reminded Netanyahu of the “absolute necessity to distinguish terrorists from the population”, according to the French presidency.
He also condemned violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank in a conversation with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described the number of civilian casualties in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as “staggering and unacceptable”.
“This war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day. This must stop,” he said in a statement posted on the UN website on Sunday.
“I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
“I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. Dozens of people – many women and children – were killed and injured as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises,” he stressed.
He also expressed “deep appreciation for all the mediation efforts led by the government of Qatar.”
“How many more civilians will be killed? This must stop”: UN’s top human rights official
The killing of civilians in Gaza schools and large evacuations from Al-Shifa Hospital are actions that fly in the face of basic protections civilians are afforded under international law, the United Nation’s top human rights official stated Sunday.
“Rules of international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in carrying out the attacks must be strictly adhered to,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
“Failure to adhere to these rules may constitute war crimes,” he said.
Türk called the events of the past two days horrendous, stating they beggar belief.
He added hundreds of people have fled Al-Shifa Hospital and were seen heading south, but warned, “Nowhere is safe in Gaza.”
He also said that in Khan Younis in southern Gaza — where hundreds of thousands of Gazans have fled — the IDF has been dropping leaflets, telling residents to go to unspecified shelters, but he stressed, “Irrespective of warnings, Israel is obliged to protect civilians wherever they are.”
Türk again called for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian and human rights grounds.
“The pain, dread, and fear etched on the faces of children, women and men is too much to bear,” he continued, adding, “How much more violence, bloodshed and misery will it take before people come to their senses? How many more civilians will be killed? This must stop.”
Hostage negotiations “closer than we have been perhaps at any point”: White House
Negotiations to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas are close, and disagreements among parties have been narrowed amid intensive talks, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“We think that we are closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations began weeks ago — that there are areas of difference and disagreement that have been narrowed, if not closed out entirely,” Finer told CNN’s Jake Tapper, stressing that these are sensitive negotiations and there is no deal currently in place.
Finer declined to dive into the details of the talks, but said officials are working around the clock and that it remains a priority for US President Joe Biden.
Asked about how many hostages the US believes are still alive, Finer responded that they do not have exact numbers.
“One of the challenges associated with this is, we’re not on the ground in Gaza, the United States. We are not in direct contact with Hamas. We do that only through intermediaries. And so, we don’t have perfect fidelity about exact numbers of hostages, including numbers who are still alive,” Finer continued.
“We do believe that there is a significant number of Americans being held, that those Americans are our highest priority, the president’s highest priority. They include, by the way, a 3-year-old girl who is an orphan because her parents were murdered by Hamas on October 7,” he added, referencing the youngest American hostage known to be held in Gaza.
Finer’s comments came soon after Qatar’s prime minister — whose country is involved in the talks — also touted progress.
“The sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical, logistical, not really something that represents the core of the deal,” Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said.
Hamas abducted about 240 people during the October 7 attacks, according to Israeli officials, though official accounts have varied as intelligence about the situation in Gaza develops.