Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
The Gaza ministry of health reported Thursday that Israel committed five massacres of families in the last 24 hours, resulting in 71 deaths and 176 injuries.
In Lebanon, the death toll from brutal Israeli airstrikes Thursday on six towns in the Baalbek district of eastern Lebanon has soared to 47, with 22 injured.
Israeli attacks on Gaza Thursday kill at least 88, including children in their sleep
Israel has unleashed a series of air attacks on the Gaza Strip that killed nearly 90 people, including many children in their sleep, as its main ally the United States once again vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire.
At least 66 people were killed in an attack early on Thursday that hit a residential neighborhood in Beit Lahiya, in Gaza’s besieged north, Palestinian health officials said.
Many of the victims were women and children, sleeping at the time of the attack.
Separately on Thursday, at least 22 people, including 10 children, were killed in Israeli bombardment of Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, a civil defense spokesman said.
Gaza food production ‘decimated’ with 70% of farmland hit, UN finds
More than 90% of cattle have died and about 70% of land for crops in Gaza has been destroyed or damaged since the beginning of the war in the territory, an analysis of satellite imagery by the UN has found.
More than half of sheep and goat herds have been wiped out, while more than three-quarters of the territory’s famous orchards have been destroyed or damaged, the survey in September found.
Local food production in Gaza had been “decimated”, Rein Paulsen, the director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said last week.
“Satellite images … indicate that heavy vehicle tracks, razing, shelling and other conflict-related pressures have damaged large areas of farmland, infrastructure, wells and other productive infrastructure,” Paulsen told the UN security council, adding that the destruction substantially increased the risk of famine there.
Before the outbreak of war last year, farms covered about 40% of Gaza and produced enough vegetables, eggs, fresh milk, poultry and fish to meet around a third of local demand. Many families had their own olive or fruit trees.
Israel has decimated rescue services across Gaza: Civil Defense
Gaza’s Civil Defense reports on the extensive damages and losses it has suffered in Israeli attacks:
- 87 personnel killed
- 304 staff injured
- 21 detained
Israeli attacks have hit 17 civil defense centers and headquarters, of which 14 were destroyed, the statement said.
In addition, 56 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged, while critical firefighting, rescue, and ambulance equipment worth $1.3m has been lost. Fuel shortages have rendered most civil defense vehicles nonoperational for the past 15 days, further crippling emergency response efforts.
Al Jazeera journalist says he was deliberately targeted in Gaza
Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat says he was deliberately targeted and wounded by an Israeli air strike while reporting in the Gaza Strip.
“We throw fear and anxiety behind our backs and did not hesitate to document these crimes,” he said, adding that targeted attacks are part of Israel’s plans to hit Gaza journalists to keep the truth from getting out.
Aid group sounds alarm over onset of winter in Gaza
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) says more than one million Palestinians in Gaza do not have sufficient shelter as winter approaches and brings cold and rainy weather.
This winter, fewer buildings remain standing in Gaza.
This means most Palestinians, who have been forced to flee Israeli attacks over and over, are being forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters that provide considerably less protection against the cold wind and the rain.
“Some have sewn together old rice sacks to ensure they have something, at least, between them and the sky,” said Alison Ely, the NRC’s shelter specialist in Gaza.
“When winter comes, these shelters will not keep them safe from strong winds, heavy rains and cold temperatures.”
The NRC noted that temperatures in Gaza can fall to 6 degrees Celsius (42 degrees Fahrenheit) during the winter.
Children, women in Gaza poisoned by canned food left by Israeli forces: Civil Defense
The Palestinian Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip has released a video of 15 children and women that it says were hospitalized for poisoning after eating canned food left behind by Israeli forces.
Spokesman Mahmoud Basal wrote in his Telegram channel that the food was left behind in the Shujayea neighborhood during a previous incursion into the area in the hunger-stricken north.
West Bank: Israeli Army Kills A Palestinian In Nablus
On Thursday dawn, Israeli soldiers killed a young Palestinian man in the Al-Ein refugee camp, west of Nablus in the occupied West Bank’s northern part.
Medical sources said the soldiers shot and seriously injured a young man, Jihad Rafat Qatouni, 26, before he succumbed to his wounds.
The soldiers invaded several homes in Nablus city and the Al-Ein refugee camp, violently searching them and causing damage
Wednesday and Tuesday, Israeli soldiers killed eight Palestinians (five on Tuesday and three on Wednesday), and injured more than 19, in invasions of Jenin.
Israel has now killed 793 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 167 children, and injured more than 6,450, in the occupied West Bank, since October 7, 2023.
US fumes at ICC warrants for Israeli leaders as world welcomes ‘step toward justice’
The White House “fundamentally rejects” the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 21 November to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
“We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. In coordination with partners, including Israel, we are discussing next steps,” a National Security Council spokesperson told reporters.
Hours after the ruling, the State Department canceled its daily press briefing.
US opposition leaders also rebuked the decision, with Senator and Donald Trump-ally Lindsey Graham calling the ICC “a dangerous joke. “It is now time for the US Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body,” Graham stressed.
Similarly, Republican senator Tom Cotton invoked the 2002 American Service-Members’ Protection Act, also known as “The Hague Invasion Act,” which authorizes the use of military force to liberate any US citizen or citizen of a US-allied country arrested in The Hague.
“The ICC is a kangaroo court, and Karim Khan is a deranged fanatic,” Cotton wrote on social media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Pope Francis’ comments as “disgraceful”.
All 124 member states of the ICC are now obligated to detain Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter their territory. The US – which is not an ICC member – has previously welcomed ICC arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials.
The court has accused both Netanyahu and Gallant of jointly using “starvation as a method of warfare”, referring to Israel’s systemic restriction of food and humanitarian aid supplies into the Gaza Strip throughout the war.
The ICC further accused the two leaders of the “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts” and referenced Israel’s deliberate targeting of Gaza’s hospitals and its refusal to allow humanitarian and medical supplies into the Strip.
NOTE: Neither Israel nor the Biden administration have offered evidence to counter the ICC accusation, which was based on “an independent investigation, and on the basis of objective, verifiable evidence vetted through a forensic process.”
During the ICC’s months of deliberation, members of the court received death threats, and a smear campaign was launched against Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor.
RECOMMENDED READING: Spying & threats: Israel spent 9 years trying to keep the ICC off the trail of Israel’s war crimes.
RECOMMENDED READING: What’s next after ICC issues warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders?
Pentagon admits rejection of ICC arrest warrants has no legal basis
A Pentagon spokesperson admitted that the US’s decision to reject the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Galant is not grounded in law.
Beyond Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, Israel now appears to have set its sights as well on the festering conflict with Syria, constructing developments in a critical buffer zone between the two countries in violation of a previous ceasefire agreement and sparking fears of further conflict escalation in the region.
Last week, the Associated Press published aerial footage of Israel building along the Alpha Line, which delineates a demilitarized zone or area of separation between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Images taken on November 5 by Planet Labs PBC for AP showed about 4.6 miles of construction by Israeli forces along the line.
“In some instances,” a UN peacekeeping spokesperson told RS, “IDF personnel and Israeli excavators and other construction equipment, and the construction work encroach into the area of separation.”
Such construction efforts, which the AP footage suggests is ongoing, were previously mentioned by Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, to the UN Security Council late last month.
Israel, which presented a 71-page report alleging Syrian violations of the Alpha Line to the UN Security Council in June, says its construction efforts are necessary for defense. As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN, such developments are intended “to establish a barrier on Israeli territory exclusively in order to thwart a possible terrorist invasion and protect the security of Israel’s borders.”
But fears persist that these developments could threaten a decades-long ceasefire agreement that has been key to maintaining relative peace between Israel and Syria, which have formally been at war since 1948. To uphold this ceasefire, UNDOF has patrolled the demilitarized zone since 1974 (continue reading here).
RECOMMENDED READING: Lessons unlearned, as Israel’s war against Hezbollah is starting to mirror its 2006 defeat
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Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat says he was deliberately targeted by Israeli forces while reporting and was left injured by an Israeli airstrike.
Israel has already killed 177 journalists in Gaza while they were covering its genocide on Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/J0mrc3sT8o
— AJ+ (@ajplus) November 21, 2024
Palestine welcomes #ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
RAMALLAH, November 21, 2024 – The State of Palestine Thursday welcomed the ICC decision to arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former ‘Defense’ Minister Yoav Gallant, six… pic.twitter.com/fRh2hzY8Wy
— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) November 21, 2024
📷: People wait for bread in Deir al Balah & Khan Younis, Gaza.
Only 7 out of 19 humanitarian-supported bakeries in Gaza are operational. Many are on the verge of running out of flour within days.
Safe, sustained humanitarian access into & across Gaza is urgently needed. pic.twitter.com/T0gO8OKGc3
— United Nations (@UN) November 21, 2024
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – NOVEMBER 21, 2024:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – November 21, 2024: at least 44,849* ( 44,056 in Gaza* – 69% are women and children, according to Gaza’s Media Office). [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]
This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified. This does not include an estimated 10,000 more in Gaza still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children).
In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers and/or settlers have killed at least 793 Palestinians (~167 of them children).
In July 2024, the Lancet said: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.
Ralph Nader earlier estimated 300,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.
- At least 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons.
- At least 43 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- About 345,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – November 21, 2024: at least 110,736 (including at least 104,286 in Gaza and 6,450 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – November 21, 2024: ~1,582 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 404*** military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza (updated: Nov 19); 39 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
The death toll in Lebanon since October 8, 2023 is at least 3,583, with 15,244 injuries.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.
**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
***The figure does not include the reportedly 56 Israeli soldiers – nearly 16% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
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