Israel commits massacre in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza

In Gaza’s northern city of Beit Lahiya, Israeli bombings have left a multi-story building in ruins, with hopes of finding survivors dwindling. Civil defence crews and medics have been prevented from entering the besieged area for over 40 days. (screengrab)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

Israel bombs residential building in north Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, killing at least 50

At least 50 people, a third of them children, have been killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya city, authorities said, when Israeli forces struck a multistory residential building housing six forcibly displaced Palestinian families in Beit Lahiya.

Almost 30 percent of the victims of the Beit Lahiya massacre were reportedly children; dozens of others were wounded and many more are feared trapped under the rubble.

Omar Abdel Aaal, one of many people fleeing the scene on foot, said, “They bombarded the houses and completely destroyed Beit Lahiya”.

Mahmud Bassal, a Civil Defense spokesman, said, “The chances of rescuing more wounded are decreasing because of the continuous shooting and artillery shelling.”

Israel’s attacks on Gaza Saturday included an assault on the UN-run Abu Assi school in the Shati refugee camp. Medical sources reported at least 10 Palestinians killed and 20 others injured, including women and children.

Israeli forces also targeted a barbershop in Gaza City, killing five, and attacked a family gathering in Khan Younis, killing five more.

At least 300,000 tonnes of ‘solid waste’ on the roads in Gaza: Report

The damage to transportation and communications infrastructure across the Palestinian territory has reached $4.8bn as a result of direct Israeli attacks, Wafa news agency reported Palestine’s Minister of Transport and Communications Tariq Zourob as saying.

At least 300,000 tonnes of “solid waste” are reportedly on the roads across the Gaza Strip, Zourob said during a meeting with private sector representatives from the Strip at the Palestinian embassy in Cairo.

Beit Lahiya dumpsite, northern Gaza. (UNDP)

Israeli Military Court Sentences Female Palestinian Journalist

An Israeli military court at the Salem military camp has sentenced Rasha Herzallah, a journalist with the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA), to six months in prison and a fine of 13,000 shekels (approximately $3,300). The sentence was handed down today, Sunday, November 17.

Her detention was extended five times before a charge of “incitement on social media” was brought in court.

According to Herzallah’s family, the ruling means she will remain imprisoned until December 1, 2024. She had been summoned for interrogation at the Israeli detention center in Hawara on June 2, 2024, following which she was placed under administrative detention, without charges or trial.

Herzallah is one of 94 journalists detained by Israeli authorities since the beginning of Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

Among those detained are four female journalists, including Herzallah, Rola Hassanin, Bushra Al-Tawil, and Amal Shuja’iyah, a journalism student from Birzeit University.

At least 16 journalists from Gaza have also been detained by the occupation since then, while 17 others from the West Bank, including Herzallah, are being held under Israel’s policy of administrative detention, which allows for indefinite imprisonment without charges or trial.

Israeli strike in Lebanon’s Beirut kills Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif

An Israeli strike targeting a building in central Beirut has killed Hezbollah’s spokesman Mohammad Afif, according to officials from the Lebanese armed group.

Mohammed Afif: — Mohammed Afif (screenshot)

Three other people were injured in the strike in the densely populated Ras al-Nabaa district in the Lebanese capital, officials said on Sunday, adding that the building was targeted without warning.

“Clearly, this is a continuation of the Israeli policy to go after not only the military wing of Hezbollah, but also officials within the administrative side of the organisation,” said Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari.

“What Israel is trying to do is diminish the groups’ capabilities on all fronts: economic, social, political, and military.”

Also in Lebanon: Israeli attacks on the ancient city of Tyre killed at least 11 people, and injured 48, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says.

Israeli warplanes target vicinity of 2 churches, hospital in southern Beirut

Israeli warplanes carried out at least 27 air strikes targeting civilian and religious sites in Lebanon on Sunday, state media reported.

An Israeli air strike targeted the vicinity of Our Lady of Salvation Church near Saint George Hospital in the Hadath area of Beirut’s southern suburb, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The attacks came shortly after the Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders for residents in the targeted areas.

An Israeli drone strike targeted a home near St. George’s Church in the town of Jdeida, igniting a fire in the building and causing damage to the church and nearby structures.

Another Israeli air strike targeted a 12-story residential building near the Mar Michael Church in the Chiyah neighborhood of southern Beirut.

A view of the destruction following the Israeli airstrike in Dahieh region of Beirut, Lebanon on November 9, 2024. (Houssam Shbaro – Anadolu Agency)

Cultural experts urge UN to shield Lebanon’s heritage

Hundreds of cultural professionals, including archaeologists and academics, have called on the United Nations to safeguard war-torn Lebanon’s heritage in a petition published ahead of a crucial meeting of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east and Tyre in the south hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The petition, signed by 300 prominent cultural figures, was sent to UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay a day before a special session in Paris to consider listing Lebanese cultural sites under “enhanced protection”.

It urges UNESCO to protect Baalbek and other heritage sites by establishing “no-target zones” around them, deploying international observers and enforcing measures from the 1954 Hague Convention on cultural heritage in conflict.

NOTE: As of 17 September 2024, UNESCO has verified damage to 69 culturally significant sites in Gaza: 10 religious sites, 43 buildings of historical and artistic interest, two repositories of movable cultural property, six monuments, one museum and seven archaeological sites. Other reports give a much higher number of affected sites.

These assessments are made in very difficult situations, in the midst of constant bombardment, thanks to testimonies and studies on the ground and supported by satellite images.

Baalbek is UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lebanon. (Véronique Dauge, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo, )

Israel leak scandal was about shifting blame for ceasefire negotiation off Netanyahu, onto Hamas: report

Eli Feldstein, a spokesman who worked with Netanyahu, is accused of stealing and leaking classified documents to foreign media to influence public opinion about a hostage deal.

According to investigations into the case, Feldstein obtained classified documents from an Israeli army officer and another soldier, both of whom are under arrest and being interrogated.

Feldstein reportedly leaked the classified documents to foreign media to influence public opinion regarding a prisoner swap deal with Palestinian factions.

He sought to change the public narrative by blaming slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for sabotaging the potential deal and holding him responsible for the hostages’ deaths, Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.

Hamas has repeatedly accused Netanyahu of sabotaging efforts to reach an agreement for a hostage swap and a cease-fire.

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Footage shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike targeting humanitarian aid workers south of Khan Younis in Gaza, with bodies seen lying motionless on the ground. pic.twitter.com/XEtGay31Xk

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) November 17, 2024

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – NOVEMBER 17, 2024:

Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – November 17, 2024: at least 44,631* ( 43,846 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 785 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 17, 2024: at least 110,040 (including at least 103,740 in Gaza and 6,300 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 17, 2024: ~1,579 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 401*** military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza (updated: Nov 2); 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 3,481, with 14,786 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.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org