November 17: Today’s news on Palestine & Israel – Day 42

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November 17: Today’s news on Palestine & Israel – Day 42
Palestinian children run as they flee from Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 6, 2023. (photo)

Humanitarian & fuel updates, hospital crises, West Bank news, Israel news, “genocide in the making,” and more

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here. For more news, go here and here. Live broadcast news from the region is here.

Some people are led to be skeptical of the Al Jazeera news network. However, the network has won several Emmys, a Peabody and the Overseas Press Association’s Edward R. Murrow award, among many other honors. The New York Times reports that “its reporting hews to international journalistic standards and provides a unique view on events in the Middle East.” it’s important to remember that all news sources may potentially have bias. For example, CNN uses anchors who used to work for the Israel Lobby, who have lifelong attachment to Israel, and who often exhibit pro-Israel spin and omission in their broadcasts. Similarly, Fox News is strongly influenced by Rupert Murdoch, who has a similarly strong attachment to Israel, and who may have fired Tucker Carlson, the network’s most popular host, in part due to the host’s opposition to war and his pattern of failing to exhibit sufficient devotion to Israel).

Latest statistics:

Palestinian death toll: 11,232* (~11,029 in Gaza** (including at least 4,707 children and 3,155 women), and at least 203 in the West Bank). *IAK does not yet include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile is being disputed; although much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, experts are still looking into the incident. Israel is blocking an international investigation.

Palestinian injuries: 31,750** (including at least 29,000 in Gaza** and 2,750 in the West Bank). **NOTE: it is impossible to offer an accurate number of injuries in Gaza due to the ongoing bombardment and communication disruption. The Associated Press has reported ~32,000 in Gaza, while the UN number is somewhat lower. Our total for Gaza and the West Bank is based on the conservative figure.

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1.6 million people have been displaced; 3,640 are missing (1,770 children) and presumed to be under rubble.

Israel has now killed more Palestinians in a little over a month than in all the previous 22 years combined.

Reported Israeli death toll has been reduced to ~1,200*** (The Israeli spokesman said the original figure of deaths on March 7 was an “initial estimate” – 3 killed in West Bank, 56 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and ~5,400 injured). The names of the 1,175 identified (about 33 of them children) are here.

***NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel may have been caused by Israeli soldiers; additionally, since Israel has a policy of universal conscription, it is unknown how many of those attending the outdoor rave a few miles from Gaza on stolen Palestinian land were Israeli soldiers.

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

“Genocide in the making” – UN: Grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the aftermath of 7 October, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making, UN experts said today. They illustrated evidence of increasing genocidal incitement, overt intent to “destroy the Palestinian people under occupation”, loud calls for a ‘second Nakba’ in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, and the use of powerful weaponry with inherently indiscriminate impacts, resulting in a colossal death toll and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.

We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire. We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel’s strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international system to mobilize to prevent genocide. [Israel’’s] egregious violations cannot be justified in the name of self-defense [and it] cannot wage a war against the population under its belligerent occupation.

The reality in Gaza, with its unbearable pain and trauma on the survivors, is a catastrophe of enormous proportions.

Humanitarian aid: 16 November was the second consecutive day in which no aid trucks entered Gaza. This is due to UNRWA’s lack of fuel. UNRWA also announced that, due to the communication shutdown, it will be unable to manage or coordinate humanitarian aid convoys starting 17 November.

Due to the absence of fuel, on 16 November, UNRWA stated that 70 per cent of the people in the south have no access to clean water. Furthermore, raw sewage started flowing in the streets in some areas.

In the north, the water desalination plant and the Israeli pipeline are not functioning. There has been no distribution of bottled water among IDPs accommodated in shelters for over a week, raising grave concerns about dehydration and waterborne diseases due to water consumption from unsafe sources.

Israeli claims that it is providing incubators has been refuted by the director of al-Shifa Hospital: “The Israeli occupation forces claim to have provided incubators to the hospital, but this is not true; this is false. In addition, we are not in need of incubators; we have already incubators in the hospital, yet we are out of fuel to generate electricity [for the incubators].” (12:40 GMT)

RECOMMENDED READING: Israel-Palestine war: Israel wants to seize Gaza’s multibillion dollar gas field

“Immediate possibility of starvation”: “Food production has come to an almost complete halt, markets have collapsed, fishermen cannot access the sea, farmers cannot reach their farms,” Abeer Etefa, a Middle East regional spokesperson for the World Food Program said. “People are facing the immediate possibility of starvation.” (12:05 GMT)

Fuel for Gaza – to protect Israelis: The war cabinet will allow the entry of two fuel trucks per day into southern Gaza in response to a US request. The decision was intended to “minimally support water, sewage and sanitation systems, in order to prevent the outbreak of epidemics that could spread in the entire area, harm both the residents of the Strip and our forces, and spread even into Israel.” (12:05 GMT)

RECOMMENDED READING: ABC News: Father in Gaza travels over 8 miles in wheelchair to get baby’s first vaccinations

Sites of bombardment and casualties Friday so far include:

  • House in Khan Younis – at least 4 killed
  • Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis – several killed
  • House in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza – at least 18 killed
  • Residential blokcs in Jabalia – dozens killed
  • Al-Falah School in the Zeitoun neighbourhood south of Gaza City – dozens killed
  • A field hospital set up in Gaza by Jordan – several staff injured
  • Poultry farm in Rafah – 7 killed
  • Home in al-Qarara, east of Khan Younis – 10 killed, including a baby
  • Ihya’ As Sunna Mosque in Gaza City was hit by an airstrike during a prayer – about 50 killed

RECOMMENDED READING: BBC: How the dead are counted in Gaza

Gaza Gov’t building destroyed: The Israeli occupation army has blown up the Palestinian Legislative Council building in Gaza after it was occupied by the Golani Brigade. The army announced on Tuesday that it had taken control of several government buildings in Gaza City, including the Legislative Council headquarters and the police headquarters.

As usual when destroying civilian infrastructure, the Israeli occupation forces claimed that the buildings were being used by Hamas for “military purposes”.

RECOMMENDED READING: Does Israel have the right to self-defense in Gaza?

West Bank update: Three Palestinians were killed and several others sustained injuries in the early hours of this morning as Israeli occupation forces targeted a group of people in Jenin refugee camp, north of the occupied West Bank, with a drone strike.

Yesterday, about 80 Israeli military vehicles entered Jenin, damaging roads and cars, and surrounding 4 hospitals. At one hospital, the medical staff were forced to evacuate and undergo interrogation. The military claimed that Hamas fighters were hiding inside.

Two more young Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli occupation forces this morning in Hebron. Emergency medical teams were denied access to the scene; the two were pronounced dead a short time later. The bodies of the two victims were taken away by the Israeli occupation forces.

Israeli occupation forces once again suppressed worshipers attempting to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the weekly Friday prayers, marking the sixth consecutive Friday of such restrictions. Normally, tens of thousands worship there on Fridays; Israeli occupation forces limited the number to only a few hundred.

“Fire and brimstone”: Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says talks brokered by Qatar to release hostages going in the “wrong direction”, suggests that Israel should go “fire and brimstone” in Gaza and cut off contact.

Will ground war expand to southern Gaza? Two members of Israel’s war cabinet and one of its observers support the expansion of the army’s ground invasion to southern Gaza, a senior security official told Israeli media outlet Walla!. According to the source, there is unanimity between defence minister Yoav Galant, minister Benny Gantz and the Israeli army’s former chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot to push ahead with military operations regardless of ongoing talks on a deal to release captives.

Israeli deaths: In the past 24 hours, three Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed in Gaza, bringing the total number of soldiers killed since the start of ground operations to 56, according to official Israeli sources.

The firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups towards Israeli population centers has continued over the past 24 hours, with no reported fatalities. (Information on rocket attacks is here.) It appears that the last time a rocket killed an Israeli was October 7, as reported by Ha’aretz. Ten Israelis were killed – 4 of them Palestinian Israelis.

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