Israel-Gaza war, live

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Israeli forces launched an operation in the early hours of Wednesday morning against the largest hospital in the Strip, Al Shifa. The authorities accuse Hamas of using it to store weapons and coordinate its offensive. All health facilities in northern Gaza, where most of the health infrastructure is located, had ceased to function, with the sole exception of Al Ahli, where there are 500 patients. "They are out of service due to a lack of electricity, medical supplies, oxygen, food and water, in addition to shelling," according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid. The situation at al-Shifa hospital, the main centre of the enclave, is the most serious. It is at the center of the fighting, with Israeli tanks at its doorstep. According to the director of the centre, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, seven premature babies have died due to the lack of electricity and another 30 whose lives are in danger. Gazans have been forced to dig a mass grave in the vicinity of the compound to bury dozens of corpses at risk of decomposition. Meanwhile, the WHO insisted today that evacuating the hospital is an "impossible task". In the midst of the military offensive, the Israeli army claimed to have taken over the headquarters of the Hamas government in Gaza, the parliament and several militia barracks.

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El País

Hamas blames Biden for the military operation at Al Shifa hospital

Hamas on Wednesday morning accused Joe Biden, the US president, of giving the green light to the Israeli military operation inside the Al Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip. "The president and his administration are fully responsible for all the repercussions following the occupation army's assault on the medical complex," the Islamist group said in a statement.

Hamas has described the operation, of which no further details are yet known, as a "brutal crime" against a center that is protected by international law and the Geneva Convention, which protects civilians in armed conflict. "The leaders of the occupation and all those who have colluded to murder children, patients and defenseless civilians will pay for it," the document adds.

A Hamas spokesman told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces were checking the basement of the hospital. The White House said Tuesday afternoon that intelligence information allowed them to say that the Islamist group was hiding weapons in the basement of the medical center.

ACT.15 NOV 2023 - 05:01

El País

Biden speaks with Netanyahu as Israel carries out the operation in Al Shifa

The White House reported Tuesday night (Washington local time) that President Joe Biden held a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The leaders spoke at length about efforts to "free the abductees captured by Hamas," which include several minors and U.S. citizens, according to a statement.

The call was made while Israel was carrying out an operation inside the Al Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip. Washington said Tuesday afternoon that intelligence allowed them to claim that Hamas was using the center to hide weapons. Hours after that statement, Israel launched an operation inside the hospital.

ACT.15 NOV 2023 - 04:15

El País

Israel carries out a "precise" operation at Al Shifa hospital

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed early Wednesday that they are carrying out a "precise and targeted" operation against Hamas at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, the largest inside the Strip. There are about 1,500 patients admitted there, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

In a message posted on social media, the Israeli military said it had carried out the operation based on intelligence information.

The White House confirmed a few hours ago that it had been able to confirm that Hamas was using the facilities of the health center to store weapons and as a control center for some of its operations. This was confirmed by John Kirby, one of the Biden administration's spokesmen, who said that the guerrilla group and Islamic Jihad use the tunnels under the hospital to move weapons and to "guard the hostages." Kirby did not present any evidence to back up his claims.

The Israel Defense Forces have been claiming for days that Hamas members are using the hospital as a shield, jeopardizing its status as neutral territory under international law. This rule protects hospitals from military attacks. Israel has drawn the ire of the international community by carrying out offensives in places where there are wounded, refugees and children.

ACT.15 NOV 2023 - 03:32

El País

Enlargement | The Médecins Sans Frontières team that has entered Gaza is made up of surgeons and anaesthetists to provide support in collapsed hospitals

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced on Tuesday afternoon that a team of 15 people had managed to enter Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. Now, the NGO has given more details about the medical team. It is made up of surgeons, anesthesiologists and intensive care specialists, based in the southern Gaza Strip.

"The goal, at least initially, is to support the existing hospitals there. We know that we will have to deal with the uncertainty," say sources from the organization. "Unless Israeli forces accept the ceasefire that we have repeatedly called for, we are aware that our ability to move in the Strip will be significantly restricted," they added.

Médecins Sans Frontières insists that hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed by Israeli army attacks and a lack of fuel and personnel: "They must be protected and re-equipped to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza."

ACT.14 NOV 2023 - 23:57

El País

A girl injured by Israeli strikes at Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza. / Ashraf Amra / Anadolu/Getty Images

What has happened in the last few hours?

These are the most relevant news of the war between Israel and Hamas until 21:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 14:

All hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are no longer functioning, except for Al Ahli, where there are 500 patients. "They are out of service due to a lack of electricity, medical supplies, oxygen, food and water, as well as shelling and clashes in the surrounding area," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid said in a report.

Israel's foreign minister says Guterres "does not deserve to be the head of the United Nations." Eli Cohen has assured that the UN secretary-general has done nothing to "promote any peace plan".

Unease is growing in the Biden administration over its support for Israel. Nearly 40 civil servants, employed in <> government agencies, have addressed a letter of protest to the U.S. president over his stance on the war.

The UN warns that it only has food for 39% of the people who are sheltering in their schools in the midst of the Israeli offensive. According to data from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, there are currently about 137,000 refugees in its 80 schools in the Strip, and so the food they have is only enough to feed about 53,400 Palestinians.

Thousands of people demonstrate in support of Israel in Washington. The demonstrators, who came from different parts of the country and were summoned by various Jewish organizations, displayed slogans in memory of the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7, and called for the release of the hostages.

ACT.14 NOV 2023 - 21:36

María Antonia Sánchez-VallejoNew York

Senior White House official tours the Middle East again

Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States and coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, left Monday night for Belgium, Israel, the West Bank, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan, the White House said Tuesday. Today in Brussels, he will brief NATO allies and European Union partners on a coordinated approach to the current situation in the Middle East, focusing on the significant expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza, economic pressure on Hamas and other terrorist groups, and the demand for the immediate release of hostages of multiple nationalities that Hamas is still holding.

"In Israel, [McGurk] will address Israel's security needs, the imperative to protect civilians in the course of military operations, as well as ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages, and the need to curb violent extremist settlers in the West Bank," the White House statement reads. which includes two aspects incorporated in recent days into the official discourse that qualify unconditional support for Israel: the need to protect the civilian population and the also necessary curb on settler activity in the West Bank, a source of violent incidents with the Palestinian population even before the war against Hamas began in Gaza. In the West Bank, McGurk will endorse Mahmoud Abbas as representative of the Palestinian Authority, and both will address "the aspirations of Palestinians to live with equal measures of freedom, security and dignity in a state of their own," alluding to the two-state solution.

ACT.14 NOV 2023 - 20:51