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Gaza's population, with only 10 percent of the food needed entering the Strip since the beginning of the conflict, "faces the immediate possibility of starvation," the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. "Food and water supplies are virtually non-existent. With winter approaching, shelters unsafe and overcrowded, civilians face the immediate prospect of starvation," said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. A total of 143 Spanish-Palestinians and their families have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip. Today, 139 of them, including 67 minors, have arrived in Madrid, at the Torrejón de Ardoz aerodrome, from Cairo. Four of the evacuees from the Gaza Strip have remained in Egypt's capital for family reasons, the Foreign Ministry said. For his part, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, said during his visit to Israel that "what makes the difference between a civilised society and a terrorist group is respect for human life". In the company of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Borrell urged people not to be carried away by the "anger" caused by the Hamas attack on October 7. "All human lives have the same value," said the head of European diplomacy, also referring to the death of Palestinian civilians. Also on the diplomatic front, US President Joe Biden has insisted that it would be a "big mistake" for Israel to occupy Gaza. This was remarked by the American after a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
- Photo Gallery | Thursday's images
01:21
Images of Al Shifa Hospital after the Israeli assault
Israeli soldiers take part in an incursion inside the Al Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, in an image distributed by the Israeli army.
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El País
Three Palestinians killed in Israeli attack in West Bank
An Israeli attack in the West Bank city of Jenin has left three people dead, according to Reuters. Arab media reported early Friday that at least seven others were wounded and that the Israeli Armed Forces were surrounding the Ibn Sana hospital, the most important in the area. Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not yet confirmed the attack.
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 05:58
El País
Blinken says U.S. does not support a permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza
The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, has said that Joe Biden's administration does not support a permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza. "When it comes to the future of Gaza, in our judgment, it has to be under Palestinian governance," the secretary of state told ABC television. Blinken has said that in order to achieve peace, it is "imperative" to guarantee the political rights of Palestinians and their ability to govern themselves. The senior official said the U.S. had made its position clear to Benjamin Netanyahu's government, adding that it hoped to speed up efforts to free as many of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas as possible.
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 05:00
El País
Syria shoots down several Israeli missiles near Damascus
The Syrian army has announced the downing of several missiles launched by Israel from the Golan Heights. Almost all of the projectiles have been intercepted near Damascus, Syria's capital, according to a statement released early Friday. Some missiles caused material damage, although there were no casualties, officials said. The Israeli military has not commented.
Israel said last week that an organization in Syria launched a drone that crashed into a school in the southern city of Eilat and responded to the attack. On October 8, a day after the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out, Syria accused the Netanyahu government of ordering an air strike, which has led to an increase in hostilities in the area. (Reuters)
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 03:28
Reuters
Netanyahu: Israel 'Did Not Succeed' in Minimizing Civilian Casualties in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel's attempts to downplay casualties in Gaza "were unsuccessful." "Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn't have any because we're doing everything we can to get civilians out of harm's way, while Hamas is doing everything we can to keep them in harm's way," Netanyahu told CBS News. "We distribute leaflets, call them on their mobile phones and say, 'Go away.' And many have left," he added.
"The other thing I can say is that we will try to finish the job with a minimum of civilian casualties. That's what we're trying to do: a minimum of civilian casualties. But unfortunately we didn't succeed."
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 01:59
El País
Protesters block the Bay Bridge in San Francisco to demand a ceasefire in Gaza
San Francisco police arrested dozens of protesters demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza War with the closure of the Bay Bridge on Thursday, as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. About 200 people, according to organizers, gathered to demand an end to the U.S. government's military support for Israeli forces. Demonstrators sat down to block cars and placed transports blocking the road.
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 01:27
EFE
Borrell supports Israel's "right to self-defence" but is "concerned" about civilians in Gaza
The head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, met on Thursday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, to whom he expressed his "solidarity and support for Israel's right to defence", although he said he was "concerned about the suffering" of the civilian population in Gaza and urged to seek ways "to make peace". In his public appearance with Herzog, Borrell delivered "a message of solidarity and support, to convey to Israel that the European Union is" with the country, "supporting its right to self-defense under international humanitarian law."
He added that he regrets the attack by Hamas' armed wing that on October 7 killed at least 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in more than 240 people being taken captive to Gaza, and after also meeting relatives of the hostages, he said that his situation "broke my heart."
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 06:19
AP
More than 11,470 Palestinians (two-thirds of them women and children) have been killed in the war
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people are crammed into the south, including hundreds of thousands who heeded Israel's calls to evacuate the north to get out of the way of its offensive. Residents say bread is scarce and supermarket shelves are empty. Central electricity and running water have been cut off for weeks.
More than 11,470 Palestinians (two-thirds of them women and children) have been killed since the war began, according to Palestinian health officials, who do not distinguish between civilian deaths and militants. Some 2,700 people are missing.
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 00:27
El País
The delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza will be interrupted this Friday due to a lack of fuel, according to UNRWA
Thomas White, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, confirmed on X that there will be no cross-border aid operations at the Rafah crossing on Friday. "Tomorrow there will be no cross-border aid operation at the Rafah border crossing. The communications network in Gaza is down because there is no fuel. This makes it impossible to manage or coordinate humanitarian aid convoys," he wrote.
In the same vein, UNRWA High Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini said hours earlier that there is a deliberate attempt to "strangle" the organization's humanitarian work in Gaza, and also warned that the agency may have to completely suspend its operations due to the lack of fuel.
UNRWA, which supports more than 800,000 displaced people in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, has already warned that many of its services have already been shut down, including dozens of wells, two water treatment plants and sewage pumping stations.
"It is outrageous that humanitarian agencies have been reduced to begging for fuel," Lazzarini added. According to UNRWA's top official, the organization had been begging for weeks for access to the fuel, which on Wednesday was transported to Gaza for the first time since the start of Israel's war against Hamas.
That fuel — 24,000 liters (6,340 gallons) of diesel for U.N. aid trucks — is nowhere near what Gazans need to survive, Lazzarini said.
Israel rejects fuel imports, arguing that Hamas could use it for military purposes.
ACT.16 NOV 2023 - 21:47
El País
The Israeli army claims to have found the entrance to a Hamas tunnel in al-Shifa hospital
The Israeli army has claimed to have found the entrance to a tunnel used by Hamas in the vicinity of Al-Shifa hospital, as well as a vehicle prepared for the terrorist attacks carried out by the Palestinian militia on October 7.
"Today, Hamas' tunnel infrastructure has been exposed inside the hospital. In addition, a booby-trap vehicle prepared for the October 7 massacre was discovered, containing a large amount of weapons and ammunition," the Israeli forces said on their Telegram account.
The army entered al-Shifa with tanks and soldiers, where they conducted interrogations and searched rooms and basements in a part of the health centre. Israel maintains that this hospital is the epicenter of the tunnel network used by Hamas.
The compound houses at least 2,000 people, including patients, medical staff and those displaced by the bombings.
The Israeli forces have accompanied their statement with videos and photographs of a hole in the ground, surrounded by rubble, a white car, several pieces of weaponry and magazines. None of these images have been independently verified.
In addition, troops of the Parachute Brigade are operating at Al-Quds Hospital, where weapons and ammunition have been located, also according to Israel.
ACT.16 NOV 2023 - 20:54
El País
The last bakery in Gaza closes of the 23 that the UN Global Programme had contracted before the war
The UN World Food Programme has reported that it has closed the last bakery that remained open of those they had contracted in the Gaza Strip. It has closed due to lack of fuel. Thus, in a message published on the social network X (the former Twitter) by the profile of this UN agency in the Middle East and North Africa, they have pointed out that on October 7, when the war began, there were 23 bakeries in the enclave with an agreement with this agency. By October 17, five remained. On October 31, one had opened. Today, the last bakery contracted by the World Food Programme in Gaza has closed due to lack of fuel. All of them have ceased to be operational, either because they have been damaged or because of a lack of fuel or water. "Today, almost the entire population is in need of food assistance," the agency tweeted.
ACT.16 NOV 2023 - 20:48
El País
War between Israel and Gaza
Israel Prolongs Occupation of Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital in Search of Evidence from Hamas Underground Center
Luis de Vega
The al-Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, remains under the control of the Israeli army and cannot be evacuated, despite still housing thousands of refugees and patients, according to the Strip's health authorities. A day and a half after its occupation, the military searched the facilities on Thursday in search of evidence that proves that the medical center houses the Hamas operations command in the tunnels, as the Israeli authorities have insisted for weeks. So far they have shown only a handful of weapons allegedly found during the search of the complex.
ACT.16 NOV 2023 - 20:27