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News on Gaza conflict from Nov. 17, 2023


9 Hours Ago

Israel will allow ‘very minimal’ fuel into Gaza

Displaced Palestinians sit in front of their tent, by a lit fire, and inspect the damage caused by rain on November 15, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. on November 15, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Heavy fighting rages in the northern Gaza Strip as Israel encircles the area, despite increasingly pressing calls for a ceasefire. Due to a lack of fuel needed to operate the generators, hospitals are deprived of electricity. Between 15,000 and 20,000 people took shelter in hospital facilities, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The WHO considers “the situation disastrous and perilous”. (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

Ahmad Hasaballah | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Israel announced Friday that it will allow for the first time “very minimal” daily shipments of fuel into Gaza for use by the U.N. and communications system.

Aid agencies say the lack of fuel has forced them to call off deliveries of basic necessities in the Gaza Strip. They warned of possible widespread starvation in the besieged enclave because of the lack of fuel, and said most people in Gaza were without adequate food and clean water.

Associated Press

10 Hours Ago

Gaza death toll surpasses 12,000, including 5,000 children, Gaza media office says

Editor’s note: The following post contains a photograph with graphic content.

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 12,000, according to the media office of the Hamas-controlled government.

This includes 5,000 children and more than 3,000 women, the media office said. More than 3,700 people are missing, including 1,800 children who are thought to be under the rubble.

Around 200 doctors, nurses and paramedics were also killed, according to the media office.

Around 255 schools, 76 mosques and 95 government headquarters have been destroyed by Israeli bombardment. As many as 25 hospitals and 52 health centers are out of service, and 55 ambulances were also targeted by airstrikes, according to the media office.

The media office said that hospitals in Gaza “only provide health services to the sick and wounded,” and Israel’s claims that Hamas is storing weapons and military gear within them are “false lies that do not deceive anyone.”

“The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip had asked dozens of times from all institutions, organizations, international bodies and relevant parties to form technical teams to visit and inspect all hospitals in the context of refuting the false inflammatory narrative of the Israeli occupation that it has been using for years,” the media office said.

The media office called on the international community to apply pressure on Israel to end its raid on Al-Shifa Hospital and open the Rafah crossing to allow aid in.

EDITORS NOTE: Image depicts death Dead bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes are being brought to En Neccar Hospital in Rafah, Gaza on November 17, 2023.

Abed Rahim Khatib | Anadolu | Getty Images

The Gaza Media Office also called Israel’s cutting off communications and internet from the enclave “works to hide war crimes committed by the occupation army.”

NBC News

13 Hours Ago

Paltel announces ‘partial restoration of telecom services’ in some areas of Gaza Strip

This picture taken from a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows flares launched by Israeli forces above the Gaza Strip amid ongoing battles with the militant group Hamas, on Nov. 17, 2023.

Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty Images

Paltel announced the partial restoration of telecom services in some areas of the Gaza Strip after UNRWA provided a limited quantity of fuel to operate generators.

“Service continuity depends on receiving fuel supply regularly,” Paltel said in its post on social media.

Telecommunications services were completely out off in Gaza after a severe fuel shortage amid ongoing strikes, the two main telecom companies in Gaza, Paltel and Jawwal, said in a statement on Thursday.

Riya Bhattacharjee

16 Hours Ago

Satellite imagery shows large crowd of people fleeing south along an evacuation corridor in Gaza

Maxar Technologies satellite imagery shows a large crowd of people gathered along Salah al Deen Road in southern Gaza attempting to flee south along the evacuation corridor on Nov. 17.

Maxar overview satellite imagery shows a large crowd of people gathered along Salah al Deen Road in southern Gaza attempting to flee south along the evacuation corridor.

Maxar Technologies | Getty Images

Maxar closeup satellite imagery shows a large crowd of people gathered along Salah al Deen Road in southern Gaza attempting to flee south along the evacuation corridor. 

Maxar Technologies | Getty Images

— Maxar Technologies | Getty Images

18 Hours Ago

Israel’s pavilion at the Dubai Airshow sits empty, in stark contrast to previous show’s attendance

The Israel Aerospace Industries pavilion stands empty at the Dubai Airshow 2023 at Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on November 14, 2023.

Natasha Turak | CNBC

Amid the bustle and footfall of thousands of visitors and exhibitors at the 2023 Dubai Airshow, one pavilion was notably empty: that of Israel.

During its first-ever Dubai Airshow in November of 2021 following the Abraham Accords, which saw it normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, Israel was represented by several of its defense contractors and smaller tech firms. Its companies’ stands saw no shortage of engagement, including from Emiratis and Saudis.

Two years later, and five weeks into Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the scene was unrecognizable. The only visible Israeli representation was a large pavilion for state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, as well as stands for Elbit Systems Ltd. and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

More notable than the pared down presence of Israeli companies was the lack of staff and visitors; the spaces were typically deserted or occupied by unaffiliated airshow visitors who said they were just there to use the free chairs and tables.

CNBC attempted to speak to one individual who said they worked for IAI and two who were working at the Elbit Systems stand, but in all cases the individuals declined to comment.

Read the full report here.

— Natasha Turak

19 Hours Ago

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas continue their march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza continue their march on the fourth day from Tel Aviv to Knesset in Jerusalem demanding the release of their relatives on Nov. 17, 2023. Protesters holding Israeli flags and pictures of their family members plan to finish the march outside Knesset by tomorrow.

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza continue their march on the 4th day from Tel Aviv to Knesset in Jerusalem demanding the release of their relatives on November 17, 2023.

Saeed Qaq | Anadolu | Getty Images

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza continue their march on the 4th day from Tel Aviv to Knesset in Jerusalem demanding the release of their relatives on November 17, 2023.

Saeed Qaq | Anadolu | Getty Images

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza continue their march on the 4th day from Tel Aviv to Knesset in Jerusalem demanding the release of their relatives on November 17, 2023.

Ahmad Gharabli | Afp | Getty Images

19 Hours Ago

Airlines are feeling the impact of the Israel-Hamas war, with weeks of lower bookings

Travellers check the departure board at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on October 14, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. 

Gil Cohen-magen | AFP | Getty Images

Airlines have seen a drop in bookings in the weeks following the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and some expect it to cut into their future profits.

According to travel analytics firm ForwardKeys, international flight bookings were 20% below 2019 levels in the three weeks after the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, and 5 percentage points below the period of three weeks before the attack.

In the days following the attack, major airlines suspended or reduced flights to Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. But air travel demand to and from other countries and regions was noticeably affected, too.

Read the full report here.

— Natasha Turak

19 Hours Ago

Israel says there will be no cease-fire ‘without a massive release of hostages’

Israel National Security Council Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi said Friday that there would be no cease-fire “without a massive release of hostages” from the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

His comments come after weeks of international pressure to reach a cease-fire and humanitarian pauses.

Hanegbi said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had insisted in all of his conversations with U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders that a cease-fire would not be possible without the return of hostages.

“We did not agree to order the IDF soldiers to stop advancing even for a minute. When we know that it is possible to release hostages, a massive release of hostages, only then will we agree to a ceasefire, and it will also be very limited and short, because after it we will continue to achieve the combat goals,” Hanegbi said.

— Sam Meredith

22 Hours Ago

EU foreign policy chief sets out principles of peace for lasting two-state solution

EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell talks to the press as he arrives to attend the European Political Community summit at the Palacio de Congreso in Granada, southern Spain on October 5, 2023.

Jorge Guerrero | Afp | Getty Images

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell dubbed the Israel-Hamas conflict a collective “great political and moral failure” for which both Israeli and Palestinian people are now paying a high price, urging a political solution to the war.

Speaking in a press briefing with Mohammad Shtayyeh, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah on Friday, Borrell said the EU condemns Hamas for its terror attack of Oct. 7 “in the strongest terms” and calls on the Palestinian militant group to “free the hostages, and to give immediate access to them to the Red Cross or the Red Crescent.”

He also entreated Israel, where Borrell traveled on Thursday, to have a proportionate response in its retaliatory war campaign in the Gaza Strip.

“A horror doesn’t justify another horror. And the best friends of Israel are the ones who ask them not to be driven by rage,” he said Friday.

Characterizing the humanitarian needs of the besieged and resource-deprived Gaza enclave as a “gigantic effort,” he nevertheless said that “the international community should be able to provide this assistance.”

In the longer term, only a political solution can truly end tensions between the Israeli and Palestinian people, Borrell said, setting out principles on which lasting peace can be achieved. Echoing some of the views previously expressed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the EU diplomat envisions this as involving no displacement of Palestinian people out of the Gaza Strip, no territorial changes to the enclave, no dissociation of the Gaza Strip crisis from the overall cause of the Palestinian people, and no “reoccupation by Israel or a safe haven for Hamas in Gaza.”

Borrell also says that the Palestinian Authority must be able to fully return to the Gaza Strip, while also calling on firmer involvement from Arab countries and the European Union toward building an independent Palestinian state.

Ruxandra Iordache

23 Hours Ago

Israel war cabinet approves the delivery of two trucks of fuel for Gaza each day

Aid convoy truck seen at Rafah border after offloading the aid in Gaza on November 6, 2023 in Rafah, Egypt.

Mahmoud Khaled | Getty Images

Israel’s war cabinet agreed to allow two fuel trucks into the Gaza Strip each day for the use of U.N. humanitarian aid workers, Reuters reports, citing an Israeli official who declined to be identified.

The decision followed a request from close ally Washington.

The fuel is meant to provide “minimal” support for the enclave’s water, sewage and sanitary systems in order to prevent a potential pandemic.

The World Health Organization has flagged the risk of spreading illnesses as a result of the Gaza Strip’s collapsing sanitation and water systems, many of which have ceased to work as a result of fuel shortages. The lack of power has also taken offline medical equipment and telecoms networks.

Israel has previously allowed U.N. trucks to refuel at the Rafah crossing, but only permitted them to use these supplies to transport aid, and not for power generation.

Earlier on Friday, Janez Lenarcic, European commissioner for crisis management, issued a call on social media for further fuel deliveries:

“I most strongly urge the parties involved to stop hindering humanitarian efforts and ensure sufficient & non-interrupted delivery of fuel into #Gaza to humanitarian organisations as well as to turn back on communications which are crucial for delivery of life-saving assistance.”

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 6:12 AM EST

Three dead in Jenin following raid, Palestinian ministry and media say

Three people were killed and more than 15 were injured during a raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Telegram, according to a Google translation.

Four of those injured are in a critical condition.

People attend a funeral ceremony held for Palestinians killed in raids and attacks by Israeli forces, in Jenin, West Bank on November 17, 2023.

Issam Rimawi | Anadolu | Getty Images

The Palestine News & Info Agency (Wafa) earlier in the day said that Israeli forces had struck the Jenin camp, leading to violent clashes. The Israeli force also surrounded the local Ibn Sina hospital and interrogated paramedics, Wafa reports, according to a Google translation.

CNBC could not independently confirm the reports.

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 6:06 AM EST

Israeli military and Hezbollah trade fire

Smoke rises following Israeli artilley shelling on the outskirts of the village of Kfarshuba, along Lebanon’s southern border with northern Israel on November 16, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

– | Afp | Getty Images

The Israel Defense Forces said their fighter jets struck several Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, including infrastructure, a military post and a storage facility, according to a Telegram update.

The military added that it hit a “terrorist cell” in Lebanon, near the al-Aramshe region.

Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet al-Manar corroborated that the al-Aramshe area had been targeted, according to a Google translation. In a separate Google-translated report, the agency also said that Hezbollah continues to target Israeli positions on the southern border with Palestinian territories, out of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

CNBC could not confirm developments on the ground.

Israel has been exchanging fire with Hezbollah — which, like Hamas, receives support from Iran — since the start of its conflict with the Palestinian militant group.

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 5:47 AM EST

Palestine Red Cross Society says ambulances detained in Jenin

An ambulance arrives during a raid by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank Jenin refugee camp overnight on November 16, 2023.

Fadel Senna | AFP | Getty Images

The procedures were “impeding their ability to aid the injured and transport patients in Jenin Governorate,” the PRCS said.

CNBC could not independently confirm the report.

The PRCS has been active across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, assisting with medical services and hospital evacuations. Jenin has been the site of multiple clashes and raids since the start of the conflict, raising concerns over the fate of the West Bank, which is not controlled by Hamas, throughout Israel’s hostilities with the Palestinian militant group.

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 4:34 AM EST

Israel ‘not successful’ in bid to minimize Gaza civilian casualties, Netanyahu says

Israel is doing all it can to get civilians out of harm’s way as it battles Hamas in Gaza, including dropping leaflets warning them to flee, but its attempts to minimize casualties were “not successful”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.

Maya Alleruzzo | Pool | via Reuters

Netanyahu was asked by U.S. television’s CBS News whether Israel’s killing of thousands of Palestinians as it retaliates for the Oct. 7 attack by Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants would fuel a new generation of hatred.

“Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn’t have any because we’re doing everything we can to get the civilians out of harm’s way, while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm’s way,” Netanyahu said.

“So we send leaflets, (we) call them on their cell phones, and we say:’leave’. And many have left,” Netanyahu said.

-Reuters

Fri, Nov 17 2023 3:15 AM EST

Humanitarian agency leaders oppose unilateral ‘safe zone’ in the Gaza Strip

A view of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) refugee camp located in Khan Younis, Gaza where displaced Palestinian families take shelter as Israeli attacks on Gaza continue on November 15, 2023. 

Mustafa Hassona | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The leaders of several humanitarian agencies have said they will not take part in “unilateral” proposals to create “safe zones” in the Gaza Strip.

Among others, signatories included Martin Griffiths, emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, CARE International Secretary-General Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro and Save the Children President Janti Soeripto.

Children are seen in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) refugee camp located in Khan Younis, Gaza where displaced Palestinian families take shelter as Israeli attacks on Gaza continue on November 15, 2023. 

Mustafa Hassona | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

“Under the prevalent conditions, proposals to unilaterally create “safe zones” in Gaza risk creating harm for civilians, including large-scale loss of life, and must be rejected,” the statement said. “Without the right conditions, concentrating civilians in such zones in the context of active hostilities can raise the risk of attack and additional harm.”

It added, “Any discussions around ‘safe zones’ must not detract from the parties’ obligation to take constant care to spare civilians – wherever they are – and meet their essential needs, including by facilitating rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all civilians in need.”

People make bread in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) refugee camp located in Khan Younis, Gaza where displaced Palestinian families take shelter as Israeli attacks on Gaza continue on November 15, 2023. 

Mustafa Hassona | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The statement comes as Israeli military has been urging Palestinian civilians to flee their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip and evacuate to “safe zones” south of the Wadi Gaza wetlands.

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 3:01 AM EST

Israeli coordination agency says 144 trucks with aid entered Gaza Strip on Thursday

A truck passes through the border crossing back into Egypt after delivering aid into the Gaza Strip on November 12, 2023 in Rafah, Egypt.

Ali Moustafa | Getty Images

A total of 144 trucks transporting humanitarian aid were inspected and transferred into the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Israel’s agency for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said on social media.

This included 88 trucks carrying food, 21 delivering medical equipment, 18 trucks with water and seven bringing in equipment for shelter. The remaining trucks delivered mixed cargo.

The U.N. previously estimated that roughly 500 trucks of supplies would enter the Gaza Strip on a daily basis, prior to the latest conflict.

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 2:48 AM EST

UN relief agency says unable to carry out some operations amid telecoms disruption

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine warned it will not hold a cross-border aid operation at the Rafah crossing that bridges the enclave and Egypt on Friday, amid ongoing telecommunication disruptions and fuel shortages.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enters the Rafah border crossing as the Israeli attacks continue in Rafah, Gaza on November 15, 2023.

Abed Rahim Khatib | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

“The communications network in #Gaza is down because there is NO fuel. This makes it impossible to manage or coordinate humanitarian aid convoys,” UNRWA said in a social media post.

UNRWA assists with the receipt and distribution of humanitarian aid across the Gaza Strip and shelters Palestinian civilians in its facilities. Operations have been severely impacted by fuel shortages that prevent it to cross ground.

Palestinians perform an evening prayer on a backyard of a school, affiliated to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), as the Israeli attacks continues in Khan Younis, Gaza on November 2, 2023.

Abed Zagout | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

“We will not be able to uphold our commitment to provide for the Palestinian people any longer,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in an earlier Thursday statement. “I do believe there is a deliberate attempt to strangle our operation and paralyse the UNRWA operation.”

He also said at the time that the conflict to date has sparked the largest displacement of Palestinian people since 1948, as civilians flee to the south of the Gaza Strip, arriving “dehydrated, hungry, exhausted and shell-shocked.” 

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 2:40 AM EST

Telecoms services down across Gaza Strip

GAZA CITY, GAZA – OCTOBER 08: Smoke and flames rise after Israeli forces airstrikes as clashes continue between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups at various locations of Gaza on October 08, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. Israeli warplanes launched new airstrikes in the Gaza Strip early Sunday amid rising tensions following a surprise Hamas attack into Israeli towns. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu | Getty Images

Telecommunication services are offline in the Gaza Strip, amid critical fuel shortages.

On Thursday, Palestinian telecoms providers Jawwal and Paltel issued a joint statement announcing a “complete disruption of communication services (landline, cellular, and Internet) in the Gaza Strip, after fuel entry has been banned and all backup power sources have been exhausted to operate the main elements of the network.”

They have made no further updates since.

Israel has cut off the Gaza Strip from its own fuel deliveries and only allowed U.N. trucks to refuel with supplies that can be exclusively used toward the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Several primary services, including sewage, well pumping and water desalination, along with medical equipment, have consequently gone out of operation across the enclave.

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 2:47 AM EST

Israeli military says it found a Hamas tunnel at Al-Shifa hospital

Israeli army says it finds tunnel, weapons at Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital.

IDF | Reuters

The Israel Defense Forces said they discovered a tunnel in the Al-Shifa hospital, part of an extensive network believed to span the underground level beneath the Gaza Strip.

The IDF raided the Al-Shifa medical complex, the largest in the Gaza enclave, on suspicions of Hamas using the facility as an operations base.

IDF troops say they also located a vehicle that was used during the Oct. 7 terror attacks on site, along with previous discoveries of weapons, ammunition and a laptop. CNBC could not verify the report.

Israel has repeatedly defended its decision to carry out an incursion at Al-Shifa despite international backlash, citing the medical complex had been repurposed for Hamas hostilities. The Geneva accords state that civilian hospitals may “in no circumstances be the object of attack” under Article 18, but Article 19 provides that this protection for medical facilities “shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy.”

Ruxandra Iordache

Fri, Nov 17 2023 2:38 AM EST

Israeli military says it has retrieved the bodies of two Hamas hostages

Israeli military says it has retrieved the bodies of two captives abducted by Hamas during the terror attacks of Oct. 7, including one of the force’s own soldiers.

Soldiers carry the coffin of Israeli soldier Corporal Noa Marcian at Modi’in Military Cemetery on November 17, 2023 in Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut, Israel. 

Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

One of the deceased was Corporal Noa Marciano, 19, whose death was announced by Hamas earlier this week. The IDF and Hamas have attributed responsibility to each other for her demise.

The second body was of kindergarten worker Yehudit Weiss, 65.

The Israel Defense Forces said they extracted both bodies from a structure adjacent to the stormed Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip and have transported it to Israeli territory.

CNBC could not confirm the reports.

Marciano and Weiss were two among over two hundred captives abducted by Hamas.

Ruxandra Iordache





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