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Israel-Hamas war live: Gaza aid paused amid telecom outage
Published 7 hours agoPublished 7 hours agolast updated 1 hour agolast updated 1 hour ago
The UN is halting aid deliveries to Gaza for a day following a breakdown of telecom services in the strip. Plus, Netanyahu says there are “strong indications” hostages were held at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. Follow DW.
https://p.dw.com/p/4Yyn8
Displaced Palestinians set up tents in the yard of a UN-run school in Rafah, Gaza Strip, during ongoing Israeli bombardment on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.
People in Gaza have been effectively cut off from the rest of the world with the collapse of the telecom servicesImage: Hatem Ali/AP/picture alliance
Skip next section What you need to know
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Humanitarian aid to Gaza has been paused for a day following the collapse in phone and internet services due to lack of fuel
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls for de-escalation of settler violence in West Bank
Netanyahu says there are “strong indications” of hostages being held at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza
Skip next section Several gunmen and one IDF soldier dead in West Bank incidents — Israeli military
1 hour ago1 hour ago
Several gunmen and one IDF soldier dead in West Bank incidents — Israeli military
Israel’s army said on Friday that it killed “at least five terrorists” during an overnight operation in the Jenin refugee camp located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said four people were killed in a shootout at a checkpoint in Hebron.
Israeli soldiers and police officers shot dead “three Hamas terrorists from Hebron who planned to carry out a large shooting attack, and strike our troops,” the IDF said.
“An IDF soldier was killed as a result of the attack,” it added.
The US, EU, Germany and others categorize Hamas as a terror group.
https://p.dw.com/p/4Z19w
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Skip next section IDF says it recovered Israeli soldier’s remains near Gaza hospital
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IDF says it recovered Israeli soldier’s remains near Gaza hospital
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday that it had recovered the remains of Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, who died after she was captured by the militant group Hamas on October 7.
“Her body was found and extracted by IDF troops adjacent to the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza,” the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF said Marciano had been “abducted and murdered” by Hamas.
Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the US, the EU, Germany and others, claimed the 19-year-old soldier was killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
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Skip next section Humanitarian aid to Gaza suspended Friday because of telecom outage
7 hours ago7 hours ago
Humanitarian aid to Gaza suspended Friday because of telecom outage
Critical humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing will not take place on Friday because of a collapse in telecom services, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.
A lack of fuel to the besieged strip shut down all internet and phone networks on Thursday, the main Palestinian telecom provider said.
“We have seen fuel and food and water and humanitarian assistance being used as a weapon of war,” Juliette Touma, the UNRWA communications director, told reporters in Amman, Jordan.
Touma said UNRWA can’t operate because it has no fuel, and “It is simply outrageous that humanitarian agencies are reduced to begging for fuel.”
Israel did provide UNRWA with limited fuel this week for the delivery of food, she said. No other infrastructure, like hospitals or water treatment plants, was allowed to use the fuel.
The first truck carrying fuel entered Gaza a day ago, and UNRWA said it was the “equivalent of half a truck! Not at all enough.”
More than 11,400 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors — have been killed since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which has taken over tallying deaths in Gaza as the Hamas-led ministry in the enclave stopped publishing the information due to lack of fuel and connectivity.
Neither of the Palestinian health ministries differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. Hamas is designated a terror organization by Israel, the EU, Germany, the US and others.
The difficult task of evacuating medical patients from Gaza
02:57
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Skip next section ‘Strong indications’ hostages were held by Hamas at al-Shifa hospital, Netanyahu says
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‘Strong indications’ hostages were held by Hamas at al-Shifa hospital, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told American broadcaster CBS Evening News that they had “strong indications” hostages were held at al-Shifa hospital.
“We had strong indications that they were held in the Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital,” he said.
“If they were [there], they were taken out,” he added.
Israeli military raided the hospital, which is Gaza’s largest, for a second day Thursday. Israel says Hamas militants maintain a command node at the hospital.
That claim has been denied by hospital staff and Hamas militants, considered a terror organization by the US, EU and others.
Israel claims Hamas posts beneath Gaza hospital
02:07
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Skip next section Blinken calls for ‘urgent’ de-escalation of settler violence in occupied West Bank
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Blinken calls for ‘urgent’ de-escalation of settler violence in occupied West Bank
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel urgently to take steps to de-escalate tensions in the occupied West Bank.
During a phone call with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s decision-making War Cabinet, Blinken said there was an “urgent need for affirmative steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank, including by confronting rising levels of settler extremist violence,” according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Blinken and Gantz “discussed efforts to augment and accelerate the transit of critical humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” Miller said.
Blinken also spoke on the ongoing diplomacy to free hostages taken by Hamas militants during their attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
Hamas is designated a terror organization by the US, Israel and other countries as well as by the European Union.
This year was already the deadliest in at least 15 years for West Bank residents, with some 200 Palestinians and 26 Israelis killed, according to the United Nations.
But just in the three weeks since the October 7 deadly attack, more than 120 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed. Clashes with soldiers have caused most deaths.
German Foreign Minister Baerbock visits West Bank, Tel Aviv
05:23
rm/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters, DPA)
