AS IT HAPPENED
Netanyahu rejects ceasefire calls, rules out role for PA in post-war Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday rejected mounting international calls for a ceasefire and ruled out a role for the Palestinian Authority (PA) in post-war Gaza. His primetime address came hours after Arab and Muslim leaders at a summit in Riyadh called for an immediate ceasefire as major hospitals in Gaza were on the front line of Israel’s ground offensive. Read our blog to see how all the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
Issued on: 11/11/2023 – 07:08
Modified: 11/11/2023 – 11:10
2 min
Smoke rises over Gaza as seen from southern Israel on November 11, 2023.
Smoke rises over Gaza as seen from southern Israel on November 11, 2023. © Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters
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FRANCE 24
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday rejected mounting international calls for a ceasefire and ruled out a role for the Palestinian Authority (PA) in post-war Gaza.
Arab and Muslim leaders rejected Israel’s “self-defence” claims in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire at an emergency joint Islamic-Arab summit on the Gaza crisis in Riyadh.
Doctors Without Borders said it was “extremely concerned” about patients and medical staff at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, which lost electricity on Saturday, endangering the lives of patients, according to the hospital director.
Staff in Gaza City’s major hospitals reported heavy fighting near hospital premises on Saturday. Israel’s army said reports of troops firing on Al-Shifa hospital were “false”.
Around 300,000 people attended a Palestinian solidarity rally in London, which passed peacefully despite clashes between right-wing counter-protesters and police before the rally.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Paris, Marseille and other French cities.
The Israeli military on Saturday said it will help evacuate babies from the Al-Shifa hospital on Sunday after hospital staff requested help.
Nearly 200,000 people fled from northern Gaza to the enclave’s southern districts in past three days, the Israeli army said Saturday.
More than 11,000 people, including more than 4,500 children, have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The official death toll of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel is 1,200.
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3 hours ago
Israel army says reports of Gaza hospital strikes ‘false’
The Israeli army said Saturday reports of its troops firing on the biggest hospital in the Gaza Strip were “false information”, as fighting rages in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“During the past hours, false information is being spread, that we are encircling Al-Shifa Hospital and striking it. These are false reports,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.
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4 hours ago
Three people wounded in ultra-right attack on Palestine conference in Lyon
Three people sustained light injuries in the French city of Lyon on Saturday evening, when ultra-right-wing activists tried to force their way into a conference on Palestine, according to the police prefecture and witnesses.
Police arrested one person who tried to enter the premises.
Christophe Oberlin, a surgeon who has worked extensively in Gaza and was at the conference to present his two latest books, told the AFP that people were trying to break down the door of the conference room.
“We found ourselves in a mousetrap,” another participant told the AFP. “We put a lot of things against the door to barricade them.”
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4 hours ago
Protesters in Paris call for immediate ceasefire
Thousands of people, including left-wing French lawmakers, marched in a pro-Palestinian rally in Paris to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Some French leftist politicians have welcomed President Emmanuel Macron’s call this week for a ceasefire and opposition to Israel’s bombing campaign. FRANCE 24’s Antonia Kerrigan reports from Place de la République in the French capital.
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5 hours ago
Netanyahu rejects ceasefire calls, rules out role for Palestinian Authority in post-war Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the military will continue its battle against Hamas in Gaza with “full force,” in a rejection of growing international calls for a cease-fire.
In a televised address, Netanyahu said a ceasefire would only be possible if militants in Gaza release all the hostages taken in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. .
The Israeli leader also insisted that after the war, now entering its sixth week, Gaza would be demilitarised and Israel would retain security control there. The position appears to run counter to post-war scenarios floated by Israel’s closest ally, the US, which has said it opposes an Israeli reoccupation of the territory.
Asked what he meant by security control, Netanyahu said Israeli forces must be able to enter Gaza when necessary to hunt down militants.
He also ruled out a role for the Palestinian Authority in post-war Gaza.
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5 hours ago
Nearly 200,000 fled northern Gaza in past three days, says Israeli army
The Israel army said Saturday nearly 200,000 people have fled north Gaza for the south of the Palestinian territory, as fighting rages there between Hamas militants and Israeli troops.
“Nearly 200,000 people left the north just in the past three days and moved southward,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.
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6 hours ago
UN humanitarian chief says no justification for ‘acts of war in health care facilities’
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has said “there can be no justification for acts of war in health care facilities, leaving them with no power, food or water.”
In a statement posted on X, Griffiths said acts of war in health care facilities were “unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop”.
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6 hours ago
Israeli military says it will help evacuate babies from Al-Shifa hospital
The Israeli military will help evacuate babies trapped in Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday, said chief Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
“The staff of the Shifa hospital has requested that tomorrow we help the babies in the pediatric department to get to a safer hospital. We will provide the assistance needed,” Hagari said in a televised briefing.
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7 hours ago
Hamas says it has destroyed over 160 Israeli military targets in Gaza in 48 hours
The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, has said it completely or partially destroyed more than
160 Israeli military targets in Gaza over the past 48 hours, including more than 25 vehicles.
“The confrontation is unequal, but it frightens and terrifies the most powerful force in the region,” said spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
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7 hours ago
Saudi Arabia slams ‘double standards’ in world’s response to Israel-Hamas war
Saudi Arabia has denounced what it described as “double standards” in the world’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, saying Israel was getting a pass on violations of international law.
“We are watching and observing the double standards and we are reassessing based on this the credibility of international systems. If there is no commitment binding everyone to these foundations, it is difficult to speak of these foundations as unifying foundations,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told a press conference following the jArab-Islamic summit in the capital Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia slams ‘double standards’ in world’s response to Israel-Hamas war
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at a press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 11, 2023. (Ahmed Yosri, Reuters)
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7 hours ago
Arab, Muslim leaders come together to slam Israel, but disagree on response
Arab and Muslim leaders meeting at an emergency summit in Riyadh on Saturday condemned Israeli forces’ “barbaric” actions in Gaza, but declined to approve punitive economic and political steps against the country over its war against Hamas.
The outcome of the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit, which brought together members of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, highlighted regional divisions over the response to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The final declaration rejected Israeli claims that it is acting in “self-defence” and demanded that the UN Security Council adopt “a decisive and binding resolution” to halt Israel’s “aggression”.
It also dismissed any future political resolution to the conflict that would keep Gaza separate from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
But some countries, including Algeria and Lebanon, proposed responding to Israeli aggression by threatening to disrupt oil supplies to Israel and its allies as well as severing the economic and diplomatic ties that some Arab League nations have with Israel, according to diplomatic sources.
However, at least three countries — including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020 — rejected the proposal, according to the diplomats who spoke to the AFP on condition on anonymity.
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8 hours ago
Arab and Muslim leaders reject Israeli ‘self-defence’ claims in Gaza
Arab and Muslim leaders have called for an end to the war in Gaza and rejected Israel’s claims that its actions against Palestinians were in self-defence.
The Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit condemned “Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, war crimes and barbaric and inhumane massacres by the occupation government,” a final communique said.
The communique also called for an end to the siege on Gaza, allowing humanitarian aid into the enclave and halting arms exports to Israel.
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8 hours ago
Israel warns Hezbollah that Beirut could face similar fate to Gaza
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has warned Hezbollah that launching a war would result in widespread destruction in Lebanon similar to that in Gaza.
“If it [Hezbollah] makes this kind of mistake here, the ones who will pay the price will be first and foremost Lebanese citizens,” Gallant told soldiers on Israel’s northern border in remarks relayed by his office.
“What we’re doing in Gaza, we can also do in Beirut.”
Gallant’s comments came hours after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his armed group has used new types of weapons and struck new targets in Israel in recent days.
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8 hours ago
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take to streets in Paris, Marseille, other French cities
Several thousand protesters, including some left-wing French lawmakers, marched in Paris with pro-Palestinian banners and flags to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian protesters also took to the streets in the southern French city of Marseille.
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8 hours ago
Estimated 300,000 attend London pro-Palestine march, say police
An estimated 300,000 pro-Palestinian protesters have marched through central London, says AFP, quoting a police spokesman.
Shouts of “free Palestine”, “ceasefire now” and “Israel is a terror state” rang out from the London protest.
Protesters waved black, red, white and green Palestinian flags and held aloft placards proclaiming, “Stop Bombing Gaza”.
Estimated 300,000 attend London pro-Palestine march, say police
There have been nearly weekly rallies in London since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 239 people taken hostage, according to Israel.
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9 hours ago
Israel not saying how close its forces are to Gaza’s main hospital
The Israeli military is staying “mostly silent” on how close its forces are to Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, which according to the IDF is above Hamas “command and control” centres, FRANCE 24’s Irris Makler reports from Jerusalem.
Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said the hospital had no electricity and medical devices had stopped. “Patients, especially those in intensive care, started to die,” Selmia told Reuters in a phone interview.
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9 hours ago
Nasrallah says Hezbollah has ‘upgraded’ operations along Israeli front
Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah said his armed group has used new types of weapons and struck new targets in Israel in recent days. He also pledged that the front in the south against its sworn enemy would remain active.
In his second speech since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October, Nasrallah said the fighting on the Lebanese front could turn into a full-fledged war.
Nasrallah claimed there had been “an upgrade” in Hezbollah’s operations along its front with Israel. “There has been a quantitative improvement in the number of operations, the size and the number of targets, as well as an increase in the type of weapons,” he said in a televised address.
He said Hezbollah had used a missile known as the Burkan, describing its explosives payload as between 300 to 500 kilograms, and confirmed the group had used weaponised drones for the first time.
Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces at the Lebanese-Israeli frontier since October 8, with at least 70 of its fighters killed. Several civilians have also been killed.
But the tit-for-tat shelling has been largely restricted to the border and Hezbollah has mostly struck military targets.
Nasrallah says Hezbollah has ‘upgraded’ operations along Israeli front
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9 hours ago
Israeli official says military not firing on Al Shifa hospital in Gaza
Israeli forces are not firing on Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City but there are clashes with Hamas militants around it, said a defence official, adding that people there can still leave the hospital safely.
The east side of the hospital was open for anyone who wants to evacuate safely, Colonel Moshe Tetro of COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry agency that liaises with Palestinians on civilian affairs, said in an Arabic video message.
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9 hours ago
Macron calls for ceasefire, says there’s ‘no justification’ for Israel’s bombardments
As the Palestinian death toll mounts in Gaza, international calls for a ceasefire are mounting.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called on Israel to stop bombing civilians in Gaza, saying there was “no justification” and that the deaths were causing “resentment”.
In an interview with the BBC, Macron said Israel had the right to protect itself but added: “These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed.
“So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop.”
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10 hours ago
British police make 82 arrests in London on day of protests
British police said they had arrested 82 people in central London on Saturday – members of a group of counter-protesters who opposed a pro-Palestinian march taking place in the city.
The police said they had made the arrests to prevent a breach of the peace.
As tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are marching through central London, police said far-right groups opposing the march were present in central London in “significant numbers”, leading to skirmishes with officers near the Cenotaph war memorial, close to the Houses of Parliament and in Westminster.
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Key developments from Friday, November 10:
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that 20 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are now out of action, and the largest hospital in the Palestinian territory was that day coming under bombardment.
Israel has agreed to humanitarian “pauses” in its war on Hamas in Gaza after pressure from the US, President Joe Biden said, welcoming the development as “a step in the right direction”.
Health officials in the Hamas-run territory said on Friday that more than 11,078 people, including 4,506 children, have been killed since the start of Israel’s military operation. The number of wounded has risen to 27,490, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Israel revised its death toll from Hamas’s October 7 attack from 1,400 to “around 1,200” people. Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said it was “an updated estimate”.
More than 100,000 Gaza residents have fled southwards over the last two days as Israeli forces operate “deep in Gaza City”, said chief Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari on Friday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
