Gaza: Dozens killed as Israel strikes UN school housing displaced Palestinians

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

100 Protesters in the US have staged a sit-in amid Sacramento's California Democratic Convention, where guest attendees included Democrats such as Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.

Videos were uploaded on social media, where the demonstrators made chants during speeches to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

BREAKING: #CeasefireNOW protesters have now completely taken over the California Democratic Convention, and the stage sits abandoned.

The tide has turned.

Young people simply will not allow our politicians to keep supporting the mass murder of Palestinians. https://t.co/76yyeRc3WM pic.twitter.com/8Af12CorMe

— IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) November 18, 2023

New details have emerged regarding what had occurred on October 7, when Hamas conducted a surprise incursion on southern Israel, Israeli news publication Haaretz reports.

A police source told Haaretz that an Israeli police investigation found that an Israeli military helicopter firing at Hamas fighters at the site of the Nova Music Festival also hit a number of civilians.

There is also a "growing assessment" that Hamas did not know about the desert rave in advance and discovered in real time.

A Palestinian prisoner has died, bringing to 6 the number of prisoners who died in Israeli prisons since Oct.7, the Palestinian news Agency WAFA has said.

Thaer Samih Abu Assab, who has been detained in 2005 and sentenced to 25 years in jail, died in the Negev desert prison, the agency said, quoting the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs.

More than 550 Russian nationals, including 230 children, have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip since the start of the process a week ago, Russia's emergencies ministry has said.

Of those evacuated, 408 people have already been brought to Moscow, including 120 Russians that arrived late Saturday on a special flight from Egypt, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

A limited evacuation, which began on November 1, of foreign passport holders and Palestinians needing urgent medical treatment to Egypt has faced difficulties. It has been paused several times due to bombardments that aid staff said hit or targeted medical convoys.

It is unclear how many Russian citizens are expected to leave Gaza. According to Russian media, some 1,000 Russians and nationals from the republics of the former Soviet Union have expressed a wish to leave.

The Toronto Islamic Centre in Canada have issued a statement via the X social media account of National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), following an Islamophobic hate crime that took place earlier on Friday.

The centre said that the perpetuator identified himself as Israeli and said that he aimed hurt Muslims- while describing Muslims as terrorists and other discriminatory slurs.

The individual was reported to have assaulted Muslim worshippers, such as throwing a heavy rock and kicking down windows.

"We would like to encourage even more worshippers to come for Fajr prayers and take a stand against all forms of hate including Islamophobia and antisemitism," the statement read.

This morning, at the dawn prayer, there was an attack at the Toronto Islamic Centre by an individual who described himself as Israeli, there to hurt Muslims, and described Muslims as terrorists. The individual assaulted worshippers, including throwing a heavy rock and kicking the… pic.twitter.com/c9xqVqlWOe

— NCCM (@nccm) November 18, 2023

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has conducted a  "very high-risk" assessment mission to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, according to its  Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus- who has called its findings on the hospital "unbearable and unjustifiable".

"The team saw a hospital no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, medical supplies depleted," said Ghebreyesus.

"Given this deplorable situation and the condition of many patients, including babies, health workers requested support to evacuate patients who cannot receive lifesaving care there anymore."

Today @WHO led a very high risk @UN assessment mission to Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza.

The team saw a hospital no longer able to function: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, medical supplies depleted.

Given this deplorable situation and the condition of many patients,…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 18, 2023

Local Palestinian media has reported that journalists Sari Mansour and Hassouna Salim were killed in an Israeli bombing that hit the Bureij refugee camp, located in the central Gaza Strip east of the Salah al-Din Road.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have also said that as of November 18, at least 42 journalists and media workers were among the tens of thousands killed in Gaza and occupied West Bank since October 7.

Sad news: Palestinian journalists Sari Mansour and Hassouna Salim were killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip.

All my condolences to their family. pic.twitter.com/lOKHHKzIll

— Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول (@FARED_ALHOR) November 18, 2023

Belgium's minister of foreign affairs Hadja Lahbib has called for the release of hostages and that Israel must adhere to international law.

Belgium’s position is clear, as @hrw notes.

▶️ Immediate humanitarian ceasefire & release of hostages

▶️ International law respected by all parties

▶️ Civilians never be used as targets or human shields

▶️ Call for accountability & support for #ICC pic.twitter.com/xsZTkU8D6s

— Hadja Lahbib (@hadjalahbib) November 18, 2023

Around 4,000 protesters have rallied in Germany's capital of Berlin to show solidarity for Palestinians facing relentless attacks by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to police.

Attendees were seen carrying Palestinian flags and others wore the Palestinian keffiyeh.

Calls echoed across the large crowd, where protesters chanted “Freedom for Gaza” and “Freedom for Palestine.” Other chants also accused Germany for its complicity in the ongoing war as some shouted “Germany finances, Israel bombs”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has previously said that "Germany's complete solidarity with the people of Israel" and assured his country's "unfailing support" in his visit to Israel after October 7.

A demonstration in #Berlin denouncing Israeli war crimes on #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/qE6J5jKvN5

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 18, 2023

US President Joe Biden has said the Palestinian Authority (PA) should ultimately govern the Gaza Strip and the West Bank following the Israel's war on Gaza.

"As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution," Biden said in an opinion article in The Washington Post.

"There must be no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction in territory."

He used the op-ed to try to answer the question of what the United States wants for Gaza once the conflict is over. 

Pro-Palestine organisers have said around 4,000 people marched in Geneva, lighting candles displayed as a map of Gaza in front of the United Nations' European headquarters.

One large banner read "Stop Genocide in Gaza," and many shouted "Free, free Palestine!" in English.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have stated that attacks on healthcare workers and key facilities have become routine since October 7.

Reproductive rights organisation The International Planned Parenthood Federation has announced that they will be delivering  ‘dignity kits’ to women located in the West Bank who are unable to return to Gaza, as Israel's war on Gaza ensues.

Alongside its local member association, the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association, the duo will work in partnership with UNFPA, the UN's reproductive health agency.

The packages include soap, underwear, menstrual products and other items.

However, the group has not been able to distribute these kits to women directly based in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Int'l Planned Parenthood Fed. (@ippf_global)

Thousands of protesters have taken part in rallies across France- calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

Several thousand people marched through central Paris, in torrential rain, behind a banner proclaiming "Halt the massacre in Gaza and West Bank, immediate ceasefire".

In Marseille, French news agency AFP reported that several hundred people stage a minute's silence for Palestinian victims of the war.

In Toulouse, more than 1,200 people took part in a march, according to police.

Despite adverse weather conditions, people in #France march in support of #Palestine. #Gaza#Israel pic.twitter.com/xJb3Q4byo1

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 18, 2023

The head of the Internal Medicine department at Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr. Rafet Lobad, and a number of his family members including his wife, children and siblings, have been killed by Israeli bombing in Gaza City, Palestinian local media reports.

🕯️ It is with deep sorrow that we announce the tragic murder of Professor Rafet Lobad, the head of the Internal Medicine department at Shifa Hospital. He, along with his entire family – his wife, children, and siblings was killed by Israeli warplanes. pic.twitter.com/5727DBE19e

— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) November 18, 2023

Videos have surfaced across social media of a pro-Palestine demonstration taking place at London's Waterloo station.

Demonstrators have staged a sit-in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, as police forces were filmed having begun issuing arrests.

Sky News correspondent Mollie Malone reported that five arrests have since been made, while protesters who stated online that they were present argued that the sit-in has been peaceful.

HAPPENING NOW: embarrassing response from police to peaceful Waterloo station sit in calling for #CeasefireNow & #FreePalestine.

It was rows of police who pushed protesters to the station entrance and police who blocked it when cosplaying as a military regiment pic.twitter.com/voMCI0iuEd

— Georgie Robertson (@_GeorgieBlaise) November 18, 2023

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement in the wake of Israel's latest attack- the  al-Fakhoora School in Jabalia refugee camp.

The minister has denounced Israel's conduct in northern Gaza that led to the death of several people mostly women and children.

Doha called for “an urgent international investigation and independent investigators to probe Israel’s targeting of schools and hospitals in Gaza”.

بيان| قطر تدين بشدة قصف الاحتلال الإسرائيلي مجددا لمدرسة الفاخورة بشمال غزة#الخارجية_القطرية pic.twitter.com/XC5thrdbDY

— الخارجية القطرية (@MofaQatar_AR) November 18, 2023

Following Israeli airstrikes targetting Nuseirat and Bureij refugees camps, both located in central Gaza Strip, violent clashes have since continued according to local Palestinian media.

A list of other violent clashes have been listed to continue across the besieged territory, including in Beit Hanoun and East Rafah.

They bombed a rehab center for people with special needs in Burej RC

A Palestinian killed and numerous injured after Israeli warplanes bombed the rehabilitation center of people with special needs in Bureij refugee camp.

— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) November 18, 2023

🚨 Violent clashes on several fronts are now continuing in the Gaza Strip:

Beit Hanoun
East Rafah
East of Chanios
South of Tal Al-Hawa
East of Al-Zaytoun neighborhood
East of Al-Maghazi
Surroundings of Beach Camp
El-Nasr Neighborhood
Near 10th Street
Near Al Galaa Street
Sheikh… https://t.co/eMd3CeaMgT

— Palestine Now. (@PalestineNW) November 18, 2023

Germany's Foreign Ministry has scrutinised humanitarian aid payments to the Palestinian territories and has not detected any 'misuse', the ministry said on Saturday after a review prompted by the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Europe is one of the main sources of aid to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories where the United Nations estimates that around 2.1 million people need humanitarian assistance, among them 1 million children.

The German announcement of the aid review had sparked a mixed reaction at home and elsewhere, with critics saying the Palestinian people were not responsible for the Hamas attacks.

US President Joe Biden's main adviser on the Middle East has said there would be a "significant pause" in the Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip if hostages held by Hamas are freed.

"The surge in humanitarian relief, the surge in fuel, the pause... will come when hostages are released," Brett McGurk told a security conference in Bahrain.

Release of a large number of hostages would result in "a significant pause... and a massive surge of humanitarian relief," he said.

McGurk said Biden had discussed the issue on Friday evening with the ruler of the Gulf nation of Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts towards a ceasefire and release of the captives.

The White House said Biden and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed "the urgent need for all hostages held by Hamas to be released without further delay".

Gaza's government media office has said that the death toll from Israel's relentless war in the besieged territory has reached 12,300 since the conflict started on October 7.

The Palestinian government said more than 5,000 children were among the dead, alongside 3,300 women, with 30,000 more people wounded.

Its health ministry has previously said it can no longer give exact tolls as Israeli forces have been targeting ambulances and medical workers attempting to get access- which has prevented bodies from being recovered.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan has stated that he will be visiting China and other unnamed capitals in a bid to secure a ceasefire in Gaza. 

Faisal bin Farhan stated that "It will start on Monday, the first stop will be in China, and will then move to a number of capitals to deliver a clear message that there must be a ceasefire immediately, as well as aid and humanitarian needs must be immediately delivered to Gaza.

"We must also work to end the crisis and end this war on Gaza as soon as possible," he added.

Foreign Minister HH Prince @FaisalbinFarhan announces the start of the work of the ministerial committee in charge of the Arab-Islamic summit concerned with formulating an international action to stop the war on Gaza and the first stop is China. pic.twitter.com/Wn9rxZNsUE

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) November 18, 2023

The Israeli military has announced another five Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of soldiers killed since the start of the military's ground operation in Gaza to 56.

A further eight soldiers were also announced to be wounded during the operation.

Spokesperson for Hamas' military wing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, has stated that the group has lost communications with some of the groups responsible for holding Israeli hostages that were captured during the groups assault on southern Israel on 7 October.

Abu Obeida stated that "the fate of the captives and those holding them is still unknown after we lost communication with them."

The commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, has stated in an address broadcasted on state TV that "Palestine stands on the path of a war of attrition... Israel will face a definitive defeat and end up in the dustbin of history."

"The battle is not over. The Islamic world will do whatever it has to do. There are still great [unused] capacities left," he added.

The Commissioner-General of the UN's Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has stated that he has received "horrifying images & footage of scores of people killed and injured" in Israel's attack on the UN-run Al-Fakhoura school in northern Gaza.

He added that "These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer."

Receiving horrifying images & footage of scores of people killed and injured in another @UNRWA school sheltering thousands of displaced in the north of the Gaza Strip.

These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer.

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) November 18, 2023

Another UN official, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr, also reiterated calls for a ceasefire, stating that attacks against UN schools should "cease immediately."

The scenes of carnage & death following attacks on Alfakhoura & Tal Al Zaatar schools in #Gaza killing many children & women are horrific & appalling. These horrible attacks should cease immediately. Children, schools & shelters are not a target. Immediate ceasefire needed now !

— Adele Khodr (@AdeleKhodr) November 18, 2023

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue summit in Bahrain that "there'll be no Arab troops going to Gaza" following comments from the US and EU that a UN peacekeeping force should be set up in a post-war Gaza.

In additional criticism of Israel, the FM asked "how could anybody talk about the future of Gaza when we do not know what kind of Gaza will be left once this aggression ends?"

Safadi added that Jordan and other Arab states would not "come and clean the mess after Israel."

The Israeli military has announced it is "continuing and expanding its operational activities in Gaza" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

According to the military "our forces conducted activities in the Zaytun and Jabaliya areas," whilst fighting off anti-tank missile attacks.

Israeli military conducted strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp today, killing up to 50 people on a strike on a UN school, as well as 32 members of the same family in a separate strike. 

The IDF is continuing and expanding its operational activities in Gaza.

Over the past day, our forces conducted activities in the Zaytun and Jabaliya areas, during which they encountered terrorists who intentionally operated from civilian areas and attacked the troops using…

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 18, 2023

Hamas's armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced they had shelled with mortars Israeli troops that were gathering east of southern Gaza's Khan Younis.

The Qassam Brigades further announced that they had launched rockets at Tel Aviv "in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday said she was opposed to the "forced displacement of Palestinians" during a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Von der Leyen "thanked Egypt for its key role in providing and facilitating humanitarian aid to vulnerable Palestinians", during her meeting with Sisi, she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The two discussed "the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza" and a "political horizon based on a two-state solution", she added.

Von der Leyen later arrived in North Sinai for the arrival of a European Union humanitarian convoy, the governor of the Egyptian border region said in a statement.

"She is expected to... inspect the Rafah border crossing and the aid and to visit wounded Palestinians" in North Sinai, the statement said.

International aid has for weeks arrived at the international airport in El-Arish, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Rafah crossing with Gaza.

The border crossing - the only one to the Palestinian territory not controlled by Israel - has been the only entry point for aid trickling into war-ravaged Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes have continued in across Gaza, with two new strikes kill dozens in Jabalia Refugee Camp in north Gaza and Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp killed 32 members of the Abu Habal family, 19 of whom are children, according to Gaza's health ministry as reported by AFP.

Another strike in Khan Younis killed 15, according an official from Al Nassr Hospital in southern Gaza.

An official from Gaza's health ministry has told AFP that "at least 50 people" were killed by an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Fakhoura school in northern Gaza.

Footage of the strike posted to social media, which the official said occurred at dawn, showed damage to two floors of the school as well as dozens of bodies lying on the school floors.

The Palestinian Red Crescent have stated that its staff members working at al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in northern Gaza are "trapped."

According to the organisation the medical teams are unable to get out of the hospital due to a "heavy bombardment and gunfire by Israeli soldiers."

🚨🚑PRCS emergency medical teams remain trapped at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, amidst heavy bombardment and gunfire by Israeli soldiers.

🔊We demand immediate intervention to protect our teams that are now in danger⚠️#Gaza#NotATarget #SaveGazaHospitals

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 18, 2023

Thousands of Israeli's are marching on the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in a protest demanding the return of hostages from Gaza.

According to Israeli press, opposition leader Yair Lapid has joined the protest following his earlier demands that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu should resign. 

Families of the 240 hostages have expressed dismay at what they perceive as failures by the Israeli government at securing the release of hostages, with some shouting "take responsibility" at a member of Netanyahu's Likud party during protests in Tel Aviv on Friday.

Dozens of Palestinians are feared dead after Israeli airstrikes hit the Al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Footage of the strike posted to social media shows dozens of bodies lying amid rubble on two separate floors of the school building, where internally displaced Palestinians from across Gaza were sheltering.

Men and women are being separated at an Israeli checkpoint on the Salah al-Din road that runs from north to south Gaza as thousands continue to flee Israel's ground operation in northern Gaza.

According to journalist Jihad Abu Shanab who spoke to Al Jazeera "Israeli occupying forces set up a checkpoint where men are denied access to the south, while women are allowed to leave."

Ammar Hijazi, the assistant minister for multilateral affairs for the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Israel is likely to expand its ground operations in Gaza. 

In comments to Al Jazeera the minister stated that "we think that they are doing it in stages. the north is just the beginning." 

"They are going to make sure that Gaza, especially northern and eastern parts, are unlivable and squeeze the population into a very limited geographical area, pushing them to leave and be forcibly displaced from Palestine" he added.

Tanzania has announced the death of one of two nationals taken hostage by Hamas during the 7 October attacks on Israel.

The Israeli government had named two students from Tanzania - 22-year-old Clemence Felix Mtenga and 21-year-old Joshua Loitu Mollel - among some 240 taken to the Gaza Strip.

"It's with great sadness we confirm the death of Clemence Felix Mtenga," a foreign ministry statement said late Friday.

It did not say how Mtenga died.

"We would also like to inform the public that Joshua is still missing as we continue to follow his whereabouts," the ministry said.

A top foreign policy adviser to the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Saturday that statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a longer term presence in Gaza were worrying.

"We hear now from the Israeli prime minister and indeed the Israeli president about the sort of longer term Israeli connection to Gaza. They are very worrying," Anwar Gargash said at the IISS Manama Security summit in Bahrain.

"This indicates that perhaps the lesson that we as the majority of people in region are taking away from the Gaza crisis which is the need to go back to the two state solution, we need to go back to an Israeli and Palestinian state living side by side. That lesson has perhaps not been the same."

(Reuters)

The Israeli army has struck sites in southern Lebanon after 25 rockets were fired from the south into northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.

"IDF artillery is striking the sources of the launches and additional Hezbollah terrorist targets" the military stated in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The rocket strike are part of a tit-for-tat exchange that has been ongoing between Hezbollah, the Israeli army, and Palestinian armed groups on the Israeli Lebanese border since 7 October.

Some medical staff at the Al-Shifa hospital will stay to care for 120 patients that are unable to leave the facility due to their health conditions, according to Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati who heads the plastic surgery department in Al-Shifa.

In a post made on X, formerly Twitter, Mokhallalati stated that "I along with 5 other doctors, will stay AlShifa with 120 patients (as patients can not leave due to their health conditions)."

Most of the medical staff and patients had left Al Shifa hospital, as the Israeli occupation army ordered everyone to evacuate the hospital. Many patients can not leave the hospital as they are in the ICU beds or the baby incubators.

I along with 5 other doctors, will stay at…

— Ahmed El Mokhallalati (@AMokhallalati) November 18, 2023

Injured Gazan children have reached the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in preparations to be taken to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for treatment, according to reports from Rafah News Online.

The children are to be taken to Al-Arish International Airport with officials from the UAE's Ministry of Health.