Israel-Hamas war live: Jammu and Kashmir women safely evacuated from Gaza, Ambulance, rescue services no longer operational in Gaza City
Israel-Hamas war live: Jammu and Kashmir women safely evacuated from Gaza, Ambulance, rescue services no longer operational in Gaza City
An Indian woman, who hailed from Jammu and Kashmir, and was seeking immediate evacuation from the war-torn Gaza Strip amid escalating war between Israel and Hamas reached Egypt safely with the assistance of Indian missions in the region, as per her husband.
Lubna Nazir Shaboo and her daughter Karima reached Egypt on Monday evening (Nov 13) after crossing the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza. “They are in al-Arish (a city in Egypt). Tomorrow morning (Tuesday) they will move to Cairo,” stated Lubna’s husband Nedal Toman, in a text message sent to the Indian news agency PTI from Gaza.
The Rafah crossing, which is the only exit route from Gaza, has been opened multiple times in the last few weeks to allow the flow of humanitarian supplies in Gaza and also make it possible for some injured people and foreign nationals to cross over to the other side.
Israel-Hamas war live
Ambulance, rescue services no longer operational in central Gaza City: UN
Israel’s military operations in Gaza City and the surrounding of hospitals, coupled with the severe lack of fuel in the Palestinian enclave, has halted the work of ambulances and rescue teams in the city, the UN says in its latest situation report.
For the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza was unable to update the overall casualty figures from Israel’s war on the strip due to the collapse of communications and services at Palestinian-run hospitals, according to the UN.
The death toll, last updated on November 10, then stood at 11,078 Palestinians killed in Gaza, including 4,506 children and 3,027 women. A further 2,700 people – including an estimated 1,500 children – remain missing, many believed to have been trapped under the rubble of bombed buildings and already dead or awaiting rescue. Almost 27,500 Palestinians have been reported injured.
A further eight Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank in the 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total number of Palestinians now killed by Israeli soldiers since October 7 to 182, including 46 children. Israeli settlers also killed eight Palestinians during the same period, including one child. Three Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians.
During the same 24-hour period, two more Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, increasing the death toll since Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza began to 51, the UN reports citing Israeli sources.
Israeli prime minister approves amended war budget
A joint statement from Netanyahu’s office and the finance ministry said the government approved a plan to amend the state budget as a response to the Israel-Hamas war.
“The civilian war budget will be financed by increasing the deficit, channeling funds from Government expenses in the ministries and cutting the coalition agreements,” the statement said.
“The budget will be submitted to the Government and the Knesset as soon as possible, with work on the 2024 budget beginning immediately afterward.”
In October, Israel reported a $6bn budget deficit as the government spent more to carry out its military operations in Gaza as well as in the occupied West Bank.
Families urge Israel to approve deal to free captives still in Gaza
In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Jerusalem called on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “approve a deal tonight to bring home all hostages from Gaza”.
The statement comes amid reports that a deal could be reached within the next 48 to 72 hours.
Earlier, Biden indicated that a Qatar-mediated agreement is also being finalised for the release of captives as well as Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Al-Shifa doctor says Israeli tanks, bulldozers on hospital campus
Mokhallalati, a doctor at al-Shifa, said Israeli forces are inside the al-Shifa complex but information remains scarce.
“We saw the tanks and the bulldozers on the centre’s campus,” Mokhallalati said.
He said he inspected the main building above the emergency room, and Israeli forces do not appear to have entered it. But he added that he does not know the state of other buildings that are also housing patients and displaced people.
“The firing is still heavy, and we are hearing explosions everywhere,” Mokhallalati told Al Jazeera.
Hamas blames Biden for Israel’s raid on al-Shifa
Hamas has said it holds Israel and US President Biden fully responsible for the implications of the raiding of al-Shifa hospital by Israeli forces, calling the move a “barbaric crime against a medical facility protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention”.
“The Israeli occupation and everyone who colluded with it to kill children, patients and innocent civilians will be held accountable,” the group said in a statement.
“The White House and Pentagon’s adoption of the false Israeli narrative claiming that the resistance uses the al-Shifa Medical Centre for military reasons constituted a green light for [Israel] to commit more massacres against civilians, and to forcibly remove them from the north to the south to continue the occupation’s plan of displacing our people.”
Palestinian health minister accuses Israel of ‘crimes against humanity’ at al-Shifa Hospital
In statement published by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, al-Kaila said that the Palestinian government holds Israeli forces “responsible for the lives of the medical staff, patients, and displaced people in al-Shifa complex”.
With the raid, Israeli forces “are committing a new crime against humanity, medical staff, and patients”, the Palestinian health minister said.
As we reported earlier, in a separate statement to Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, al-Kaila said the Palestinian government is requesting “the protection of all sick people, the doctors, the health workers, civilians and displaced people inside al-Shifa Hospital”.
(With inputs from agencies)