Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #5. Nov 26

KEY POINTS

• The humanitarian pause, agreed upon by Israel and Hamas, which took effect on 24 November, has been largely maintained for the third consecutive day. This pause has enabled the UN to enhance the delivery of assistance into and across Gaza.  

• On 26 November, aid convoys reached areas north of Wadi Gaza (hereafter: the north). UN agencies and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) distributed 1,062 metric tonnes (MT) of ready-to-eat food to four UNRWA shelters in Jabalia camp; 185 MT of tents and blankets and 890 MT of bottled water to various sites; as well as 164 MT of medical supplies to Al Ahli hospital in Gaza city. The convoys were carefully inspected by Israeli forces deployed at a checkpoint near Wadi Gaza before proceeding northwards.  

• The mission that reached Al Ahli Baptist Hospital evacuated at least 17 patients and wounded people, along with 11 of their companions, to the European Hospital in Khan Younis (in the south). Despite enormous shortages and constraints, Al Ahli remains operational and admitting patients. 

• Aid distribution in areas south of Wadi Gaza, where the bulk of an estimated 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are currently staying, has been accelerated over the past three days. Key service providers, including hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, and IDP shelters, have continued receiving fuel on a daily basis to operate generators.    

• Over the past three days, cooking gas has entered Gaza, contrary to the time before the pause. However, the amounts fall well below the needs. Queues at a filling station in Khan Younis have reportedly extended for about 2 kilometres, with people waiting at them overnight. Meanwhile, reports indicate that people are burning doors and window frames to cook. 

• On 26 November, 17 hostages held in Gaza and 39 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons were released. The released hostages included 13 Israelis – four women and nine children – and four foreign nationals. Among the Palestinian detainees were 39 boys. Since the start of the pause, 39 Israelis, 117 Palestinians and 19 foreign nationals have been released. 

• Between 25 and 26 November, Israeli forces in the West Bank killed seven Palestinians, including four children, bringing to 230 the Palestinian death toll since 7 October; 222 by Israeli forces and eight by settlers. 

  Read the report: Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #51

UN staff collect and transport vaccines from Gaza city to southern Gaza, where they can be refrigerated, 26 November 2023. Photo by WHO

AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL, HAMAS’S TUNNELS, AND ISRAELI PROPAGANDA

November 21

As Israel wages its propaganda war over Al-Shifa, it is simultaneously laying siege to yet another medical facility.

“Al-Shifa’s Tunnels Were Built by Israel

It’s also well known that there are, in fact, tunnels and rooms under Al-Shifa. We know that because Israel admits that it built them in the early 1980s. According to Israeli media reports, the underground facilities were designed by Tel Aviv architects Gershon Zippor and Benjamin Idelson. ‘Israel renovated and expanded the hospital complex with American assistance, in a project that also included the excavation of an underground concrete floor,’ according to Zvi Elhyani, founder of the Israel Architecture Archive, writing in Israel’s Ynetnews.

The underground infrastructure was part of a modernization and expansion effort at Al-Shifa commissioned by Israel’s Public Works Department. ‘The Israeli civil administration in the territories constructed the hospital complex’s Building Number 2, which has a large cement basement that housed the hospital’s laundry and various administrative services,’ according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The room and tunnels under Al-Shifa were reportedly completed in 1983. Tablet magazine described the space as ‘a secure underground operating room and tunnel network.’ Zippor’s son Barak, who began working at his father’s architecture firm in the 1990s, said that during the construction at Al-Shifa in the 1980s, the Israeli construction contractors hired Hamas to provide security guards to prevent attacks on the building site.”

Read the article: AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL, HAMAS’S TUNNELS, AND ISRAELI PROPAGANDA

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Yard sign designed by Paul Normandia of Red Sun Press.

Amid Gaza war, activists in Argentina aim to expel Israeli water company

Protesters have denounced the state-owned Israeli company Mekorot for its human rights record as it expands in Argentina.

Buenos Aires, Argentina – The upscale neighbourhood of Recoleta was pulsing with the sound of drums and chanting last month, as protesters gathered outside the Palestinian embassy in Buenos Aires to call for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza.

But amid the sea of Palestinian flags, Silvia Ferreyra gripped a different symbol of solidarity. Above her head, she held a banner depicting a blue ribbon of water trapped behind a lock and chain. Printed above the picture in large red type was the phrase, “Fuera Mekorot”.

Amid Gaza war, activists in Argentina aim to expel Israeli water company

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #50

• The humanitarian pause agreed by Israel and Hamas, which entered into force on 24 November, has largely held for the second day in a row. The pause has allowed the UN to scale up the delivery of assistance into and across Gaza.

• On 25 November, 200 trucks were dispatched from Nitzana and, of them, 187 entered Gaza by 19:00 local time. Additionally, 129,000 litres of fuel crossed into Gaza, as well as four cooking gas tanks. As of yet, the Israeli authorities have not allowed fuel to reach the areas north of Wadi Gaza (hereafter: the north).

• The bulk of the aid that entered has been distributed in areas south of Wadi Gaza (hereafter: the south). It has included 500 metric tonnes of wheat flour and 155,000 cans of ready-to-eat food provided to shelters hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as fuel distributed to hospitals, clinics, water wells, desalination plants and wastewater treatment facilities. UNRWA and humanitarian partners have been also able to collect some 400 tonnes of solid waste in and around shelters, and to conduct 30,000 primary health-care consultations, and provide psychosocial support to IDPs.

• The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) delivered 61 trucks containing food, non-food items, water, primary health-care medicines and emergency medical supplies to four distribution centres in the north. This is the largest delivery of assistance to the north since the Israeli ground operation began.

• On 25 November, 17 hostages held in Gaza and 39 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons were released. The hostages released included 13 Israelis – five women and eight children – and four foreign nationals. Among the Palestinian detainees, six were women and 33 boys.

  Read the full report: Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #50

Displaced children in an UNRWA camp in southern Gaza. Photo by WHO, 14 November 2023