Israel-Gaza live updates: 28 premature babies to be transported from Gaza to Egypt
Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on November 20, 2023
(NEW YORK) — Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 20, 6:17 AM EST
28 premature babies to be transported from Gaza to Egypt
Dozens of premature babies are expected to be transported from the war-torn Gaza Strip into neighboring Egypt on Monday to receive emergency medical treatment.
The babies arrived on Gaza’s side of the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing on Monday afternoon. Egyptian television footage showed Egyptian doctors moving the babies from Palestinian ambulances into mobile incubators. The infants will then be taken via Egyptian ambulances to nearby hospitals in the North Sinai province of northeastern Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society confirmed that its ambulance teams had transferred 28 premature babies to Egyptian medics at the Rafah border crossing on Monday afternoon. The process was done in coordination with the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
At least 12 of the babies who are said to be in deteriorating condition will be airlifted to Egypt’s capital, Cairo, according to Egyptian media.
Earlier Monday, Egyptian TV footage showed medics with incubators at the Rafah border crossing as they prepared to receive the tiny patients. Egypt’s heath minister was also seen on site inspecting the preparations.
The babies were evacuated on Sunday from Gaza’s largest medical complex, Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and brought to Emirati Hospital in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza close to the border with Egypt.
Like many hospitals in Gaza, Al-Shifa has been struggling to function with a lack of electricity as well as limited fuel and medical supplies amid Israel’s continued bombardment of the territory. In recent days, Israeli ground troops have been carrying out a raid at Al-Shifa Hospital, searching for evidence that Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas, were using the complex as a command center. The WHO described Al-Shifa Hospital as a “death zone” and urged a full evacuation after leading an assessment mission there on Sunday.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy, Guy Davies and Morgan Winsor
Nov 20, 5:27 AM EST
Israel claims to have killed 3 more Hamas commanders
The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Securities Authority announced in a joint statement Monday that their troops have killed three more Hamas commanders while continuing ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
“IDF fighter jets, directed by IDF and ISA intelligence, killed three additional Hamas company commanders,” the statement read in part. “In addition, IDF troops identified a terrorist cell as they entered a nearby building. As a result of the strike carried out by an IDF aircraft, the terrorists were killed and a weapons depot in which they hid was struck.”
There was no immediate confirmation or comment from Hamas.
-ABC News’ Dorit Long and Morgan Winsor
Nov 19, 2:37 PM EST
IDF says it exposed tunnel under Shifa Hospital
Israel Defense Forces troops exposed a 180-foot tunnel 32 feet deep underneath the Shifa Hospital, the IDF and Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said in a joint statement Sunday.
“A deep staircase leads to the entrance of the tunnel shaft, which consists of various defense means including a blast-proof door and a firing hole,” the statement continues. “This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organization to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas. The tunnel shaft was uncovered in the area of the hospital underneath a shed alongside a vehicle containing numerous weapons including RPGs, explosives and Kalashnikov rifles.
“IDF and ISA forces are continuing to uncover the route of the tunnel,” the statement adds.
The IDF said it expects to find more tunnels and underground facilities, and that the operation is ongoing and will take some time. About 300 people remain in the hospital, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Yael Benaya
Nov 19, 12:13 PM EST
31 premature babies evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital: WHO
The World Health Organization confirmed earlier claims by the Palestinian Health Ministry that 31 “very sick” babies were safely transported from Al-Shifa Hospital to another hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday.
The premature infants were evacuated to the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, WHO officials said.
The babies were “clinging to life,” the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement, and their “condition was rapidly deteriorating.”
The babies are expected to be transferred to another hospital in Egypt, said Dr. Ashraf al Qwadwa, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Health Ministry. He said nine premature babies have died since the start of a fuel crisis in Gaza prompted by the ongoing conflict.
Six health workers at the Al Shifa Hospital and 10 family members of staff there were also evacuated on Sunday along with the babies, according to the WHO statement, adding that further missions are planned to “urgently transport” the remaining patients and health staff out of the hospital.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
Nov 18, 10:18 AM EST
IDF denies it ordered evacuation of Al-Shifa hospital amid exodus of patients
The IDF denied Saturday that it ordered an evacuation of Al-Shifa’s patients, claiming the hospital’s director requested to allow people in the hospital to leave and that the IDF agreed and offered to assist.
The director of the Gaza Health Ministry — who said he is leading the exodus of patients — said in an interview with Al Jazeera that Israel issued the order and that Israel refused to allow ambulances to assist in the evacuation.
The IDF said Saturday it “acceded to the request of the director of the Shifa Hospital to enable additional Gazans who were in the hospital, and would like to evacuate, to do so via the secure route. At no point, did the IDF order the evacuation of patients or medical teams and in fact proposed that any request for medical evacuation will be facilitated by the IDF. Medical personnel will remain in the hospital to support patients who are unable to evacuate.”
However, another spokesman, Lt. Col Elad Goren, in his evening briefing Friday night said the IDF was urging anyone left in Al-Shifa to leave and that it hoped it would take place in the “next few hours.”
Officials and doctors at Al-Shifa hospital say almost all patients and civilians there have been forced to leave the hospital this morning, after Israeli forces gave them one hour to get out.
Dr. Munir Al Barsh, director general from the Gaza Health Ministry, told Al Jazeera, he and hundreds of patients, many seriously injured, were now on the road on foot, making their way south.
He said around 450 patients and wounded had left following the Israeli order. He painted a harrowing picture, saying many patients have open wounds, are missing limbs, some are still in beds and wheelchairs.
According to Al Barsh, around 120 patients who are unable to move are still in the hospital, including the nearly three dozen premature babies. Five medical staff have remained to care for them.
He said the column of hundreds of patients are now trying to make their way to the first hospital they can find on route.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Nov 17, 4:32 PM EST
Telecom services partially restored in Gaza
Telecommunications services have been partially restored in Gaza thanks to fuel reaching the region, the Palestinian Authority Communications Ministry said.
About 17,000 liters of diesel entered Gaza on Friday via the Egypt-Gaza Rafah border crossing, according to border crossing spokesman Wael Abu Omar.
Two fuel trucks are expected to enter Gaza daily beginning on Saturday, according to Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
Nov 17, 1:45 PM EST
What we know about the conflict
The war, which has now moved into its second stage, according to Israel, has passed the one-month mark.
In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured since Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials. In the neighboring Gaza Strip, at least 12,000 people have been killed and over 30,000 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Aid workers and officials fear that Israel’s call for an evacuation of the northern part of Gaza is precipitating a humanitarian disaster as electricity and other supplies have been cut off in preparation for what appears to be an imminent ground offensive.
Humanitarian groups have urged Israel to call off the evacuation and agree to a cease-fire, even as the country has asserted a right to defend itself — a right the United States endorses.
Nov 17, 1:13 PM EST
Fuel ‘used as a weapon of war,’ UN Gaza relief agency says
The Israeli government said Friday that it will allow two fuel trucks per day to enter Gaza. But no fuel was delivered Friday due to the latest communications blackout, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said.
Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for UNRWA, told ABC News that fuel has been “used as a weapon of war” since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.
“Seventy percent of people do not have clean drinking water because there is no fuel. … Sewage is starting to overflow in some parts of Gaza. It’s a disaster,” she said. “[We] should not be forced to beg for fuel just to be able to do our work. It’s unacceptable.”
UNRWA’s shelters are currently housing 800,000 people, which Touma said is “way over the capacity.”
“We planned for less than one quarter of what we have,” she said. “And with the restrictions that we have on fuel and the little aid that has been coming in that we are not able to even collect or pick up, the situation is becoming tragic by the hour.”
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Nov 17, 8:44 AM EST
UNRWA says no fuel delivered to Gaza on Friday due to blackout
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) confirmed that no fuel was delivered to the Gaza Strip on Friday due to the latest communications blackout.
The agency said it was forced to suspend its operations there after telecommunications companies ran out of generator fuel, plunging the war-torn territory into another blackout on Thursday afternoon.
“We are unable to operate due to the lack of communications,” an UNRWA spokesperson told ABC News in a statement on Friday afternoon. “We have no communications with Gaza. Transport of aid trucks, water desalination and pumping and sewage treatment activities have been halted.”
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Zoe Magee
Nov 17, 8:26 AM EST
Israel says it will allow 2 fuel trucks per day to enter Gaza
The Israeli government announced Friday that it will allow two fuel trucks per day to enter the war-torn Gaza Strip.
The Israeli War Cabinet said in a statement that it has “unanimously approved a joint recommendation” of the Israel Defense Force and Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency “to comply with the U.S. request and allow the entry of two diesel tankers a day for the needs of the U.N. to support water and sewer infrastructure.”
The trucks will pass through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing with the help of the United Nations, delivering the fuel to civilians in southern Gaza, “provided that it does not reach Hamas,” according to the Israeli War Cabinet.
“This action allows Israel the continued international maneuvering space necessary to eliminate Hamas,” the cabinet said. “This action is intended, among other things, to minimally support water, sewage and sanitation systems, in order to prevent the outbreak of epidemics that could spread throughout the entire area, harm both the residents of the Strip and our forces, and spread even into Israel.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Nov 17, 8:44 AM EST
UNRWA says no fuel delivered to Gaza on Friday due to blackout
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) confirmed that no fuel was delivered to the Gaza Strip on Friday due to the latest communications blackout.
The agency said it was forced to suspend its operations there after telecommunications companies ran out of generator fuel, plunging the war-torn territory into another blackout on Thursday afternoon.
“We are unable to operate due to the lack of communications,” an UNRWA spokesperson told ABC News in a statement on Friday afternoon. “We have no communications with Gaza. Transport of aid trucks, water desalination and pumping and sewage treatment activities have been halted.”
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Zoe Magee
Nov 17, 8:26 AM EST
Israel says it will allow 2 fuel trucks per day to enter Gaza
The Israeli government announced Friday that it will allow two fuel trucks per day to enter the war-torn Gaza Strip.
The Israeli War Cabinet said in a statement that it has “unanimously approved a joint recommendation” of the Israel Defense Force and Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency “to comply with the U.S. request and allow the entry of two diesel tankers a day for the needs of the U.N. to support water and sewer infrastructure.”
The trucks will pass through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing with the help of the United Nations, delivering the fuel to civilians in southern Gaza, “provided that it does not reach Hamas,” according to the Israeli War Cabinet.
“This action allows Israel the continued international maneuvering space necessary to eliminate Hamas,” the cabinet said. “This action is intended, among other things, to minimally support water, sewage and sanitation systems, in order to prevent the outbreak of epidemics that could spread throughout the entire area, harm both the residents of the Strip and our forces, and spread even into Israel.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Nov 17, 7:33 AM EST
Hostage negotiations are ongoing and fluid, sources say
Negotiations for a hostage deal with Hamas are still ongoing, Israeli and U.S. sources told ABC News on Friday.
The potential agreement would involve Hamas releasing a certain number of hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting of some length of time in the Gaza Strip. But many of the details are still up in the air, according to U.S. sources.
The discussions are intense and remain fluid, according to an Israeli source. A disagreement has unfolded inside Israel’s defense cabinet with some ministers wanting to accept a deal to free about 50 women and children, while other ministers want all of the women and children as well as their family members released — about 80 hostages in total, ABC News has learned.
Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, took more than 200 people hostage — including Americans — while carrying out an unprecedented attack on neighboring Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli and U.S. authorities.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Matt Gutman
Nov 17, 5:46 AM EST
150,000 liters of fuel for hospitals reportedly entering Gaza
An additional 150,000 liters (40,000 gallons) of fuel will be delivered to the Gaza Strip on Friday, according to Egyptian media.
The fuel, which is earmarked for Gaza’s hospitals, will enter the war-torn enclave from neighboring Egypt through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing, according to Egyptian state-allied television channel Al-Qahers News.
Al-Qahers News reported that “Egyptian pressure on all parties have succeeded in increasing the volume of aid” and “restoring the flow of fuel” to Gaza.
World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jašarević had said last month that 150,000 liters of fuel are required to offer basic services in Gaza’s five main hospitals.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Nov 16, 7:58 PM EST
Discussions over release of hostages remain fluid, source says
Many details remain up in the air regarding a deal to release the Hamas-held hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting in Gaza, according to U.S. officials.
One of the biggest sticking points is the number of hostages that will be released, according to an Israeli source.
Israel wants all the children, their mothers and all of their family members released, the source said. If you count just women and young children, that’s about 50 hostages; if you add the family members, you get up to about 80 hostages, according to the source.
The discussions remain fluid, the source said.
It’s too soon to tell if a deal will come together, but people participating in negotiations have yet to throw in the towel, the U.S. officials said.
Asked about the deal by “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is focused “intensely” on bringing hostages home.
“But having said that, honestly the less that I say the better at this moment because we don’t want to jeopardize anything that we’re doing to try to bring people home,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we can bring people home.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford and Matt Gutman
Nov 16, 6:32 PM EST
Discussions over release of hostages remain fluid, source says
Many details remain up in the air regarding a deal to release the Hamas-held hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting in Gaza, according to U.S. officials.
One of the biggest sticking points is the number of hostages that will be released, according to an Israeli source.
Israel wants all the children, their mothers and all of their family members released, the source said. If you count just women and young children, that’s about 50 hostages; if you add the family members, you get up to about 80 hostages, according to the source.
The discussions remain fluid, the source said.
It’s too soon to tell if a deal will come together, but people participating in negotiations have yet to throw in the towel, the U.S. officials said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford and Matt Gutman
Nov 16, 4:29 PM EST
State Department: ‘Impossible’ to safely evacuate patients from Al-Shifa Hospital
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller, who said earlier that the U.S. supported evacuating patients from Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital and was liaising with partners who could potentially carry that out, said Thursday the conditions in Gaza wouldn’t allow for it.
“There are third parties that have expressed an interest to do so,” he said, however, “it’s been impossible to ensure that they could move safely to conduct these evacuations.”
He later specified that “the problem has been Hamas.”
Miller again expressed confidence in U.S. intelligence supporting the assertion that Hamas was using Al-Shifa Hospital as cover for a command-and-control center.
Miller disagreed with the assertion that the evidence supplied by the Israel Defense Forces — like weapons recovered from the hospital — was not compelling.
“I saw a host of assault rifles,” Miller said. “I’m not aware that there’s a sort of acceptable threshold level for assault rifles held in hospitals — that’s not general humanitarian practice.”
Miller later added, “It is an ongoing operation. I think people should wait until the operation is finished to draw their own conclusions.”
About 300 American citizens as well as approximately 600 legal, permanent U.S. residents and their eligible family members remain in Gaza, Miller said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Nov 16, 2:07 PM EST
Body of 65-year-old hostage found near Al-Shifa Hospital, IDF says
The body of Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old woman who was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, was found at a “structure adjacent” to Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement Thursday.
Her body was “extracted” and “transferred to Israeli territory,” the IDF said.
“In the structure in which Yehudit was located, military equipment including Kalashnikov rifles and [rocket-propelled grenades] were also found,” the IDF said.
“For us, it is too late,” Weiss’ daughter-in-law told The Times of Israel. “But it is important for us to support all the families of the hostages, and to tell the world — bring them home now.”
Nov 16, 1:19 PM EST
IDF says it found Hamas intelligence material, information on hostages at Al-Shifa Hospital
The Israel Defense Forces said it’s still operating at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, searching the hospital floor-by-floor as doctors and patients remain sheltered inside.
The IDF said during its searches at the hospital forces have found Hamas intelligence material, weapons and information about the hostages.
Nov 16, 12:21 PM EST
Kirby says US ‘still convinced of the soundness’ of intelligence on Al-Shifa Hospital
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated that the U.S. is “still convinced of the soundness” of its intelligence that Hamas is using Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital as a command center.
“We have our own intelligence that convinces us that Hamas was using Al-Shifa as a command-and-control node, and most likely as well as a storage facility,” Kirby said. “And they were sheltering themselves in a hospital, using the hospital as a shield against military action and placing the patients and medical staff at a greater risk. We are still convinced of the soundness of that intelligence.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Nov 16, 12:11 PM EST
70% of people in southern Gaza have no clean water
Seventy percent of the population in southern Gaza had no access to clean water as of Wednesday, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, told Al Jazeera.
He said raw sewage is “starting to flow in the streets,” and if fuel isn’t brought into Gaza soon, he warned, “We run the risk to have to suspend the entire humanitarian operation.”
Nov 16, 11:54 AM EST
What we know about the conflict
The war, which has now moved into its second stage, according to Israel, has passed the one-month mark.
In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured since Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials. In the neighboring Gaza Strip, at least 11,320 people have been killed and another 29,200 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Aid workers and officials fear that Israel’s call for an evacuation of the northern part of Gaza is precipitating a humanitarian disaster as electricity and other supplies have been cut off in preparation for what appears to be an imminent ground offensive.
Humanitarian groups have urged Israel to call off the evacuation and agree to a cease-fire, even as the country has asserted a right to defend itself — a right the United States endorses.
Nov 16, 10:53 AM EST
Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital ‘a disaster,’ doctor says
Dr. Sara Al Saqqa, a surgeon at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, fled the hospital complex several days ago “because everything was pretty horrific and terrifying,” she told ABC News.
She said most of her colleagues and patients evacuated the hospital, where Israeli troops are carrying out a dayslong raid, but she said nearly 100 doctors remain there, along with more than 700 patients and thousands of people seeking refuge.
“The situation now is a disaster at Al-Shifa,” she said. “Israeli occupational forces have invaded Shifa Hospital with their tanks and destroyed most of the medical equipment there. … They shot a lot of people and they arrested more.”
The Israeli army alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians — claims that the militant group denies.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. has intelligence that Hamas has used Gaza’s hospitals, including Al-Shifa, to support its military operations and hold hostages.
Progress being made on deal to free at least 50 Hamas hostages: officials
The IDF’s operations at the hospital are ongoing Thursday.
The Israelis said that they found explosives inside the medical complex, but Al Saqqa said the Israelis “didn’t find the things that they are looking for because there is no military activity inside the hospital. And this is something that’s obvious to all of us, the ones working there for several years.”
Nov 16, 9:41 AM EST
Clashes intensify along Israel-Lebanon border amid fears of wider war
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that its “soldiers struck a terrorist cell in Lebanon that attempted to launch anti-tank missiles toward Israeli territory.”
“In addition, terrorists attempted to carry out a number of launches toward the area of Misgav Am in northern Israel, as well as IDF posts in the areas of Metula and Yiftah,” the IDF said in a statement. “No injuries were reported.”
“In response, IDF soldiers are striking with artillery fire toward the sources of the launches,” the IDF added.
In recent weeks, there have been continued exchanges between Israeli forces and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Although the clashes remain within the notional 10-kilometer corridor along the shared border, they are now a daily occurrence and have intensified in recent days, which raises the potential for escalation as each side responds to the other’s strikes.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been walking a delicate line with regard to the group’s response to the latest outbreak of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. In remarks made a couple weeks ago, Nasrallah effectively distanced himself from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, saying it was wholly a Palestinian conceived, planned and undertaken operation. At the same time, he has pledged support to the Palestinians in their struggle amid Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip. He also said that Hezbollah had joined the fight against Israeli forces from Oct. 8 with strikes across the border, but ruled out a full-scale war at this time.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been scrupulously issuing regular statements taking responsibility for strikes on northern Israel and providing precise details.
The types of ordinance used in these cross-border strikes are also ramping up. The Lebanese Armed Forces recently posted on their official Facebook page “general guidelines for avoiding the dangers of phosphorus munitions.” Lebanon has repeatedly accused Israel of using incendiary and phosphorus munitions in their attacks.
But Hezbollah’s leader made clear in his speech last Saturday that the group does not want a war with Israel right now. Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has indicated the same and has praised the patriotism and restraint of Hezbollah.
For now, there appears to be a slow-burn battle between Israel and Hezbollah but within the 10-kilometer corridor of the border and therefore contained. It’s unclear how long that will last.
Nov 16, 8:52 AM EST
US ‘hopeful’ in securing release of remaining hostages, Kirby says
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told ABC News on Thursday that “there’s still working going on, literally by the hour,” to secure the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“We’ve got folks on the ground. We’ve been talking to them, our negotiators are talking to their negotiators and we’re working on this really, really hard,” Kirby said during an interview on ABC News’ Good Morning America.
“I don’t have an announcement to make today,” he added. “But, as the president said yesterday, we’re hopeful that we can actually get a good result here.”
Nov 16, 8:48 AM EST
US maintains Hamas is using Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital
During an interview Thursday on ABC News’ Good Morning America, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked whether Israel’s raid on the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip was justified.
“Well, the raid, they’re going in on the ground here. They’re not bombing it,” Kirby said. “They’re going after the Hamas leadership that is there. This presents a real dilemma for them.”
“Hamas is using that hospital as a command and control mode and as a way to store weapons, and even house their fighters. Israel has to do something about that threat,” he continued. “But they also have an added burden of protecting the civilians, the medical staff, the doctors and the patients that are at that hospital. And they are trying hard to strike that balance.”
The IDF alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians — claims that the militant group denies.
Kirby told a press gaggle on Tuesday that the U.S. has intelligence that Hamas has used Gaza’s hospitals, including Al-Shifa, to support its military operations and hold hostages.
Nov 16, 6:39 AM EST
IDF raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital continues for second day
Israeli ground troops continued to carry out a raid on the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip for a second day.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News that, as of 1 p.m. local time on Thursday, soldiers were still inside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, some 34 hours after launching the raid.
The IDF spokesperson also confirmed that they found explosives inside the medical complex.
The IDF alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians — claims that the militant group denies.
Nov 15, 5:46 PM EST
Negotiations progressing in hostage release deal, officials say
Negotiations are progressing towards a U.S. and Qatari-brokered hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, according to multiple officials in the U.S. and Israel.
The potential deal could see Hamas free dozens of Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7 in exchange for Israel’s release of jailed Palestinians and occur during a multi-day cease-fire in Gaza, the officials said.
The contours of that deal are still being worked out, including how many Israeli hostages would be released and how long a cease-fire would last.
Multiple officials in the U.S. and Israel told ABC News that the current figure is at least 50 Israeli hostages — women, children and the elderly — would be released, though the exact number is not yet final. This would likely take place in batches, with hostages released in exchange for a yet unspecified number of Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli jails, the officials said.
The cease-fire could last between three and seven days though the length is being negotiated and remains a sticking point, the officials said.
There would be other Israeli concessions as well, potentially including the delivery of fuel into Gaza, according to the officials.
Two U.S. officials told ABC News that an agreement seems to be within reach, but that multiple similar proposals have fallen apart just before reaching the finish line in recent weeks.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Jordana Miller and Shannon K. Crawford
Nov 15, 5:03 PM EST
1st fuel truck enters Gaza
A fuel truck crossed the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza on Wednesday, marking the first time fuel entered Gaza since Oct. 7, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority said, according to The Associated Press.
Fuel has been drying up in Gaza as the war continued.
Smoke from shelling rises above the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Nov. 15, 2023.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine said their trucks — which deliver aid from Egypt to Gaza — ran out of fuel Tuesday.
In hospitals, a lack of fuel has prevented doctors for running incubators for babies.
And without fuel, many residents of Gaza have been trapped, unable to drive south toward the Egyptian border.
Nov 15, 3:39 PM EST
43 patients died in Al-Shifa Hospital as ICU oxygen ran out, doctor says
At Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, 43 out of the 63 intensive care patients have died as oxygen in the intensive care unit runs out, according to Dr. Ahmed Mokhallalati, head of the hospital’s plastic surgery department.
Mokhallalati told ABC News the mission of burying bodies is ongoing as more people die inside and outside the hospital.
Mokhallalati said he could still hear the Israeli tanks at the hospital gates Wednesday night.
Nov 15, 2:42 PM EST
Over half of Gaza’s hospitals are non-functional: WHO
Twenty-two of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are now “non-functional,” the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
The “14 hospitals remaining open have barely enough supplies to sustain critical and lifesaving surgeries and provide inpatient care,” the WHO warned.
The organization in a statement reiterated its calls for a cease-fire, protection of civilians and “respect for international humanitarian law.”
Nov 15, 2:01 PM EST
Operation at Al-Shifa hospital complex ongoing, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said its operation at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital complex is ongoing.
The IDF said its forces “engaged with” and killed “a number of terrorists” when entering the hospital complex.
Following searches in the hospital, the IDF said its troops “located a room with technological assets, along with military and combat equipment used by the Hamas terrorist organization.”
Palestinian journalist Khadr al Zanoon, who is at the hospital, told ABC News no fighting has taken place inside, but he can hear tanks outside.
He said Hamas fighters are not in the hospital but are in the area around it and are fighting with Israeli forces.
He said Israeli forces have detained some Palestinians who were inside the hospital.
The raid on Al-Shifa Hospital began early Wednesday around 3 a.m. local time, after Israeli forces had moved closer to the medical complex for several days.
Thousands of civilians, along with hundreds of patients — most of whom are seriously ill — have been sheltering at Al-Shifa, according to hospital staff and Gaza health officials.
The IDF alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians — claims that the militant group denies.
Nov 15, 12:46 PM EST
Kirby says US did not give ‘OK’ on Israel’s hospital operation
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Wednesday denied that the U.S. gave any “OK” for the Israeli operation at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital.
“These are Israeli military operations that they plan and they execute on, you know, in accordance with their own established procedures, that the United States is not, was not, involved in,” Kirby said.
He also denied that the U.S. confirming intelligence that Hamas uses the hospital as a control center had anything to do with the timing of the Israeli military operation at the hospital, which began only hours after Kirby’s announcement.
Kirby also said Israel’s hospital operation was “not a focus” of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday night conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and would not say if the U.S. got a heads up about the operation.
“Again, we don’t expect the Israelis to advise us or inform us when they are going to conduct operations,” Kirby said. “We talked to them routinely every day, and certainly we talked to them about our continued concerns over civilian casualties and sharing our perspectives on the best way to minimize, but these are their operations.”
ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Nov 15, 12:12 PM EST
Israeli forces have left Al-Shifa hospital complex, hospital director says
The director of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital said Israeli forces have now left the hospital complex following an hourslong raid, but said “tanks and forces are completely stationed in its surroundings.”
The raid on Al-Shifa Hospital began early Wednesday around 3 a.m. local time, after Israeli forces had moved closer to the medical complex for several days.
Thousands of civilians, along with hundreds of patients — most of whom are seriously ill — have been sheltering at Al-Shifa, according to hospital staff and Gaza health officials.
The IDF alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians — claims that the militant group denies.
Nov 15, 10:01 AM EST
Al-Shifa Hospital doctor describes Israeli raid: ‘They told us no one should look through the windows’
As Israeli ground forces continue to carry out an hour-long raid on the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, staff there told ABC News that none of the patients have been moved out.
There are about 600 patients admitted to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, many of whom are seriously ill or wounded. Thousands of other people have been sheltering in the vast medical complex amid Israel’s bombardment of the area.
Speaking to ABC News via telephone from inside the hospital, Dr. Ahmed Mokhallalati described the moment Israeli troops arrived at the complex before dawn on Wednesday.
“They told us no one should look through the windows,” said Mokhallalati, who is the head of the hospital’s plastic surgery department.
“The whole situation is really horrible,” he added. “They are just scaring everyone here.”
ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic
Nov 15, 8:06 AM EST
IDF suggests it has not yet encountered Hamas fighters inside Al-Shifa Hospital
A senior Israeli defense official said Wednesday that so far Israeli troops have not engaged in combat inside Al-Shifa Hospital itself and suggested they have not yet encountered Hamas fighters within the vast medical complex, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
However, the Israel Defense Forces’ ground operation at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is ongoing and they have allegedly found evidence — specifically weapons — that Hamas, the militant group that rules the strip, is operating inside there, according to the official. More details will be revealed later Wednesday, the official said.
Hamas has since released a statement calling Israel’s claim that it found weapons inside Al-Shifa Hospital “a blatant lie.”
The senior Israeli defense official told reporters that Israeli soldiers went into Al-Shifa Hospital to destroy Hamas infrastructure, not to go after Hamas leaders.
The official noted that four Hamas fighters were killed near the medical complex as Israeli troops approached, but said they are still investigating if they came from inside the hospital.
The official said Israeli forces are currently operating only in “one area” of the hospital but warned that they will enter other areas as needed. The IDF has “no intention” of sending its soldiers to fight “among the patients or the active personnel of the hospital,” according to the official.
The official told reporters that the hospital’s youngest patients — dozens of premature babies — are in a building of the complex not where Israeli troops are currently operating. Israeli soldiers delivered incubators and baby food at the front gate of the hospital in hopes that the staff there would take them, according to the official.
The official declined to say where exactly Israeli forces were operating within the complex, citing operational security.
Al-Shifa Hospital was designed by Israeli architects decades ago and the IDF knows its layout well.
Nov 15, 5:50 AM EST
UN official ‘appalled’ by Israeli raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital
The head of the United Nations’ humanitarian relief operations condemned on Wednesday the Israeli military’s ongoing raid on the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital, saying he is “appalled” by the reports of the operations.
“I’m appalled by reports of military raids in Al Shifa hospital in #Gaza. The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns. Hospitals are not battlegrounds,” U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Nov 15, 5:23 AM EST
IDF continues hourslong raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday morning that its ground troops are continuing to carry out “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area” of the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip.
“The activity in this specified area is based on operational necessities, as well as intelligence information that indicates Hamas terrorist activity is being directed from the area,” the IDF said in a statement. “Prior to their entry, the IDF troops encountered explosive devices and terrorist cells, and an engagement began in which terrorists were killed.”
The raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City began after midnight local time, after Israeli forces had moved closer to the medical complex for several days. Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health said gunfire was heard on the hospital grounds and Israeli troops entered through the main building and the emergency department.
Thousands of civilians, along with hundreds of patients — most of whom are seriously ill — have been sheltering at Al-Shifa, according to hospital staff and Gaza health officials.
The IDF alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers under Al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians — claims which the militant group denies.
The IDF said Wednesday that its troops “are conducting searches for Hamas terror infrastructure and weapons” at Al-Shifa Hospital. They also “delivered humanitarian aid to the entrance of the hospital,” according to the IDF.
Doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital have been warning of its imminent collapse due to a lack of electricity as well as limited fuel and medical supplies.
Nov 14, 7:19 PM EST
IDF says it’s carrying out ‘targeted operation’ in Al-Shifa Hospital
The Israel Defense Forces said they are carrying out a “precise and targeted operation against Hamas” in an area in the Al-Shifa Hospital.
“The IDF forces include medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians being used by Hamas as human shields,” IDF said in a statement.
IDF called upon Hamas militants in the hospital to surrender.
The operation comes after IDF called for military activities in the hospital to “cease within 12 hours,” IDF said, adding: “Unfortunately, it did not.”
Nov 14, 6:35 PM EST
IDF says it will storm Al-Shifa Hospital soon, Gaza Health Ministry says
The Israel Defense Forces have informed the Gaza Health Ministry that they will storm the Al-Shifa Hospital in several minutes, Dr. Ashraf al Qadra, spokesman of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, said on Al-Jazeera TV.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
Nov 14, 5:53 PM EST
State Department grappling with dissent over US handling of conflict: Sources
State Department employees have sent multiple internal communications in recent days expressing concerns over the administration’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war, including at least one dissent cable, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The dissent channel is a system that allows diplomats to confidentially register their opposition to specific policies with department leadership, but employees can also formally express their disagreement to high-level officials through other avenues.
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller confirmed Tuesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a department-wide email on Monday where he noted the tensions and different views among employees.
“He did address in that email…all the issues underlying our policy and made clear people understood what our policy is, just as he has done in meetings he’s had with a number of employees in the department,” Miller told reporters.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Nov 14, 4:29 PM EST
Nearly 1,000 Americans and family members still possibly waiting to leave Gaza: State Department
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday that just under 1,000 Americans and their family members may be waiting to leave Gaza, as hundreds have left so far through the Rafah border crossing.
“There are now over 600 American citizens and lawful permanent residents and their family members who have departed Gaza through Rafah gate,” Miller said during a briefing. “There are a little under 1,000 that we know of that are left now whose departure we hope to facilitate over the coming days should they wish to depart.”
The number of eligible individuals who may be looking to leave the enclave is higher than previously anticipated, based on previous State Department figures. Before the Rafah gate opened to outbound traffic, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said some 400 Americans and roughly 600 of their eligible family members were in contact with the department about leaving Gaza.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford
Nov 14, 4:11 PM EST
Israel claims Hamas has ‘lost control of Northern Gaza’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a briefing Tuesday that “Hamas has lost control of Northern Gaza.”
“We control Northern Gaza, especially Gaza City,” Gallant said.
Gallant said the Israel Defense Forces have uncovered 500 tunnels, including in schools, mosques and hospitals, as it seeks to remove Hamas’ leadership and military from Gaza.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Nov 14, 2:56 PM EST
Breakthrough in hostage deal could come in next 48-72 hours: Israeli source
A senior Israeli political source said Tuesday that progress has been made on a hostage deal and a breakthrough could come in the next 48-72 hours.
The Israeli War Cabinet is meeting Tuesday night to discuss the deal, the source said.
Israeli officials have said as many as 239 Israelis are being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Nov 14, 2:55 PM EST
US intelligence shows Hamas using hospitals to support military operations, hold hostages: Kirby
The U.S. has intelligence that shows Hamas has used hospitals in Gaza to support its military operations and hold hostages, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed Tuesday.
“I can confirm for you that we have information that Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, used some hospitals in the Gaza Strip — including Al-Shifa — and tunnels underneath them to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages,” Kirby said during a gaggle on Air Force One.
Kirby said Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad operate a command and control node from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City where “they have stored weapons there, and they’re prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against that facility.”
Kirby said the information comes from a “variety” of intelligence sourcing.
He cautioned again that these actions by Hamas “do not lessen Israel’s responsibilities to protect civilians in Gaza.”
“This is something that we obviously are going to continue to have an active conversation with our counterparts about,” he said.
During a Pentagon briefing Tuesday, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh described the information as an independent U.S. intelligence assessment and “newly downgraded information that we felt was important to get out today because there have been a lot of questions about the hospital and how Hamas operates.”
Singh did not go into specifics on the intel but said “we feel very confident in our sourcing and what the intelligence community has gathered on this topic.”
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Luis Martinez
Nov 14, 2:42 PM EST
Fuel shortage stalls aid deliveries from Egypt into Gaza Strip, official says
A fuel shortage has stalled aid deliveries from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, a Rafah border crossing official told ABC News on Tuesday.
“No aid got in today because [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees] trucks have no fuel,” Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah border crossing, said.
The UNRWA, which is responsible for receiving and distributing humanitarian aid coming from Egypt in Gaza, said Monday its trucks ran out of fuel and it would not be able to to receive aid coming through Rafah on Tuesday.
Tuesday marks the first day no aid trucks crossed into Gaza through Egypt since Oct. 21 amid the war.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said it received the last convoy of trucks from Egypt on Monday, including 155 trucks, following the UNRWA’s announcement.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy
Nov 14, 12:28 PM EST
Mass grave dug inside Al-Shifa Hospital, official says
A mass grave has been dug inside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza to bury dozens of corpses after Israeli forces banned the Red Cross from collecting the bodies, according to Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, the director general of the Palestinian Health Ministry.
“There are approximately 100 corpses lying on the hospital courtyard that have rotted and decomposed,” Al-Bursh told Al-Hadath TV on Tuesday, speaking from inside the hospital, the largest in Gaza. “We are walking on worms and we fear there will be an epidemic.”
Medical staff and people sheltering inside the medical complex have dug a “large hole” to bury the dead bodies, he said. Dozens of other bodies stored in refrigerators at the facility will also be buried in the mass grave, he said.
“Israel tanks are at the gates of the hospital and we are burying bodies under gunfire and with tanks around,” Al-Bursh said.
The hospital ceased to function on Saturday after it ran out of fuel, and staff and health ministry officials inside say the facility has been under siege by Israeli forces for five days, with drones and snipers firing into it.
“We are trying to dig a mass grave to bury the martyrs inside Al-Shifa Hospital. Our efforts to remove the bodies of the martyrs from Al-Shifa complex have failed,” said Dr. Youssef Abu Al-Rish, undersecretary of the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
Israeli officials have said Hamas is operating a command center from under the hospital, something denied by Hamas.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Morgan Winsor
Nov 14, 11:31 AM EST
Humanitarian corridor in Gaza is less than 1.5 miles long, Israeli officer says
One of two humanitarian corridors that the Israeli military has temporarily opened in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday is less than 1.5 miles long, according to an executive officer of an Israeli battalion in charge of the route.
The officer told ABC News that the corridor is a 2-kilometer stretch of Salah al-Din, the main highway connecting the north and south of Gaza. He said his troops have come under sniper fire and that “there were casualties.”
The Israeli military has distributed leaflets directing civilians in the north to routes that take them to the corridors, offering safe passage to evacuate to the south of the war-torn enclave within a designated window of time on Tuesday.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Becky Perlow and Juan Rentaria
Nov 14, 7:53 AM EST
IDF says it’s offered to transfer incubators to Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday morning that it “is in the process of coordinating the transfer of incubators from a hospital in Israel to Gaza.”
“We are doing everything we can to minimize harm to civilians, assist in evacuation, and facilitate the transfer of medical supplies and food,” the IDF wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Our war is not with the people of Gaza.”
It was unknown whether the process to transfer incubators was underway and there was no confirmation of Israel’s offer from health officials or medical staff in the Gaza Strip. It was also unclear how the incubators would be powered at Gaza’s hospitals with little to no electricity and fuel.
The announcement came amid worldwide calls to save dozens of premature newborn babies at Gaza’s second-largest hospital.
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City had been struggling to run with limited fuel for days as doctors warn of its imminent collapse. On Friday, fighting in the area intensified and a strike hit the courtyard outside the hospital.
Three of the 39 babies that were being cared for in Al-Shifa’s neonatal unit have died since their incubators stopped working on Saturday, according to the hospital’s head of plastic surgery, Dr. Ahmed Mokhallalati. The hospital staff has been trying their best to look after them, swaddling them and using what power is left to heat the room they are in.
In recent days, several hospitals across Gaza said they have been under attack as heavy fighting occurs between Israeli troops and the militant group that rules the enclave, Hamas. The IDF alleges that Hamas has placed its command centers in tunnels under hospitals in Gaza and is deliberately sheltering behind Palestinian civilians — claims which the group denies.
Nov 14, 5:11 AM EST
IDF announces two evacuation corridors open in Gaza on Tuesday
The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday the temporary opening of evacuation corridors in the war-torn Gaza Strip to allow more people in the north of the Hamas-run enclave to move south.
A “safe passage” will be open “for humanitarian purposes” via the Salah al-Din highway toward the area south of Wadi Gaza on Tuesday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time, according to the IDF.
The IDF said it will also temporarily suspend military activities “for humanitarian purposes” in the neighborhoods of Al-Daraj and Al-Tuffah on Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time.
“Please, for your safety, join the hundreds of thousands of residents who have moved south in recent days,” the IDF said in a statement. “We encourage you to seize the time and move south!”
The IDF also urged Gaza residents to “not surrender to Hamas,” alleging that the militant group “has lost control over the northern Gaza Strip area and is trying to do everything it can to prevent you from moving south and protect yourselves.”
Nov 13, 8:36 PM EST
Israel claims to have evidence of Hamas headquarters at hospital
Israeli military officials brought several journalists, including ABC’s Matt Gutman, into the Al-Rantisi Hospital inside Gaza, which had been hit with artillery.
The hospital, Gaza’s sole children’s hospital, was allegedly a Hamas command center, Israel’s chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who led the tour, claimed.
The hospital was surrounded by Israeli tanks from Thursday into Friday, the director of Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital said on Friday.
Inside the basement of the hospital, which officials said has been evacuated, were abandoned AK-47s, grenades and what Hagari said were suicide vests. In another room of the basement was a chair where Hagari claims a hostage was kept.
The spokesperson said the Israeli military was set to detonate the grenades and vests they claim they found inside and a forensic team was going to probe the hospital for more evidence.
The tour came after the hospital’s resources deteriorated due to nearby attacks, according to UNICEF.
The hospital’s operations almost ceased between Thursday and Friday, according to UNICEF.
By Friday, Al-Rantisi Hospital had only a small generator powering the intensive care and neonatal intensive care units, UNICEF said.
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