With the war on Gaza officially passing the one-month mark, Israel continues to restrict safe pathways for humanitarian relief – targeting a medical convoy from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City last night.
LIVE UPDATES
Update 10: Gaza’s Al-Quds Hospital is under threat of shutting down, according to a statement released by the Palestinian Red Crescent on 8 November.
The statement reveals that the hospital could run out of fuel today due to a lack of fuel. Al-Quds Hospital is also suffering from road obstructions around it caused by Israeli airstrikes – resulting in all roads leading to the hospital being unusable.
Update 9: Egypt will receive a United Nations technical humanitarian team in Arish City in Sinai to facilitate the arrival of aid through Rafah to Gaza, confirmed UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric on 8 November. The incoming team will advise and support the Egyptian Red Crescent Society in delivering aid to the Gaza Strip.
Update 8: The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the number of Palestinians killed is now at 10,569 – including 4,324 children and 2,823 women. At least 26,000 have been wounded since the start of the war on 7 October.
Update 7: The Israel Defence Force’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on 9 November that the passage through Salah Al-Din road in the north of Gaza to Al-Mawasi in the south of Gaza was re-opened for safe travel between 10AM and 2PM.
“The northern Gaza Strip area is considered a fierce combat zone, and time is running out to evacuate it … If you care about yourself and your loved ones, head south according to our instructions,” Adraee said on his official X account.
The road leading to Al-Mawasi is 17km, requiring a four-hour walk for citizens without access to a vehicle.
Update 6: The Group of Seven Foreign Ministers (G7) agreed on 8 November to call for a “humanitarian pause” to allow for humanitarian relief to be safely delivered throughout the Gaza Strip.
The G7 also collectively condemned the Hamas surprise attack on 7 October, supporting Israel’s “right to self-defence,” but not acknowledging the continuing airstrikes on civilians.
In a separate press conference, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed calls for an “immediate ceasefire,” arguing it would allow Hamas to repeat its attacks and capture more hostages.
Blinken later affirmed that Israel cannot reoccupy the Gaza Strip, but a transitional period would be needed after Hamas.
Update 5: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Palestine declared that all bakeries in Northern Gaza have stopped working as of 7 November due to a lack of fuel, water, and wheat flour.
Food security partners have been unable to deliver assistance in the north for the past seven days – raising alarms over a famine in the Gaza Strip.
Update 4: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert believes that current PM Benjamin Netanyahu is “destroyed emotionally” after failing to anticipate the Hamas surprise attack on 7 October.
In a tell-all interview with POLITICO, Olmert argues that Netanyahu is now miscalculating by mobilizing troops to take full control of Gaza’s security for an “indefinite period.”
“[Netanyahu] has shrunk. He’s destroyed emotionally, that’s for sure. I mean, something terrible happened to him. Bibi has been working all his life on the false pretense that he is Mr. Security. He’s Mr. Bullshit,” the former PM said.
“Every minute he is prime minister he is a danger to Israel. I seriously mean it. I am certain the Americans understand he is in bad shape,” Olmert added.
Update 3: Israeli soldiers occupying the West Bank stormed Birzeit University in Ramallah forces at dawn on 8 November. A Palestinian youth was shot during the raid, sources confirmed to WAFA. No further details were provided about the victim’s current health condition.
Update 2: A medical convoy of five trucks and two vehicles from the ICRC was shot on 7 November on its way to deliver life-saving medical supplies in Gaza City.
“The convoy of five trucks and two ICRC vehicles was carrying lifesaving medical supplies to health facilities, including to Al Quds hospital of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society,” read the ICRC’s statement.
The attack damaged two trucks and injured one driver.
Update 1: Israel launched a series of unrelenting attacks late at night on 7 November, targeting several neighborhoods of Gaza City. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 15 civilians, according to WAFA. Rescuers are in the process of locating victims trapped beneath the rubble.
THE CONFLICT SO FAR
After a surprise attack conducted on 7 October by Hamas on a number of southern Israeli towns which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,405 people and more than 220 being taken hostage by Hamas, Israel launched a retaliatory bombing campaign against what it describes as ‘terrorist targets’ in the Gaza Strip.
Over 10,500 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip — including at least 4,324 children and 2,823 women — and over 26,000 others injured. Meanwhile, at least 163 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and at least 2,200 have been injured.
The priority of the Egyptian government since the beginning of the conflict has been de-escalation and the securing of a path for aid to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing. Israel bombed the crossing at least six times, and limited aid trucks have crossed to Gaza so far, which UN officials warn is insufficient amid dire humanitarian conditions.
Most Western countries, with the United States at the forefront, have expressed unconditional support for Israel, despite the steadily rising death toll in Gaza. Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly has issued a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
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