International negotiations continue to obtain the release of hostages held by Hamas, in 44e day of the war triggered by the unprecedented attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil. Qatar, which is leading mediation, said on Sunday that only “minor” obstacles remained before an agreement.
WHAT THERE IS TO KNOW
- Reaching an agreement on the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas is based on “minor” practical issues, according to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani.
- The 31 premature babies who were still in al-Chifa hospital after its evacuation on Saturday have been evacuated from the establishment, said Gaza Strip Hospitals Director General Mohammed Zaqout.
- Three Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, bringing to 62 the number of soldiers killed since the start of the Israeli offensive, the army announced.
- According to the latest report from the Hamas government, 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
- The Hamas attack left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians killed on October 7, according to Israeli authorities.
- The Israeli military estimates that around 240 people were taken hostage.
“The remaining challenges in the negotiations are very minor […] They are more logistical, they are more practical,” declared the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani, during a press conference in Doha alongside the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.
Negotiations towards an agreement have had “ups and downs over the past few weeks. I think I’m now more confident that we are close enough to reach an agreement that will allow these people [les otages] to return home safely,” he added.
Mr Borrell, who was due to meet the Emir of Qatar before traveling to Jordan, called for the “unconditional release” of all the hostages, and denounced Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“There is no hierarchy between horrors, one horror does not justify another,” he said, calling for an end to the escalation of violence and for “lasting peace” in the region. .
The White House said on Saturday that it was “continuing to work hard” to reach a draft agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Evacuation of al-Chifa hospital
Furthermore, the al-Chifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, has become a “death zone”, denounced the World Health Organization (WHO), which wants to evacuate the last patients, while the The Israeli army “continues to expand its operations” against Hamas.
On Saturday, a team from the WHO and other UN experts was able to carry out a one-hour mission to the al-Chifa hospital, which has become a “death zone” where the situation is “desperate » due to lack of water, electricity, medicine, food and medical equipment.
According to the WHO, 2,500 displaced people, who had found refuge in this hospital, left it on Saturday after receiving orders from the Israeli army, as well as a number of patients and medical staff. The army assured that it had only “responded to a request” from the director of the establishment.
The immense hospital complex still housed 25 caregivers and 291 patients on Saturday, including around thirty babies in critical condition, 22 patients on dialysis and two in intensive care, according to the WHO.
Evacuation plans
The organization said it was preparing with its partners “plans for the immediate evacuation of remaining patients, staff and their families” to other hospitals in Gaza.
WHO PHOTO VIA REUTERS
A humanitarian assessment team led by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited al-Chifa hospital in Gaza on November 18.
Mohammed Zaqout, director general of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, announced to AFP on Sunday the evacuation of 31 premature babies from the hospital.
“Three doctors and two nurses are accompanying them” and “preparations are underway to evacuate them to Egypt” via the Rafah terminal, the only opening to the world of the Palestinian territory which is not in the hands of Israel, he added.
According to the Israeli army, which invaded the hospital on Wednesday morning, it houses a Hamas hideout installed in particular in a network of tunnels. The Islamist movement denies it.
The fighting between Israel and Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, is concentrated in the north of the territory, particularly in the city of Gaza, transformed into a field of ruins.
Horrible images
The Israeli army claimed to continue “to expand its operations in new neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip”, such as the areas of Jabaliya and Zaytoun, in the north of the territory.
In undated images, we see Israeli soldiers moving and firing in a very dense urban environment, among damaged buildings.
On Sunday, the army announced the death of three soldiers in the Gaza Strip, bringing to 62 the number of soldiers killed in this territory since October 7.
The war was sparked by a Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed, according to authorities, the vast majority civilians.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “annihilate” the Islamist movement, which took power in Gaza in 2007. The army relentlessly shelled the small Palestinian territory and launched a ground operation on October 27.
PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
This photo taken from southern Israel shows Israeli flags flying over destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip on November 19.
Hamas said on Saturday that Israeli strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp, managed by the UN in the north of the territory, had left more than 80 dead, including at least 50 in a school that houses displaced people.
“We are receiving appalling images of numerous deaths and injuries once again in a UNRWA school which sheltered thousands of displaced people,” said the head of this UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, demanding that “these attacks” stop.
On Saturday evening, the Hamas government announced that 12,300 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli bombings since October 7, including more than 5,000 children.
According to the UN, more than two thirds of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war in the Gaza Strip, subject to a “complete siege” by Israel since October 9, which cut off food deliveries , water, electricity and medicines.
PHOTO MOHAMMED SALEM, REUTERS
Palestinian children are housed in a tent in Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 19.
After Israel’s green light on Friday, around 120,000 liters of fuel arrived on Saturday according to the UN, still below the needs for its basic humanitarian operations.
Most of the displaced Palestinians have fled to the south of the territory, taking with them the minimum they need, and are trying to survive in the cold weather.
But strikes also take place in the south of the Gaza Strip. During the night from Friday to Saturday, a bombing left 26 dead in the town of Khan Younès, according to the director of the Nasser hospital.
On the day of the initial Hamas attack, some 240 people were kidnapped and returned to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
“Two-state solution”
In Israel, pressure is increasing on the government to obtain the release of hostages, held in the Gaza Strip for more than six weeks.
“All the families” were able to meet Monday evening with “the entire Israeli war cabinet,” the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons said on Saturday.
“Take them home now. Everyone,” thousands of demonstrators in Jerusalem proclaimed on Saturday amid a sea of Israeli flags.
Tensions are also high in the occupied West Bank where at least two people were killed on Sunday by the Israeli army, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Since October 7, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the territory, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In a column published by the Washington Post On Saturday, US President Joe Biden threatened to ban visas to the United States from “extremist” settlers who attack civilians in the West Bank.
Mr. Biden, whose country is a key ally of Israel, also called for a future reunification of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under a “revitalized Palestinian Authority”.
For the American president, “a two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. »