The body of a Hamas hostage was found Thursday near al-Chifa hospital, the Israeli army announced, even as searches of the health facility continued throughout the day.
The war between Israel and Hamas is now in its 41st day, Thursday, November 16, and the body of a woman, kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri on October 7, “was extracted by Israeli army troops from a structure adjacent to al-Chifa hospital”declared the Israeli army, claiming that it was “murdered by terrorists” in Gaza. Franceinfo recaps what to remember from the day on the war front.
Hostage body found, announces Israel
The body of a woman, kidnapped from the Beeri kibbutz on October 7, “was extracted by Israeli army troops from a structure adjacent to al-Chifa hospital”, announced the Israeli army, claiming that it was “murdered by terrorists” in Gaza. The victim is identified by the army as Yehudit Weiss. “In the structure where Yehudit was located, military equipment, including Kalashnikov rifles and rocket launchers, was also found”added the army.
The army said earlier that “images relating to the hostages”, captured during the Hamas attack on Israel, had been found on computers seized during the army’s intervention in the hospital.
Israeli soldier killed in attack near Jerusalem claimed by Hamas
Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack by three attackers on a checkpoint separating Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, in which one Israeli soldier died and three others were injured.
This attack was carried out “to avenge the blood of the martyrs of Gaza”, specifies the press release signed “Qassam Brigades-West Bank”. The Israeli army announced in the afternoon that the 20-year-old soldier had succumbed to his injuries following the automatic weapon attack. Three other members of the security forces were injured. “The three attackers are dead,” a police spokesperson previously said.
Research continues at al-Chifa hospital
The Israeli army announced that its soldiers were still in the al-Chifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, where, according to the UN, there are around 2,300 people (patients, caregivers and displaced people). “The soldiers are searching each floor, building after building,” the army said.
The day before, the Israeli army launched an operation “targeted” in the hospital, presented by Israel as a strategic and military center of Hamas, which the Palestinian movement denies. The Hamas Ministry of Health also claimed that the Israeli army had “destroyed the radiology department and bombed the burns and dialysis department” from al-Chifa hospital during his raid.
Risk of famine ‘immediate’ in Gaza, UN warns
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has alerted the world to the “immediate risk of famine” in Gaza, where food and water are “almost non-existent”.
“With winter fast approaching, poor and overcrowded shelters, and a lack of clean water, civilians face an immediate risk of starvation,” declared the executive director of the UN agency based in Rome, Cindy McCain.
“We have hope” regarding the fate of the French hostages, says Sébastien Lecornu
Traveling to Qatar as part of a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, the Minister of the Armed Forces discussed the “various discussions in progress” to obtain an agreement on the French hostages held since October 7 by Hamas. “We have hope. But hope also requires concentration until the last minute so that everyone keeps their word,” he hammered the minister at the franceinfo microphone.
Communications “totally cut” again
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said communications were once again “totally cut off” with the Gaza Strip. “All telecommunications services in the Gaza Strip are stopped, as all energy sources that power the network have been exhausted, and fuel is prohibited from entering. in Palestinian territory, the Palestinian telecoms company Paltel confirmed on X.