Live
By Edna Mohamed and Joseph Stepansky
Published On 20 Nov 2023

This live page is now been closed. Please follow the latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war here.

21 Nov 2023 - 19:40
 (19:40 GMT)

US says ‘several enemy casualties’ in retaliatory strike

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said a gunship targeted “individuals responsible” for launching a missile attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq, which houses US and coalition personnel.

“The gunship maintained visual confirmation of the individuals from the time of the launch to the time of engagement,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “This strike resulted in several enemy casualties.”

Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the gunship “conducted a self-defense strike against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and a number of Iranian-backed militia personnel involved in this attack. This self-defense strike resulted in several enemy KIA [killed in action]”.

Further details on the casualties were not immediately available, and officials did not give the exact location of the strike.

US officials say bases housing US personnel in Syria and Iraq have been targeted dozens of times since the Israel-Hamas war began, raising the possibility of wider escalation in the fighting.

21 Nov 2023 - 00:01
 (00:01 GMT)

Thanks for joining us

This live page is now closed. Please follow the latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war here.

For an update from the ground in Gaza, read our story about the heavy psychological toll Palestinian children have been forced to bear, here.

Or you can listen to our latest podcast on the continued catastrophe at al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, here.

For more context on the conflict, you can read about how the Yemen-based Houthi rebels seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea – and what it means for the important shipping route – here.

 

20 Nov 2023 - 23:50
 (23:50 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We’ll soon be closing this live page. Here’s a recap of today’s main events:

  • A Gaza health official says 100 patients have been evacuated from the Indonesian Hospital, which has been surrounded by Israeli tanks and was hit in an Israeli attack that killed 12.
  • Twenty-eight newborns who had been trapped at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital – which remains occupied by Israeli troops – have been transferred to Egypt, with three others moved to southern Gaza for further treatment.
  • WHO official Michael Ryan has warned of a “recipe for epidemics” in the Palestinian enclave as Gaza displacement figures mount, temperatures drop and food remains scarce.
  • Amnesty International has urged the International Criminal Court to investigate two Israeli attacks in Gaza as war crimes.
  • US President Joe Biden has said he believes a deal is “near” to secure the release of captives held in Gaza. The president of the Red Cross met with Hamas’s political leader in Qatar in another possible sign an agreement could be close.
  • Families of captives have confronted far-right Israeli politicians at a Knesset committee hearing, urging the legislators to abandon discussions on expanding the use of the death penalty for Palestinian fighters until their loved ones are safe.
  • Yemen’s Houthis have released a video of the Red Sea hijacking of a cargo ship they say is linked to Israel. Israel has said the ship is not Israeli, nor are the 25 workers on board.
  • Fighting has continued across the Israel-Lebanon border, with Hezbollah fighters claiming a successful strike on an Israeli army barracks and Israel saying it hit an “operational headquarters” of the group.
20 Nov 2023 - 23:40
 (23:40 GMT)

Gaza Strip being bombed ‘from north to south’: AJ correspondent

By Hani Mahmoud

Reporting from Khan Younis, southern Gaza

There are more air strikes taking place right now at different locations in the Gaza Strip from north to south.

Literally the entire northern part of Gaza City right now is under heavy bombardment and air strikes. Confrontations with the Israeli military are also taking place right at the centre of Gaza at the axis where the Israeli military pushed their armoured vehicles.

Where we are reporting from, in Khan Younis, has also been a major target of Israeli air strikes. We are talking about both sides – the eastern side of Khan Younis and the western side of the city.

People from the eastern side who were told to move to the western side have found themselves the target of Israeli air strikes. We are talking about more residential homes and an apartment [which] was also targeted in one of the residential towers.

20 Nov 2023 - 23:25
 (23:25 GMT)

WATCH: Cold, wet conditions for Palestinians seeking shelter

Palestinians living in tents and other makeshift shelters are bracing for a cold and wet winter, with the WHO warning rain could also further spread disease.

More than 1.7 million people – more than 70 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million – are estimated to have now been forced to leave their homes, according to the UN’s latest flash update.

20 Nov 2023 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

More than 1 million Gaza children going to bed hungry: Aid group

The charity Medical Aid for Palestinians said that after six weeks of Israel’s siege on the territory, food is running out.

“We must stand together to protect Gaza’s children, who will go to bed tonight hungry,” the group said in a social media post, urging an immediate ceasefire.

20 Nov 2023 - 23:05
 (23:05 GMT)

LISTEN: Piling corpses and dying babies – al-Shifa Hospital’s catastrophe

20 Nov 2023 - 22:55
 (22:55 GMT)

Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s health sector part of military strategy: Doctor

Ghassan Abu Sittah, a doctor who worked at both Gaza’s al-Shifa and al-Alhi Arab hospitals, says Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s health sector is part of a military strategy that aims to wipe out Palestinians.

“What has been different in this war than all the other wars I have been at – not just in Gaza, but all around the region, in Yemen, Iraq and Syria – is that the destruction of the healthcare system has been the main thrust of the [Israeli] military strategy,” Abu Sittah told Al Jazeera.

He said 800,000 people now do not have access to healthcare, including wounded Palestinians who are “only being bandaged up the best that they could be” due to a lack of supplies.

“We had over 500 wounded in the grounds of al-Ahli [Arab] Hospital when we ran out of medication,” he said.

“I honestly and truly believe that this is part of the military strategy. Those patients are going to die. Anybody who was lucky enough to survive the initial assault and the Israeli strategy was to destroy the healthcare system so that they do not survive their wounds.

“It is obvious that this is a genocidal war.”

20 Nov 2023 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Holocaust, anti-Semitism experts urge end to ‘misuse of Holocaust memory’

In an open letter published in The New York Review of Books, the scholars expressed their “dismay and disappointment at political leaders and notable public figures invoking Holocaust memory to explain the current crisis in Gaza and Israel”.

They pointed to recent comments from Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, who compared Hamas to Nazis, as well as US President Biden, who said the Palestinian group had “engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust”.

“It is understandable why many in the Jewish community recall the Holocaust and earlier pogroms when trying to comprehend what happened on October 7,” said the open letter’s signatories, which included professors in Canada, Germany, Israel, the US and the UK.

“However, appealing to the memory of the Holocaust obscures our understanding of the antisemitism Jews face today, and dangerously misrepresents the causes of violence in Israel-Palestine,” they said, adding that the Israeli occupation and blockade of Gaza are among those root causes.

“Israeli leaders and others are using the Holocaust framing to portray Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza as a battle for civilization in the face of barbarism, thereby promoting racist narratives about Palestinians,” the scholars wrote.

“There is no military solution in Israel-Palestine, and deploying a Holocaust narrative in which an ‘evil’ must be vanquished by force will only perpetuate an oppressive state of affairs that has already lasted far too long.”

20 Nov 2023 - 22:35
 (22:35 GMT)

HRW official says Columbia Law School cancelled speech again

Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), said it was the second time a speaking arrangement had been cancelled by the US university.

He said the planned talk, which was organised by the activist group Students for Palestine, had been cancelled 30 minutes before it was set to start after Columbia said “security approvals not raised before were required”.

The incident comes as universities across the US have cracked down on pro-Palestine groups.

Columbia University previously suspended two student groups – Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace – saying they had violated university policies related to campus events.

In a post on social media, Shakir said the planned talk at Columbia would happen “soon”.

“Those suppressing discussion of Israeli apartheid are on wrong side of history,” he said.

20 Nov 2023 - 22:25
 (22:25 GMT)

Fears patient transfers to southern Gaza hospitals will strain health system

As patients are being transferred from the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza to healthcare facilities in the south of the enclave, fears are growing that the already strained southern hospitals could collapse.

“Nasser Hospital for the past few weeks has been very overwhelming with the number of [injured people] coming from the city of Khan Younis,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from the city in southern Gaza.

He said Khan Younis remains under heavy Israeli bombardment.

“There is a fear here,” Mahmoud said, that the influx of new patients will speed up the collapse of Nasser Hospital, or force staff to cut down on medical services.

20 Nov 2023 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Israeli bombing leaves long-term psychological trauma on children: Expert

Samantha Nutt, a doctor and the founder of War Child Canada, says the psychological impact of war on the children of Gaza is profound.

“Children who live through this kind of aerial bombardment and witness, personally, the loss of a family member when there is shelling or gunshots around them, leaves them completely unsettled,” Nutt told Al Jazeera.

She explained that such trauma can manifest in different ways, including through recurring nightmares even after the armed conflict ends.

“We see issues with kids separated from their families and loved ones, which not only comes with a degree of psychological trauma but also makes them extremely vulnerable in the long term,” Nutt said.

“These are just a few of the ways which children who have experienced this kind of heavy conflict will wrestle with, not only in the short term, but in the long term as well. They become very fearful, anxious and depressed as well.”

20 Nov 2023 - 22:10
 (22:10 GMT)

Death toll of media workers rises to 50 since war began: CPJ

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said 45 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese journalist have been killed since October 7.

Three journalists remain missing, according to the media rights group.

The organisation identified the most recent journalist killed as Alaa Taher Al-Hassanat, a presenter at AlMajedat Media Network.

Al-Hassanat was killed with multiple family members when an Israeli strike hit her home in Gaza today, CPJ said.

20 Nov 2023 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Editor’s choice: What to read and watch

Since our last roundup, we’ve published several new pieces of content covering various aspects of the conflict.

Here are a few highlights:

  • From the ground: ‘No end in sight’ – Gaza’s traumatised children need psychological aid
  • Analysis: Can the US, Israel stop Yemen’s Houthis from seizing more ships?
  • Photo gallery: Dozens of premature babies evacuated from Gaza to Egypt
  • Video: What’s the impact of the Houthis ship hijack in the Red Sea?
  • Opinion: Israel, Gaza, and the mass production of myths for mass media

And there’s plenty more here.

20 Nov 2023 - 21:50
 (21:50 GMT)

MSF official says staff trapped near al-Shifa Hospital

Amber Alayyan, the deputy director of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF)’s Palestine programme, told Al Jazeera that a number of its staff remain in the al-Shifa Hospital area, unable to evacuate.

About 70 people, she said, including staff and their family members, are still sheltered in the organisation’s compound and the surrounding buildings, she said.

It is too dangerous to evacuate, she continued, with an attempt to do so on Saturday ending in the death of one person. Her colleagues are still trapped in the compound and are running out of food and water.

According to Alayyan, the wall of the compound was damaged earlier today amid heavy barrages of gunfire in the area, and the people there saw tanks and bulldozers. She also said that all five of the organisation’s vehicles were destroyed, leaving them with no means to evacuate.

The clinic compound, she said, is “clearly marked and clearly known as an MSF clinic”.

20 Nov 2023 - 21:40
 (21:40 GMT)

Israeli attack on Indonesian Hospital same as on al-Shifa: Health ministry

More from health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra, who spoke with Al Jazeera Arabic a short while ago.

He said that the Israeli military was firing nonstop at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and that drones were shooting at anyone who moved in the hospital courtyard. He added that, since Monday morning, no one had been allowed to leave or enter the hospital.

“What the Israeli occupation are doing to the Indonesian Hospital is exactly what they did to al-Shifa Hospital,” al-Qudra said. “We are concerned and worried that they commit a massacre there like they did at al-Shifa.”

“[The Israeli military] are ending the last hope that anyone in northern Gaza has for treatment. That means that 800,000 to 900,000 people will end up without any hospital. This will lead to the death of many people who are suffering from long-term diseases or are injured.”

Al-Qudra added that there were 700 people still at al-Shifa, including 259 patients.

20 Nov 2023 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

Canadian provincial parliament interrupted by chants of, ‘Ceasefire now!’

The parliament in Saskatchewan, in the Canadian prairies, was cleared as a result of the protest.

A video shared on social media showed legislators leaving their seats amid chants of, “Ceasefire now!”

“We expect our government, provincially and federally, to represent us and we do not support genocide,” Valerie Zink, one of the protest organisers, told the Regina Leader-Post newspaper ahead of the action.

20 Nov 2023 - 21:20
 (21:20 GMT)

Palestinian in Gaza compares life in enclave to Hunger Games

By Usaid Siddiqui

Al Jazeera producer

Gaza resident Omar says the besieged enclave is becoming a real-life version of Hollywood’s Hunger Games franchise.

Omar, who chose not to share his last name, says the 45-day-long war has made basic humanitarian necessities “very scarce” and, when available, extremely expensive.

“We walk miles to get water and buy it for triple the regular price,” Omar, who is currently residing in southern Gaza, told Al Jazeera. “We are lucky to be getting 0.5 litres [0.13 gallons] per day, per person. On the most amazing days, it’s up to 0.75 litres [0.2 gallons].

“With many bakeries either being bombed or over capacity, securing food on regular basis has also become cumbersome. Bread is also hard to come by. Many bakeries have been bombed or out of capacity.

“Wheat flour is like gold now, or even diamond. Very rare to find and expensive. Warm meals are available once every three days,” he said, adding that he cooked on a wooden fire with fuel unavailable for days on end.

Further exacerbating the situation, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the besieged territory have been forced to move south amid Israel’s ground invasion in northern Gaza. Carrying whatever few belongings they can, thousands travel every day on foot for hours in search of safety.

“So many people are staying in the streets after not finding any schools available to shelter in due to the continuous influx of people. The weather has been horribly cold the past few days with strong winds and rain making their lives even more horrible,” Omar said.

Displaced Palestinians sit by a tent in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 20, 2023 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]
20 Nov 2023 - 21:10
 (21:10 GMT)

Second US senator calls for ceasefire

Democrat Jeff Merkley has joined Richard Durbin in calling for a ceasefire, becoming only the second legislator in the 100-member US Senate to do so.

Merkley, who represents Oregon, made his appeal in a post on X.

“I am calling for a ceasefire – a cessation of hostilities by both sides,” he said.

“To endure, the ceasefire and the following negotiations must accomplish other essential objectives, including the release of all hostages and a massive influx of humanitarian aid.”

The failure of most US lawmakers to call for a ceasefire in Gaza underscores the widespread support Israel enjoys in Congress.

There have been increasing calls for humanitarian “pauses” in the fighting, however, and for checks on additional military aid to Israel requested by the White House.

Forty-one members of the US House of Representatives – a chamber with 435 seats – have also called for a ceasefire, according to a tracker maintained by the progressive Working Families Party.

20 Nov 2023 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Gaza health ministry says 100 patients evacuated from Indonesian Hospital

Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the patients were evacuated with the help of the Red Cross just hours after the hospital was hit in an Israeli attack that killed 12.

“One hundred patients were evacuated from the Indonesian hospital with the help of the ICRC,” al-Qudra told the AFP news agency.

He said another 100 would be taken out overnight to another facility in the southern town of Khan Younis.