The Israel Defense Forces have taken control of key government facilities in Gaza.
Photo: REUTERS
The Israel Defense Forces have taken control of key government facilities in Gaza that were previously in Palestinian hands. The reported takeover includes Hamas legislative and government buildings, police stations, and the governor’s residence. Following this, the Israeli military announced a four-hour pause in hostilities, giving civilians the opportunity to leave the city. However, Hamas militants claim to be in control of the situation on the battlefield and stress that “the battle is just beginning.”
Chronicle of the war in the Middle East: latest news on the conflict between Israel and Palestine on November 13, 2023
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Tel Aviv is preparing operational plans to ensure security in the north of the country. He approved the defensive and offensive plans and ordered all forces to be on high alert.
IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner added that as a result of the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, more than a million people may have left the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, during the escalation of the conflict, the Israeli army attacked about 15 thousand targets.
Knesset members Denis Danon and Ram Ben-Barak noted that the international community should seek possible solutions to the problems of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, including welcoming all those who want to leave the enclave. At the same time, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Keila indicated that all hospitals in the enclave still providing services could close if fuel is not supplied within two days.
The IDF demolished steles depicting former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. In response, Hamas fired rockets at the Israeli Raim military base.
Foreign participation
Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on his American counterpart, Joe Biden, to ensure a truce in Gaza and “stop the atrocities.” At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged the existence of disagreements within the State Department over the approach taken by the Biden administration in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Former State Department official Wael Alzayat also suggested that even if Washington advocates for a ceasefire in the sector, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likely won’t listen. American journalist Seymour Hersh added that Tel Aviv wants to control the Gaza border with Egypt and assume full responsibility for the security of the sector.
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch has demanded that repeated Israeli attacks on hospitals in the enclave, which worsen the humanitarian situation in Gaza, be investigated as war crimes. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also called Israel’s actions full-fledged war crimes.
The American Center for Constitutional Rights has sued the Biden administration on behalf of Palestinians for providing aid to Israel. Turkey also filed a lawsuit against Netanyahu with the International Criminal Court, accusing him of genocide in the sector.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said his country was shocked by the attack on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building in the Gaza Strip and strongly condemns. And the WHO representative, Margaret Harris, recalled that the frequency of attacks on medical facilities in the enclave is unprecedented in the history of conflicts.
Palestinian refugee camp.
Photo: REUTERS
Dead and injured as a result of hostilities
The number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground operation in Gaza has reached 46. The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed the death of its soldier, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. He turned out to be 19-year-old Corporal Noah Marciano, who served in the Border Troops Battalion.
The Committee for Palestinian Prisoners reported that since the escalation of the conflict, Israeli intelligence services have already detained more than 2.5 thousand Palestinians. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the total number of victims in Gaza reached 11,500 people and more than 29,000 were injured.
LISTEN TOO
The director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vitaly Naumkin, spoke in an interview with Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda about the military operation that the IDF is currently carrying out in the Gaza Strip, whether it will finally be completed and which one It is considered its end. (more details)
