All communications are down in Gaza because of lack of fuel, UNRWA says; Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza has been completely shut down

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Thai Muslim politicians said they had received assurances from Hamas that all of the Thai hostages being held would be among those released if mediators succeed in brokering a truce in Gaza, Reuters reports.

The Islamist militants took an estimated 240 people hostage on 7 October, and Thailand’s foreign ministry says 25 Thais were among those abducted, and 39 were among those killed that day.

Any ceasefire either three days or five days … Hamas will release hostages, including all Thais being held, which they promised.

This could be in less than 10 days or in the next two to three days.

Head of the World Health Organization calls decision to send troops into hospital ‘totally unacceptable’

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Israeli soldiers were inside Gaza’s largest hospital on Wednesday after an early morning raid that drew fierce condemnation from the head of the World Health Organization, who called it “totally unacceptable”.

The decision to send troops into al-Shifa hospital marked an escalation of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, amid increased calls for a ceasefire. Witnesses reported seeing tanks and masked soldiers in the grounds of the hospital around 3am as patients and civilians remained trapped inside.

IDF forces say they are targeting Hamas ‘in a certain part of the Shifa hospital’ after Gaza’s health ministry said it was warned by Israel that it would raid the facility ‘within minutes’

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Israel’s military has said that it again will open a corridor for people to move south within the Gaza Strip from 9am (7am GMT) to 4pm, and will also pause hostilities for a limited period of time between 10am and 2pm “in the neighbourhoods of al-Daraj and al-Tuffah”.

The message implores residents of Gaza “Please, for your safety, join the hundreds of thousands of residents who have moved south in recent days,” adding: “Residents of Gaza, do not surrender to Hamas, which has lost control over the northern Gaza Strip area and is trying to do everything it can to prevent you from moving south and protect yourselves.”

Staff say they fear rising numbers of deaths at hospital on third day without power, and with shooting and bombing outside

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Dozens of corpses lay on the courtyard outside Gaza’s largest hospital, covering the ground next to a blue refrigerated truck that had long ceased to be able to keep the bodies cool. Most of the bodies were shrouded in colourful blankets originally meant for the living, after the hospital ran out of white bodybags. A severely burnt arm protruded from one of the blankets. Elsewhere, according to video footage seen by the Guardian, the charred body of a child was visible among the soft folds of the material.

“We are under siege,” said Munir al-Boursh, a doctor who is also a Palestinian health ministry undersecretary, speaking from inside Dar al-Shifa hospital. The facility had intended to dig a mass grave until Israeli tanks and snipers encircled the the complex on Friday, making movement around it impossible.

Health officials say patients dying due to energy shortages as fighting between Israel and Hamas intensifies

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Israeli forces have reached the gates of Gaza’s largest hospital as hundreds of patients, including dozens of babies, remained trapped inside.

Thousands of people have fled al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, but health officials said the remaining patients were dying due to energy shortages amid intense fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants.

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The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has published to its Telegram channel additional details of what it claims are its anti-terrorist operations in Al-Shati camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

It says that over the past 24 hours, “soldiers killed numerous terrorists and uncovered a large number of terrorist infrastructure in the area”.

During one of the battles with the terrorists, IDF troops identified civilians who were located in a building in the area. The IDF secured an evacuation route for the civilians, and as the civilians were evacuating, terrorists fired at the troops from the outskirts of the area. In order to protect the evacuation route, IDF troops responded with light weapons fire and tanks to kill the terrorists.

In another engagement, IDF troops identified a terrorist cell barricaded inside a house in the area and posed a threat to the forces. IDF troops directed an aircraft and fired at the terrorists, killing the terrorists. In addition, following an identification of an anti-tank missile launched from a weapons storage facility inside a building, a fighter jet struck the source of the fire.

Israel justifies attacks saying they are on Hamas bunkers and infrastructure in the area but the assault comes with diplomatic risks

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Establishing control over al-Shifa hospital is a key Israeli objective for military and political reasons. The sprawling complex dominates the centre of Gaza City, where Hamas has much of its administrative infrastructure, and is close to the main north-south road that runs along the coast.

Destroying the ability of Hamas to govern Gaza is one of the stated aims of the Israeli offensive.

Thousands move south as Israeli forces inch closer to two big hospitals in north where many have sought refuge

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Thousands of Palestinians continued to flee south from northern Gaza on Thursday as the White House announced that Israel would begin to implement four-hour “humanitarian pauses” in parts of the area to allow people to leave.

The US national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said the pauses would allow people to pass along two humanitarian corridors, which he described as “a significant first step”.

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Two Israelis were shot overnight into Thursday and moderately wounded while driving in the northern West Bank, the Associated Press reports, citing Israeli media. A baby in the back seat of the car was unharmed, the reports said.

It was the second shooting attack on Israeli drivers in the West Bank in a week. On 2 November, an Israeli man was killed after his car was shot at, then crashed and overturned.

IDF says 50,000 people moved south on Wednesday, up from 15,000 a day earlier, claiming Hamas has lost control of the north; health organisation warns of ‘worrying trends’ in disease in Gaza

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Tens of thousands of Palestinians fled northern Gaza on Wednesday, the Israel Defence Forces said, as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of “worrying trends” in the risk of disease in the territory after weeks of Israeli airstrikes.

The accelerating exodus came as Israeli forces closed in on the centre of Gaza City, launching intense bombardments, and claimed that Hamas had lost control of the north of the territory.