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18-11-2023
GAZA CITY/ OHIO: Israeli strikes continue across Gaza, with the enclave under a communications blackout as the main telecommunications provider ran out of fuel for its generators.
Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza, says “thousands of women, children, sick and wounded are in danger of death” as Israel continues its raid on al-Shifa for a third night, in an attempt to find an elusive Hamas command and control centre it has long claimed is located there.
Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza “completely out of service”, the director tells Al Jazeera, even as it grapples with more patients who have been unable to get medical care at al-Shifa.
At least 11,470 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, but the figure has not been updated for days due to the collapse of the health system amid Israel’s attacks. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s attacks stands at more than 1,200.
However, calls for a ceasefire in Gaza remain off the table, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes calls to top officials from Israel and Egypt.
The US State Department said that Blinken spoke with Israeli war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz about efforts to accelerate the transit of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and the release of hostages.
The statement said that Blinken also urged Gantz to take “urgent” action to stop settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Blinken also spoke separately with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The State Department said that Blinken reaffirmed the importance of concrete steps to minimise harm to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and reaffirmed Washington’s rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Syrian state media has said that the country’s air defence confronted “enemy targets” on the outskirts of Damascus, early on Friday.
A military source had told SANA that the attack took place at 2:25am local time (2325 GMT Thursday) and that the missiles had been fired from the Golan Heights – Syrian territory which is illegally occupied by Israel.
The source added that “most” of the missiles fired towards Damascus had been shot down, but that there had been some material damage caused by the attack. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
