Updates

23 November 2023

I hope to see you again, my beloved Gaza,” Mahmoud Nasser writes in a photo essay documenting his journey from the place he calls home and all the memories it holds.

“The question that 2.3 million captives in Gaza are now asking is: What’s next?” writes Khalil Abu Shammala from the coastal enclave.

“There was a sense of relief in the house where I am staying when news of a long-awaited truce – albeit a temporary one – was announced,” writes Ghada Abed from Gaza. “After nearly 50 days of a war that has left communities shattered and lives upended, anything that brings a tiny bit of peace is welcome.”

Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh has continued broadcasting after his wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed by an Israeli airstrike last month. “I refused to let the occupation achieve its goal of shattering this voice,” he said in an interview with Abubaker Abed.

A crowded lot full of children waving their arms in a group activity

Children participate in an activity while sheltering at al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on 23 November.

Omar Ashtawy APA images

In a detailed statement released on social media, the Qassam Brigades laid out the terms agreed upon with Israel for a four-day combat pause and partial prisoner exchange. The English language translation was provided by the Qassam Brigades. The Israeli government has not publicly outlined the exact details on which they voted during a six-hour session approving the deal.

Israeli attacks by air, land and sea intensified over the past 24 hours across Gaza, according to UN OCHA’s daily report. Meanwhile ground battles with Palestinian fighters were reported in northern Gaza, “Jabaliya in particular,” OCHA added, with “many casualties” reported over the past 24 hours, soon before a humanitarian pause and prisoner exchange agreed to by Israel and Hamas.

The anti-poverty group Oxfam International warned that “the collapse of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare system, coupled with the catastrophic living conditions, is resulting in babies dying of preventable causes.” Oxfam International added that newborns in their first three months of life “are dying of diarrhea, hypothermia, dehydration and infection as mothers have little to no medical support and are living in appalling conditions without water, sanitation, heat or food.” The network of doctors belonging to Juzoor, an organization operating in northern Gaza, said that “premature births have increased by between 25-30 percent, as stressed and traumatized pregnant women face a myriad of challenges” due to displacement, bombing and squalid conditions at overcrowded shelters. Meanwhile, according to Oxfam International, “without essential equipment and medical support, premature and underweight babies have little to no chance of survival.”

Israel bombarded the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, the spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said, adding “we fear for the lives of 200 patients and medical staff.” WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, reported that Israeli warplanes and artillery units targeted the entrances to the hospital and its power generators, “resulting in severe damage and a complete power outage across the hospital.” Tanks are surrounding the hospital, which has been under siege for the past four days.

UN OCHA reported that “three children, including an infant in an incubator, died” in Kamal Odwan hospital in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, on 22 November due to lack of electricity. “The vicinity of the hospital was heavily bombarded that day, reportedly resulting in dozens of fatalities,” OCHA added, noting that Kamal Odwan is one of only two hospitals in the northern half of Gaza “that are still operational and admitting patients, albeit with limited services.”

The government media office in Gaza announced that as of 6:00 pm, “more than 14,800 people have been killed in Gaza, including about 6,000 children and 4,000 women,” UN OCHA reported. “This office, which is under the local authorities in Gaza, has assumed [the ministry of health’s] role following the collapse of services and communications at hospitals in the north.”

Israeli forces arrested the director of al-Shifa hospital, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, while he was evacuating from the northern half of Gaza to the south. Israeli media reported that Abu Salmiya was taken in for questioning by the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency that is notorious for abuses against Palestinian detainees. Khalid Abu Samra, an official at al-Shifa, said that “several other senior doctors” were arrested. On 22 November, three paramedics with the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the companion of a patient were arrested by Israeli troops during an evacuation of people from al-Shifa hospital.

In an video message broadcast on day 48 of the war, Abu Obeida of the Qassam Brigades acknowledged the multiple fronts of resistance battling Israel in the past six weeks. He named Ansarullah in Yemen, Hizballah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, all of whom have launched attacks of various kinds at Israeli and US targets dozens of times each since 7 October, expressly in support of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. The previous day, the Qassam Brigades released a video that showed its fighters battling the Israeli military in Gaza City and hitting several tanks and armored troop carriers, including one scene where a fighter attempts to enter the Israeli troop carrier through its back door.