Gaza, 11-14-23

For today, a link to a report from a former Dispatch News Service, United Press International, Associated Press and New York Times reporter and author, followed by links to reports from Agence France-Presse, Reuters, AP, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on the sources’ names or initials below. (Today’s UKRAINE entry is HERE.) — MCM

   

NEWER  Hamas’s Alamo, by Seymour Hersh | Substack  Hamas, with its leadership in flight and its fighters surrounded and outgunned in sniper fire near the still standing hospitals in Gaza City, has begun talking about an exchange of Hamas  prisoners in Israel for the hostages it captured in its surprise terrorist attack on October 7. The initial proposal went nowhere but Israeli officials were more than willing to talk. The last minute Hamas offer . . . READ MORE . . .

   

NEWER  Red Cross has not met Israeli hostages, no proof of life: Isaeli FM. From AFP. The Red Cross has not met any of the hostages being held by in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said today after meeting the ICRC president. “None of our hostages met the Red Cross… we don’t have any proof of life,” Cohen said at the United Nations in Geneva  following . . .  READ MORE . . .

   

Mass grave inside Israeli-encircled Gaza hospital, no plan to rescue babies, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams | Reuters  GAZA / JERUSALEM — Palestinians trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital were digging a mass grave today to bury patients who died under Israeli encirclement, and said no plan was in place to evacuate babies despite Israel announcing an offer to send portable incubators. Israeli forces have surrounded Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, which they say sits atop . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Palestinians call for evacuation of hundreds of patients and newborns from Gaza’s largest hospital, by Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy | AP  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian authorities proposed a Red Cross-supervised evacuation of a hospital beset by fighting in Gaza today, as health officials warned that the only way to save three dozen newborns trapped there would be to call a cease-fire and transport them out of the besieged territory. After days . . . READ MORE . . .

   

More than 180,000 people across France march against soaring antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war, by Sylvie Corbet and Barbara Surk | AP  PARIS — More than 180,000 people across France, including 100,000 in Paris, marched peacefully on Sunday to protest against rising antisemitism in the wake of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. READ MORE . . .

         

Is Hamas hiding in Gaza’s main hospital? Israel’s claim is now a focal point in a dayslong stalemate, by Josef Federman | AP  JERUSALEM — Gaza’s Shifa Hospital has become the focus of a dayslong stalemate in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group. Shifa is Gaza’s largest and best-equipped hospital. Israel, without providing visual evidence, claims the facility also is used by Hamas for military purposes. It says Hamas has . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Medics and patients, including babies, stranded as battles rage around Gaza hospitals, by Najib Jobain and Jack Jeffrey | AP  KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Battles between Israel and Hamas around hospitals forced thousands of Palestinians to flee from some of the last perceived safe places in northern Gaza, stranding critically wounded patients, newborns and their caregivers with dwindling supplies and no electricity, health officials said Monday. Also on Monday, the military released footage of a children’s hospital that . . . READ MORE . . .

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A look into how Gaza’s hospitals are struggling to get by. Reported by Linah Mohammad, Ailsa Chang and Kathryn Fox | NPR  Dr. Amber Alayyan, Doctors Without Borders’ deputy operations manager for Palestine, talks about the situation in Gaza’s hospitals. Click HERE to listen and read.

   

Proposed congressional spending plan leaves out military aid for Ukraine and Israel. Reported by Gus Contreras, Tinbete Ermyas and Ari Shapiro | NPR  New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser speaks about Congress’s upcoming spending plan and how that relates to funding for Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Israeli military veteran sounds the alarm about Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. Leila Fadel of NPR asks Ori Givati, a former Israeli tank commander, about the increase in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.