Israel-Hamas war LIVE: More than 30 babies rescued from hospital ‘death zone’ as IDF hammers Gaza with air strikes and Qatar ignites hopes that hostages deal is imminent

• Some 10,000 people fled from the north of the Gaza Strip towards the south yesterday, according to the United Nations.
• That figure is based on estimates by UN observers on the ground, its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
• It noted that among those fleeing were unaccompanied minors.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement on X (translated):

Today, Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance crews, in coordination with the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), were able to evacuate 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa Hospital. They were transported by Red Crescent ambulances to the south, in preparation for their transfer to the Emirates Hospital in Rafah.

• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Muslim states to ‘at least cut off political ties with Israel for a limited period of time’, the Tasnim news agency reports.
• It comes weeks after he called for an Islamic oil and food embargo on Israel.
• At a November 11 conference, Muslim states did not agree to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Israel as requested by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.

• The IDF says a paratrooper brigade, supported by tanks and the air forces, are attacking the Sheikh Ejalin and Rimal neighborhoods in Gaza.
• ‘As part of the fighting, the fighters located about 35 tunnel shafts, many weapons and eliminated terrorists,’ the Israeli military said on X.
• Troops raided the homes of senior Hamas officials in the upmarket Rimal area, the IDF said, much of which has been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

• A spokesperson for the Hamas-run health ministry has claimed that 30 premature babies, reportedly evacuated from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City are being taken to medical facilities in Egypt.

• Qatar’s leader has said only ‘very minor’ details remain on a deal between Israel and Hamas to secure the release of some of some 238 Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
• ‘The challenges facing the agreement are just practical and logistical,’ he said during a press conference with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
• The plan is likely to involve the release of hostages in return for the release of Palestinian women and children held in Israel, it has been suggested.

• Gaza’s Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims that 30 premature babies were evacuated by a United Nations team from al-Shifa hospital.
• Earlier this morning, a World Health Organisation report indicated that 32 babies were left behind in a ‘critical’ condition after a mass evacuation from the hospital.

On 18 November 2023, an MSF staff’s relative died and another one was injured in an attack on an MSF convoy trying to evacuate 137 people – MSF Palestinian staff members and their families. They were trapped for a week in MSF premises located near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. MSF condemns in the strongest terms this deliberate attack.

• A World Health Organization (WHO) team is heading to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City to evacuate the babies, according to the Hamas-appointed director of hospitals in the enclave.
• An Associated Press reporter said they saw a convoy of ambulances, escorted by United Nations vehicles, heading north toward Gaza City.
• WHO has said it hopes to evacuate patients to southern Gaza.
• The IDF, which has taken control of the hospital, as said it is working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the compound, which it claims has been used as a Hamas command centre.

Read the full story here:

In a statement, the IDF said:

Following the alert in the north of the country a short time ago, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon.

• Yemen’s Houthi militia say they will target all ships owned and operated by Israeli companies or those carrying the Israeli flag, Reuters reports citing the group’s Telegram channel account.

Pictured: Houthi fighters conducting military exercises in Sana’a, Yemen, last month.

• The IDF says its warplanes destroyed Hamas infrastructure in the neighborhoods of Jabalia, Zeytun and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
• Troops of the Nahal Brigade fought on the outskirts of the Jabalia refugee camp, where the IDF said the encountered and eliminated Hamas fighters with the help of tanks and air support.

The IDF shared footage of overnight air assaults, as well as ground operations here:

• Israel and Hamas have not yet reached a deal on a temporary ceasefire, a White House spokesperson said last night. The U.S. is continuing to work to get a deal between the two sides.
• World Health Organization (WHO) officials described al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City as a ‘death zone’ after a visit to the complex. They said they observed a mass grave at the site which they were told contained the remains of 80 people.
• A large number of people left al-Shifa hospital amid conflicting reports over whether an evacuation was ordered by the Israeli military, which the IDF categorically denied.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a full ceasefire with Hamas and said he will only consider only a temporary pause in exchange for the return of hostages.
• The Hamas-run health ministry inside Gaza said yesterday that the official death toll is 12,300 people, including 5,000 children.
• Thousands of Israelis completed a five-day march on Jerusalem to demand a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss plans to save hostages captured by Hamas in the October 7 attacks.