Israel-Hamas war: Israeli military claims control of parliament building, other Hamas facilities in Gaza
Tuesday, 14 November 2023 (20:25 IST)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday said it had captured the parliament building along with other institutions run by the Hamas militant group in Gaza City.
"The battle team of the 7th Brigade took over the Hamas legislature, the government building, the Hamas police headquarters and an engineering faculty that served as an institute for the production and development of weapons," IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
צוות הקרב של חטיבה 7 השתלט על בית המחוקקים של החמאס, קריית הממשלה, מפקדת משטרת החמאס ופקולטה להנדסה ששימשה מכון לייצור ופיתוח אמצעי לחימה. במהלך הפעילות השתלטו הלוחמים על מתקן ״ג׳יזאת״ המכיל בתוכו מתחמי אימונים של ארגון הטרור חמאס, חמ״ל מבצעים, מתקני חקירות ומתקני מעצר >> pic.twitter.com/Y8QerIcb6K
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2023
The IDF spokesperson went on to say that Israeli forces had seized control of the "Gizat" facility which he said contained Hamas training facilities, operations headquarters and interrogation and detention facilities.
Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and the EU, among other states.
Lack of fuel halts water supply, UN humanitarian office says
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday said water supplies in southern Gaza had been halted due to a fuel shortage.
"Due to lack of fuel, public sewage pumping stations, 60 water wells in the south, the two main desalination plants in Rafah and the Middle Area, the two main sewage pumps in the south, and the Rafah wastewater treatment plant have all ceased operations," OCHA said in a statement, citing the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
"Coupled with the shutdown of municipal sanitation work, this is posing a serious threat to public health, increasing the risk of water contamination and the outbreak of diseases," OCHA said.
On Monday, UNRWA warned that its humanitarian operations, including aid distribution, would halt within 48 hours due to "the total depletion of its fuel reserves."
Israel's military confirms death of soldier held captive by Hamas
The Israeli army on Tuesday confirmed the death of a soldier who had been held captive by the Hamas militant group since the October 7 terror attacks.
Hamas issued a video of 19-year-old Noa Marciano showing her alive, followed by images which appeared to show her body along with closeup shots of a head wound.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas's military wing, said Marciano was killed in an Israeli strike.
Marciano's death brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the war to 47.
Israel's military did not say how Marciano was killed but said she had been posthumously promoted to corporal following her death.
More than 240 people are being held hostage by Hamas, according to Israeli officials.
At least 8 killed in West Bank during Israeli army operation
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank has reported the deaths of eight people, killed in an air strike during an Israeli military operation.
The Israeli military said forces were sent into Tulkarm near the boundary with Israel to detain suspected militants and came under fire. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that "an armed terrorist squad was eliminated from the air, firing and throwing explosives at our forces."
כוחות הביטחון הרסו בכפר עוריף שבשומרון את דירתו של מחבל נוסף מארגון הטרור חמאס שביצע את פיגוע הירי בתחנת הדלק ליד עלי; בפעילות של חטיבת כפיר במחנה הפליטים טול כרם חוסלה מהאוויר חולית מחבלים חמושה שירתה והשליכה מטענים לעבר כוחותינו pic.twitter.com/eJJtlSkxQa
The Palestinian Authority partly manages the West Bank — which is under Israeli military occupation — but has no control over Gaza, which has been dominated by Hamas since 2007.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the German government, the EU, the US and some Arab states amongst others. It took control of Gaza following a brief armed conflict with the Palestinian Authority, run by Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, that year.
Israeli air force hits 200 targets in Gaza — IDF
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the air force had "struck 200 terror targets, including terrorist weapon operatives, weapon production sites, anti-tank launchers and operational command centers."
This had taken place over a 24-hour period, and Israeli forces had also struck a camp it said was used by "Hamas' naval forces for training and weapons storage."
The IDF posted the information along with video footage of the strikes on the Telegram messaging service.
Israel's military has been attacking Hamas targets in Gaza since the militant group launched a terror attack on southern Israel on October 7.
IDF sending incubators to Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was in the process of "coordinating the transfer of incubators from a hospital in Israel to Gaza."
In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the IDF said that it was "doing everything we can to minimize harm to civilians, assist in evacuation, and facilitate the transfer of medical supplies and food."
The IDF is in the process of coordinating the transfer of incubators from a hospital in Israel to Gaza. pic.twitter.com/C8jyv0g3sE
Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry on Monday said that all hospitals in northern Gaza were no longer operational due to fuel shortages.
The ministry also said 32 patients had died at the Al-Shifa hospital over a three-day period, including three newborns.
Lula accuses Israel of 'killing innocent people'
Brazil's president has accused Israel of "killing innocent people without any criteria" in the Gaza Strip, saying its actions are "as grave" as the October 7 attacks by Islamist militant group Hamas.
"After the act of terrorism provoked by Hamas, the consequences, the solution of the state of Israel, is as grave as that of Hamas. They are killing innocent people without any criteria," Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday.
The leader of Latin America's largest country also accused Israel of "dropping bombs where there are children, hospitals, on the pretext that a terrorist is there."
Representatives of Brazil's Jewish community denounced these remarks as "erroneous", "unfair" and "dangerous", adding that they "put Israel and Hamas on the same level."
Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 11,078 people, mostly civilians, according to figures released on Friday from the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry.
Israel on Friday revised the official estimated death toll of the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas, lowering the number to about 1,200 people from more than 1,400.
Israeli tanks at gates of Gaza hospital, Biden urges care
Israeli tanks have taken up positions outside Al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza, according to reports citing witnesses in the area.
Fighting has raged around the medical complex, which Israel says sits above the subterranean headquarters of the Hamas militant group.
Hamas denies the Israeli claim.
Israel says it is not targeting the hospital but has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group launched the large-scale terror attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 people.
Meanwhile, in comments made on Monday, US President Joe Biden has said hospitals should be protected amid efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
"My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals, and we remain in contact with the Israelis," Biden told reporters at the White House.
"Also there is an effort to get this pause to deal with the release of prisoners and that's being negotiated, as well, with the Qataris ... being engaged," he added.
"So I remain somewhat hopeful, but hospitals must be protected."
Israeli army confirms identity of soldier held hostage by Hamas
The Israeli army confirmed the identity of a soldier being held hostage by Hamas, after the armed wing of the Islamist group published a video showing the young woman in captivity.
"Our hearts go out to the Marciano family, whose daughter, Noa, was brutally kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organisation," the army said in a statement released shortly after midnight.
Hamas gunmen abducted about 240 people when they stormed across the militarised border from Gaza on October 7.
Developments on Monday
US President Joe Biden says he hopes for "less intrusive action" at Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, as the World Health Organization (WHO) claims the facility is not functioning.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that fuel shortages mean that it will have to suspend its aid operations in Gaza within two days.
Meanwhile, relatives of people taken hostage by Hamas during its October 7 terror attacks on Israel gathered in Jerusalem on Monday to urge the United Nations to secure their release.
Israel's military said that its air force and ground forces have conducted 4,300 strikes since the beginning of the ground offensive in Gaza.
