Gaza death toll rises

At least 43,665 people have been killed and 103,076 wounded in Israeli military attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the enclave’s Health Ministry says.

Of those, 62 Palestinians were killed and 147 wounded in the latest 48-hour reporting period, the ministry added.

UN condemns Israel’s mass arrests, ‘gratuitous humiliation’ of Palestinians in West Bank

The UN’s human rights office has denounced the Israeli military for its “mass arrests, ill-treatment, and gratuitous humiliation of Palestinians during raids in refugee camps and towns across the West Bank”.

It said information gathered by its staff showed a “pattern of unnecessary, disproportionate and otherwise unlawful force” by Israeli forces in several Palestinian communities over the past month, “despite in many cases there being no apparent threat to public order or the security of the occupying forces”.

Another riot in the streets of Amsterdam

Youth claiming solidarity with Palestinians have attacked a tram in the suburb of the capital. They set it on fire, smashed windows, and yelled abusive language.



Tensions have been running high here for days following last week’s violent clashes with Israeli football supporters.

The arrival of more than 3,000 Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam last week was not considered high risk by Dutch authorities, although one Jewish activist told police they are widely known for political violence in Israel and many serve as soldiers in Gaza.

“We explained to them that there’s also going to be people who are serving in Gaza, participating in the genocide, and that is another very big risk factor. These are not regular hooligans. For them, coming to Amsterdam was a little bit demonstration, a pro-Israeli demonstration. So it was not only about football,” said Yuval Gal of the Erev Yav Jewish Collective.

A taxi driver who wanted his identity to be protected told us on his lawyer’s phone what happened when he was filming Maccabi’s support of staring down Palestinian flags. “A hooligan dressed in black came to my taxi and tried to drag me out and started to damage the car. Another person came with an iron chain and hit my car several times. I reported this to the police, but they did not take action.”

His lawyer Adem Catbas is documenting other cases of violence and racism committed by Maccabi fans.

Now, an emergency meeting has been called at the City Hall, aiming to provide answers on what exactly happened during last week’s riots. The violent role of Maccabi supporters is becoming clearer and people are challenging the description by politicians of a pogrom against Jews.

Israelis comfortable chanting ‘genocidal hate songs’ during ‘actual genocide’

Orly Noy, editor at the Local Call, an independent Israeli media agency, says that since last week’s violent clashes involving Israeli football supporters in the Dutch capital, “the entire” Israeli media have described the incident as a “brutal anti-Semite pogrom”.

Readers were given the impression that an innocent group of Israeli football fans were brutally attacked, that they feared for their lives and were hiding in different places in the city, she told Al Jazeera.

“How do we get to a place where a group of Israelis feel so comfortable and so confidant to march about one of the major cities in Europe and chant genocidal hate songs while an actual genocide is being committed by their country?” she asked.

Noy added that “there is an incredible amount of detachment” by Israelis who “do not see what the rest of the world is seeing”, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

“For over a year, the Israelis are constantly being given the impression by the Israeli media and the Israeli leadership that we are the sole victims, we are the ones under attack, we are the innocent victims. It’s unbelievable,” she concluded.

Racist language used in Amsterdam City Council meeting after riots

The Amsterdam City Council has held a meeting in the wake of violent clashes between pro-Palestine supporters and fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv last week.

Racist language has been used in this debate when referring to the Moroccan community in Amsterdam. We have seen far-right parties going after Mayor Femke Halsema, saying she is not protecting the Jewish community, while the centre and left-wing parties have been asking why she immediately called the riots anti-Semitic without putting them in context.

This has been a very divisive issue. Far-right parties have called for anti-immigration measures and even deportations of people who are born in The Netherlands, while the other camp has been calling for the narrative to take into account the racist chants by Maccabi fans that led to the events.

Witness To Israeli Hooligan Rampage Exposes How Media LIED About Her Footage

Two killed as rockets target northern Israel

At least two people have been killed in northern Israel in a rocket attack targeting Nahariya, Israeli media reported quoting the local ambulance service. The Israeli army earlier said 10 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israel.

Five killed in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

At least five people have been killed in an Israeli strike on the town of Tefahta in southern Lebanon, the Health Ministry said. Earlier, five people were killed and two injured in a separate Israeli strike on the Lebanese town of Baalshamieh, in the Aley district of Mount Lebanon.


Latest figures from Israeli attacks on Lebanon

Hezbollah says missiles fired towards Tel Aviv as flights halted

Hezbollah said it fired missiles at a military air base south of Tel Aviv as the Israeli army said it intercepted projectiles fired from Lebanon. Sirens sounded across central Israel and Israeli media reported flight operations were temporarily suspended at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Hezbollah targets Israeli logistics base

The Lebanese armed group says it attacked a logistics base east of the city of Nahariya with a “squadron of attack drones”. Earlier, Hezbollah said it had intercepted an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of the western sector, saying “we forced it to leave Lebanese airspace”.

Houthis say attacks launched on US vessels

Yemen’s Houthi group says its fighters have conducted two military operations in the Red and Arabian Seas.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement on X that the group targeted the United States aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea with cruise missiles and drones.

The other operation targeted two US destroyers in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones, according to the statement.

Saree said these operations will not cease until the US-supported wars on Gaza and Lebanon end.

Pentagon confirms Houthis attacked US warships

The Houthis targeted two US destroyers with drones and missiles as they transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait but the warships “defeated” the attacks, the Pentagon said.

The ships “were attacked by at least eight one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems, five antiship ballistic missiles and three antiship cruise missiles, which were successfully engaged and defeated”, Pentagon spokesperson Major-General Pat Ryder told journalists.

“The vessels were not damaged, no personnel were hurt.”

The Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in attacks they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza – a significant international security challenge that threatens a major shipping lane.

The United States and other countries have deployed military vessels to help shield shipping from the Houthi strikes, but acknowledgement of attacks directly targeting American warships is rare.

UN says Israeli construction work violates ceasefire agreement on Syria border

UN peacekeepers have warned that the Israeli military committed “severe violations” of a ceasefire deal with Syria, as its military carried out a major construction project along the border that separates the Israel-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, The AP has reported.

AP quoted the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) as saying that Israeli work along the Alpha Line risked further inflaming tensions in the region.

“Such severe violations of the [demilitarized zone] have the potential to increase tensions in the area and is being closely monitored by UNDOF,” the UN agency said. The comments come after AP published satellite imagery showing the extent of the works along the frontier.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment. UNDOF said it repeatedly protested the work, which it described as violating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement over the months of construction.

New UN Report Reveals Atrocity Crimes in Occupied Gaza Since 7 October 2023

On November 8, 2024, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk released a report detailing the severe human rights violations in Israel and Gaza since October 7, 2023. The report highlights concerns about the Israeli Defense Forces' actions, including forcible transfers, systematic attacks on hospitals and journalists, and the alleged use of white phosphorus munitions. Türk emphasizes the necessity for immediate cessation of violence, the release of hostages and arbitrarily detained individuals, and the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza. He urges international support for accountability mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court, and calls for the exercise of universal jurisdiction to address these grave violations of international law.

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/update-report-08nov24/

Grave situation in north Gaza amid Israeli strikes: UN

The UN Human Rights office in the occupied Palestinian territory says the Israeli military’s repeated strikes have led to massive civilian deaths in north Gaza in the last five weeks while its siege has cut off the population from humanitarian aid, medical care and emergency rescue service.

Most of the incidents, the OHCHR said in a statement, were strikes on residential buildings where entire families were sheltering, resulting in a high number of fatalities

“The strikes have disproportionally affected women, older people and people with disability, many of whom are reportedly trapped due to restricted movement and attacks on escape routes,” it said.

It also said that the Israeli military has attacked the workers of the Palestinian civil defence department, forcing the department to suspend its operations on October 24, “depriving residents of North Gaza all support in recovering their loved ones who are left to die trapped under rubble”.

‘No aid getting into Gaza’

On Friday, the UN-backed Famine Review Committee (FRC) issued a rare alert revealing that the number of aid shipments being let into Gaza is now lower than at any time since Israel’s war on the enclave began last year.

According to United Nations reports, 80 percent of Gaza’s population now relies on humanitarian aid for their daily needs.

Um Mohammed, who lives in a makeshift tent in Deir el-Balah, says her family is struggling to survive. She and her family were forcibly displaced from Jabalia in northern Gaza when the war began over a year ago.

“I mainly depend on the aid centre to feed my children, but now there is no aid getting into Gaza,” the mother of six told Al Jazeera. “I tend to use canned food and grains to prepare a meal for my family. The last time I ate meat was two months ago.”

In September, the UN said Israel blocked the entry of 83 percent of food aid into the Gaza Strip since the war began.

“We used to have from 700 to 800 aid trucks per day in September 2023,” Amjad Al Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, told Al Jazeera. “We now have such a severe humanitarian crisis… we have from 30 to 40 trucks a day maximum.”

Israeli military still obstructing aid delivery to Gaza: NRC

Israel is obstructing the delivery of aid to Gaza in several ways in violation to its obligations under international law, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said.

“First and foremost, they are obstructing aid from entering through the crossings,” Shaina Low, NRC’s communications adviser, told Al Jazeera. “Aid is arbitrarily rejected and essential supplies are not allowed in, including timber to help people build shelters as they face winter.

“Sometimes the requests to access those crossings are denied for over a month.”

Once the aid enters Gaza, aid workers must request safe routes through which they can safely distribute the aid.

“Israel often denies requests to move from place to place in order to reach Palestinian families that are in desperate need,” Low said.

Israeli rights group says Israel failed to heed US Gaza aid requirements

Gisha – the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement says Israel has not met the requirements specified in a letter by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and, instead, there has been a “dramatic decrease” in the quantity of goods Israel has allowed into Gaza.

“The situation is particularly serious in the north of the Strip. Israel has implemented a plan to tighten the siege on the area, starving the population there and forcibly displacing them,” Gisha said in a statement.

“Even if Israel were to adhere to the US demands, this alone would not reverse the catastrophe in Gaza,” the group said.

Trump picks Mike Huckabee for US ambassador to Israel

Donald Trump said he is going to nominate former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the US ambassador to Israel.

Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align US foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement.

Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007 and spent two decades as an evangelical minister in a number of US churches.

_{Mike Huckabee speaks during a news conference at the Christians United for Israel’s 10th annual summit}

Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, is a staunch supporter of Israel and defender of illegal Israeli settlements. He is also a proponent of Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Huckabee, 69, has criticised Biden for even applying mild pressure on Israel to moderate its conduct in its war on Gaza.

“If a person is pro-Israel, how can you be pro-Biden because the Biden administration has made it very clear they will make concessions to Hamas,” Huckabee said in an interview in March on News Nation.

Huckabee has led paid tour group visits to Israel for years, frequently advertising the trips on conservative-leaning news outlets.

David Friedman, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Israel in his first term, said he was “thrilled” by Trump’s selection of Huckabee.

Palestinians in Beit Hanoun ordered to flee south

In Beit Hanoun, since the beginning of Israel’s operation in Jabalia, families have been stuck without having proper access to food supplies for almost a month.

Earlier today, the Israeli army surrounded an evacuation centre and a school housing hundreds of Palestinians, calling on them to flee southwards. Lots of men have been detained and taken to undisclosed locations. We’ve been in touch with some who were released, and they say that they went through a nightmare.

The Israeli soldiers had ordered women to flee southwards without allowing them to take any sort of aid. As soon as they left the school, they were targeted by Israeli quadcopter drones as a method of intimidation.

Israeli attack targets Palestinians waiting for aid in northern Gaza

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that Israeli forces bombed a residential building where Palestinians were waiting for aid, northwest of Gaza City, resulting in a number of casualties.

Earlier, an Israeli air raid hit the area of the Gaza Sports Club in Gaza City, causing several injuries.

Israeli forces shoot Palestinian at checkpoint near Nablus: Report

Israeli soldiers have shot a Palestinian man at a checkpoint near the town of Deir Sharaf, northwest of Nablus, the Wafa news agency has reported. The Palestinian Health Ministry says that the man has died. In a statement, the ministry identified him as 18-year-old Waleed Ashraf Mohammed Hussein.

The Israeli army claimed Hussein was “armed with a knife” and “attempted to stab” soldiers at a military checkpoint near the town of Deir Sharaf, northwest of Nablus. No injuries were reported to Israeli soldiers.

Recap for November 12th