As fighting over hospitals in Gaza intensifies, calls for restraint are growing louder as the war sparked by the deadly Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 enters its sixth week on Saturday.
► The French President Emmanuel Macron “calls on Israel to stop” Bombings kill civilians in GazaIn an interview with the BBC Broadcast on Friday. “We share the pain [d’Israël] But “de facto, civilians are being bombed today.” These babies, these women, these old people are being bombed and killed. »
► The Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are hosting a joint summit in Saudi Arabia this Saturday This should underscore the urgency of ending Israel’s attacks on Gaza before conflict engulfs the region.
► Schools and hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip were hit by deadly attacks According to Palestinian officials on Friday. Civilians seek refuge there to escape Israeli bombing raids. Hamas reported 13 dead in an attack on the Al-Shifa hospital complex, which the Israeli army denied.
► The Palestinian Hamas Ministry of Health announced that casualties from Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip had increased reached 11,078 deaths since the start of the war on October 7th, inclusive 4,506 children. More than since that date 1 200 Israelis were killed afterwards a downwardly revised balance sheet Friday. This is what the Israeli army reports 239 people were held hostage from Hamas.
Times given in Universal Time (UT), Click here renew
10:09 a.m.: What are the consequences of the resurgence of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Argentina, Italy, the USA or Egypt?
As a march against anti-Semitism is organized this Sunday in Paris, recalling the pro-Palestinian demonstrations often banned in France and the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic acts that have multiplied since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, RFI has asked what consequences have had the Middle East conflict for your correspondents in your countries?
Read alsoWORLD TOUR OF THE CORRESPONDENT What are the consequences of the resurgence of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Argentina, Italy, the United States and Egypt?
9:47 a.m.: A march against anti-Semitism in Paris on Sunday was marred by political divisions
The “Great Citizens’ March” begins on Sunday at 3 p.m. (French time, 2 p.m. UT) in Paris between the National Assembly and the Senate. Its initiators argue that it must be a signal for general mobilization in view of the resurgence of anti-Semitic attacks in France. “For the Republic, against anti-Semitism”: Behind this banner, the Presidents of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet and of the Senate Gérard Larcher will lead the procession.
A message marred by the disagreement over the criticized participation of the National Rally (RN) and the boycott of La France insoumise (LFI). Further meetings are planned in several cities in France.
A large security system with more than 3,000 police and gendarmes as well as mobilized elite units will be deployed, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on BFMTV on Friday.
This march, with no speeches or platforms planned, is intended to be “a cry of conscience to announce to the world that the French Republic does not allow and will never allow anti-Semitism to flourish,” wrote Yaël Braun-Pivet and Gérard Larcher in their appeal filed on Tuesday.
Since the start of the war triggered by the Hamas massacres in Israel on October 7, nearly 1,250 anti-Semitic acts have been recorded in the country, according to authorities.
9:06 a.m.: The Iranian president arrives in Saudi Arabia for the Gaza summit
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to attend an Arab-Islamic summit on the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to images from Saudi state television Al-Ekhbariya.
“Gaza is not an arena for words. We must act,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi said at Tehran airport before traveling to Riyadh, Portal reported. “Today the unity of Islamic countries is very important,” he added.
It is the first visit by an Iranian head of state to Saudi Arabia since Tehran and Riyadh ended years of hostilities under a China-brokered deal in March. “The summit will send a strong signal to warmongers in the region and lead to an end to war crimes in Palestine,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, accompanying Ebrahim Raïssi, said on the Padolat government website.
“America says it does not want the war to expand and has sent messages to Iran and several countries. But these statements are not in line with America’s actions,” Ebrahim Raïssi said during televised comments at Tehran airport: “The war machine in Gaza is in the hands of America, which prevents a ceasefire in Gaza and an expansion of the war.” The world must do that see the true face of America.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi during a speech at Mahrabad airport before his departure to Saudi Arabia for a summit on the war between Israel and Hamas, November 11, 2023. Via Portal – WANA NEWS AGENCY
Also read: In Saudi Arabia, Arab and Muslim leaders will demand an end to violence in Gaza
08:50: First Israeli attack deep in Lebanon
An Israeli strike on Saturday targeted a vehicle in southern Lebanon, about 45 km north of the shared border, marking the first attack deep into Lebanese territory since hostilities began in October, state media said. The official ANI agency, which reported no casualties, said that “an enemy drone attacked a van parked in an orchard in the Zahrani region” on the Lebanese coast.
Daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel have generally been confined to the border area between the two countries since the start of the war, which was sparked by Palestinian Hamas’s bloody attacks on Israeli soil on October 7. This is the first time that an Israeli attack has targeted a target far from the border.
This raid comes a few hours before the expected speech by the leader of the powerful Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, scheduled for 1:00 pm UT.
08:17: Israeli hostages held at Al-Shifa Hospital?
A senior Israeli official said Wall Street Journal that Israeli hostages could be held by Hamas in the basement of Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, making it difficult for the army to operate in the complex.
In addition, in recent weeks, thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have fled the bombings and sought refuge in the enclave’s largest hospital, believing they would be safe there.
A view of the exterior of Al-Chifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip, November 10, 2023. © ISMAIL ZANOUN / AFP
08:05: Hospitals in the Gaza Strip at the center of the fighting
As an AFP correspondent reported, violent fighting broke out between Israeli troops and fighters from the Islamist organization around Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the largest in the region.
The non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stated on Saturday morning that things were “catastrophic” at the facility. On Friday, Hamas reported 13 dead in an attack on this complex, where, like other hospitals in the area, civilians were also seeking refuge. Quoted by Doctors Without Borders, Maher Sharif, a nurse at the facility, described a “horror scene.” “I saw bodies, including women and children,” she said.
🔴UPDATE:
In the last few hours, attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital have increased dramatically. Our hospital staff reported a catastrophic situation inside just hours ago https://t.co/FSWagVTYF5.
— Doctors Without Borders International (@MSF) November 11, 2023
Read alsoIsrael-Hamas war: In Gaza, hospitals are surrounded by fighting
07:47: French-Palestinian nationals evacuated from Gaza arrive in Paris
French Palestinian nationals who were evacuated from the Gaza Strip on Thursday via the Rafah terminal in the south of the enclave arrived at Paris’ Orly airport on Friday evening. Men, women and children applauded warmly as they landed, as Youssef, a 60-year-old Franco-Palestinian, very moved at the microphoneEdmond Sadaka.
We will remain strong no matter what happens, and Gaza will win. Gaza will win!
Youssef, Gazoui at the age of 60
Edmond Sadaka
No official presence of the French state, which was deplored by several elected representatives from the left-wing Ile-de-France who came to welcome these returnees. Among them Patrice Leclerc, communist mayor of Gennevilliers. “It was important to welcome the French-Palestinian people evacuated from Gaza, especially since our French government does not show much compassion towards them,” he explains. The proof is that there are no representatives of France here to welcome them. That’s why it was important that elected officials, mayors, representatives, senators or ordinary citizens, welcomed them, just to have a human face to welcome them after the difficult trials. They have gone through difficult trials and I want to say “welcome” to them with a smile, so that even when it is dark we have a ray of sunshine on our faces, so that even through the trials they can say to themselves: there is hope. »
7:30 a.m.: A pro-Palestinian march under strict surveillance in London
Tens of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of London on Saturday for a pro-Palestinian march that will take place under strict police surveillance this weekend to commemorate the First World War ceasefire. A little more than a month after the deadly attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which then massively bombed the Gaza Strip, demonstrators, who had already been in large numbers in the capital over the past weekends, are calling for a ceasefire.
A police officer stands guard near Whitehall ahead of the solidarity protest with Palestinians in Gaza in London, November 11, 2023. © Portal/Hannah McKay
Organizing this march against the government’s advice became a political crisis. Interior Minister Suella Braverman is now under fire for questioning the neutrality of the police, who refused to ban the demonstration. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned London police chief Mark Rowley that he will hold him “responsible” for any riots, particularly if protesters disrupt Armistice Day commemorations planned for the same date in the capital.
“It is thanks to those who fought for this country and for the freedom we value that those who wish to demonstrate can do so, but they must do so in a respectful and peaceful way,” Downing Street said in a statement on Friday evening. The route of the march, which must begin at 12 noon local time (and UT), carefully avoids the Whitehall area where the main ceremony is scheduled to take place, particularly in the presence of the Prime Minister.
7:10 a.m.: “Only Israel can stop this war”: In Ramallah, the Palestinians are hoping for a ceasefire
Emergency meetings of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are taking place this Saturday as several countries seek a ceasefire, which is currently ruled out. Murielle Paradon And Boris Vicith When they went to Ramallah in the West Bank, they collected the statements of some Palestinians.
If Netanyahu ends the war, he believes he will lose. If he continues the war, he will lose it to Hamas. But only Israel can stop this war, not the Americans. Netanyahu is opposing them, and the same applies to the European heads of state and government.
Is a ceasefire possible?
Murielle ParadonBoris Vichit
06:45: Joint meetings of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
Arab leaders and Iran’s president are meeting in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a joint summit aimed at emphasizing the urgency of ending Israel’s attacks on Gaza before conflict grips the region. Five weeks after the start of the war triggered by the bloody attack on Israeli soil by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7, the emergency meetings of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are taking place in Riyadh.
The Arab League and the OIC were originally scheduled to hold their meetings separately, but the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced early Saturday that the two organizations’ summits would be held jointly. This decision underlines the need to “reach a unified collective position that expresses the shared Arab and Muslim will regarding the dangerous and unprecedented events in Gaza and the Palestinian territories,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The Arab League will “discuss the way forward on the international stage to end the aggression, support Palestine and its people, condemn the Israeli occupation and hold them accountable for their crimes,” said the Arab League’s deputy secretary general on Thursday Arab League, Hossam Zaki.
However, Islamic Jihad, Hamas’s ally in Gaza, said it expected “nothing” from the meeting. “We do not pin our hopes on such meetings” that have never produced results, Mohammad al-Hindi, the group’s deputy secretary general, said at a news conference in Beirut on Friday.
6:30 a.m.: Israel denies attacking Al-Shifa Hospital
An Israel Defense Forces statement released on Friday said the attack on Al-Shifa Hospital was the result of a failed rocket launch from the Gaza Strip by “terrorist organizations.” The Army includes an image of the flight path captured by its radar systems.
Earlier today, the IDF received reports of an attack on Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The Hamas-run media office in the Gaza Strip immediately claimed it was an IDF attack.
An investigation into the IDF’s operating systems revealed that a misfired projectile… pic.twitter.com/RzkR2vkKEI
— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) November 10, 2023
Earlier in the day, Hamas reported 13 dead in an attack on the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City. Hamas attributed this attack to Israel, as did the hospital’s director, Mohammed Abou Salmiya.
People stand outside the emergency room of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. Fierce fighting raged near Al-Shifa Hospital. Israel said it killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels crucial to Hamas’s ability to fight. Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas militants poured across the heavily militarized border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians © Khader Al Zanoun / AFP