Current events: 2023-11-11

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  • Siege of Gaza City
    • Israeli tanks and snipers fire at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City from within twenty meters, where around 14,000 displaced people are sheltering in a state of "extreme panic and fear", the Palestinian Red Crescent says. (ABC News)
    • Al-Shifa Hospital's director says the medical complex is "completely cut off", with any "moving person targeted" by Israeli forces. (Al Jazeera)
    • Israeli forces have shelled Gaza's largest hospital with white phosphorus munitions banned under international law, Palestine health minister Mai al-Kaila said. (Al Jazeera)
  • War crimes in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
    • At least 45 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank following Israeli punitive demolitions, which is a "form of collective punishment and are prohibited under international law", the UN’s Humanitarian Affairs Office said in a statement. (OCHA) (Al Jazeera)
    • Digital rights organization Access Now has said that shutdowns affecting internet access in the Gaza Strip are providing "cover for human rights atrocities", which is being exacerbated by Israel's control over information flows and internet access. (Al Jazeera)
    • The Norwegian Refugee Council has condemned Israel's attacks on Gaza's hospitals, calling for an urgent ceasefire and the protection of medical staff, saying "it is an affront to wage war around and on hospitals". (Al Jazeera)
    • Médecins Sans Frontières confirms reports that people are being shot at as they try to exit the al-Shifa Hospital, saying "at the time of writing, our staff are witnessing people being shot at as they attempt to flee". (Al Jazeera)
    • MSF say attacks on the al-Shifa Hospital have "dramatically intensified" and staff have reported "a catastrophic situation". MSF also report that it is unable to contact its staff at the hospital and that it is “extremely concerned” about their safety and that of patients. (First Post)
  • The transfer of solid waste to landfill has stopped across the Gaza Strip because of insecurity and a lack of fuel, UN agency OCHA says. Infectious diseases including diarrhoea and chickenpox are rising rapidly, the World Health Organization says, while medical organizations have been warning of the risk of a cholera epidemic. (Al Jazeera)
  • At least 11,078 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. The UN agency OCHA says 168 Palestinians, including 46 children, have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Another eight, including one child, were killed by Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Sudan
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • The Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Khartoum North, is destroyed amid intense fighting in the capital Khartoum. Both sides blame each other for its destruction. (Sudan Tribune)

Business and economy

• About 150 garment factories in Ashulia and Gazipur, Bangladesh, close indefinitely after violent protests demanding higher minimum wages result in the police filing charges against 11,000 workers. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and incidents

• 2023 Iceland earthquakes
  • The tourist hotspot Blue Lagoon is closed by Icelandic authorities as a volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula is expected in the "coming hours". (The Independent)

International relations

• International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  • The Arab-Islamic emergency summit releases a statement calling for the ending of the Gaza siege, demanding aid be allowed to enter Gaza, and calling for a cessation of arms exports to Israel. The statement also rejects describing Israel's war as "self-defence" and condemned Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank. (Al Jazeera)
  • Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has condemned the international community for remaining silent on the suffering of Palestinian civilians while allowing Israel to violate international law. (Al Jazeera)
  • Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the "policies of collective punishment" in Gaza were unacceptable and "cannot be justified by self-defence or any other claims". (Al Jazeera)
  • Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, has called on Arab countries to take stronger action to protect civilians in Gaza and to exercise pressure to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including through the opening of one additional border crossing. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• 2023 Israel–Hamas war protests
  • Hundreds of thousands of people gather in Central London to march in solidarity with Palestine, chanting "stop bombing Gaza" and "ceasefire now". (Al Jazeera)
• Disinformation in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  • HonestReporting, an Israel-based media watchdog, has admitted that the group had no evidence to back up their claims that some journalists were accomplices in the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. (Al Jazeera)
• Spanish police arrest 121 people on charges related to child pornography, seizing nearly 500 terabytes of material. (AFP via NST)

Politics and elections

• Pope Francis removes Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler in Texas, United States, due to his criticism of the Catholic Church's progressive views under Francis. He is temporarily replaced by Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of the Diocese of Austin. (AP)

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