Live updates | Thousands more flee northern Gaza as Israeli troops battle Palestinian militants

Fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in northern Gaza caused another 200,000 people to flee south in the past 10 days, the U.N. humanitarian office said Tuesday.

The humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said only one hospital in the north is capable of treating patients. Some of the fighting is around hospitals where patients, newborns and medics are stranded with no electricity and dwindling supplies. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its fighters, alleging that Hamas has set up its main command center in and beneath Shifa hospital, the largest in the besieged territory. Both Hamas and Shifa hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations.

The southern part of Gaza is not much safer. Israel carries out frequent airstrikes against what it says are militant targets that often kill women and children.

More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes since the war began.

Gaza City, the largest urban area in the territory, is the focus of Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas following the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel that set off the war.

More than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.

More than 1,200 people in Israel died, most of them in the Hamas attack, and about 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by Palestinian militants.

Currently:

— Thousands flee Gaza’s main hospital but hundreds, including babies, still trapped by fighting

— Is Hamas hiding in Gaza’s main hospital? Israel’s claim is now a focal point in a dayslong stalemate

— EU nations condemn Hamas for what they describe as use of hospitals, civilians as ‘human shields’

— Biden’s initial confidence on Israel gives way to the complexities and casualties of a brutal war

— Detroit-area doctor grieves the loss of 20 relatives killed during Israel’s war against Hamas

— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here’s what’s happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

ISRAEL SAYS IT SHOT DOWN A MISSILE TARGETING RED SEA CITY

JERUSALEM — The Israeli army says it has intercepted a long-range missile that was headed toward the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.

The missile strike set off air-raid sirens in Eilat. The army said its Arrow missile defense system intercepted the projectile before it reached Israeli airspace.

Israeli media said the missile appears to have been launched from Yemen, where Iranian-backed rebels have fired a series of missiles toward Israel in recent weeks.

ISRAEL IS INVESTIGATING SEXUAL ASSAULTS DURING OCT. 7 ATTACK

BEIT SHEMESH, Israel — Israel says it is investigating several cases of sexual assault and rape from the Hamas attack on Israel on on Oct. 7.

Israel’s national police chief on Tuesday showed a small group of international reporters video testimony from an eye witness at a music festival in southern Israel. This was the first time the police showed international reporters the footage.

The woman in the video, her face blurred, described watching another woman get gang raped and mutilated by militants before one of them shot her in the head while he was assaulting her.

“I couldn’t understand what I saw,” she said, saying she had survived the rampage by pretending to be dead.

Police say they’re combing through 60,000 videos seized from Hamas, social media and security cameras as well as 1,000 testimonies to try to bring the perpetrators of last month’s killings, abductions and sexual assault to justice. They say it is Israel’s biggest criminal case in history.

But when it comes to documenting sexual assault, officials said it’s been harder to gather evidence and that it’s also challenging to get people to come forward. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, first responders were trying to identify the victims in an active combat zone, which lasted for 48 hours, making it hard to properly gather and preserve evidence, they said.

The police wouldn’t give details about how many cases they had, beyond saying they have several witnesses as well as testimonies and that investigations could take months. They said they had no cases of rape survivors, further complicating the investigation.

Israel says some 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, and many others fled back to Gaza. But Israel says it is holding hundreds of captured militants.

ROCKET FIRE WOUNDS TWO PEOPLE IN TEL AVIV

JERUSALEM — Israel’s emergency response service Magen David Adom says at least two people were injured from shrapnel in Tel Aviv on Tuesday as militants from Gaza Strip continued launching rockets at Israel.

The emergency responders said one of the injured, a 20-year old man was in serious condition and another, a 43 year-old woman in moderate condition. They received injuries to their limbs.

AT LEAST 11,255 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN GAZA, MINISTRY SAYS, MOST BY ISRAELI AISTRIKES

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said that, as of Monday, at least 11,255 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the conflict broke out on Oct. 7. The vast majority have been killed in Israeli airstrikes that have pounded the besieged territory since the Hamas assault on southern Israel.

In an online report, the ministry said 4,630 of the dead were children, while 3,130 were women.

The ministry also said that for the past three days it has been experiencing difficulties updating the death toll “due to the interruption of communication services in the Gaza Strip.”

US LAYS OUT RULES FOR DONATING TO HELP GAZA WITHOUT RUNNING AFOUL OF SANCTIONS ON HAMAS

WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Tuesday issued guidance for non-governmental organizations and the general public on how to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians while complying with existing and new sanctions targeted at Hamas.

The U.S. Treasury and State Department have imposed three rounds of sanctions in the past two months on Hamas members, financiers and money exchange firms, dedicated to disrupting Hamas’ fundraising network.

“Groups such as Hamas raise funds through entities that present themselves outwardly as legitimate charities but are in fact fronts for Hamas’s illicit fundraising, often abusing the good will of donors,” Treasury’s guidance states.

ISRAEL SAYS IT HAS SEIZED GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN GAZA CITY

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has seized a series of government buildings in central Gaza City as its offensive against the ruling Hamas militant group advances.

The army said Tuesday that it has captured Gaza’s legislature building, the Hamas police headquarters and a compound housing Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters.

“In every location, the enemy forces were eliminated, the location was demolished,” an Israeli commander identified only as Lt. Col. Gilad said in a video from Gaza released by the army. He said documents and other items taken from the locations were being studied.

The captured buildings carry high symbolic value, though it was unclear what their strategic value is. Hamas fighters are believed to be positioned in underground bunkers.

Israeli news sites showed pictures of Israeli soldiers hoisting the Israeli national flag and military flags in some of the buildings.

BRAZILIANS RETURN HOME FROM GAZA

RIO DE JANEIRO– Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has welcomed a group of 32 Brazilians and their families returning home from Gaza.

Many in the group, composed mostly of women and children, smiled as they got off the plane and stepped onto Brazilian territory late Monday night.

Their repatriation took weeks of negotiations and lobbying by Brazilian diplomats. Many in Brazil followed the drama surrounding their passage through the Egyptian border, which was postponed several times.

Lula used the opportunity to issue comments critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“If Hamas committed an act of terrorism, and did what it did, the state of Israel is also committing various acts of terrorism by not taking into account that children are not at war, by not taking into account that women are not at war,” Lula told journalists. “They’re not killing soldiers; they’re killing children.”

HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS IN CALIFORNIA CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE

OAKLAND, California — Hundreds of protesters led by Jewish peace activists calling for a cease-fire in Gaza staged a sit-in inside of the federal building in Oakland, California, leading to multiple arrests.

People wore T-shirts reading “Jews Say Cease-fire Now” and carried banners that read “Not in Our Name” and “Let Gaza Live” in the rotunda of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal building on Monday evening.

Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the protest organizers, posted online that dozens of people had been taken into custody by 9 p.m.

“There is no other choice,” Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb of Berkeley told KNTV-TV when explaining why she was at the sit-in. “How many people do we have to kill before we arrive at a cease-fire?”

The protest was part of a growing number across the country following fighting triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, whose response has led to more than 11,000 deaths — and much destruction — across Gaza.

On Monday, hundreds of Jewish peace activists and their allies converged at a major train station in downtown Chicago during rush hour, blocking the entrance to the Israeli Consulate and demanding U.S. support for a cease-fire.

Jewish Voice for Peace led a similar sit-in in New York City’s Grand Central Station on Oct. 27, where protesters filled the main concourse during evening rush hour, chanting slogans and unfurling banners demanding a cease-fire. At least 200 demonstrators were detained by New York police officers.

US IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON HAMAS OFFICIALS

WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday said it imposed a third round of sanctions on a group of Hamas officials, members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who work to transfer money from Iran to Gaza, and a Lebanese money exchange service that facilitates the transfers.

The Treasury Department sanctions, coordinated with the United Kingdom, come in response to the surprise Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and about 240 others taken hostage. The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.

This and two previous rounds of sanctions against Hamas and its affiliates are aimed at protecting the international financial system from abuse by Hamas militants and their enablers, the Treasury Department said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an emailed statement that “together with our partners we are decisively moving to degrade Hamas’s financial infrastructure, cut them off from outside funding, and block the new funding channels they seek to finance their heinous acts.”

FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES BEGIN MARCH FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM

TEL AVIV, Israel — Families of hostages held by Hamas since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel have begun a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem demanding that the government do more to secure their release.

The marchers held a moment of silence for a 19-year-old Israeli soldier, among the approximately 240 people seized by Hamas, who was confirmed to have died in captivity. The Israeli military did not give a reason for her death, while Hamas said she was killed in an Israeli strike.

Among the participants in the 65-kilometer (40-mile) march was Shelly Shem Tov, mother of 21-year-old hostage Omer Shem Tov.

“Where are you, where are you, where are you? I am demanding from (Israel Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and from all the Cabinet to give us answers, to give us answers and deeds,” the mother, wearing a T-shirt with a photograph of her son, said at the protest.

“We have no strength anymore. We have no strength. Bring back our children and our families home.”

PEACE ACTIVIST CONFIRMED DEAD IN HAMAS ATTACKS ON ISRAEL

JERUSALEM — Vivian Silver, a Canadian-born Israeli activist who devoted her life to seeking peace with the Palestinians, was confirmed killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel.

Silver, who moved to Israel in the 1970s, had been believed to be among the nearly 240 hostages seized by Hamas and held in the Gaza Strip. But identification of some of the most badly burned remains has gone slowly, and her family was notified of her death on Monday.

Silver was a dominant figure in several groups that promoted peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as a prominent Israeli human rights group. She also volunteered with a group that drove Gaza cancer patients to Israeli hospitals for medical care.

“On the one hand, she was small and fragile. Very sensitive,” her son, Yonatan Zeigen, told Israel Radio on Tuesday. “On the other hand, she was a force of nature. She had a giant spirit. She was very assertive. She had very strong core beliefs about the world and life.”

Zeigen said his mother’s heart “would have been broken” by the events of Oct. 7 and their aftermath. “She worked all her life, you know, to steer us off this course. And in the end, it blew up in her face.”

At least 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel while more than 11,000 Palestinians have died so far in the Israeli war in Gaza, according to its Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.

AN ISRAELI HOSTAGE HAS DIED IN HAMAS CAPTIVITY, BOTH SIDES SAY

JERUSALEM — A 19-year-old soldier who was among about 240 people captured by Hamas during its Oct. 7 raid in Israel has died in captivity, both sides said.

Israel’s military on Tuesday declared Noa Marciano a fallen soldier without giving a cause of death. She is the first hostage confirmed to have died in captivity.

Hamas released a hostage video late Monday showing Marciano identifying herself. In a statement likely given under duress, she said Israeli strikes were hitting near where she was being held and called on Israel to halt them.

The video then showed images of what appeared to be her dead body. Hamas said she was killed in an Israeli strike, without providing evidence.

The Israeli military did not initially acknowledge her death after the video was released, saying Hamas “continues to exploit psychological terrorism and act inhumanely, through videos and photos of the hostages.”

Hamas says dozens of captives have been killed in Israeli strikes but has not provided evidence. Israel has dismissed such claims as psychological warfare.

Families of other hostages who are marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem over the next five days to draw attention to their loved ones’ plight observed a minute of silence in Marciano’s memory.

RAIN FALLS IN GAZA FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE START OF WAR

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Rain fell on Gaza on Tuesday for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. For the children it was a moment of respite, as they laughed and played outside. For their parents, it was just another worry.

Iqbal Abu Saud, a woman displaced from Gaza City, said the downpour made conditions for her family even harder.

“This whole tent collapsed onto the ground because of the rain, and the children,” she said. “You can see the water, look at the ground and how it is. And that’s just in one day.”

RIGHTS GROUP ACCUSES ISRAEL OF DISREGARDING CIVILIAN LIVES

BEIRUT — Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon that killed three children and their grandmother earlier this month showed “reckless disregard for civilian life.”

The statement from the rights group comes as Israel and militants from Lebanon’s Hezbollah group are continuing to clash along the tense Lebanon-Israel border since Oct. 8. The skirmishes have escalated but remain largely contained to areas near the border. The international community and Lebanese government have been scrambling to prevent the situation from turning into an all-out war in the small Mediterranean country.

On Nov. 5, the Israeli military struck a car on the road between the southern Lebanese towns of Ainata and Aitaroun. Inside the car were the three adolescent girls, their grandmother and their mother. Only the mother survived and is in stable condition in a hospital.

The rights organization said they conducted interviews and analyzed video of the attack. The Israeli military also said after the attack that they were investigating the incident.

“Israeli authorities have long failed to credibly investigate their own serious abuses, even when they acknowledge they carried them out,” Human Rights Watch Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss said. “With Israeli authorities continuing to commit abuses with impunity, Israel’s allies should insist on accountability for Israel’s violations of the laws of war and this apparent war crime.”

RESIDENTS OF KIBBUTZ BEGIN TO RETURN AFTER HAMAS ATTACK

KFAR AZA, Israel — Residents of Kfar Aza kibbutz in southern Israel have started to return to pick up what remains of their belongings.

The kibbutz was one of more than 20 towns and villages that were attacked on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants, sparking the war with Israel.

Ayelet Katzir’s husband, David Kachko Kazir, was killed by Hamas during the raid.

“I came here to pick plants from my garden and some things that he liked, like he had a special mug, some of his clothes,” she said. “I’m very glad that I came here but it’s so difficult. It’s very difficult.”

Before the attack, the kibbutz was a modestly prosperous place with a school, a synagogue and a population of more than 700.

More than 1,200 people in Israel have died, most of them in the Hamas attack, and about 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militants. More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

113 CITIZENS OF SWEDEN AND DENMARK TO LEAVE GAZA, DIPLOMATS SAY

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — At least 113 citizens of Sweden and Denmark will be able to leave Gaza on Tuesday, Swedish and Danish media said, quoting the foreign ministries of the two countries.

The Aftonbladet daily in Sweden said 100 Swedish nationals will be allowed to leave, while Danish broadcaster DR said 13 people are expected to be able to depart.

Previously, about 60 Swedes were able to cross the border into Egypt, Aftonbladet said, while two people with Danish citizenship have been able to leave Gaza.

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