WORLD BRIEFING: November 17, 2023
Israel - Hamas War
More than 11,500 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its retaliatory strikes, according to the Hamas-run health ministry
Israel says its troops have found the body of a second woman held hostage by Hamas, during a search close to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. Noa Marciano, a 19-year-old soldier, was one of about 240 people kidnapped by Hamas gunmen during the 7 October atrocities - BBC
Israeli forces raided Al-Shifa hospital earlier in the week, believing it to contain a Hamas command centre - something Hamas denies. Whole weapons caches have been found - including near a MRI machine - they’ve yet to show the command centre
Meanwhile, the UN says a lack of fuel means that it can no longer bring aid into Gaza from Friday. People there are facing the "immediate possibility of starvation" with winter fast approaching, the UN World Food Programme says, the BBC reported. The WHO chief said there’s not even enough fuel to power the forklift used to move aid from trucks
Mobile phone and internet services are down because of the lack of fuel, Palestinian telecoms company said Thursday
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Benny Gantz — Israel's former defence minister who now serves in the wartime cabinet — hours after his critical comments about the war effort ignited an Israeli backlash. In a readout sent to reporters Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office said that in his conversation with Gantz on Wednesday, Trudeau reaffirmed Canada's "longstanding support for Israel and its right to defend itself in accordance with international law" and condemned Hamas's "terrorist attacks" and its use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. Trudeau has taken heat from Israelis and Jewish Canadians for comments he made Tuesday that were perceived as overly critical of Israel. Trudeau said "the world is watching" as women, children and babies are killed in Gaza. He said "even wars have rules" — a comment seen as a suggestion that Israel, Canada's friend and ally, was not following international law in its war with Hamas. While not explicitly calling for a ceasefire, Trudeau said "the violence needs to stop urgently" and he urged Israeli's leaders to "exercise maximum restraint" in the conflict - CBC
Ukraine War
Ukrainian forces shot down nine of the 10 Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported on Nov. 17. Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, and units of mobile fire groups were used to down the weapons, according to the post. The UAVs have been downed over Ukraine's Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts. Meanwhile, several S-300 missiles were targeted at Donetsk Oblast, according to the Air Force. No casualties have been reported following the attack - Kyiv Independent
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine cannot afford a stalemate in the war against Russia. "If we want to end the war, we must end it," he said during an interview with African journalists. "End with respect so that the whole world knows that whoever came, captured, and killed, is responsible." According to Zelenskiy, if the war becomes a stalemate, the next generations of Ukrainians will have to fight because Russia "will come again if it is not put in its place." - RFE/RL
Elsewhere
A Russian delegation led by Natural Resources Minister Aleksandr Kozlov has left Pyongyang after a visit that North Korea's state media said was to discuss "cooperation in trade, economy, science, and technology." The delegation departed on November 17, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. South Korea has accused Pyongyang of having provided more than 1 million artillery rounds to Moscow for use in its war with Ukraine. Seoul says North Korea appears to have received advice on military satellite technology in return - RFE/RL
Dozens of young Americans have posted videos on TikTok this week expressing sympathy with Osama bin Laden, the notorious terrorist who orchestrated the September 11 attacks, for a two-decade-old letter he wrote critiquing the United States, including its government and support of Israel - CNN
Workers at more than 200 U.S. Starbucks locations walked off the job Thursday in what organizers said was the largest strike yet in the two-year-old effort to unionize the company's stores. The Workers United union chose Starbucks' annual Red Cup Day to stage the walkout since it's usually one of the busiest days of the year. Starbucks expects to give away thousands of reusable cups Thursday to customers who order holiday drinks - NPR