Day 32 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 7

Al-Monitor Staff

Nov 7, 2023

Yahya Sinwar. — Yahya Sinwar (C), the Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, addresses supporters during a rally marking Al-Quds Day, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people celebrated annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City, on April 14, 2023. — MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a "general cease-fire" without a hostage release, the IDF is encircling Gaza City and Palestinian civilians are waving white flags as they flee south.

Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.

Click here for our most recent updates.

Live updates (all times EDT):

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023

3:32 pm: Cross-border clashes intensify between Israel, Hezbollah

Israel carried out airstrikes and shelled several areas of southern Lebanon, including the disputed Shebaa Farms area and the towns of Yater and Ramyeh, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported. The outlet did not report any casualties.

IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said that Israeli warplanes had struck Hezbollah targets in response to rockets being fired from Lebanon toward Israel. A weapons depot and rocket-launching sites were among the targets, Adraee said in a post on X.

The National News Agency also reported Israeli airstrikes and shelling earlier on Tuesday, including in Naqoura. Adraee said the IDF targeted a cell that tried to launch anti-tank missiles from Lebanon toward Israel.

3:30 pm: House to vote on censuring Rashida Tlaib over Israel criticism

The US House of Representatives is set to vote Wednesday on a resolution censuring Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, for her comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

On Tuesday, lawmakers voted to advance a resolution sponsored by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) that accuses Tlaib (D-Mich.) of “promoting false narratives” about the war, citing her use of the pro-Palestinian slogan “From the river to the sea.” The House will also hold a procedural vote Tuesday night on a similar resolution authored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

“My criticism has always been of the Israeli government and Netanyahu’s actions,” said Tlaib, who choked up while addressing the House floor Tuesday. “Speaking up to save lives, Mr. Chair, no matter faith, no matter ethnicity, should not be controversial in this chamber.”

2:30 pm: Turkey’s parliament boycotts Coca-Cola, Nescafe over Israel-Hamas war

The Turkish parliament has stopped selling products in its cafeterias and restaurants that were made by companies accused of supporting Israel amid the deepening Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“We will not use any products of the companies that support the Israeli aggression that are used in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. We will not buy them from now on, and we will scrap those products that we had already bought,” parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus announced on Tuesday.

Kurtulmus stopped short of naming the brands, but Coca-Cola and Nescafe were among the products that were removed from the parliament’s dining facilities, according to Turkey’s independent news website T24.

12:38 pm: Israeli defense minister says Hamas leader Sinwar isolated in bunker

Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, who Israel believes helped plan the Oct. 7 attack, is “now hiding in his bunker and is cut off from his surroundings," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said at a press conference in Tel Aviv Tuesday. Gallant added that Israeli forces are “in the heart” of Gaza City.

When asked who would rule the Gaza Strip after the war, Gallant said that he "can say who won't rule: It won't be Hamas and it won't be Israel."

12:11 pm: France investigates suspected Russian role in Star of David graffiti

French police are investigating whether Stars of David spray-painted on buildings and discovered at the end of October in Paris were directed by Russia.

Paris prosecutors have opened a formal investigation into the graffiti, which sparked an uproar across France, reviving memories of the persecution of Jews in France and Europe throughout the 20th century. Rina Bassist reports.

11:42 am: US facilitates over 400 evacuations from Gaza

One month into the Israel-Hamas conflict, more than 400 Americans and their family members have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

“We have assisted more than 400 US citizens, lawful permanent residents and other eligible individuals to depart Gaza,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.

10:14 am: US reports two new attacks on forces in Iraq after PM meets Iran’s Khamenei

A US military official on Tuesday confirmed two additional attacks on US positions in Iraq since Monday, saying there were no injuries or damage reported but without offering further details.

The suspected media group for Iran-backed militias in Iraq also claimed there were attacks on US bases in Syria, but that has not been confirmed by the United States.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met with Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran yesterday.

Khamenei reportedly told Sudani that they should “increase political pressure” on Washington over its support for Israel’s war effort in the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, Sudani had met with Washington’s top diplomat, Antony Blinken, as US officials seek to increase support for Iraqi security forces in protecting American troops.

9:30 am: Israel advances rapidly in Gaza, but eliminating Hamas leaders to take time

One month since the Oct. 7 attacks, the Israeli army is rapidly advancing in Gaza while acknowledging that taking out Hamas commanders will take considerable time and diplomatic support from Washington. Al-Monitor’s Ben Caspit reports from Israel.

7:30 am: Gaza death toll reaches 10,328 as evacuees wave white flags

At least 10,328 Palestinians, including 4,237 children, have been killed in the Israeli campaign against the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said in a press statement. Thousands of others have been displaced from their homes, mainly in the north, amid intense Israeli airstrikes. On Tuesday, videos shared online showed groups of civilians walking along Salah al-Din road, the main north–south route, while waving white flags to avoid being targeted by Israeli strikes. The Israeli army urged civilians to evacuate between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time.

דובר צה"ל בערבית פרסם תיעוד של עשרות תושבי עזה יורדים דרומה ברגל בציר סלאח א-דין. ניתן לראות שחלק מהתושבים מנופפים בדגלים לבנים@nurityohanan pic.twitter.com/BrBfQzk3nO
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 7, 2023

6:30 am: US envoy Amos Hochstein in Lebanon amid Hezbollah-Israel tension

US envoy and presidential adviser Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut Tuesday as tensions between Hezbollah and Israel escalated on the Lebanese border. Hochstein is scheduled to meet with Lebanese officials, including caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri. Mikati had met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman over the weekend.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and Israeli forces are engaged in tit-for-tat exchanges along the Israeli-Lebanese border amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Hochstein played an instrumental role in brokering a maritime deal between Lebanon and Israel last year.

4:00 am: Israel marks one month since Oct. 7 Hamas attack

Israel observed the one-month mark of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that claimed the lives of 1,400 people and took 240 hostages with a minute of silence throughout the country. Memorial ceremonies are planned in schools, universities and town squares throughout the day.

3:57 am: UN rights chief begins Middle East tour as Hamas-Gaza war enters second month

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, is in Cairo on the first leg of a five-day tour of the Middle East to discuss human rights violations with regional officials amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel escalation.

“It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” Turk said in a statement published by the OHCHR. “Human rights violations are at the root of this escalation and human rights play a central role in finding a way out of this vortex of pain.”

More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip as Israel escalates its offensive in the enclave in response to Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel Oct. 7.

3:39 am: Drone attack targets coalition base near Iraq’s Erbil

The Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism said a military base housing US-led coalition troops in Erbil was the target of two separate drone attacks. In a statement on Facebook, the directorate said two explosive-laden drones were intercepted above the base near Erbil International Airport. Later, another drone failed to explode and crashed in the same area, according to the statement. US military positions in Syria and Iraq have come under increased attacks by Iranian-affiliated groups amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel war.

3:31 am: Wafa journalist killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City

A Palestinian journalist working for the official WAFA news agency was killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City. WAFA said Muhammad Abu Hasira was killed along with 42 members of his family, including his children, when Israel bombed their home near the fishing port west of Gaza City. At least 41 journalists have been killed since the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict, including 36 in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, according to Reporters Without Borders.

12:50 am: US man dies after protest altercation in California

Police in California said a Jewish man died after a confrontation during simultaneous pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests.

Paul Kessler, 69, died on Monday from injuries he sustained during an altercation a day earlier at the demonstrations in Thousand Oaks, a suburb of Los Angeles. Witnesses said Kessler was involved in a “physical altercation with counter-protesters.” His death was ruled a homicide and a result of blunt force head injury and the case is under investigation, the Ventura County sheriff’s office said Monday night in a press release.

A press conference is scheduled for Tuesday morning local time.

Click here for our most recent updates.

For our previous live coverage, see:

Day 31 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 6

Day 30 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 5

Day 29 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 4

Day 28 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 3

Day 27 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 2

Day 26 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 1

Day 25 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 31

Day 24 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 30

Day 23 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 29