Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in a 41st consecutive day of unrelenting attacks by Israel’s military on the Gaza Strip. Overnight, Israel’s Air Force dropped leaflets over parts of the southern city of Khan Younis ordering people to leave their homes and shelters “for their own safety.” Many are being expelled for a second time, after Israel last month ordered more than a million Palestinians to leave their homes in northern Gaza.

On Wednesday, Israeli authorities allowed the first shipment of fuel into the Gaza Strip since early October. The U.N.'s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says just over 6,000 gallons of fuel — half a tanker truck's worth — was allowed to cross from Egypt. That’s just 9% of what UNRWA says is needed daily to sustain life-saving activities. Israel is not allowing the fuel to be used in hospitals or to power water and sewage pumps. 

The U.N.'s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said outbreaks of disease and hunger in Gaza now appear “inevitable.” His remarks came amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe at Gaza's largest hospital, the Al-Shifa medical complex, which is being occupied by Israel’s army. Thousands of patients, medical workers and displaced Palestinians remain trapped inside the hospital and unable to leave. Medical workers report Israeli attacks have severely damaged Al-Shifa’s main surgery building, and about 200 people were reportedly blindfolded by Israeli troops and led away to interrogations. The World Health Organization’s Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says 26 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are now closed due to damage from Israeli strikes or because they have run out of fuel.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “Israel’s military incursion into Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is totally unacceptable. Hospitals are not battlegrounds.”

Israel’s military has displayed images of weapons they claim were found inside the hospital, but Hamas has dismissed the photos as propaganda. On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces published video showing what they claimed were “Hamas grab bags” of rifles and grenades stashed inside the hospital. Doctors at Al-Shifa have repeatedly denied such claims.

President Biden has repeated Israeli claims about Hamas using hospitals as military bases. Biden spoke to reporters from California Wednesday evening after wrapping the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.

President Joe Biden: “You have a circumstance where the first war crime is being committed by Hamas by having their headquarters, their military hidden under a hospital. And that’s a fact. That’s what’s happened.”

Biden provided no evidence for the claim. 

President Biden’s remarks came after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit. The pair emerged with several agreements, including one to reestablish military communications and one curbing the Chinese export of chemicals used for the production of fentanyl. On Wednesday evening, Xi Jinping mingled with leaders of corporate America, including Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook, at a lavish reception. Hours after their meeting, Biden ratcheted up tensions with China when he called President Xi a “dictator.”

President Joe Biden: “I mean he’s a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours. Anyway.”

Earlier today, Beijing responded to Biden’s remarks, calling them “irresponsible political manipulation.”

The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip.” The measure was approved by a 12-0 vote after the United States, United Kingdom and Russia abstained. Four prior attempts by the Security Council to pass resolutions calling for ceasefires or so-called humanitarian pauses had failed.

Daily protests against Israel’s attack on Gaza continue. In Washington, D.C., human rights activists gathered in front of the White House for a vigil calling on President Biden to back an immediate ceasefire. Body bags were laid out on the ground to represent the more than 11,500 Palestinians killed by the U.S.-backed Israeli assault.

Later in the evening, activists blocked the entrance of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters before police violently removed them. Lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, were gathered for a campaign event. This is Eva Borgwardt of the Jewish peace group IfNotNow. 

Eva Borgwardt: “We’re outside the Democratic Party headquarters because this party claims to be on the side of life and peace and equality, and we’re saying that we want them to live up to their values and oppose this horrific war and call for a ceasefire now. And we’re being responded to by the police shoving antiwar activists down the stairs, shoving peaceful protesters back with their bikes. And because our party, our party that 80% of us want a ceasefire, would rather beat up protesters than” —

Chuck Modi: “Hold on. To be continued. One second. One second. One second.”

The interview was interrupted when police resumed beating protesters, spraying them with chemical agents and arresting them. 

In Los Angeles, over 1,000 American Jews and others held an emergency sit-in on one of Hollywood’s busiest streets to demand an immediate ceasefire. Earlier this week, over 700 Jewish activists and their allies shut down Oakland’s federal building. Hundreds of people were arrested in the action.

At the prestigious National Book Awards ceremony in New York last night, 20 of the 25 nominated authors made a collective statement on stage calling for a ceasefire. This is author Aaliyah Bilal.

Aaliyah Bilal: “On behalf of the finalists, we oppose the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and call for a humanitarian ceasefire to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, particularly children. We oppose antisemitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia equally, accepting the human dignity of all parties, knowing that further bloodshed does nothing to secure lasting peace.”

One of the event’s sponsors, Zibby Media, withdrew its support ahead of the prize ceremony, after learning of the authors’ plan to speak out against the war.

Meanwhile, Black Christian faith leaders have been meeting with White House officials and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to call for an end to the violence. Last week, over 900 Black faith leaders representing churches across the U.S. took out a full-page ad in The New York Times to call for a ceasefire and a commitment to a meaningful peace process.

Twenty-four members of the House of Representatives have signed a joint letter calling on President Biden to press for a bilateral ceasefire in Gaza, on the basis of grave violations of children’s rights. The letter was authored by Democratic Congressmembers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Betty McCollum of Minnesota. This comes as the powerful lobby group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, steps up its support for primary challengers to lawmakers who’ve voiced support for a ceasefire. Slate magazine reports AIPAC is expected to spend $100 million in Democratic primaries backing opponents of House progressives.

The Senate has approved a short-term funding bill to keep the government open until early 2024, sending the measure to President Biden for his signature ahead of a midnight deadline Friday to avert a government shutdown. Its passage on Wednesday came as far-right members of the House of Representatives rebelled against Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to punish party leaders for crafting a compromise bill with Democrats. The rebellion prompted Speaker Johnson to abruptly adjourn the House until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

In Texas, seven more women who were denied medically necessary abortions joined a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights against the state of Texas. There are now 22 plaintiffs as the case heads to the Texas Supreme Court later this month. The case seeks to clarify what constitutes a “medical emergency” allowing for an abortion, and to permit doctors to make that call without fear of prosecution. One of the new plaintiffs is Danielle Mathisen, who is an OB-GYN who was forced to leave her home state just to get abortion care. Dr. Mathisen said, “Texas lawmakers know nothing about medicine and they have created a full-blown public health crisis.”

In related news, a federal judge last week blocked an Idaho law which made it a crime to help a minor cross state lines for an abortion without parental consent. The judge says the law, signed in April by Republican Governor Brad Little, violated the First Amendment. This comes as the Justice Department backed two lawsuits challenging a similar law in Alabama.

In Ghana, African leaders have issued a collective call for reparations for the historic enslavement of people of African descent. Togo’s Prime Minister Victoire Tomegah Dogbé was one of the speakers during a two-day conference in Accra.

Prime Minister Victoire Tomegah Dogbé: “The psychological trauma inflicted by this abhorrent practice continues to resonate across generations, affecting our collective consciousness. Colonialism, with its arbitrary borders and economic exploitation, further reinforced racial hierarchies and sowed seeds of discord that persist to this day. The scars of exploitation, dispossession and cultural erasure persist, manifesting themselves in contemporary challenges such as economic inequality, political instability and cultural disintegration.”