Portal:Current events/2023 November 8

November 8, 2023 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2023 Israel–Hamas war
- War crimes in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  - An independent United Nations expert said the widespread and systematic bombardment of housing and civilian infrastructure in Gaza amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity. (AFP via Barrons)
  - Amnesty International says Israel has heavily increased its use of detention without charges since the start of the war, while allowing torture and degrading treatment in prisons. (Al Jazeera)
  - Al-Shifa ambulance airstrike
    - Human Rights Watch says an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza should be investigated as a possible war crime, adding that it did not find evidence that the ambulance was being used for military purposes. (Human Rights Watch) (Al Jazeera)
  - At least 4,237 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. An additional 1,350 children are reported as missing and most are presumed dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
  - Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital is hit with intense Israeli bombardment and flares. The hospital is housing tens of thousands of people sheltering from Israel’s bombardment. (Al Jazeera)
  - Sites near the Indonesia Hospital are hit with Israeli bombardment. Electricity at the hospital is expected to be cut off soon due to the short supply of fuel. (Al Jazeera)
  - Jabalia refugee camp airstrikes
    - Four people are killed in an airstrike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp located in the northernmost part of the Gaza Strip. (Al Jazeera)
  - Israeli aircraft renew their bombardment of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, resulting in a reported at least 18 deaths. A residence belonging to a local family is hit, with people still trapped under the rubble of the destroyed residential building. (Al Jazeera) (WAFA)
Syrian civil war
- At least 30 pro-government militia forces and soldiers are killed in a series of attacks by the Islamic State (IS) near the cities of Deir ez-Zor, Homs, and Raqqa, with Russian airstrikes targeting the IS positions in response. (AFP via Barron's)
War in Sudan
- Ardamata massacre
  - The Rapid Support Forces capture the Sudanese Army base in Um Keddada, North Darfur, after the army withdraws. (Radio Dabanga)
  - At least 2,000 people are killed and 3,000 are injured when the RSF massacres civilians in Ardamata, West Darfur, following the Sudanese Army's withdrawal from the town. (Radio Dabanga) (Reuters)
- Experts and activists warn that the entire Darfur is close to being seized by the Rapid Support Forces, with North Darfur remaining the last state in the region under government control. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

Telecommunications in Australia
- 2023 Optus outage
  - A telecommunications outage by Optus leaves more than 10 million people in Australia without service for more than nine hours. (Reuters)

International relations

International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Chad withdraws their ambassador from Israel, joining eight other countries that have done the same in recent weeks. (CNN)

Law and crime

2023 Israel–Hamas war protests
- The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project records 4,200 demonstrations related to the conflict around the world. 52% of protests held were in North Africa or the Middle East. 90 percent of the protests held were in support of Palestine, with most of the support coming from North Africa and the Middle East. (ACLED) (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

2023 Israel–Hamas war
- United Kingdom Labour Party MP Imran Hussain resigns as shadow minister for the New Deal for Working People over party leader Keir Starmer's position on the war, saying "I believe the party needs to go further and call for a ceasefire". (The Guardian)