Portal:Current events/2023 November 8

November 8, 2023 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2023 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria
- A United States Air Force MQ-9 Reaper is shot down in international airspace off the coast of Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthis claim responsibility for the shooting. (CBS News)
- Two U.S. F-15s strike an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps weapons storage facility in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, according to the Department of Defense. (The Atlas News)
2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Al-Shifa ambulance airstrike
  - Human Rights Watch says that an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance outside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City 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)
- Jabalia refugee camp airstrikes
  - Four people are killed in an airstrike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
- An independent United Nations expert says that widespread and systematic bombardment of housing and civilian infrastructure in Gaza amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity. (AFP via Barron's)
- Amnesty International says that Israel has heavily increased its use of detention without charges since the start of the war, while also allowing torture and degrading treatment in prisons. (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)
- Israeli aircraft renew their bombardment of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, resulting in at least 18 deaths. A residence belonging to a local family is also hit, with people trapped under the rubble. (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)(WAFA)
Afghan conflict
- Islamic State–Taliban conflict
  - November 2023 Kabul bombing
    - Seven people are killed and 20 others injured when a bomb planted by Islamic State militants explodes on a bus carrying Shiites in Kabul. (AP)
Myanmar civil war
- Operation 1027
  - Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing calls up all military reservists to prepare for military operations to counter the recent offensives by rebel forces. (Irrawaddy)
Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Southern Ukraine campaign
  - A Russian missile strike on a Liberian-flagged vessel entering the Pivdennyi Port in Odesa Oblast kills one crew member and injures four others. The vessel was being used to transport iron ore to China. (Reuters)
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
- Battle of Geneina
  - Ardamata massacre
    - At least 2,000 people are killed and 3,000 more are injured when the Rapid Support Forces massacre civilians in the Ardamata neighborhood of Geneina, West Darfur, following the Sudanese Army's withdrawal from the town. (Radio Dabanga) (Reuters)
- Darfur campaign
  - The Rapid Support Forces capture the Sudanese Army base in Umm Keddada, North Darfur, after the army withdraws. (Radio Dabanga)
  - Experts and activists warn that the entirety of 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)

Arts and culture

2023 SAG-AFTRA strike
- SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach a tentative agreement to end the strike. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Business and economy

2023 Optus outage
- A telecommunications outage by Optus leaves more than 10 million people in Australia without internet and mobile phone service for more than nine hours. (Reuters)
Zimbabwe imposes import quotas on fertilizer and cement at five metric tons per entity, effective until the year ends, due to shortages of the two commodities. (Xinhua)

Disasters and incidents

Eight people are killed in a car crash on a highway in Zavala County, Texas, United States. (NBC News)

International relations

International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Chad withdraws their ambassador from Israel, becoming the eighth country to do so in recent weeks. (CNN)
- Belgium's deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter calls on the Belgian government to adopt economic sanctions against Israel and investigate the bombings of hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2023 Israel–Hamas war protests
- The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reports that 4,200 demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war have been held around the world. 52% of the protests held were in North Africa and the Middle East and 90% of the protests were in support of Palestine. (ACLED) (Al Jazeera)
2023 Turkish constitutional crisis
- Turkish Court of Cassation annuls a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Turkey ordering the release of Can Atalay, an imprisoned member of Turkish Parliament, and calls for a criminal investigation into the Constitutional Court members who signed the release order. (Reuters)
The United Kingdom bans the recreational use of nitrous oxide. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- UK 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)
The Holy See's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith confirms that transgender Catholics can be baptized "if it would not cause scandal or confusion", while also acknowledging the possibility of baptizing children of same-sex couples. (AFP via TOI)