Portal:Current events/2023 November 12

November 12, 2023 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- Thirty-three people are killed as Allied Democratic Forces gunmen carries out a mass execution of civilians at the Virunga National Park in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. (AP)
2023 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria
- The United States launches airstrikes on facilities associated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in eastern Syria in response to rocket attacks on its military bases. (CNN) (Reuters)
2023 Israel–Hamas war
- South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor urges the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on the prosecutor to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity, and genocide. (News 24) (Sunday Times (South Africa))
- The UN Development Programme office in Gaza is shelled, with reports of a significant number of deaths and injuries. Office chief Achim Steiner says that "civilians, civilian infrastructure and the inviolability of UN facilities must be always protected". (Dawn)
- The United Nations says that several hospitals in Gaza have been directly hit, and that "hospitals are explicitly entitled to specific protection under international humanitarian law", as Israel intensifies its shelling and ground attacks around hospitals in Gaza City and northern Gaza. (OCHA) (Business Standard)
- The cardiac ward of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, is destroyed by Israel's ground offensive and the hospital's intensive care unit is severely damaged by Israeli army bombing. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that there are reports that people who fled the hospital "have been shot at, wounded and even killed" and calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, saying that they are concerned about the safety of workers and patients who remain inside the hospital. The WHO also says that it has lost communication with its contacts inside the hospital. (The Journal) (WHO) (Al Jazeera) (Al Jazeera 2)
- Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong calls on Israel to stop its attacks on hospitals, expressing concern about the number of civilian deaths from Israel's assault on Gaza, saying that "international humanitarian law does require the protection of hospitals, of patients and of medical staff". (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila says that Israeli forces "are not evacuating people from hospitals; instead, they are forcibly evicting the wounded and patients onto the streets, leaving them to face inevitable death". (Al Jazeera)
- UNICEF spokesperson Toby Fricker has said the situation inside hospitals across the Gaza Strip is a tragedy, noting how premature babies inside Al-Shifa Hospital are struggling to stay alive due to the lack of electricity and water. (Al Jazeera)
- Thirteen people are killed and many others are injured in an attack on a residential building in eastern Khan Younis. (Anadolu Agency)
- More than 11,100 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the war began with Israeli forces currently intensifying their raids in the West Bank with the number of raids increasing to about 40 per day in the past week. (Al Jazeera)
- The Palestine Red Crescent Society announces that the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City is no longer operational due to a lack of fuel and a power outage. (Anadolu Agency)
Kivu conflict
- At least six people are killed and nine others are injured by gunfire between soldiers and pro-government militiamen near Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AFP via VOA)
War in Sudan
- Battle of Geneina
  - The death toll from clashes in Geneina increases to 1,300 people, with more than 2,000 injured. The UNHCR also confirms that around 8,000 people have fled to Chad from Geneina in the past week. (Al Jazeera) (ABC News)
- Battle of Khartoum
  - Heavy fighting is reported in Jabal Awliya, south of Khartoum, as the Rapid Support Forces attempt to capture the Jebel Aulia Dam. (Sudan Tribune)

Disasters and incidents

2023 Uttarakhand tunnel collapse
- An under-construction tunnel collapses in Uttarakhand, India, trapping at least 40 construction workers under the debris. (AFP via Dawn)
Five U.S. service members are killed in a helicopter crash in the Eastern Mediterranean during a routine training exercise. (BBC News)
Six people are killed in a fire at a bungalow in Hounslow, West London, United Kingdom. The fire is believed to have started during Diwali celebrations which led to nearby trees catching on fire. (The Independent)

International relations

2021–2023 North Korean missile tests
- The defense ministers of Japan, South Korea, and the United States agree to initiate a real-time data sharing mechanism to monitor North Korea's missile tests. (AFP via The Manila Times)
International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- The Biden administration contacts Israeli officials for clarification over comments Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made stating that Israel will not agree to give up security control of Gaza, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that the Palestinian Authority should take over control of Gaza once the conflict is over. (Al Jazeera)
- Médecins Sans Frontières says that Gaza hospitals "will become a morgue if action isn't taken right now" as "electricity in a hospital is a lifeline and we know without it patients die". They also called for the "bloodshed" to end "immediately with a ceasefire or at the bare minimum a medical evacuation of patients". (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

2023 Israel–Hamas war protests
- Marches calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza are held in cities around the world. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

2024 United States presidential election
- Tim Scott 2024 presidential campaign
  - U.S. Senator Tim Scott suspends his campaign for the Republican nomination. (AP)
Hundreds of thousands march in Spain to protest Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's law granting judicial amnesties in exchange for political support to retain power. (New York Times)

Sports

2023 African Football League
- In association football, Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. wins the inaugural African Football League after they defeat Wydad AC in the final. (beIN Sports)
2023 Taiwan Series
- In baseball, the Wei Chuan Dragons defeat the Rakuten Monkeys to win the Taiwan Series in seven games, capturing their fifth championship and their first since reforming as a team in 2019. (Taipei Times)