November 3, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

Our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has moved here.

Newborns, women and children are “disproportionately bearing the burden” of the war in Gaza, several United Nations aid agencies said in a joint statement Friday.

“The bombardments, damaged or non-functioning health facilities, massive levels of displacement, collapsing water and electricity supplies as well as restricted access to food and medicines, are severely disrupting maternal, newborn, and child health services,” they said.

The statement was released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Many pregnant women aren’t able to access the medical care they need, and maternal deaths are expected to increase.

“The psychological toll of the hostilities also has direct – and sometimes deadly – consequences on reproductive health, including a rise in stress-induced miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births,” the statement added.

Malnutrition, already an issue before the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, is now even more dire and can have effects on childhood survival and development, the statement warned.

The lives of newborns “hang by a thread” because “an estimated 130 premature babies who rely on neonatal and intensive care services will be threatened,” if hospitals run out of fuel. Incubators and other medical equipment will no longer function, it warned.

The statement calls for “an immediate humanitarian pause” in order to “alleviate the suffering and prevent a desperate situation from becoming catastrophic.”

Some 9,155 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to figures released Friday by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah drawn from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. More than 23,000 others have been injured.

The ministry’s report states that close to 73% of the fatalities belong to vulnerable groups, including children, women, and elderly individuals.

Some context: The myriad challenges of managing medical care in Gaza was further underscored Friday when an airstrike on an ambulance outside Gaza City’s largest medical facility killed at least 15 people and injured 50 others, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

The Al-Shifa Hospital has increasingly found itself part of the frontline as Israel claimed the facility is the site of a significant Hamas command and control center.

Palestinians have rejected the Israeli claim, with its Director General of the Gaza Health Ministry, Dr. Medhat Abbas, telling CNN last week that Gaza’s hospitals “are used to treat patients only” and are not being used “to hide anyone.”

Israel claimed responsibility for an attack on the ambulance, saying the vehicle was used by Hamas.

The US Embassy in Cairo has assisted more than 100 US citizens and family members to leave the Gaza Strip, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

She told reporters Friday afternoon that providing up-to-date numbers of Americans seeking to leave the region “is challenging,” but was able to confirm that the US Embassy in Egypt was able to assist “more than 100 US citizens and family members who had departed Gaza,” while acknowledging additional US citizens who have fled but did not seek assistance from the embassy team. 

That number is up from Thursday when White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters that 74 Americans and their families had traversed the Rafah crossing.

“We continue to be focused on getting as many Americans out as quickly as possible and we expect more Americans to depart over the next several days, but again, this is a fluid situation,” Jean-Pierre added.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is urging the international community to intervene and protect civilians as well as medical teams from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. 

The statement Saturday comes after Israel admitted to targeting an ambulance in a medical convoy near the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday. Fifteen people were killed in the strike and 60 others were injured, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza. 

Two medics were injured in the strikes, according to statements by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza and PRCS.

“[M]edic Shadi Al-Taif sustained minor shrapnel injuries to the leg and bruises, while the ambulance driver, Ahmad Al-Madhoon, suffered chest bruises and extreme panic,” the PRCS said on Saturday.

Israel claimed it targeted the ambulance because it was being used by Hamas.  

Meanwhile, the PRCS said the strikes directly hit a Ministry of Health ambulance and damaged another one belonging to PRCS, which was carrying a 35-year-old wounded woman in critical condition. 

“[PRCS] stresses that deliberately targeting medical personnel constitutes a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime,” the statement said, adding that Israeli attacks have killed four PRCS ambulance staff while on duty, injured 21 staff and volunteers, and pushed eight ambulances out of service since October 7.

Efforts to secure safe passage for foreign nationals in Gaza were stymied by Hamas and a slew of logistical challenges, further exacerbating a dire humanitarian situation as thousands of foreigners remained trapped in the war-torn region, according to a senior US official.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, would not permit anyone to leave the area, according to a senior administration official. This prompted a flurry of negotiations led by Ambassador David Satterfield.

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsened, Hamas relayed that foreign nationals would be permitted to leave “subject to a number of wounded Palestinians being allowed to leave as well, which of course is not objectionable,” the official said.

But approximately one-third of the wounded Palestinians listed were flagged as members of Hamas in the vetting process, which was “just unacceptable to Egypt, to us, to Israel,” the official said.

After another round of negotiations, an agreement was reached to ensure “that the wounded Palestinian civilians leaving with the foreign nationals were not Hamas fighters, [but] truly Individual civilians caught in this awful, horrific tragedy.”

A breakthrough was finally reached Tuesday to allow foreign passport holders and a group of critically injured civilians to depart through the Rafah border crossing, with the first group departing Wednesday.

Issues with the Rafah crossing into Egypt, which the administration characterized as “not really the crossing where large numbers of civilians typically pass,” complicated factors more.

“So, we had to work very carefully with the Egyptians and with the UN to get the mechanisms in place,” the official said, adding that final details were ironed out in calls between President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the official said, there is “just as intense a process ongoing” to secure the safe release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

The successful release of two hostages last month, the official said, “was a bit of a pilot to see if it was possible. It is possible, but the numbers we’re talking about is extremely difficult.” 

Negotiating a release for such a large number of hostages, the official added, would require “a fairly significant pause in hostilities.”

On Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the number of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza is up to 240.

US officials are anticipating a new phase of Israel’s war with Hamas in the coming days in which Israel decreases the scale of its air campaign and focuses on a more tactical ground operation. 

As humanitarian aid continues to flow into Gaza, the Biden administration expects that Israel’s air campaign will see “a decrease in what we’ve seen,” a senior administration official told CNN on Friday. The administration anticipates a move to a “more of a tactical focus on the ground campaign” aimed at clearing out the vast network of underground tunnel complexes Hamas operates out of, the official said.

The official maintained that the administration has been “very direct…about wartime decisions and being deliberate and asking hard questions” in discussions with Israel, even as the Israeli military has drawn international criticism over the targeting of the Jabalya Refugee Camp in northern Gaza. 

Asked when the Biden administration might feel compelled to call for a ceasefire — something it has so far declined to do — the official said that given the scale and nature of Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, a ceasefire was not appropriate. 

“A terrorist group takes 200 hostages and kills 1,400 people and is hiding under tunnels, including the leaders — ceasefire is not really the word … to use,” the official told CNN.  

The official reiterated that the US is actively calling on Israel to enact so-called “humanitarian pauses,” and that it is stressing to Israel that even as it has a right to defend itself, it must adhere to international humanitarian laws. 

Ultimately, “a ceasefire I think, depends on the Israelis feeling secure in ensuring that something like this cannot happen again,” the official added.

Israel claimed responsibility for an attack outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City that Hamas-run health authorities say killed 15 people and wounded 50 others.

Multiple videos from the scene show at least a dozen bloodied people strewn across the ground near an ambulance. There appears to be some shrapnel damage to at least one of the cars on the scene.

In a statement, Israel said it targeted the ambulance because it was being used by Hamas. A spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said Friday that the ambulance was in a medical convoy from the hospital, traveling to the Rafah border crossing, and had informed the International Committee of the Red Cross about the move.

The ICRC, in a statement, confirmed it was aware of the scheduled movement of a convoy of vehicles carrying wounded patients from northern Gaza to the south, but it was not part of it. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said one of its ambulances was in the convoy and was damaged by shelling, but none of its members were harmed.

The strike comes after Gaza residents faced yet another night of heavy aerial assault, with the skies of northern Gaza illuminated by flares and explosions.

Here are other headlines you should know:

This post has been updated with the latest statements from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

Israeli ground forces are closing in on Gaza City, the largest and most densely packed population center in the Palestinian enclave, satellite imagery and videos from open and official sources suggest.

CNN’s analysis of the imagery helps shed light on what is happening on the ground as the Israel Defense Forces claims it has encircled the city.

“IDF forces encircle Gaza from the air, land and sea, surrounding the city of Gaza and its surroundings,” Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, said Friday. “The fighters are advancing in battles, during which they are destroying above-ground and underground terrorist infrastructures and eliminate terrorists.”

Since the IDF launched its ground offensive into Gaza a week ago, marking the latest phase of its war against Hamas, its troops have pushed forward on three axes – from Gaza’s northwest border along the Mediterranean coast, from the northeast near Beit Hanoun, and from east to west, along the south of Gaza City – in an apparent effort to divide the strip into two.

Israeli troops have moved deeper along that western stretch, towards the sea, according to European Space Agency satellite imagery from Wednesday, which indicated the forces were within about a kilometer of completely encircling Gaza City.

While the imagery is low-resolution, it appears to show the tracks from heavy armored vehicles snaking across the strip, south of the urban center, nearly reaching the coast.

Videos showing Israel’s advance south of Gaza City have yet to surface, but footage shared by the IDF and circulating on social media in recent days showed Israeli troops had moved in the northernmost communities in Gaza – Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and Atatra – and were sitting on the perimeter of Gaza City from the north.

Satellite imagery and footage have also shown Israeli forces on Salah al-Din Road, a highway running the length of the strip, seemingly blocking anyone still in Gaza City from moving south. A video that surfaced Monday, filmed by freelance Palestinian journalist Yousif Al Saifi, showed an Israeli tank opening fire on a car on the road.

For weeks, Lebanon was preparing for war. People spoke about their backup plans in hushed tones. The government said it was putting together contingency supplies for the public’s basic necessities.

It all hinged on Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s thinking about the Hamas-Israel war, which he kept close to his chest before breaking his nearly month-long silence about October 7 on Friday.

In a fiery speech from an undisclosed location, the reclusive head of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group heaped praise on Hamas and hailed the war as a “turning point” in the Arab-Israeli conflict. He extolled the virtues of the weekslong cross-fire with Israel on Lebanon’s southern border, which he described as an “unprecedented battle.”

He also said Hezbollah would be “prepared for all scenarios,” and that any escalation by the Israeli army at the border would be a “historic folly” that would prompt a major response.

Yet for all the tough talk, Nasrallah was not banging war drums. He said Hezbollah’s “primary goal” was to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, and said it was incumbent on the US — which he held directly responsible for the bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave — to implement the cessation of hostilities.

What this tells us is that Nasrallah’s immediate plans do not include a broader conflict.

This may come as a disappointment to many in the Arab street. When the pro-Palestinian demonstrations washed over much of the region in recent weeks, many of the chants called on Nasrallah to go to war.

But it will be a relief to Israel’s Western allies, who fear a wider regional conflict and have repeatedly warned Nasrallah not to enter the fray. Two US aircraft carriers — including the nuclear-power USS Gerald Ford — were dispatched to the Mediterranean in an apparent bid to deter Hezbollah.

That relief will be shared by many in Lebanon. The tiny eastern Mediterranean country has barely recovered from the devastating economic crisis of 2019, and much of the population — while horrified by the soaring death toll and widespread destruction wrought by Israel’s offensive in Gaza — has been worn down by decades of war and crises.

Nasrallah may have been restrained by that popular sentiment, or he may have concluded, after weeks of deliberation, that his powerful paramilitary has too much to lose in a war with Israel.

Israel has claimed responsibility for an attack outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City that witnesses say killed and wounded dozens of people.

Videos from the scene show multiple people bloodied and strewn across the ground near an ambulance.

Fifteen people were killed and 50 others wounded, Hamas-run health authorities say.

In a statement, Israel said it targeted the ambulance because it was being used by Hamas.

“An IDF aircraft struck an ambulance that was identified by forces as being used by a Hamas terrorist cell in close proximity to their position in the battle zone,” it said in a statement. “A number of Hamas terrorist operatives were killed in the strike. We have information which demonstrates that Hamas’ method of operation is to transfer terror operatives and weapons in ambulances.”

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said earlier Friday that the ambulance was in a medical convoy from the hospital, traveling to the Rafah border crossing, and had informed the International Committee of the Red Cross about the move.

The ICRC confirmed it was aware of the scheduled movement of a convoy of vehicles carrying wounded patients from northern Gaza to the south, but it was not part of it, the organization said on Friday.

“We were informed by the MoH (Ministry of Health) about the planned convoy, but we were not part of it,” the ICRC said in a statement to CNN. 

Earlier Friday the organization said it had received a request from the Gaza Ministry of Health to accompany the convoy.

“Even if we were not present, this is still medical convoy, and any violence towards medical personnel is unacceptable,” the ICRC said. “No doctors, nurses, or any medical professionals should ever die while working to save lives.” 

“Any involvement of the ICRC in evacuating civilians from an area requires the agreement of the sides on the exact terms and conditions so that this can be done safely, and then with the full consent of those evacuated,” the organization said in a previous statement.

This post has been updated with the latest statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Israeli government is warning its citizens to reconsider foreign travel and to exercise caution while abroad in light of an increase in antisemitic incidents and violence in recent weeks. 

The Israeli National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it had observed a “significant rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel incitement alongside life-threatening violent attacks on Israelis and Jews around the world,” including in countries that do not have “terrorism-related travel warnings.” 

“Jewish communities, religious and community establishments (synagogues, Chabad centers, kosher restaurants and Israeli businesses), Israeli delegations, and airports with flights to and from Israel are key targets for protests and attacks by antisemitic groups,” the statement said.

The NSC said Israelis should abide by its recommended conduct while abroad.

Some context: Earlier this week, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that antisemitism is reaching “historic levels” in the United States.

US-based advocacy groups are reporting a spike in hate incidents against Jewish and Muslim individuals amid the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas. The Council on American-Islamic Relations also said it is collecting data and has seen an uptick in reports.

The Anti-Defamation League also cited some 312 antisemitic incidents between October 7 and October 23, 190 of which were linked to the fighting in Israel and Gaza. By comparison, there were 64 incidents over the same time frame in 2022.

CNN’s Tori Morales Pinales and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed reporting to this post.

There are dozens of casualties after an incident near Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, according to multiple videos from the scene and the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The cause is not immediately clear. 

Multiple videos from the scene show at least a dozen bloodied casualties strewn across the ground near an ambulance. There appears to be some shrapnel damage to at least one of the cars on the scene.

CNN has geolocated the videos to the edge of a compound that includes the hospital. There is so far no video evidence of any crater from a munition.

CNN has inquired about the incident with the Israel Defense Forces.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, who was at the hospital, said that Israel was responsible for the attack. 

Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra said that authorities had organized a medical convoy from the hospital, traveling to the Rafah border crossing, and informed the International Committee of the Red Cross about the move.

“When the ambulances moved towards the south, the occupation (Israel) targeted the ambulances in multiple locations, including on the gate of Al-Shifa medical compound,” he said. “The Israeli occupation targeted intentionally those ambulances.”

At least two rockets were seen making a direct hit in the Israeli city of Sderot on Friday evening, with one striking the courtyard of a kindergarten. Shrapnel hit the windows of the building as well as several nearby cars.  

That rocket hit less than 100 meters (about 328 feet) from where some journalists are positioned in the city, overlooking Gaza. 

There were no reported casualties. 

Families of eleven victims of the Hamas attack on October 7 have accused the perpetrators of “crimes against humanity” in a complaint filed to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Relatives of the victims, who were all civilians, have also called on International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan to investigate Hamas’ actions as “war crimes” that were carried out as part of a “genocidal plan,” according to a press statement shared with CNN by their lawyer Francois Zimeray on Friday.

“It was the execution of a genocidal plan assumed by its perpetrators. In the face of denial in real time, the truth must be defended, these atrocities must be known and engraved in the collective memory,” the complaint lodged by Zimeray, a lawyer at the Paris Bar and ICC said.

The complaint concerns 11 victims who were either killed or injured within Israeli borders. Several had been at the Nova music festival, where Hamas gunmen killed more than 260 people.

According to Zimeray’s law firm, Zimeray & Finelle, “the material facts cannot… be disputed” as Hamas has “amply documented and broadcast” its actions, which shocked the “universal conscience.”

Zimeray asked the prosecution to “consider the advisability of issuing an international arrest warrant for the leaders of Hamas, following the example of the warrant issued for the Russian President in relation to the aggression in Ukraine.” 

The development comes days after Khan visited the region and where, from Cairo, he gave a speech in which he said that impeding the flow of aid into Gaza could constitute a war crime. 

The United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) released audio interviews with three women currently taking shelter in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza describing their desperate situation.

The recordings were made over the last few days in Al Shifa Hospital, UNFPA said.

One woman says she was forced to flee her home while heavily pregnant and another lost a child in utero during an airstrike. 

Gaza is home to 50,000 pregnant women and “some 5,500 of these women are due to give birth in the coming month,” according to an October 12 report from UNFPA. “That is equal to 166 births per day, taking place with inadequate access to healthcare or even clean water.”

“I was under the rubble… I couldn’t move… I was nine months pregnant. I had ten days left to give birth. They scanned the fetus; they found the pulse was weak and they had to do an emergency cesarean section,” 35-year-old Islam Hussein said in the interview released by UNFPA. “I named my son Sanad — it means support.”

“I am two months pregnant, and I had a hemorrhage before,” 24-year-old Reham Rashad Bakr said. “There is a treatment that I should take but I am not able to take it,” she said in the audio interview. “Pregnant women like me should be drinking milk and eating eggs. All bakeries have been bombed. There is no bread, no water.” 

Alaa Al Bayaa, a 30-year-old pregnant Palestinian woman, said when she went to the doctor, she was told her baby had died.

“The doctor told me there is no pulse, there is no hope,” she said. “It means my fetus is dead and it needs to be removed from my uterus.”  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Friday for his third trip to the country since the October 7 Hamas attack, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.

Standing alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Friday, Blinken said the US stood by Israel but called for Gazan civilians to be protected amid intensifying Israeli bombardment.

Here are the top headlines right now:

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting to this post.

This post has been updated with new details about Nasrallah’s remarks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that his government opposed any temporary ceasefire in Gaza unless Hamas freed all the hostages it holds.

He also said that it would continue to block fuel from entering Gaza.

“Israel is objecting a temporary ceasefire which does not include freeing all our hostages,” Netanyahu said during televised remarks on Friday. “Israel does not allow fuel into the Gaza Strip and is objecting to funds being transferred into Gaza strip.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv on Friday said the US believes efforts to get humanitarian assistance in and hostages out “would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses.”

Blinken also said during the news conference that the US and Israel have “identified mechanisms” to get much-needed fuel to Gaza’s hospitals.

The Israeli military on Friday said 241 hostages are believed to have been taken by Hamas on October 7.

The military also said Friday the death toll of Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza is up to 25.

CNN’s Becky Anderson contributed reporting to this post.

Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, called in a speech Friday for people to “work day and night” to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it is Hezbollah’s “primary goal.”

Nasrallah said the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese paramilitary group’s secondary goal is for Hamas to emerge “victorious” in Gaza.

He also described the war as a “turning point.”

“The victory of Gaza means a victory for Palestine, for Jerusalem, for Aqsa and the Holy Sepulcher and all the neighboring countries,” Nasrallah said.

Warning of a new front: Nasrallah went on to say Hezbollah has been in an “unprecedented battle” with Israel on the Israel-Lebanon border since October 8, adding that “the possibility of the Lebanese front escalating into broad battle is a realistic option.”

“Israel should take this into account,” he said in his speech.

Nasrallah described Hezbollah’s operations at the Lebanese border as a “deterrent” to Israel and said “all scenarios” are possible in the region, warning Israel against escalating its military activity there. The Hezbollah leader said any such escalation would be “a historic folly” by Israel.

Some background: Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Islamist movement with one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East. The group, which has its main base on the Israel-Lebanon border, could become a wildcard player in the Hamas-Israel war and spark a wider regional conflict.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in tit-for-tat skirmishes across the border in northern Israel and southern Lebanon since the war began. The Lebanese group has voiced support for Hamas’ cause but not yet directly intervened on its behalf, linking its clashes with Israel to attacks on Lebanese soil.

US intelligence officials were watching Nasrallah’s speech closely Friday for signals about Hezbollah’s intentions, an intelligence source told CNN on Thursday.

United States and Israeli officials have “identified mechanisms to enable fuel to reach hospitals and other needs,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday, as the situation in Gaza’s healthcare facilities continues to deteriorate.

The issue of getting fuel into Gaza was expected to be a key focus of Blinken’s conversations in Tel Aviv, and a source familiar with the discussion told CNN that it was one of the top US diplomat’s most notable pushes.  

It is unclear when the mechanisms may be put into action. The source said Israel’s wartime cabinet was not very receptive given the difficulties in ensuring that fuel is for humanitarian purposes. Israeli officials have repeatedly said they believe Hamas will steal the fuel.

“Israel has raised appropriate concerns, concerns that we share” about Hamas siphoning off the fuel, Blinken said at a press conference in Tel Aviv, adding that the group’s “cynicism knows no bounds.”

Blinken said he “spoke to Israeli leaders about tangible steps that can be taken to increase the sustained delivery of food, water, medicine, fuel and other essential needs while putting in place measures to prevent diversion by Hamas and other terrorist groups.”

Blinken said conversations would continue “about getting assistance to flow, including with help from the United Nations.”

The situation in Gaza’s hospitals: A woman sheltering in Gaza’s largest medical facility told CNN that piles of both trash and people line the hospital’s corridors, with many “sleeping on the floors because residents feel hospitals are safe.”

“The smell of death is everywhere,” she said. “The smell of blood is everywhere.”

Gaza’s leading cancer hospital, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital, has stopped operating due to Israeli bombardment and fuel shortages, the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health said in a statement Wednesday.

Israel has claimed that there is fuel in Gaza, but that it is under Hamas’ control. CNN cannot independently verify the amount of fuel in the enclave.

Hospitals in the heavily battered enclave are “hanging by a thread,” the UN said Monday, adding that around 10 hospitals in Gaza are still operational. But those facilities are constantly receiving evacuation orders, the UN added.

The US military is flying surveillance drones over Gaza as part of American efforts to help Israel locate the more than 240 hostages still held by Hamas, the Pentagon confirmed Friday.

CNN had earlier reported the drones — which are also called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) — are part of a surge of intelligence assets sent to the region in the days and weeks following the October 7 attack on southern Israel, according to multiple US officials familiar with the matter. The attack caught both Israeli and US intelligence services by surprise.

“In support of hostage recovery efforts, the US is conducting unarmed UAV flights over Gaza, as well as providing advice and assistance to support our Israeli partner as they work on their hostage recovery efforts,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement. “These UAV flights began after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.”

Two other US drones — both MQ-9 Reapers, one of the US’s most sophisticated drones primarily used for surveillance — were also flying off the coast of Lebanon over the weekend, according to one source familiar with the effort and flight tracker data reviewed by CNN. The US is closely monitoring for any signs that Lebanese Hezbollah — or any other Iranian proxy force — may seek to escalate the simmering tensions rippling across the region. 

It’s not clear how helpful the imagery gathered by the overhead flights in Gaza will be in locating hostages, since they are widely believed to be held in the vast network of underground tunnels, some former intelligence officials said. 

US officials insisted the intelligence gathered by the drones and shared with Israel is limited to hostage recovery efforts and is not so-called “targeting intelligence” — information used to conduct lethal strikes against Hamas leaders and positions.

US special operations personnel inside Israel have also been advising the Israeli Defense Forces on hostage recovery efforts, as the US separately has been providing bombs and other lethal aid. 

But Ryder said Thursday that those forces and the US military broadly are “not participating in IDF target development” or “helping them run their campaign” in Gaza. 

“We the US military are not participating in IDF target development, helping them run their campaign — just to be crystal clear that it is their operation,” Ryder said. “That planning element is providing planning and intelligence support as it relates to hostage recovery.”

Still, several of these officials acknowledged to CNN that that the information gathered by the drones that the US shares with Israel could also be helpful in tracking Hamas’s activities beyond holding hostages.

Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes for weeks, drawing international criticism that it has been insufficiently mindful of the risk to civilians trapped in the blockaded enclave. 

The Biden administration also dispatched three-star Marine Corps general James Glynn to counsel the IDF on planning its tactical assault on Gaza, but he has since returned to the US.

Of the more than 240 hostages still held by Hamas, 10 of them are believed to be Americans.

This post has been updated with comments from the Pentagon confirming the drones’ use in hostage recovery efforts.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it “striking” and “shocking” that the brutality of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel “has receded so quickly in the memories of so many” during a news conference in Tel Aviv on Friday.

Blinken said today he viewed additional images and footage from the attack collected by the Israeli government.

Blinken, who appeared visibly shaken, described an example of additional video Israeli officials showed him today of the Hamas attack.

“I saw, for example, a family on a kibbutz, a father (of) two young boys — maybe 10, 11 years old — grabbing them, pulling them out of their living room, going through their very small backyard and into a shelter, followed seconds later by a terrorist who throws a grenade into that small shelter. And then as the father come staggering out, shoots him down. And then the boys come out, and they run into their house, and the camera in the house is filming everything. And they’re crying. ‘Where’s daddy?’ one says. The other says, ‘They killed daddy. Where’s my mommy?’ And then the terrorists comes in, and casually opens the refrigerator and starts to eat from it,” Blinken said he saw in the video.

The top US diplomat expressed sympathy for the plight of Palestinians civilians as well, saying he sees his own children when he sees images of “Palestinian children, young boys and girls, pulled from the wreckage and buildings.” 

“Hamas doesn’t care one second or one iota for the welfare, for the well-being of the Palestinian people,” said Blinken. “It cynically and monstrously uses them as human shields, putting his commanders in command posts, its weapons and ammunition, within or beneath residential buildings, schools, mosques, hospitals.”

Blinken said that the US is still pressing Israel to minimize civilian casualties.

“We’ve provided Israel advice that only the best of friends can offer on how to minimize civilian deaths, while still achieving its objectives of finding and finishing Hamas terrorists and their infrastructure of violence,” he added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said more needs to be done to protect Palestinian civilians on Friday after meeting with top Israeli officials in Tel Aviv.

“We need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians,” he said at a news conference.

In some of his most forceful comments to date, Blinken condemned Hamas’ use of civilians as human shields and embedding its fighters within civilian infrastructure, but said that “civilians should not suffer the consequences for its inhumanity and its brutality.”

“We’ve been clear that as Israel conducts its campaign to defeat Hamas, how it does so matters — it matters because it’s the right and lawful thing to do. It matters because failure to do so plays into the hands of Hamas and other terror groups,” Blinken said, echoing earlier comments that “how Israel does this matters.”

Blinken said that the US believes efforts to get humanitarian assistance in and hostages out “would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses.”

“That was an important area of discussion today with Israeli leaders – how, when and where these can be implemented, what work needs to happen, and what understandings must be reached,” Blinken said.

“A number of legitimate questions were raised in our discussions today, including how to use any period of pause to maximize the full humanitarian assistance, how to connect a pause to the release of hostages, how to ensure that Hamas doesn’t use these pauses or arrangements to its own advantage,” Blinken said.

“These are issues that we need to tackle urgently, and we believe they can be solved,” he added.

In a meeting with Blinken today, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Israel will not agree to a pause in fighting unless it includes the release of hostages, one source directly familiar with the comment told CNN.

During a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Israel will not agree to a pause in fighting unless it includes the release of hostages, one source directly familiar with the comment tells CNN.

Israeli officials have been frustrated with Hamas releasing one or two hostages at a time, the source said.

Blinken will push Israel for a “pause” in airstrikes on Gaza to “allow for mediation,” a different diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations told CNN ahead of Blinken’s meetings.

CNN’s Becky Anderson contributed reporting to this post.

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is now speaking in Lebanon, marking his first public remarks since the Israel-Hamas war erupted.

Nasrallah called the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel a “great, blessed operation.”

In his speech on Friday, Nasrallah addressed speculation about whether Iran-backed factions were part of the attacks, saying that the planning and execution of the attacks were “100 percent Palestinian,” adding that it did not bother Hezbollah that the operation was kept secret from them. Nasrallah said he understood Hamas’ need for the element of surprise. 

Nasrallah said October 7 caused a “political earthquake” in Israel and that it will have “lasting effects” on the conflict with Israel, adding his view that the attacks exposed the country’s military weaknesses. 

He added that the lives lost in Gaza, the West Bank and other fronts were “worthy sacrifices” because they established a “historic new stage” in the conflict. 

Nasrallah said the United States sending “fleets of warships” to the eastern Mediterranean also exposes Israel’s weaknesses and its reliance on allies. 

The US has sent two carrier strike groups to the Mediterranean.

Nasrallah is speaking via video link from an undisclosed location, and the speech is being broadcast to a large crowd of supporters gathering in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

As the speech began, a CNN team on the ground in Beirut heard celebratory gunfire. 

He has not spoken publicly in person since 2006, when a month-long war erupted between Lebanon and Israel.  

His speech comes amid escalating skirmishes between his powerful, Iran-backed armed group and Israel, sparking concern of a potential broader regional war. 

A total of 353 foreign nationals have arrived in Egypt from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Friday, an Egyptian border official told CNN on the ground. 

The border crossing remains open, but it is unclear if more will cross through today. 

It was not immediately clear what nationalities had crossed into the country from the besieged enclave. 

Some background: The exodus of the foreign nationals is the result of a deal announced Wednesday brokered by Qatar between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the US, that allows for the departure of those individuals, alongside critically injured civilians from Gaza, according to sources familiar with the talks. The agreement is separate from any hostage negotiations, the source added.

Earlier Friday, a convoy of Egyptian Red Crescent ambulances entered Gaza to retrieve wounded Palestinians, an Egyptian border official told CNN. So far, 48 injured Palestinian civilians have been transferred to Egypt for treatment.

The post has been updated with the latest numbers of foreign nationals crossing into Egypt from Gaza.

Fifteen injured Palestinians entered Egypt through the Rafah border crossing on Friday, an Egyptian government official told CNN. 

They will be transferred to hospitals across the country for treatment, the official added. 

By a CNN count, this brings the total number of wounded Palestinians who have been transferred to Egypt for treatment to 63. 

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said he is “hugely relieved” that his in-laws were able to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Friday morning. 

“We are grateful to all of those who have assisted our parents over the last few weeks, including the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) crisis team,” he added in a statement posted to social media on Friday signed by himself and his wife, Nadia El-Nakla. 

Yousaf previously told UK media that his in-laws, who live in Dundee in Scotland, went to visit family in Gaza about a week before the October 7 attacks and subsequently could not leave the strip. 

“Although we feel a sense of deep personal relief, we are heartbroken at the continued suffering of the people of Gaza. We will continue to raise our voices to stop the killing and suffering of the innocent people of Gaza,” Yousaf added. 

Yousaf went on to say that the last four weeks “have been a living nightmare” for his family, adding that he is thankful “for all the messages of comfort and prayers” received from across the world and “from across the political spectrum in Scotland and the UK.” 

“We reiterate our calls for all sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire, the opening of a humanitarian corridor so that significant amounts of aid, including fuel, can flow through to a population that have suffered collective punishment for far too long, and for all hostages to be released,” he added. 

“Families in Gaza and Israel are suffering after the loss of entirely innocent men, women and children,” said Yousaf. “We pray for them all, and pray that the international community at least focuses on achieving a lasting peace in the region: one that recognises that the rights and lives of Palestinians and Israelis are equal.”

CNN’s Livvy Doherty contributed reporting to this post.

When the Hamas-Israel war started, Western leaders almost immediately turned their sights to Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. This is the home turf of the Middle East’s most powerful paramilitary group, Hezbollah, and it is widely believed to be a possible launching pad for a regional war. 

Since the war began, Hezbollah’s charismatic leader Hassan Nasrallah — and the only real spokesman of his own party — has been noticeably quiet. 

There has been a weeks-long, limited flare-up between Hezbollah and Israel in the volatile border region. The United States, France and others have repeatedly called on the group to refrain from entering the fray of the Hamas-Israel war. Two US aircraft carriers — including the nuclear-powered USS Gerald Ford — were dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean in an apparent bid to deter Hezbollah.

But Hezbollah’s involvement in the larger conflict remained murky. Nasrallah’s domestic, regional and international observers were left to dissect the trickle of information that was coming out. 

Last week, he published a handwritten letter that praised his fighters who died in combat on the border, and made only a passing reference to the ongoing war, reinforcing the sense of his deafening silence. 

On Sunday, he appeared as a shadowy figure walking in and out of frame in a 12-second video, nodding slightly at a hulking Hezbollah poster as he rushed past. Many interpreted it to mean that Nasrallah intended to move on to a new phase of the conflict. 

Hours later, Hezbollah media finally scheduled their leader’s first speech since October 7. 

Today, he is set to deliver that hotly anticipated televised address, and observers will look to it to answer some pressing questions: 

Hezbollah is backed by Iran, but it has grown to a regional power in its own right. It is a more sophisticated fighting group than Hamas, and boasts more advanced weaponry, including precision-guided missiles and drones. On Thursday, it said it had used a self-detonating drone in an attack on an Israeli military position for the first time in its history. 

Today’s speech is expected to be long and fiery. Western leaders will monitor it for signs of what lies in store for this conflict. Nasrallah is unlikely to show his entire hand — but will reveal enough to keep everyone guessing.  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, standing alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Friday, said that his country stood by Israel and that civilians in Gaza must be protected.

“We stand strongly for the proposition that Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself and to do everything possible to make sure that this, October 7, can never happen again,” Blinken said.
“How Israel does this matters. And it is very important that when it comes to the protection of civilians who are caught in the crossfire of Hamas’ making, that everything be done to protect them and to bring assistance to those who so desperately need it, and were not in any way responsible for what happened on October 7. So we’re working on all of that together.”

A diplomatic source familiar with negotiations told CNN on Friday that Blinken would push Israel for a “pause” in airstrikes on Gaza to “allow for mediation.”

Herzog thanked Blinken for his “moral clarity.”

He acknowledged protesters, who could be heard faintly in the background, demanding action to release hostages held by Hamas and said: “Our heart goes out to them. We understand it. We want their immediate release.”

Blinken and Herzog also said that they “are thinking every single moment of our hostages – so many Israelis, Americans, other foreign nationals.”

“We are determined to do everything we can to bring them back safely, to bring them back to be with their families and loved ones,” Blinken said.

Herzog sought to emphasize the claim that Israel is following international humanitarian law by showing Blinken a leaflet – 1.2 million of which he said had been sent to citizens of Gaza. 

“We’ve carried out six million text messages and four million phone calls to the citizens of Gaza according to the rules of international law, where we alerted the citizens in advance, including before the Jabalya attack,” he said.

Nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces overnight in raids across the occupied West Bank, according to information from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Four men and a 17-year-old were shot dead in Jenin. They were named as Suleiman Steti, 31, Mustafa Na’aniya, 26, Waseem Zyoud, 22, Motaz Abu Al-Nada, 26, and Yamen Jarrar, 17. A sixth person was transferred to hospital with what health officials described as a serious abdominal injury.

Videos obtained by CNN show several Israeli military vehicles entering the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday evening, with sounds of gunshots being fired and piles of rubble strewn around the ground. Another clip shows a roadside explosive being detonated near an Israeli military bulldozer that had been tearing up infrastructure.

An eyewitness told CNN that Israeli forces covertly entered the camp and were spotted by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire. More Israeli military vehicles then came in to support the special unit as reinforcement, the eyewitness added.   

Some context: Israel has stepped up activities against armed Palestinian groups in the West Bank since October 7, with the town of Jenin, in the north of the territory, a particular focus.

In a statement Friday morning, the Israeli army said it had taken part in “counterterrorism activity overnight in the Jenin Camp.”

“During the activity, an aircraft struck an armed cell that had hurled explosive devices at the forces. Several assailants were killed,” the statement added.

In separate incidents overnight, four other Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. They were named as Wadih Al-Najjar, 33 and Muhammad Al-Azza, 36, both killed in Hebron; Ibrahim Zayed, 29, killed in Qalandiya; and Asim Ramadan, 19, who died in Nablus. 

As more foreign nationals make their way out of Gaza, the White House said Thursday that a total of 79 American citizens and family members were among those who had arrived in Egypt through the Rafah border crossing so far. 

In a press briefing on Thursday, John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, announced the figures, saying that 74 US citizens and family members had crossed the border on Thursday, in addition to five Americans who crossed into Egypt on Wednesday. Kirby also stressed the figures are “changing in real time.”

“We obviously continue to be focused on getting as many Americans out as quickly as possible. And we still fully expect that more Americans will be able to depart – hopefully more today, but certainly we’re looking for them to depart at a similar pace… if not better than what we’ve seen,” he said on Thursday.

Earlier Friday, an Egyptian border guard at Rafah crossing told CNN that 99 people had so far transited through from Gaza that morning without specifying any nationalities. More people are expected to arrive throughout the day.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that the military is advancing in Gaza and destroying Hamas infrastructure.

“IDF forces encircle Gaza from the air, land and sea, surrounding the city of Gaza and its surroundings,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference on Friday.

“The fighters are advancing in battles during which they are destroying above ground and underground terrorist infrastructures, and eliminating terrorists.”

Hagari said that IDF forces had located explosives caches.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will push Israel for a “pause” in airstrikes on Gaza to “allow for mediation,” a diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations told CNN. 

Blinken is currently in Israel meeting with top officials and intends to convey that message whilst in country, the source added. 

The timeline for the pause is unclear at this stage. 

A Jordanian diplomatic source also told CNN that in talks with the US Secretary of State, “Jordan will forcefully be demanding an immediate ceasefire.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are on a “very high level of alertness” at the Lebanese border, a spokesperson said Friday.

His words came hours ahead of a highly anticipated speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, and the day after unusually fierce exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border.

“We are at a very high level of readiness in the north – on a very, very high level of alertness to respond to any event that occurred today and in the days to come,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press briefing.

He said that the IDF was “in the middle of a wide-scale operation on the northern border.”

 “Yesterday we launched a very broad attack and hit a number of terrorist cells of Hezbollah in response to the shooting carried out by the Hezbollah organization at Kiryat Shmona and Safed,” he said. “We will continue to respond firmly against any harm to the citizens of the State of Israel.”

Some background: A CNN team in northern Israel on Thursday saw an increase in the pace of rocket fire from Lebanon, with Israel’s Iron Dome engaging with two of them. Israel and Hezbollah — an Iran-backed armed group that dominates southern Lebanon — have been engaged in daily cross-border exchanges of fire since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on October 7, raising fears that the fighting could escalate into a regional war.

A doctor at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital said that low fuel stocks have plunged wards into darkness and cut off major, basic functions like oxygen generation.

Only one operating theatre, the emergency department, and the intensive care unit (ICU) continue to function, Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, director of the hospitals in Gaza, said in a video obtained by CNN.

In the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel has prevented any fuel from entering Gaza. The Israeli government accuses Hamas of stockpiling fuel, to the detriment of civilian services.

Filming an almost pitch-black building, Abu Al-Rish points out the services that are affected.

“This is the maternity hospital, there, which is containing the neonatal ICU. And this is the rest of the hospital. And this is the surgical department building,” he says.

“We are just trying to keep the hospital working… Even the admin part now, as you see, it’s in complete darkness.”

He said that they were “trying our best” to extend the fuel as long as they can.

“All the other services directly related to the electricity will stop. For example, the oxygen generator, as there is no fuel, it stopped.”

Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, also at Al-Shifa hospital, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that the hospital is currently running on just one generator after the fuel shortage led to another generator being switched off.

“Unless there’s electricity, this hospital will turn into a mass grave,” Abu-Sittah said. “It’s as simple as that. If we cannot keep the ventilators running, if we can’t take our critically wounded patients back to the operating room, then there’s nothing for this place other than to come and die.”

Abu Al-Rish, in his video, said that pleas for help had gone unanswered.

“No one responds,” he said. “No one can imagine even how the nurses will complete their job to give the medication, to have follow up, without an electromechanical system. Without the light even. It’s very catastrophic.”

Read more on the increasingly precarious conditions doctors in Gaza are coping with.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Friday that nearly 50 of its buildings and assets across Gaza have been impacted, with some being “directly hit.”

“This includes UN schools and buildings being used as shelters, where UNRWA is currently hosting around 700,000 people,” UNRWA said in a post on social media. 

Earlier on Friday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday have killed at least 23 people sheltering in four UNRWA facilities that are hosting nearly 20,000 displaced people in Gaza. Since October 7, 72 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza. 

Previous reporting from CNN’s Kareem El Damanhoury.

Residents of Gaza who worked in Israel, and were in Israel on October 7, returned to the enclave on Friday through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, following an Israeli Security Cabinet decision to expel them.

Dozens of Gazan men of all ages can be seen entering Gaza in CNN footage filmed on the Gazan side. Some pray or kiss the ground, some greet friends and family, some tell of alleged mistreatment in Israel.

“What happened to us never happened to any human being before,” one of the men told CNN. “They suspended our permissions. We tried to go to the West Bank. They detained us and put us in places we never knew where we were.”

CNN is reaching out to the Israeli government for a response to his allegations.

On Thursday, Israel announced it would be “severing all contact with Gaza” and that there would be “no more Palestinian workers from Gaza,” according to the Israeli government press office.

“Those workers from Gaza who were in Israel on the day of the outbreak of the war will be returned to Gaza,” the press office said.

Previous reporting from CNN’s Mariya Knight and Tamar Michaelis. 

Read more on the decision to send Gazan workers back to the enclave here.

Friday prayers have started in Jerusalem, often a moment of tension between Palestinian residents of the ancient city and the Israeli police.

As in the previous weeks, the authorities are severely restricting access to the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest place in Islam.

There’s a heavy police presence in Wadi Juz neighborhood in East Jerusalem, where many of those turned away from the al-Aqsa compound congregate to pray in the streets.

Moments ago, the police fired a number of tear gas canisters deep into the neighborhood, in an apparent attempt to prevent any gathering from taking place.

The midday prayers on Friday are congregational worship, the most important moment of the Muslim week.

Twenty ambulances from the Egyptian Red Crescent passed through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza to pick up wounded Palestinians on Friday morning, an Egyptian border official told CNN on the ground.

The official said the ambulances are expected to bring back 29 people, including nine children suffering from cancer.

Three wounded Palestinians crossed through the Rafah border to receive treatment in Egyptian hospitals on Thursday, bringing the total number who have been transferred to Egypt for treatment to 48.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with Israel’s war cabinet in Tel Aviv, following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the State Department.

Blinken arrived in Israel on Friday for meetings with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials. He is accompanied by newly confirmed US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew.

This is Blinken’s third visit to Israel since the October 7 Hamas attack.

In remarks to the media before departing Washington on Thursday, Blinken said he planned to talk to the Israeli government about “the ongoing campaign against the Hamas terrorist organization” and “steps that need to be taken to protect civilians.” 

Read more here.

This post has been updated.

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday will make his first public remarks since the Hamas-Israel war erupted on October 7. 

The widely anticipated speech comes as his powerful Iran-backed armed group has been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli military on the Israel-Lebanon border, raising the specter of a regional war.  

The skirmishes are the most significant escalation between Hezbollah and Israel since a 32-day war between the two countries in 2006. The hostilities began shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel and the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that followed. 

The crossfire has so far been restricted to the border region. On Thursday, the skirmishes intensified, and the flare-up zone appeared to widen slightly, stoking fears of a broadening conflict. 

Hezbollah is widely considered to be the regional wildcard that could tip the Hamas-Gaza war into a regional conflict. It is has a more sophisticated arsenal than Hamas, and its increased involvement in the war could rope in Iran’s paramilitary partners in Iraq and Yemen. 

US aircraft carriers that were deployed to the eastern Mediterranean shortly after the onset of the war are believed to serve as a deterrent for the group, and much Western diplomatic effort has been expended to prevent an all-out war. 

Nasrallah’s silence over the past three weeks has lent an unsettling ambiguity to the future of the region’s security. Many Western embassies, including those of the US and the UK, have called on their citizens to leave the country and have issued advisory warnings about travel to Lebanon. 

Several airlines have also suspended flights to the country. 

It is unclear what Nasrallah may announce in Friday’s speech, but Hezbollah-owned media have been effusive in their support for Hamas since October 7. Observers will watch the speech for signs of a new phase in the conflict, or modifications to the loosely defined rules of engagement that extend beyond the current tit-for-tat. 

In anticipation of the address, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Thursday, “Our message to him or to anybody else is that they’re thinking about widening and escalating and deepening this conflict: You shouldn’t do it.”

“Well, we’ll wait to see what he says. I mean, I don’t think he’s calling in asking for our talking points. So we’ll see what he has to say,” Kirby stated, adding: “We’ve got significant national security interests at play here. We’ve proven in the past we’ll protect and defend them. We’ll do it again in the future.”

Israel will return Gazans working in the country back to the besieged Palestinian enclave, Israel’s Security Cabinet announced on Thursday, adding that it would also sever contact with Gaza.

Prior to Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks and kidnapping rampage, about 18,000 Gazans had permits to cross into Israel and work, where they could earn significantly more than in Gaza.

The statement did not detail how or when the workers would return to what is now an active warzone that is being bombarded hundreds of times per day.

Read more about the Israeli announcement.

At least 21 people were injured at Gaza City’s Al-Quds Hospital following Israeli airstrikes on the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said Friday.

It follows two straight days of Israeli airstrikes near the enclave’s second-largest hospital, where up to 14,000 displaced people are sheltering, according to doctors.

Video posted by the Red Crescent shows shattered glass on the ground as health workers carried children and medics tended to a woman with a leg injury.

“[The injuries] occurred when the internal glass of Al-Quds Hospital in #Gaza shattered and part of the false ceiling fell,” the Red Crescent said on X, formerly Twitter. “Most of the affected were women and children, causing extreme fear and panic among internally displaced civilians.” 

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment but did not immediately hear back. 

The IDF has repeatedly said it is targeting Hamas commanders or infrastructure and that it urges civilians to evacuate south when CNN has asked about specific airstrikes in northern Gaza.

Evacuation zones and warning alerts from the Israeli military have not guaranteed safety for civilians in the densely populated coastal strip.

Extremist groups could “take advantage” of the conflict in Israel and Gaza and cause more regional violence, a United Arab Emirates minister warned Friday, adding her country was working “relentlessly” for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Speaking at a conference in Abu Dhabi, Noura al-Kaabi, from the UAE’s Foreign Ministry said: “We cannot ignore the wider context and the necessity to turn down the regional temperature that is approaching a boiling point.”

“The risk of regional spillover and further escalation is real, as is the risk that extremist groups will take advantage of the situation to advance ideologies that will keep us locked in cycles of violence,” she said, adding that “strong diplomacy and cooperation among us,” could help tackle regional escalation.

Israel has maintained its bombardment and expanded ground operation in Gaza despite growing international condemnation, a steadily mounting civilian death toll, and wide calls for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Al-Kaabi said the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, would continue efforts to achieve a pause in the fighting.

Thirteen Democratic senators are calling for a “short-term cessation of hostilities that pose high-risk to civilians, aid workers or humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza,” according to a statement from the lawmakers. 

“As Senators, we have been closely monitoring the war in Gaza and believe that much more must be done to protect civilian life,” they said in the statement from the office of Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey.

While the senators stressed that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas, they said it must “minimize harm to civilians and allow humanitarian aid to reach those who are suffering.” 

The senators stated three goals they hoped would be accomplished with a short-term cessation of hostilities:

Successful delivery of needed humanitarian aid to civilians under strict and necessary oversight.  Increased focus on the release of all hostages kidnapped on October 7  Opportunity for broader discussion amongst Israeli and Palestinian leadership, together with regional and global partners, about long-term strategies to reduce decades-long conflict in the region.

The statement comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Friday to press the Israeli government on its ongoing offensive in Gaza. US President Joe Biden and his top advisers have warned Israel with growing force that it will become increasingly difficult for it to pursue its military goals in Gaza as the global outcry intensifies about the scale of humanitarian suffering there.

Aside from Markey, the statement was signed by Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) 

Thailand said Thursday it has secured “full support” from three Middle Eastern countries to help negotiate the release of Thai hostages held by Hamas in Gaza following their abduction from Israel in the October 7 attacks.

At least 23 Thai hostages, many of them migrant workers, are being held captive in Gaza, with no information available on whether they are “in a safe area or not,” according to a Thai government news release.

The Thai government said Iran, Qatar and Egypt had all “committed their full support … in assisting with the negotiation for the release of the Thai hostages to the best of their abilities, as well as their readiness to fully assist and care for” them, during Foreign Minister Parnpree Bhahiddha-Nukara’s visit to the region this week.

Iran agreed to raise Thailand’s request with Tehran-backed Hamas; Egypt said it would “consider facilitating access to the Rafah border crossing once the Thai hostages are released,” and Qatar expressed hope that Thais will be among the first group to be released, the Thai statement said.

All three countries also called for a ceasefire that would aid the safe release of hostages, the statement said.

“All sides expressed concern regarding the unfolding situation in Israel and Gaza,” the statement said, adding that the three Middle Eastern countries also “extended condolences for the loss of lives and damages suffered, especially by innocent civilians, including Thai workers.”  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Friday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.

Blinken touched down in Tel Aviv, accompanied by newly confirmed US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew. It is his third visit to Israel since the October 7 Hamas attack.

In remarks to the media before departing Washington on Thursday, Blinken said he planned to talk to the Israeli government about “the ongoing campaign against the Hamas terrorist organization” and “steps that need to be taken to protect civilians.” 

He also intends to discuss, as he did in past trips, the hostages held by Hamas and the prevention of a wider regional conflict.

The continued flow of that humanitarian aid and ongoing departure of civilians will be another key focus of his conversations in Israel, Blinken said Thursday.

Blinken’s third priority for the visit is to discuss “the day after” — “how we can set the conditions for a durable, sustainable peace; durable, sustainable security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” he said Thursday.

The Israeli military announced the combat deaths of four soldiers on Friday morning.

It brings the total death toll for Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza to 23.

Since October 7, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has published the names of 338 service members who have died.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday claimed that Israel is becoming “helpless and confused” as it maintains its military incursion in Gaza.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Khamenei also claimed the Israeli government was “lying” to its people when it expressed concern over hostages held by Hamas in Gaza while shelling areas where they might be held.

“Without American support,” Israel “will be silenced within days,” Khamenei said.

His remarks come days after Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said Israel had “crossed the red lines” in Gaza, which “may force everyone to take action,” amid warnings from a US national security adviser of an “elevated risk” of a spillover conflict in the Middle East.

CNN reported Thursday that the US intelligence community believes — for now — that Iran and its proxies are calibrating their response to Israel’s military intervention in Gaza to avoid direct conflict with Israel or the US while still exacting costs on its adversaries.

But the US is also keenly aware that Iran does not maintain perfect control of its umbrella of proxies — in particular over Lebanese Hezbollah, the largest and most capable of the various groups. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas, the group that attacked Israel on October 7, and has long positioned itself as fighting against Israel. US officials are deeply concerned that the group’s internal politics may cause Hezbollah to escalate simmering tensions.

The US also does not always have perfect visibility into the communications between Iran and its various proxies, according to sources familiar with US intelligence in the region.

On Wednesday, Khamenei called on Muslim-majority countries to stop economic cooperation with Israel, including oil and food exports to the country, according to Iran’s state-aligned Tasnim news agency.  

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Israel Friday to press the Israeli government on its ongoing offensive in Gaza amid growing international condemnation and a steadily mounting civilian death toll.

The top US diplomat, who traveled twice to Israel last month in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack, will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials as the US government continues to attempt balancing support for Israel’s defense with an increasingly public call for them to protect civilians.

In remarks to the press before departing Washington, DC, Thursday, Blinken said he planned to talk to the Israeli government about “the ongoing campaign against the Hamas terrorist organization” and “steps that need to be taken to protect civilians.”

He also intends to discuss, as he did in past trips, the hostages being held by Hamas and the prevention of a wider regional conflict.

Blinken declined to go into detail about the “concrete steps” to better protect civilians, nor would he provide a direct answer when asked whether Israel has shown restraint in its offensive so far. Instead, he said that this was “a crossfire of Hamas’ making,” condemning the terrorist group for “cynically and monstrously” using civilians as human shields and embedding its fighters within civilian infrastructure.

Read more about Blinken’s trip.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would focus on steps to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza as he headed Thursday for high-level talks in Israel.

“[W]e will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women, and children in Gaza, and this is something that the United States is committed to,” he said.

US President Joe Biden, Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have been warning Israel with a growing force that it will become increasingly difficult for it to pursue its military goals in the Hamas-run enclave as global outcry intensifies about the scale of civilian suffering there.

Biden — who has offered full-throated support for Israel but increasingly raised concerns about the situation in Gaza — called Wednesday for a humanitarian “pause” to allow aid to reach civilians and help facilitate the release of hostages.

Here’s what else you should know:

Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital will become a “mass grave” as electricity runs out, a doctor at the enclave’s largest medical facility said Thursday.

Hospitals and aid agencies have been warning that medical facilities across Gaza will grind to a halt unless fuel is delivered to keep power lines running, while medics struggle to treat patients with severe injuries from Israeli bombardment.

“Unless there’s electricity, this hospital will turn into a mass grave. It’s as simple as that. if we cannot keep the ventilators running. If we can’t take our critically wounded patients back to the operating room, then there’s nothing for this place other than to come and die,” Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

The hospital is running on just one generator after the fuel shortage led to one being switched off, and some patients could not safely undergo surgery due to the lack of electricity, he added.

Despite the Israeli military’s announcement that it has encircled Gaza City, the doctor said he has no intention of leaving.

“I have no plans to leave the hospital or to leave my patients. My day involves operating from 8 o’clock in the morning till very late at night. These surgeries are done out of necessity, not out of some kind of luxury. And so if I’m not there, literally there’s nobody else there to do it,” he said. 

The skies of northern Gaza were illuminated by flares and explosions as the bombardment intensified late Thursday night.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson in Sderot, Israel, saw missiles raining down on Gaza for more than 30 minutes, with multiple flares illuminating the night sky. The volume of flares was more intense than had been seen in the past weeks since October 7.

The focus of the flares appears to be in the northern Gaza area of Beit Hanoun, around 2.5 miles from Sderot, Robertson said. 

CNN’s Ben Wedeman, who has reported for years in the Gaza Strip, described Beit Hanoun, which is not as populous as nearby Gaza City, as one of the areas that has traditionally experienced the first military moves by the Israel Defense Forces during past operations.

There also appears to be a smoke screen covering the ground suggesting the possible movement of troops in the areas.

Robertson said it appeared that two rockets were fired out of Gaza during this time. Artillery fire was also heard nearby.

Mark Regev, senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer the Israeli military is keeping up the pressure on Hamas.

Regev said he could not provide further details, as the operation is ongoing. 

The intensified fire comes after the Israeli military announced they had encircled Gaza City.

The head of the main United Nations agency in Gaza said on Thursday that its fuel supplies are “completely depleted,” and the last remaining public services in the enclave have “completely collapsed.”

The lack of fuel means the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will not be able to supply hospitals, the water station and bakeries “in the coming days,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner general. UNRWA may also be unable to move its trucks in Gaza to provide humanitarian assistance.

The agency now needs to look at what other fuel is available in the strip, Lazzarini told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

“There was commercial fuel, which was available, and there was also fuel which was brought in by the international community to supply the electric plant,” he said, adding that over the past week the agency has also worked with Israeli officials through deconfliction channels to pick up fuel reserves.

Collapse of public services: The last remaining public services in Gaza have “completely collapsed,” the UN official said, and the “handful” of aid trucks currently being allowed to enter the territory “basically don’t do anything to reverse the fact” Gaza is “being strangled by the siege.” 

“It’s extremely sad to see how much now this population is completely dependent on an international humanitarian community, which is not in a position anymore to deliver at scope what they need,” Lazzarini said, adding that, “Hunger is turning into anger.”

Claims on Hamas’ fuel reserves: Amanpour asked the relief agency leader about reports that Hamas was storing and hoarding fuel.

The Israel Defense Forces has maintained publicly that Hamas holds significant amounts of fuel for its military operations — and that it is not using the supplies to provide for the humanitarian needs of Gaza civilians.

“What I can tell you is that no one right now is taking care of the civilian need. When it comes to the fuel, I have no idea what the military build-up has been of Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” Lazzarini said.  

The Israeli military has completed its encirclement of Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Thursday. 

The Israeli engineering corps is now working to locate and neutralize underground infrastructure, explosives and other threats to allow the IDF to move freely in the area, Hagari said.

Earlier Thursday, IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the Israeli military is surrounding Gaza City and “deepening” its operations there.

In Al Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, a dazed and drowsy woman sits on the floor with a bleeding leg. A younger man lies flat on blood-stained tiles, his neck and legs wrapped in bandages.

The rest of the emergency room on Tuesday was crowded with men, women and children of different ages — some crying, some trembling and some asleep on makeshift beds on the floor.

“The situation in hospitals is miserable … (it) makes you weep,” Rajaa Musleh, a 50-year-old woman sheltering at Al Shifa told CNN on Thursday.

“There is no equipment, people are piled up on top of one another,” said Musleh, who is also Gaza’s country representative for the MedGlobal healthcare charity.

Musleh lost her home in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and says that soon there won’t be any fuel left to power this hospital, which is housing both patients and the countless displaced who have nowhere else to go.

More than 1.5 million people in Gaza were internally displaced as of Thursday, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Nearly 700,000 are seeking refuge in facilities run by the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which are accommodating numbers three times their intended capacity.

Piles of both trash and people line the hospital’s corridors, Musleh said, with many “sleeping on the floors because residents feel hospitals are safe.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah warned Wednesday that the medical complex would be out of service in less than 24 hours as it runs out of the fuel needed to power generators.

Located in Gaza City, Al Shifa hospital is also becoming part of the front line, as Israel last week claimed the facility is the site of a major Hamas command and control center.

Read more about Gaza’s deteriorating health care situation.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss steps Israel “can and should” take to minimize civilian casualties during his upcoming visit to Tel Aviv.

“[W]e will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women, and children in Gaza, and this is something that the United States is committed to,” Blinken said Thursday.

While the secretary didn’t offer any other details, he reiterated that the topic is on the agenda for the visit. Blinken is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, according to the State Department.

Asked if Israel had shown restraint in its offensive in Gaza, Blinken did not offer a yes or no answer, and instead reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself and the “responsibility to do everything possible to protect civilians.” 

He said this was “a crossfire … of Hamas’ making.”

Blinken departed Thursday for a trip to Israel, Jordan, Japan, South Korea and India. He emphasized again on the tarmac ahead of his trip that the US is “determined to deter any escalation.” 

Blinken also added that there must be a focus on what comes next. 

“We do have to have conversations now about how we can best set the conditions for a durable, sustainable peace, durable, sustainable security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” he said.

CNN’s Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.

The breakthrough that allowed an initial group of foreign nationals, including US citizens, to depart Gaza on Wednesday came together after weeks of intensive, multi-party diplomatic efforts, sources familiar with the negotiations told CNN.

The agreement to allow foreign passport holders and a group of critically injured civilians to depart through the Rafah border crossing was reached on Tuesday, prior to the Israeli forces’ airstrike that hit Gaza’s largest refugee camp.

Qatar, which coordinated with the United States, was the key broker of the deal between Israel, Egypt, and Hamas, according to sources familiar with the talks.

The development was hailed as a critical first step in getting foreign nationals out of the war-torn strip as Israel intensifies its military operations there.

Though US officials have stressed that the situation remains fluid, they have expressed optimism that hundreds more will be able to depart in the coming days.

Complex deal: The negotiations were consistently described as immensely complicated, and the breakthrough came after “intense and urgent American diplomacy with our partners in the region,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

The initial hold up to allow foreign nationals to depart Gaza involved Egypt — which wanted an international organization to serve as administrator and vet people before their departure from Gaza, a source familiar told CNN.

The negotiators worked with the United Nations and eventually got them to agree to serve in that role.

However, they could not get guarantees from Hamas that they would not harass or interfere with the UN officials, nor would they agree to allow them to operate on the Gaza side of the border, which is what Egypt wanted.

Instead, Hamas wanted the UN officials to be on the Egyptian side of the border, which Cairo would not accept because of security concerns. 

Despite days of negotiations, the negotiators could not get Hamas to agree to what Egypt wanted, so then the focus turned to potential other routes out.

Negotiators were cognizant that time was not on their side. The Israelis agreed that they would allow foreign nationals to depart through Kerem Shalom, but Hamas continued to be the issue.

There had been attempts by some countries to get small groups of civilians out through that route, but the people had been blocked by Hamas.

In recent days, Egypt dropped its demand to have a third-party administrator over the Rafah gate, and Hamas — which had been engaging with Qatar — agreed to allow its border authority to operate the gate.

Allowing wounded Palestinian civilians to leave was always part of the discussion.

A list was sent to Qatar, Egypt and Israel — each country was able to vet the list and make deletions.

Originally, Israel only wanted wounded women and children to be allowed to depart and the US had to push them to drop those preconditions. The Israelis initially pushed back hard on this but after many senior level discussions between the US and Israel they relented.

There are at least 6,000 people believed to be on the list of those who are able to leave through the Rafah border crossing — that list was vetted by Israel and Egypt.

Those people have nationalities from more than 40 countries, as well as locally employed staff, those tied to aid organizations and NGOs and the press.