Our live coverage of Israel's war in Gaza has moved here.
December 13, 2023 Israel-Hamas war
By Tara Subramaniam, Sophie Tanno, Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN
Updated 12:03 a.m. ET, December 14, 2023
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Biden administration staffers call for Gaza ceasefire at vigil outside White House
From CNN's Camila DeChalus
Biden administration staffers held a vigil in front of the White House on Wednesday to call on President Joe Biden to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
More than three dozen people attended, including political appointees, administration staffers and civil service career staff, with participants wearing sunglasses and masks to conceal their identities.
Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned from his job in October over disagreement with the Biden administration’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war, delivered opening remarks.
A former administration staffer also read a statement given to him by a group of Palestinian administration officials who did not want to be identified.
“The US government’s decision to double down on fueling the violence has put our objectives … around the globe in jeopardy for us to achieve any movement on some of the most intractable issues we face today,” read the former administration official.
The United States has repeatedly blocked ceasefire calls at the United Nations Security Council. Its stance is at odds with most countries, which voted Tuesday to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire at the UN General Assembly.
The group that organized the vigil Wednesday called the violence that has unfolded in Gaza over the last few weeks “unacceptable.”
Last month, more than 700 staffers and political appointees signed a letter calling on the president to support a ceasefire.
Israel visit: US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Israel on Thursday for "extremely serious conversations" about humanitarian aid and the next phase of Israel's military campaign, a US official said. It comes as the White House struggles to square Biden's comments about "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza with its insistence that Israel's "intent" is to limit civilian casualties. Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions Israel has used in Gaza have been unguided, according to a US intelligence assessment.
"I got my life back," says Israeli man following family's release from Hamas captivity
From CNN's Mitchell McCluskey
An Israeli man whose wife and two daughters were freed from Hamas captivity last month on Wednesday described his joy at welcoming them home and returning to family life.
"It's a miracle. I'm feeling like I got my life back," Yoni Asher told CNN's Erin Burnett.
Asher's wife, Doron, and their two young daughters were among around 240 people taken hostage during Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7. The trio remained together throughout their captivity before they were released on November 24, he said.
Asher said being able to embrace his family again is "the most amazing feeling in my entire life."
"I was only a father and a husband for the last three weeks," he said.
While dozens of hostages have been freed, many more remain missing, presumed to be held by Hamas and other groups in Gaza, following the breakdown of a temporary truce last month. Formal negotiations have not resumed and Israel has canceled a planned trip to Qatar by the head of its Mossad intelligence service to restart talks, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to CNN.
Asher said his children have not been able to say much to describe their experience in Gaza but that his older daughter "understands very well what they have been through."
Doron only learned after her release that her brother was killed in the October 7 attacks, Asher said. "She's just starting now to process this horrific news," he said.
Burnett previously spoke with Asher in October, when he described the torment he has enduring at the time.
"I was — like I told you many times before — in hell. And I got back from hell to my family," he said Wednesday.
Israel cancels Mossad chief's Qatar trip to restart hostage talks
From CNN’s Alex Marquardt in Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel has canceled a planned trip to Qatar by the head of its foreign intelligence service to restart talks on a possible second hostage release deal, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to CNN.
Mossad director David Barnea will not travel to the Qatari capital Doha, where previous talks on the release of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza have taken place, the source said.
Israel’s Channel 13 first reported Wednesday that the Israeli war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had called off the trip and that senior Israeli officials would not go to Qatar to restart negotiations.
CNN has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office about Barnea’s canceled trip. The Mossad answers directly to the Prime Minister.
Around 240 people, from infants to octogenarians, were taken hostage during Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. Dozens have been freed but many more remain missing, presumed to be held by the Palestinian militant organization and other groups in Gaza, following the breakdown of a temporary truce last month.
The Israeli prime minister’s office believes 135 hostages remain in Gaza, 116 of whom are alive.
Formal negotiations have not resumed since hostage talks that had been taking place in Doha broke down earlier this month.
But Israel, the United States and Qatar have continued to discuss ways to try to jump start the discussions, multiple sources said. “We never stopped,” one source familiar with the talks said.
Families of some of the Israeli hostages were outraged by the decision to cancel Barnea's trip and demanded answers. “We are fed up with the indifference and deadlock,” they said in a statement.
“The families were shocked by the report on the rejection of the Director of Mossad's request to formulate an agreement for the release of the hostages,” the statement added. “This announcement comes in addition to the ignoring of the parents' request to meet with the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, which have not yet been answered.”
Tamar Michaelis, Kaitlan Collins, and Katie Bo Lillis contributed to this report.
US intelligence assessment finds nearly half of Israeli munitions dropped on Gaza are imprecise "dumb bombs"
Exclusive from CNN's Natasha Bertrand and Katie Bo Lillis
Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used in Gaza in its war with Hamas since October 7 have been unguided, otherwise known as “dumb bombs,” according to a new US intelligence assessment.
The assessment, compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and described to CNN by three sources who have seen it, says that about 40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions Israel has used have been unguided. The rest have been precision-guided munitions, the assessment says.
Unguided munitions are typically less precise and can pose a greater threat to civilians, especially in such a densely populated area like Gaza. The rate at which Israel is using the dumb bombs may be contributing to the soaring civilian death toll.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said Israel has been engaged in “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.
Asked for comment on the assessment, IDF spokesperson Nir Dinar told CNN, “We do not address the type of munitions used.”
Maj. Keren Hajioff, an Israeli spokesperson, said on Wednesday that “as a military committed to international law and a moral code of conduct, we are devoting vast resources to minimizing harm to the civilians that Hamas has forced into the role of human shields. Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza.”
But experts told CNN that if Israel is using unguided munitions at the rate the US believes they are, that undercuts the Israeli claim that they are trying to minimize civilian casualties.
“I’m extremely surprised and concerned,” said Brian Castner, a former Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer who now serves as Amnesty International’s senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations.
“It’s bad enough to be using the weapons when they are precisely hitting their targets. It is a massive civilian harm problem if they do not have that accuracy, and if you can’t even give a benefit of the doubt that that the weapon is actually landing where the Israeli forces intended to,” Castner added.
US official to address reducing harm to civilians during visit to Israel. Here's the latest
From CNN staff
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will conduct “extremely serious conversations” with Israeli officials during his visit this week, the White House said, as the US looks to press Israel to conduct a more “surgical” campaign against Hamas.
Sullivan is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with the Israeli war cabinet during the trip, which begins Thursday. He also plans to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The visit comes as the White House struggles to square President Joe Biden’s comments about Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza with the administration’s insistence that Israel’s “intent” is to limit civilian casualties.
Sullivan also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Here are the latest developments:
- US imposes new sanctions on Hamas officials: The US government on Wednesday imposed sanctions on eight Hamas officials in its latest punitive measure following the October 7 attack on Israel. Wednesday's sanctions were imposed in coordination with the United Kingdom. They are the fourth round of sanctions imposed by the US since October 7. The sanctions come amid Hamas being unresponsive to overtures made in recent days to try to restart hostage negotiations, a source familiar with the efforts told CNN, as the US and other mediators try to resurrect talks that would see more hostages who were abducted on October 7 be released from captivity.
- Hezbollah and IDF exchange fire: Two people were killed and one injured in an attack involving "enemy aircraft targeting and destroying a house" in the town of Yater in southern Lebanon, the country's National News Agency reported on Wednesday. Yater is about 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) from the border with Israel. It comes after further Israel-Hezbollah crossfire was reported between the border of Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday.
- Casualties at Gaza hospitals: Several hospitals in Gaza have reported receiving a high number of civilian casualties on Wednesday. Al-Nasser hospital in southern Gaza issued a list of 45 people who had been killed, whose bodies had been brought to the hospital. Medical staff at Al-Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah — also in southern Gaza — said 19 bodies were recovered after two houses in the area were hit by airstrikes.
- US State Department address Israel's treatment of detainees: Israeli officials told the US that, going forward, they will give detainees their clothes back "immediately" if strip-searches are conducted, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday. The remark comes after images emerged last week of men in Gaza who were detained by Israeli forces, blindfolded and stripped down to their underwear.
- Israeli hostage in Gaza pronounced dead: A hostage who was thought still to be alive in Gaza has now been pronounced dead, the Israeli prime minister’s office said. Tal Chimi, 41, was taken hostage on October 7, the office said.
- More fuel allowed into Gaza: Additional inspections points for humanitarian aid bound for Gaza are helping accelerate shipments through the Rafah border crossing — with the amount of fuel being allowed in to rise by about one-third, Egypt said on Wednesday.
- Biden hosts families of American hostages: The families of American hostages held by Hamas offered effusive praise for President Joe Biden's administration after meeting at the White House with the president Wednesday. “It was a terrific, terrific meeting, conversation,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son, Sagui Dekel-Chen, was captured by Hamas on October 7.
Doctor says Gaza hospital staff and patients subject to harsh treatment by IDF
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder and Eyad Kourdi
A doctor at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza told CNN on Wednesday that he and dozens of staff were taken from the premises by Israeli soldiers to a military screening center nearby.
The doctor, who declined to be named out of fear for his safety, said in a telephone interview that men at the hospital had complied with an order from the Israel military on Tuesday to form a line outside the hospital.
They were then led about 500 meters away to a what he called a "filtration military camp" in Al-Birawi area on the outskirts of Beit Lahiya.
At that location, he told CNN, they were ordered to remove their clothes and were given blue overalls. They were handcuffed and sorted into groups based on their perceived threat level, the doctor claimed.
He claimed the detainees were physically and verbally abused while handcuffed. At one point, the doctor said, when clashes broke out, Israeli soldiers had taken cover behind the detainees.
The doctor’s claims cannot be verified. CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment on how staff, patients and others at Kamal Adwan were processed after leaving the hospital.
The doctor said that after several hours, the detainees — numbering about 1,000 people —were released and instructed to head toward specific areas in southern Gaza.
Gunfire injured several of the group, he said, as they walked south.
“The IDF continues to act against Hamas strongholds in the north of Gaza, among them the area of Beit Lahia. The IDF takes all feasible precautions to mitigate harm to noncombatants, and is fighting against the Hamas terrorist organization, and not the civilians in Gaza or the medical teams operating there. This while following international law," the IDF said in a statement.
CNN received the same response from the IDF regarding several and separate instances about their operations in Gaza.
"No one determines for us what to do.” Israel's defense minister vows to complete mission in Gaza
From Tamar Michaelis
The Israeli military continues to fight in the Shejaiya neighborhood in northern Gaza following the deaths of nine soldiers in a battle on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
“It is our duty to complete this very heavy mission […] to dismantle Hamas, return the hostages home," Gallant said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s casualties in Shejaiya are among the largest loss of life in a single incident for Israeli forces since their ground offensive began in Gaza.
The war "also comes with prices, but we will win,” the defense minister said.
Gallant echoed the remarks of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed earlier on Wednesday to continue the fight “until the end.”
“I say this also in view of the great pain but also in the face of international pressures. Nothing will stop us. We go to the end, to victory,” Netanyahu said.
Gallant also said he was convinced that the continuation of Israel's military operation in Gaza will “pressure” Hamas to agree to another hostage release deal.
When asked by a reporter whether Israel had reduced the number of air strikes in Gaza recently due to growing international pressure, Gallant said:
“We are hitting the Gaza Strip with great force. Both in the north and in the south […] No one determines for us what to do.”
In response to a question about rising tensions between Israel and the US over the war in Gaza, Gallant said that US government officials are “doing a lot, above and beyond” to help Israel.
“We will find the way to help the Americans support us, that’s the key. They want us to succeed,” he said.
Gaza hospitals receive a high number of casualties Wednesday, medical staff say
From Kareem Khadder, Ibrahim Dahman, Sarah Diab, Tamar Michaelis and Tim Lister
Several hospitals in Gaza have reported receiving a high number of civilian casualties on Wednesday.
Al-Nasser hospital in southern Gaza issued a list of 45 people who had been killed, whose bodies had been brought to the hospital. The hospital frequently receives casualties from the city of Khan Younis, where fighting and air strikes have been heavy.
Medical staff at Al-Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah — also in southern Gaza — said 19 bodies were recovered after two houses in the area were hit by airstrikes. Some were taken to another hospital — Abu Youssef Al-Najjah — in eastern Rafah, along with many injured.
Videos shot for CNN at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza on Wednesday showed many casualties being brought in after a reported strike in Deir al Balah.
The videos show ambulances bringing in men and women on stretchers, as well as body bags at the entrance of the hospital.
Inside the hospital, most of the injured are seen being treated on the floors amid chaotic scenes. Several of the injured have severe injuries to their limbs, while efforts are made by medical staff to resuscitate others.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it is trying to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza while it carries out ground and air operations against Hamas throughout Gaza.
"We are hitting the Gaza Strip with great force. Both in the north and in the south," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in response to a question Wednesday on whether Israel has reduced airstrikes due to international pressure. "No one determines for us what to do."
"There is a clear intent by the Israelis, an intent that they have admitted to publicly, that they are doing everything they can to reduce civilian casualties. And we're still seeing some civilian casualties. So we're still going to talk to them about doing everything they can to reduce that," US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that Israel was beginning to lose global support in its war against Hamas because of "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza.
The war's impact on Gaza: As tens of thousands more people converge in southern Gaza, the United Nations has said on X (formerly Twitter) that "amid overcrowded conditions, the spread of diseases is surging, and people’s immense needs are escalating. UNICEF (the UN Children’s Fund) says a humanitarian ceasefire is desperately needed to allow the delivery of life-saving support to children & families."
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said nearly 1.3 million displaced people are now sheltering in 155 UNRWA installations. The average number of internally displaced persons in UNRWA shelters located in middle and southern areas in Gaza is 11,480 — more than four times their capacity.
UNRWA said that eight out of 22 UNRWA health centers are still operational in the middle and southern areas.
The agency added in its Wednesday update that “there are an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with more than 180 giving birth every day. A total of 188 post-natal and high-risk pregnancy cases were attended to at health centres.”
