November 19, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

The Israel Defense Forces has released CCTV videos and still images it says show Hamas fighters bringing hostages into the Al-Shifa Hospital on October 7.

IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari presented two short videos, along with several still images, which he said show Hamas fighters moving the hostages – one Nepali, one Thai – through the hospital, Gaza's largest.

One of the CCTV videos shows a hostage being brought into the hospital through the main entrance, Hagari said. The hostage is being marched by force through the building.

Hagari, at a news conference Sunday, said the second CCTV video shows a second hostage – who has a bandaged hand and is clearly bleeding – being pushed on a gurney down a hallway and into a room.

Hagari did not spell out how the IDF had acquired the videos, although he did say Israeli intelligence officers were part of the operation inside the hospital to try to locate the hostages.

CNN cannot independently verify the content of the videos and the stills.

Opposing narratives: The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry responded to the IDF briefing by questioning the authenticity of the videos and stills — but went on to say that, if true, the pictures showed that hospitals were providing medical care to anyone who needed it.

The IDF spokesman dismissed suggestions the hostages had been brought to the hospital because they were wounded, claiming one of the two hostages was not injured and did not need medical treatment. They had been brought to the hospital first, before being later moved to hiding spots, like nearby apartments, he said.

“If medical care had been given at the hospital, if the hostages had remained there, then the Red Cross would have come, and the people would have been released. None of these things happened,” he said.

In a statement issued Saturday before the release of the CCTV videos, Hamas said it had brought several hostages to hospitals for medical treatment after they were injured in Israeli airstrikes.

Hagari said the latest videos had been shared with diplomats of the hostages’ countries of origin, adding the IDF has not yet located the Nepali and Thai hostages in Gaza.

The Nepali Embassy in Israel and Nepal’s Foreign Ministry had confirmed with CNN before the publication of the video that one Nepali citizen remained missing after the October 7 attack and was believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas.

Ten Nepali citizens were killed and several others injured when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, Nepal's ambassador to Israel told CNN after the attack.

More context: After raiding Al-Shifa Hospital last Wednesday, the IDF is under tremendous pressure to prove its long-standing assertion that Hamas uses Gaza's largest medical center for combat and command purposes.

The military also released video Sunday from inside an exposed tunnel shaft at the Al-Shifa compound, showing an underground tunnel extending downward from the shaft opening. 

The killing of civilians in Gaza schools and large evacuations from Al-Shifa Hospital are actions that fly in the face of basic protections civilians are afforded under international law, the United Nation's top human rights official said Sunday.

The Israeli military has previously pushed back against accusations of war crimes, saying its strikes on what it says are Hamas targets follow international law and that it seeks to minimize civilian casualties.

Türk called the events of the past two days horrendous, saying they beggar belief.

He said hundreds of people have fled Al-Shifa Hospital and were seen heading south, but warned, “Nowhere is safe in Gaza.”

He also said that in Khan Younis in southern Gaza — where hundreds of thousands of Gazans have fled — the IDF has been dropping leaflets, telling residents to go to unspecified shelters, but he stressed, “Irrespective of warnings, Israel is obliged to protect civilians wherever they are.”

Türk again called for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian and human rights grounds.

“The pain, dread, and fear etched on the faces of children, women and men is too much to bear,” he said. “How much more violence, bloodshed and misery will it take before people come to their senses? How many more civilians will be killed? This must stop.”

The Israel Defense Forces released video from inside an exposed tunnel shaft at the Al-Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City, showing an underground tunnel extending downward from the shaft opening. 

For weeks, the IDF has said Hamas uses Gaza’s largest hospital as cover for what they call terror infrastructure underneath, which Hamas and hospital leaders deny.

But having entering the hospital itself, the IDF is under significant pressure to prove the long-standing assertion with its promise of “concrete evidence.”

Here’s what you need to know:

A recent draft of a possible deal to secure the release of hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza proposes a four- to five-day pause in fighting for the initial release of 50 hostages, two sources familiar with the talks tell CNN.

An agreement has yet to be struck, and the text of a deal has been traded back and forth for weeks. But negotiators hailing from various countries, including senior officials in US President Joe Biden's administration, are expressing rare optimism about the progress.

While the talks could still break down and sticking points remain, an agreement may now be days away, sources say.

In a sign of how tenuous the talks have been, two sources told CNN Hamas has at least once abruptly put the negotiations on hold recently over various objections, one of which is Israel’s raid of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. But the discussions eventually picked back up. 

Sticking points: There are still details to be worked out over aid, with Israel expressing concern that aid could go to help Hamas, rather than civilians. Hamas initially requested 500 trucks of aid per day, one of the sources said. One source said that, while discussions are ongoing, a deal involving more than 200 trucks would be logistically challenging.  

There are also questions about how to inspect the trucks and which points of entry to use. The aid would include fuel and cooking oil for bakeries, and continue to flow in after the initial pauses for hostages.

Staggered releases: The most recent discussions involve plans for staggered releases of the hostages, with pauses potentially increasing after an initial release of a significant number of civilians, according to the sources.  

Israel has presented a list of about 100 names of civilian hostages that it wants included in the agreement, one source told CNN. Israel has publicly demanded that all hostages be released.

Hamas has indicated it would be willing to release 50 hostages over a multi-day pause. More hostages, around 20 to 25, could be released after that, as the pauses are extended. 

Hamas has said it needs pauses in fighting to gather the hostages who are being held in different places and by different Hamas-allied groups in Gaza. 

The US National Security Council and Israeli Embassy to the US declined to comment for this story. The Qatari Embassy to the US didn’t respond immediately for comment.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post.

CNN's Oren Liebermann went to the scene of what the Israel Defense Forces says is an exposed Hamas tunnel shaft at the Al-Shifa Hospital compound.

For weeks, the IDF has said Hamas uses Gaza’s largest hospital as cover for what they call terror infrastructure underneath. Hamas and hospital officials have repeatedly denied that the hospital, which the IDF raided last Wednesday, is anything other than a medical complex.

CNN reported from Gaza under Israel Defense Forces escort at all times. As a condition for journalists to join the embed with the IDF, media outlets must submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for review.

Watch Liebermann's report from the hospital compound below:

The Israeli military has released video from inside an exposed tunnel shaft at the Al-Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City, showing an underground tunnel extending downward from the shaft opening. 

The video, which runs 3 minutes and 27 seconds and was filmed on Friday, Nov. 17, begins outside the tunnel shaft with several Israel Defense Forces soldiers visible in the opening shot. The video then shows the soldiers preparing to lower equipment into the shaft to examine the interior. There is no audio throughout the clip. 

As the camera is lowered into the shaft, a set of spiral stairs becomes visible around a central pole. The camera then begins advancing along the tunnel before coming to a sharp left turn. The walls of the tunnel appear to be made of vertical slabs of concrete, with an arched concrete roof.

After the turn, the tunnel continues before coming to a closed metal door with what appears to be a small viewing window. The IDF says it has not yet opened the door because the military fears it may be booby-trapped. The IDF says the tunnel shaft extends 10 meters (just over 30 feet) underground and the tunnel itself continues for 55 meters (180 feet). 

“This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organization to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas,” the IDF and the Israel Security Agency claimed in a statement Sunday evening. 

Hamas and hospital officials have repeatedly denied that the hospital is anything other than a medical complex. 

Key context: For weeks, the IDF has said Hamas uses Gaza’s largest hospital as cover for what they call terror infrastructure underneath. IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas has a command and control center or headquarters underneath the hospital, which other senior Israeli officials have also insisted on. 

But having entering the hospital itself, the IDF is under tremendous pressure to prove the long-standing assertion with its promise of “concrete evidence.” The exposure of the tunnel shaft and video of the tunnel underground is part of the IDF trying to build its case that Hamas uses the hospital for its own purposes. 

The IDF’s ability to continue its operation in Gaza, and the credibility of Israel, are at stake as the number killed in Gaza surpasses 12,000, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. 

The IDF says one of its missions in Gaza is to destroy Hamas, but with international criticism mounting, Israel has to show conclusively that the terror organization is using Gaza’s civilians and infrastructure as cover in order for Israel to justify an ongoing war. 

The White House has warned Israel against carrying out offensive operations in southern Gaza until it has adjusted to account for the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled south amid fierce fighting in the north.

Israel's military, which has said Hamas leadership also fled south, is likely to move into the southern enclave, according to White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, who added that the country has the “right” to do so, despite the serious concerns over civilian casualties. 

Finer told CBS' "Face the Nation" that Israel should learn from its operations in the north and focus on "greater and enhanced protections for civilian life."

Finer suggested "narrowing the area of active combat" and "clarifying where civilians can seek refuge from the fighting" to help that happen.

On the future for post-war Gaza: Finer said the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control of the West Bank, will “have to be part” of any future governing solution in both the West Bank and Gaza following the current hostilities — a prospect that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explicitly opposed.

“Our view is the Palestinian Authority is the only official institutional representative of the Palestinian people in the West Bank, that it will have to be part of any way forward when it comes to governance both in Gaza and the West Bank,” Finer said.

But, Finer acknowledged, the PA faces legitimacy challenges as they work toward any future solution. He said the US government would help the PA enhance "their legitimacy" and "capacity to be able to play this important role."

Remember: The Palestinian Authority is a separate government body operating out of the West Bank that was established as part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, a peace pact between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization that saw the PLO give up armed resistance against Israel in return for promises of an independent Palestinian state.

Hamas — which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, European Union and other countries — presents itself as an alternative to the PA, which has recognized Israel and has engaged in multiple failed peace initiatives with it.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.

Washington is gathering information about Saturday's strikes on a United Nations-run school that was used as a shelter in Gaza, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Sunday.

A spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which runs the schools in Palestinian refugee camps and serves as the main UN relief agency in Gaza, confirmed the strike on Saturday. 

The exact number of deaths is not known, but video from al-Fakhoura School in Jabalya shows bloodied bodies across a series of rooms on two floors of the two-story building. Many women and children are among those killed.

The spokesperson could not confirm what caused the blast, nor who was responsible.

The Israeli military is reviewing the incident, it told CNN, but had no further comment.

It was the second time in 24 hours an UNRWA school in northern Gaza was struck, the agency said, as leaders and human rights workers raise concerns over the scale of civilians killed in Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave.

Finer said he couldn't assess Sunday morning whether Israel took US President Joe Biden’s advice about not being driven by rage in retaliating for Hamas' attacks.

CNN's Jo Shelley, Andrew Carey and Eyad Kourdi contributed reporting to this post.

The Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza is a “death zone,” the World Health Organization said Sunday, after a group of humanitarian workers visited the facility the day prior.

The WHO said several patients have died over the past two to three days due to the lack of medical services at the hospital, which has become a focal point of the war.

This weekend, the hospital was the scene of a high-stakes evacuation.

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