November 20, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, has become a flashpoint in Israel’s war against Hamas, which began when gunmen from the militant group crossed the border into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people.

Palestinians and humanitarian agencies say the current fighting in and around Al-Shifa is proof of Israel’s wanton disregard for civilian life in Gaza, while Israel accuses Hamas of using the medical center as a shield for its operations. On top of providing medical care, the Al-Shifa Hospital had recently become a key shelter for thousands of Palestinian civilians fleeing Israeli bombardment.

Since launching its operation at the hospital on November 15, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have shown images of a tunnel shaft and military equipment, but have yet to show conclusive proof of the large-scale command and control center it alleges is there.

Hamas, the Gaza Health Ministry and hospital officials have denied Israel’s claims, saying that hospitals in the Strip have only been used to treat patients. Doctors in Al-Shifa have also sounded the alarm about deteriorating conditions inside the medical facility, which is struggling to meet patients’ needs amid supply shortages and the presence of Israeli troops.

The IDF is now under pressure to prove Israel’s long-standing assertion with its promise of “concrete evidence.” Its ability to continue its operation in Gaza, and the credibility of Israel, could be at stake as the number killed in Gaza surpasses 12,000, according to authorities in the Hamas-controlled Strip.

Here’s what we know so far:

Read more about what Israel found at Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah say they exchanged more fire across the Israel-Lebanon border on Monday, including Hezbollah's use of powerful Borkan missiles against Israel.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said there have been 10 Hezbollah strikes on Israeli positions since midnight local time, and Israel carried out 15 individual strikes, including artillery, drone and helicopters in south Lebanon on Hezbollah targets. NNA said among the strikes, two were in the eastern sector of south Lebanon, an Israeli drone strike on a house in Al-Khiyam and Israeli artillery shelling on Mays Al-Jabal.

Neither NNA nor the IDF said if there were any casualties during these cross-border attacks.

Hezbollah fired four Borkan missiles at the Braneit barracks Monday morning, saying it is the command center of the IDF’s 91st Division. In his last speech, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said the Borkan missile carries between 300 to 500 kilograms (about 661 to 1,102 pounds) of explosives.

In addition, Hezbollah said it used three attack drones and artillery to target a gathering of Israeli soldiers west of Kiryat Shmona. The group also said it fired rockets and artillery to target Israeli military infantry in Mothalath al-Tayhat, and that it attacked several Israeli military posts in the eastern, central and western sectors of the border.

In a statement released on Monday, the IDF said, “a terrorist cell attempted to launch anti-tank missiles in the area of Marwahin in Lebanon. The IDF struck the cell. Additionally, in response to the launches toward Israeli territory earlier today, IDF tanks, a fighter jet, and a helicopter struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon.”

The IDF added, “25 launches were identified from Lebanon toward several locations adjacent to the border. The IDF Aerial Defense Array intercepted a number of the launches and the rest fell in open areas. Moreover, three UAVs were identified striking adjacent to an IDF post. No injuries were reported.”

The IDF said it struck the sources of the Hezbollah launches.

Some background: The first cross-border strikes between Hezbollah and Israel were carried out by Hezbollah on October 8. Strikes, and counter strikes, have continued daily since then. 

The head of the World Health Organization has condemned the attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza which killed 12 people, including patients. 

In a post on X, Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "WHO is appalled by an attack on the Indonesian Hospital in #Gaza."

Israel said on Monday it was responding to enemy fire targeting their troops from within the hospital and that, "in response, IDF troops directly targeted the specific source of enemy fire. No shells were fired toward the hospital."

Twelve people died after Israeli tank fire hit the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, health authorities in the Hamas-run strip said earlier on Monday. Among the dead are patients who were being treated at the hospital and a member of medical staff, health officials said.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they responded to gunfire targeting their troops from within the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza overnight, according to a statement released on Monday. 

Twelve people died after Israeli tank fire hit the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave said earlier on Monday. Among the dead are patients who were being treated at the hospital and a member of medical staff, health officials said.

Palestinian journalist, Anas al-Sharif, who is inside the hospital, told CNN that Israeli tanks were outside the main hospital gates as well as other locations near the hospital. “We are under fire in the Indonesian Hospital, and we are trapped inside,” he said.

A short video clip shared by the Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry showed medical personnel inside the facility assisting an injured man on the floor, while another man held a dialysis tube hanging from the debris.

CNN's Andrew Carey contributed reporting to this post.

When Rami Mahmoud left his family’s home to buy food, his wife, Elham Maged, stayed behind to pray. When he made his way back through the narrow, tightly packed nearby streets of northern Gaza’s Jabalya Refugee Camp, he returned to a scene of complete chaos. An Israeli airstrike had smashed into the center of the densely populated community, tearing a deep crater into its heart. Their apartment had vanished.

Scanning the devastation, Mahmoud suddenly noticed a single finger reaching up between the rubble; it was Elham. Miraculously she had survived. But his relief at finding her alive was brief. Two of their children, they would soon discover, were dead. Nothing would ever be the same again.

Two weeks on from the horror of that day, the couple are more than 200 miles southwest of Gaza City, inside Cairo’s Nasser Medical Institute in neighboring Egypt. The wreckage and chaos of their shattered home was replaced by the cleanliness and order of this foreign medical facility, the noise of rockets and explosions exchanged for the benign, insistent hum of traffic crawling through Egypt’s bustling capital.

But safety and care does not bring comfort; they are still haunted by grief. “My daughter, just an hour before she died, she called her best friend and said, ‘I feel like something is going to happen to me. Can you take care of my mother and visit her often?’” Elham told us.

Mahmoud shared family photos with us. Their daughter, just 15, her wide, clear eyes and delicate features framed by a headscarf; their son, 17, carrying a small boy on his back, a warm smile shining from beneath his tousled black hair.

“God created them, God took them,” his wife said. “I just want to go back to the rest of my children. There is no internet there, so I don’t know anything about them. I know they are with their grandfather somewhere safe, hopefully, but we have no way of reaching them.”

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 12,000 Palestinians since October 7, including an estimated 5,000 children, according to the Hamas government press office. Israel says its airstrikes intend to target Hamas commanders and infrastructure, following the militant group’s October 7 terror attacks, which left 1,200 people dead in Israel and saw about 240 taken hostage.

Read more about this here.

A mother whose premature baby was evacuated from Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital to Egypt has called Egypt the "best place on earth."

Lubna El-Seik told a media pool, run by Egyptian state media that "it never occurred to us that the hospital would be targeted and that those children would have to go through what they went through."

After a "difficult birth" on September 28, El-Seik's daughter was placed in an incubator in the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. 

"On the seventh of October, I was supposed to go and see my daughter. She was reliant on artificial respiration. Then they asked us to leave our house, then they bombed our house."

El-Seik's husband stayed with her daughter for 10 days in the hospital so she could receive oxygen and nourishment. 

"During the siege, there was no milk. Her condition worsened. She went back to zero, and she relied solely on artificial oxygen," El Seik added. 

The young mother recounted the evacuation of the premature babies from Al Shifa, describing the coordination as "very good."

"Within hours, we came over here and we were well received. Egypt is the best place on earth." 

A visibly upset Al Seik said she wanted to remind the world that the evacuated babies were "innocent children."

The babies will be treated at the Al-Arish Hospital in Sinai and the New Capital Hospital in Cairo, according to a CNN journalist at the Rafah crossing. 

Speaking to Egyptian state broadcaster, Al Qahera, a doctor named Ahmad working in the Al Arish Hospital described the extensive preparations that Egypt has put in place.

Dozens of premature babies removed from the beleaguered Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza have now reached Egypt for medical treatment, while China has hosted talks with diplomats from Arab and Muslim majority nations focused on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

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The Israeli father of a suspected Hamas kidnap victim says he hasn’t been given any information about a possible hostage deal. 

Thomas Hand was initially told that his daughter Emily was killed during the Hamas attack on Israel. But weeks later, Hand said the Israel Defense Forces told him his daughter was believed to be alive and a Hamas hostage.

Emily’s birthday was last week. She turned nine.

Speaking at a news conference in London on Monday, Hand said the situation of not knowing is his “worst nightmare.”

Asked about reports of a possible hostage deal, Hand said he’d “believe it when I see it.”

Iris Haim is the mother of 28-year-old Yotam Haim, who was also taken hostage.

“We don’t know about any kind of deal. We don’t know anything,” she said at the news conference.

Haim acknowledged that given her son is not a child, it’s unlikely he would be part of any immediate hostage deal.

Twelve people have been killed after Israeli tank fire hit the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza on Monday, according to the health ministry in the territory, which is controlled by Hamas.

Among the dead are patients who were being treated at the hospital and a member of medical staff, the ministry said.

Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif, who is inside the hospital, told CNN that Israeli tanks were outside the main hospital gates, as well as other locations near the hospital.

A short video clip shared by the Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry showed medical personnel inside the facility assisting an injured man on the floor, while another man holds a dialysis tube hanging from the debris.

The electricity seems to have been cut off and the ceilings badly smashed up.

Israel’s military did not offer details about specific locations in its update on ground operations in Gaza on Monday morning, but it did say that warplanes had killed three Hamas company commanders in one strike.