Here's what you need to know about the Iron Dome — Israel's defense system
From CNN's Joshua Berlinger, Lou Robinson, Rachel Wilson and Will Mullery
The Iron Dome anti-missile system fires an interceptor missile as rockets are launched from Gaza towards Israel on August 6, 2022. Ilia Yefimovich/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
As thousands of rockets have rained down on Israel, the country has been relying once again on the Iron Dome system to protect its citizens.
The missile defense system is one of the most important tools in Israel’s arsenal and has saved countless civilian lives over various conflicts in the last decade, analysts say. It is highly effective.The Israel Defense Forces said the system boasted a 95.6% success rate during a rocket salvo fired by Islamic Jihad in May.
The Iron Dome is designed to shoot down incoming projectiles. It is equipped with a radar that detects rockets and then uses a command-and-control system that quickly calculates whether an incoming projectile poses a threat or is likely to hit an unpopulated area. If the rocket does pose a threat, the Iron Dome fires missiles from the ground to destroy in the air.
Here's how it works:
10:40 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
Germany launches investigation into Hamas after attack on Israel
From CNN's Inke Kappeler
Germany's federal prosecutor is investigating this weekend's attacks on Israel by Hamas, during which the group took a number of hostages, several of whom are believed to be German nationals.
"In connection with the current events in Israel," the Office of the Prosecutor General is "investigating unknown members of Hamas on suspicion of membership in a foreign terrorist organization, hostage-taking and murder to the detriment of German citizens," a spokeswoman of the Prosecutor General told CNN on Tuesday.
German authorities are assuming, according to a Foreign Office spokesperson, that nationals with dual German and Israeli citizenship were “among those kidnapped by Hamas.“
11:05 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
Huge barrage of rockets fired from Gaza
From CNN's Ibrahim Dahman
A salvo of rockets is fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza towards Israel on October 10. Mahmud Ham/AFP/Getty Images
A huge barrage of rockets were fired from Gaza.
Hamas said it fired hundreds of rockets on Ashkelon in “response to the displacement of civilians in Gaza,” a statement on Telegram said.
This comes after a Hamas spokesperson issued a warning to the residents of the southern Israeli city to leave the city before 5 p.m. local time.
A video shared by Hamas showed rockets flying through the sky with people taking cover on the side of the road in Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said sirens were sounded in area surrounding the Gaza Strip.
10:30 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
Parents of 23-year-old American missing in Israel describe his heroic efforts in bunker at the music festival
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
Hersh Goldberg-Polin courtesy Goldberg-Polin family
The parents of 23-year-old American Hersh Goldberg-Polin are holding on to hope for their wounded son who was at the Nova music festival in Israel Saturday when Hamas attacked and began taking hostages.
Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin told CNN that they last heard from their son Saturday morning, receiving two WhatsApp messages in the same minute, “I love you." and "I’m sorry.”
Goldberg immediately tried to call him, and said, “it just rang and rang.”
She sent follow-up messages.
“Are you ok?” “Let me know you’re ok.” “I’m leaving my phone on, tell me you’re ok.” Those messages have gone unanswered. “We have never heard from him again,” Goldberg said.
They say the police told them around 12:45 p.m. local time Saturday afternoon that their son's phone signal was on the Gaza border.
Since then, they said they are learning more about their son’s heroism. A firsthand account from a young woman who was in the bunker with Goldberg-Polin when Hamas attacked said he helped to throw grenades out of a bunker before getting his arm blown off from the elbow down.
“So we know that he has been critically wounded. He tourniquet-ed with a shirt his own arm. But the terrorists came in after the gunfire settled and they said anyone who can stand up walk out,” Goldberg explained.
He was physically wounded with a severe injury and shell-shocked, not really understanding what was happening, the parents added.
The young woman told the parents that Goldberg-Polin "stood up, didn’t lose consciousness — he was very calm, he was not screaming and he walked out with his tourniquet-ed arm,” the Goldberg explained.
The parents urged the US government and other leaders to rescue and treat their son and other hostages. The family was born in the US but made Aliyah and moved to Israel in 2008. One of Israel’s foundational laws is the right of any Jew in the world to make “aliyah” and immigrate to Israel. The family still has American citizenship.
10:14 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
International humanitarian law prohibits a siege of Gaza, UN human rights commissioner says
From CNN's Eve Brennan
Ravina Shamdasani speaks at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 7, 2018. Violaine Martin/UN Photo
The imposition of sieges that endanger civilians by depriving them of essential goods “is prohibited under international humanitarian law,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), said Tuesday.
Shamdasani's comments come a day after Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza, saying he would halt the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel to the Palestinian enclave following Hamas' devastating surprise attack over the weekend.
"These risks (are) seriously compounding the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the capacity of medical facilities to operate, especially in light of the increasing number of injured people,” Shamdasanisaid Tuesday, speaking at a news conference in Geneva with UN humanitarian office representative Jens Laerke.
Laerke said Tuesday the decision to cut off the water supply to Gaza affects more than 610,000 people and "will result in severe shortage of drinking water."
“We remain extremely alarmed by these rapidly escalating events,” said Laerke, adding that displacement across the Gaza Strip has reached more than 187,500 people since Saturday.
"Since Saturday, four schools and eight health care facilities in Gaza have sustained damage. Destruction of infrastructure and streets has hindered the movement of civil defense and medical teams trying to reach victims,” he said, adding that health care, water and sanitation facilities have also sustained damage.
9:53 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
Israel death toll rises to more than 1,000 in Hamas attacks, Israeli embassy in US says
From CNN's Lindsay Isaac and Richard Allen Greene
Israeli forces extract the dead bodies of Israeli residents from a destroyed house in Kfar Aza, Israel, on October 10. Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance/Getty Images
More than 1,000 people were killed in an attack by Hamas on Israel over the weekend, according to the Israeli Embassy in the US.
The death toll now stands at 1,008, with at least 3,418 injured, the embassy said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Israel Defense Forces has said it "cannot confirm or deny" these reports from the embassy. An IDF spokesperson told CNN that it is aware of over 900 deaths.
9:31 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
IDF says its jets struck more than 100 “targets” in Al-Furqan area in Gaza on Tuesday
From Lauren Izso in Ashdod
Israeli jets have struck more than 100 “targets” in the Al-Furqan area in Gaza on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Over the past day, the IDF has struck over 250 targets in the area, it added.
The defense forces said it also struck in the Rafah area, including an underground tunnel used for "smuggling weapons and equipment."
“The (Al-Furqan) area serves as a hub for the Hamas terrorist organization, from which operations against Israel were launched,” it claimed, adding that it will “continue to operate against Hamas infrastructure used to carry out attacks against” Israel.
9:23 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
The only crossing available to fleeing Gazans was struck
From CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi in Jerusalem
Smoke billows from the Rafah, Gaza, border crossing with Egypt during an Israeli airstrike on October 10. Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images
The only border crossing between the Gaza strip and Egypt was struck on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Interior Ministry Eyad al-Bozom said Tuesday.
Israeli warplanes struck the gateway and teams working at the crossing were asked to evacuate “immediately due to threats of strikes of the crossing,” al-Bozom said Tuesday.
The order came from the management of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side, Bozom said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not say that the border crossing was struck but said that an underground tunnel for smuggling weapons and equipment was struck in the Rafah area. It’s unclear where exactly the strike occurred.
The Rafah crossing was working normally on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Border Crossing General Authority, adding that 75 names had been cleared for passage on Wednesday.
About the Gaza border crossings: The tightly controlled Rafah crossing with Egypt is the only crossing available to Gazans looking to flee following Hamas' attack on Israel. All crossings out of the territory are shut.
The IDF has urged civilians in Gaza to leave their residential areas immediately for their safety as Israeli military operations continue to target Hamas, and shut all crossings between Israel and Gaza, potentially setting the stage for a ground incursion into the enclave.
9:22 a.m. ET, October 10, 2023
Biden expected to speak with Netanyahu on Tuesday
From CNN's Arlette Saenz
US President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, an administration official says.
The anticipated call would mark the third call between the two leaders since Hamas launched its attacks on Israel on Saturday and would come as the president is set to speak about the “terrorist attacks” Tuesday afternoon.
Netanyahu has been in “continuous contact with President Biden” as the crisis has unfolded, the Israeli prime minister said Monday.
