October 30, 2023 - Israel-Hamas war news

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters Monday the administration believes Israel is “certainly” making an effort to minimize humanitarian casualties in Gaza.

Still, he said: “It doesn't mean that there haven't been civilian casualties — tragically, there have been many, thousands of them, but unlike Putin in Ukraine, and unlike what Hamas did on October 7, killing civilians is not a war aim of the Israeli Defense Forces.” 

The NSC spokesperson told reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has himself brought up the issue of civilian casualties in Gaza in conversations with US President Joe Biden, and that both leaders “recognize that as democracies, it's important to abide by the law of war, to protect innocent life and to and to try to minimize civilian casualties.��� 

More context: Muslim-American leaders told Biden in a small private meeting last Thursday he and his administration needed to show more empathy toward Palestinian lives and pushed back on his comment casting doubt on civilian death figures in Gaza provided by the health ministry there, according to two of the attendees.

Kirby's comments Monday also come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier pushed back on criticism about civilian casualties and said Hamas was preventing civilians from moving to the safe zone in southern Gaza. 

Israel’s bombardment has left at least 7,960 people dead, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah drawn from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. 

CNN's Kevin Liptak and Khalil Abdallah contributed reporting to this post.

Fuel is a lifeline for more than 2 million people in Gaza who, three weeks into the siege, are suffering from dire shortages of basic supplies and medical care. The lack of fuel has crippled hospitals, water systems, bakeries and relief operations in the strip, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned on Sunday that the aid convoy system in Gaza “is geared to fail” if Israel continues to ban fuel.

Amid the threat of vital infrastructure collapsing without fuel, thousands of desperate Palestinians broke into the UNRWA’s warehouses for supplies on Saturday.

The enclave has gone without any fuel deliveries for almost three weeks since the Israeli government ordered a “complete siege” on October 9 and halted food, fuel, water and electricity supplies after Hamas’ attack left more than 1,400 Israelis dead.

Nearly all fuel has been exhausted and UN officials are warning that hospitals are on the brink of collapse without the ability to run backup generators to treat people.

Here's a look at how services are affected in Gaza when fuel runs out:

As of Monday morning, 118 aid trucks with food, water and medical supplies have entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Israel began allowing a limited number of trucks through on October 21 but has continued to refuse fuel, saying Hamas would use it to launch weapons.

The Israel military says there are fuel supplies in Gaza being held by Hamas which are not being distributed for humanitarian purposes, CNN reported.

The main UN agency in Gaza has said it will have to stop operating when fuel runs out, which was expected on October 25, though some operations have continued by severe rationing. Gaza cannot produce food or clean water without electricity or fuel.

Read more about the situation in the enclave here.

The House has released the text of the supplement Israel funding bill, appropriating $14.3 billion dollars to the Mideast nation.

As House Speaker Mike Johnson noted last week, the bill includes the same amount in spending cuts, rescinding $14.3 billion that had been allocated to the IRS as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Democrats are warning that the bill’s offsets could cost its passage in the House. And so far, two House Republicans – Tom Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene – have said they will oppose the bill.  

In the Senate, both top leaders have pressed to have any funding for Israel combined with Ukraine and border security funding. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offered a new warning Monday to Johnson over his push to include spending cuts to offset the costs of the Israel package, signaling the chamber would reject the House plan if Republicans pursue that approach.

Schumer also told CNN that the funding package should include funding for Ukraine, even as Johnson plans to move a stand-alone Israel bill.

"We believe our Democratic Caucus — we should be doing all of it together. Israel, Ukraine, South Pacific," Schumer said of the bill.

And he said of the Johnson plan to cut $14.3 billion from the IRS to pay for the plan: "Obviously, a pay-for like that makes it much harder to pass."

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Thursday with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other leaders while in London this week, where she will continue the United States' "close consultations on the conflict between Israel and Hamas and Russia's war in Ukraine,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

Harris is scheduled to travel to London Tuesday. She will attend the Global Summit on AI Safety hosted by Sunak on Thursday and return to the US that evening.

In an interview that aired Sunday, Harris said the US has “absolutely no intention” of sending American combat troops into Israel or Gaza amid fears over a wider regional conflict.

Harris, who has been included in briefings and phone calls on the Middle East crisis, closely stuck to the administration’s approach: Supporting Israel’s right to defend itself while also calling for the protection of civilians.

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.

The father of Daniel Aloni said his heart stopped when he saw the picture of his daughter on television Monday after Hamas released a video in which she appeared with two other female Israeli hostages.

Ramos Aloni held a news conference in Jerusalem with other hostage family members and said that he was “shocked” to see his daughter being held captive by Hamas but felt relieved to see all three women alive. 

He also asked for the International Committee of the Red Cross to take the initiative and “demand to see all our hostages. The Red Cross must demand medical support.” He said his daughter needs regular medication and needs them on a daily basis. 

He then called on Qatar and Egypt and additional countries that are involved to end the hostages’ captivity and bring them back.

Aloni's father said that aside from Daniel, her sister Sharon, and her 3-year-old twins, his 5-year-old granddaughter and son-in-law David are all believed to be held hostage in Gaza.

The US is pushing Israel to “ensure that communication networks in Gaza remain operational,” as well as to restore essential services of water and fuel, according to a State Department spokesperson.

Miller also said the US is “making progress” on ensuring fuel deliveries to Gaza.

The US also has an agreement with Israel to turn a second water line into Gaza back on, according to Miller, but “there are issues with parts of that line actually being damaged.”

The US State Department is suspending charter flights for Americans out of Israel on Tuesday due to a lack of demand, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Monday.

Miller said that demand for the flights has “consistently” gone down, and a flight left on Sunday with only five passengers.

“We have notified everyone that the charter flight tomorrow is the last one that we are currently planning so if they do want to leave, now's the time to do it. Don't wait for another flight,” Miller said, but added that they would continue to “conduct assessments in real-time about whether there's additional demand.”

Meanwhile, Americans in Gaza continue to be trapped as the Rafah gate remains closed. US officials have blamed this squarely on Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against the notion that Israel was inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian people in its pursuit of Hamas, saying the group was preventing civilians from moving to the safe zone in southern Gaza. 

Netanyahu said Israel has been trying to prevent civilian casualties by calling for civilians in Gaza to move to a safe zone in the south and providing humanitarian support. 

“We have to do everything we can to minimize civilian causalities, but we cannot give up the fight,” Netanyahu said, saying the future of his countries and other “civilized countries” depend on it. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear on Monday that Israel would not agree to a ceasefire, drawing parallels to the United States’ position after Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the September 11 attacks in 2001. 

“Calls for a ceasefire or calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorists, surrender to barbarism, that will not happen,” he added. 

Netanyahu said while the Bible says there is a time for peace, he said “This is a time for war.” 

When asked if he has considered stepping down, Netanyahu said the only thing he would resign is Hamas. 

“We're going to resign them to the dustbin of history. That's my goal. That's my responsibility,” he said. 

Meanwhile, a Hamas spokesperson said Monday that Israel was not successful in entering Gaza "except in some limited areas" and described the humanitarian situation in the enclave as "disastrous."

Watch part of Netanyahu's address here:

CNN’s Pierre Meilhan contributed reporting to this post.