November 17, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, has become a flashpoint in the conflict that began when Hamas militants crossed the border into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people.

Palestinians say the fighting around Al-Shifa is proof of Israel’s wanton disregard for civilian life in Gaza, while Israel points to the hospital as an example of Hamas’ use of civilians as human shields.

Since launching an operation at Al-Shifa this week, Israel said it found a tunnel shaft and military equipment, but it has not yet shown proof of a large-scale command and control center.

Here's what we know so far:

What does Israel say? Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating from tunnels beneath the vast complex of Al-Shifa hospital.

In a presentation to the media last month, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that Hamas was directing rocket attacks and commanding operations from bunkers underneath the hospital building, which he said were linked to the network of tunnels that Hamas had dug underneath Gaza City.

The IDF also published an “intelligence-based” illustrated video of what it claims the Hamas headquarters under Al-Shifa looks like. The video shows a 3D diagram of the hospital, which moves to show an animated network of purported tunnels and operation rooms.

The White House has backed Israel’s claims, saying that Hamas was storing weapons and operating a command node from the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, citing US intelligence.

Hamas denials: Israel's claims have been vehemently denied by Hamas and hospital officials.

The director general of the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, Dr. Medhat Abbas, told CNN that hospitals in the enclave “are used to treat patients only” and are not being used “to hide anyone.”

After Israel launched its offensive, Hamas accused the US of giving Israel “a green light … to commit more massacres against civilians” by using Israel’s “false narrative” of Al-Shifa being used as a command center.

CNN has not verified the claims of either Israel or Hamas.

What evidence has Israel given? After launching the raid on Wednesday, Israel said soldiers had located a room in the hospital where they found, “technological assets, along with military and combat equipment used by Hamas.”

“In another department in the hospital, the soldiers located an operational command center and technological assets belonging to Hamas,” the statement said, indicating “that the terrorist organization uses the hospital for terrorist purposes."

Israel released video to back up its claim of a tunnel shaft in the grounds of Al-Shifa. In the footage, the shaft appears to be reinforced with concrete. Exposed pipes and cabling can also be seen close to the surface. Hamas rejected the findings as "baseless lies."

The bodies of two Israeli hostages – a 65-year-old woman and an Israeli soldier – were found near the vicinity of Al-Shifa hospital this week, Israel's military said.

Israel said it is still working to expose tunnel infrastructure and added it will provide further evidence.

UN urges access: The United Nations human rights chief has called on Israel to grant his team access to Gaza to investigate the competing claims about Al-Shifa being used as a Hamas base.

“We need to look into this by having access. We cannot rely on one or the other party when it comes to this," Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told CNN’s Becky Anderson when asked about allegations by the Israeli military that Hamas was hiding weapons at the hospital.

He said the situation needs an "independent international investigation, because we have different narratives."

Since Israel’s complete siege on Gaza began, Hazem Saeed Al-Naizi, the director of an orphanage in Gaza City, had been gripped with fear, worried about when food, water and other basic necessities might run out for the dozens of children and young people in his care, most of whom are living with disabilities.

When a strike hit a mosque near the Mabarat Al-Rahma orphanage on October 27, blowing out windows, scattering the building with debris, igniting a fire and filling the air with smoke, Al-Naizi said he was confronted with the agonizing decision of whether to evacuate the children and young people.

For Palestinians trying to escape the fighting in Gaza, living with a disability can be its own effective death sentence.

People who are deaf or blind are less likely to know about evacuation orders and cannot hear or see the strikes, disability advocates and aid organizations told CNN.

Others with intellectual disabilities may be unable to communicate their whereabouts to relatives or rescue workers, while people with physical disabilities who rely on wheelchairs and other assistive devices are unable to navigate rubble, let alone walk miles south.

Read more about the challenges that disabled Palestinians are facing in Gaza.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to hold talks on the Israel-Hamas war with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday.

According to the German chancellery, the meeting will also focus on the migration deal between the European Union and Turkey.

The meeting comes amid sharp differences between Erdogan and Scholz on the Israel-Hamas war. 

In early November, Erdogan said he had broken off communications with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and condemned Israel's actions in Gaza, calling them ''crimes against humanity.'' On Wednesday, Erdogan described Israel as a ''terrorist state.'' And last month Erdogan said Hamas was a ''liberation organization,'' whereas the European Union has classified the group as a terrorist organization.

The Turkish president's views contrast sharply with German government political leaders in Berlin. German Chancellor Scholz has previously said that Israel's security is Germany's "reason of state." Scholz was the first among several leaders last month who paid Israel a solidarity visit. At a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Scholz stressed that Germany ''had only one place'' — ''and that is alongside Israel.''

Several demonstrations are planned during Erdogan's visit to Berlin, a spokesperson at the Berlin police told CNN Friday, adding that some 1,500 police officers will be deployed during Erdogan's short visit to the capital. 

Israel attacked targets near the Syrian capital Damascus overnight, Syrian state media (SANA) reported.

The airstrikes occurred around 2:25 a.m. local time and were launched from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, SANA reported.

The news agency said air defenses had intercepted most of the missiles and there were no reports of damage or injuries. 

Some context: Israel very rarely acknowledges its strikes on targets in Syria, though officials often accuse Syria of hosting Iranian-backed militia.

Last week, Israel said forces based in Syria had launched a drone from Syrian territory that had apparently flown through Israeli-controlled airspace and hit a school in Eilat, in Israel’s south.

In recent weeks, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed several missile and drone attacks against Israel and warned further strikes would come.

More context: The Golan Heights are considered occupied territory under international law and UN Security Council resolutions. Israel seized the narrow strip of land from Syria in 1967 during the Six-Day War and annexed the land in 1981. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the killing of civilians in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war while delivering his opening remarks at a virtual inaugural session of the second ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ on Friday.

He also reiterated his government’s condemnation of Hamas’ October 7 terror attack on Israel and called for “exercising restraint” while laying emphasis on “dialogue and diplomacy.”

Modi said that India has sent “humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine” after speaking to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinian Authority is a separate government body with limited self-rule in the West Bank.

Modi also urged the countries of the Global South to “unite for the greater global good.”

Some context: Modi previously condemned Hamas’ October 7 attack and expressed “solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour," on X.

The body of a second Israeli hostage was retrieved from a structure near the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Israeli military said early Friday.

A statement said the body of 19-year-old Noa Marciano – a corporal in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – had been transferred to Israeli territory.

The IDF recovered her body days after a Hamas video emerged claiming Marciano had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

On Thursday, the IDF said it had recovered the body of Yehudit Waiss, a 65-year-old Israeli woman found near Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital. A military spokesperson said Waiss was killed by Hamas without giving details on the cause of death.

Waiss was a resident of kibbutz Be’eri, and was kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7. Her husband, Shmuel, was among those killed.

It is not known if the bodies of the two women were found together. The precise circumstances of their deaths are not known.

Some context: Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest medical facility in the enclave, has become the epicenter of fighting since Israeli forces launched a military raid there early Wednesday morning.

The Israeli army released a video of an alleged "tunnel shaft" in the grounds of the hospital on Thursday. The Hamas-run government media office denied it was using the hospital as a command and control center — calling the Israeli claims "baseless lies." CNN cannot independently verify either side's claims.

With Israeli leaders declaring control of the northern part of Gaza, including Gaza City, there are indications that a ground offensive into the south could be imminent.

Leaflets were dropped Wednesday on four communities to the east of Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza, warning people living there to “head towards known shelters.” But there are few safe places left in the densely populated enclave.

Aid organizations said any move by Israel into the south of Gaza could make an already bad humanitarian situation considerably worse.

Within the besieged territory, Gazans are facing the “immediate possibility of starvation” as fuel shortages cripple food production and distribution, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a statement on Thursday

A "total communication blackout" is also underway in Gaza due to fuel shortages, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said Thursday.

Here's what else to know:

The United Nations human rights chief has called on Israel to grant his team access to Gaza to investigate competing claims about the Al-Shifa Hospital.

“We need to look into this by having access. We cannot rely on one or the other party when it comes to this," Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told CNN’s Becky Anderson when asked about allegations by the Israeli military that Hamas was hiding weapons at the hospital.

He said the situation needs an "independent international investigation, because we have different narratives."

Pressure on Israel: Israel is under growing international pressure to uncover proof of what it has described as a Hamas command and control center under the Al-Shifa Hospital, as Israeli forces launched a raid at the facility early Wednesday. The Hamas-run government media office denied it was using the hospital as a command and control center — calling the Israeli claims "baseless lies."

Türk said hospitals had special protection at all times under humanitarian law.

Request for access to Gaza and the West Bank: Türk said investigators could not go to Gaza "while the bombs are falling or while military operations are taking place,” and so his team was monitoring the situation from afar for now. He said he previously asked the Israeli government for access to Gaza and the occupied West Bank but was “still waiting for the answer.”

The actions of both Israel and Hamas since the militant group’s massacre of an estimated 1,200 people on October 7 must be investigated, Türk said.

International humanitarian law in the conflict: Since Hamas launched its brazen October 7 attacks and Israel responded with intensive air strikes and a ground offensive, both sides have been accused of committing war crimes.

"We have seen … grave breaches of international humanitarian law," Türk said, speaking broadly of the actions from both sides.

The director of Al-Shifa Hospital on Thursday described a grim picture of the unfolding humanitarian crisis within the medical complex in the Gaza Strip.

In a phone interview with Al-Jazeera Arabic, Mohammad Abu Salmiya spoke of desperate conditions affecting over 650 wounded people, 36 premature babies, 45 kidney patients and 5,000 displaced people.

Abu Salmiya said some there were starving children. 

He reported the death of a kidney patient, with four others on the brink of death due to critical conditions and the absence of dialysis for days.

Abu Salmiya accused the Israeli military of besieging the hospital, sabotaging sections and spending the last 48 hours freely roaming the premises.

On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had begun “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital.”

Expressing frustration, Abu Salmiya held the world and the Israeli occupation responsible for the dire circumstances, urging immediate intervention.

 The hospital resembles a large prison holding over 7,000 displaced people, medical staff, patients and wounded all while it is facing a severe shortage of essentials, the director said. The Israeli military assault has led to a complete breakdown of life-saving services, leaving the hospital incapable of providing for its inhabitants, he added.