November 19, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

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.

Here’s what you need to know:

A total of 31 neonatal babies have been evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, alongside six health workers and 10 staff family members, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed Sunday.

“Further missions are being planned to urgently transport remaining patients and health staff out of Al-Shifa Hospital, pending guarantees of safe passage by parties to the conflict,” he added.

Earlier, an Egyptian government source told CNN the more than two dozen neonatal babies had been evacuated from Al-Shifa.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its ambulance crews aided in the evacuation, working alongside the WHO and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian.

Some context: Israel raided Gaza's largest hospital Wednesday, complicating the already dire situation at the medical center, where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering alongside patients and staff.

Doctors who are still at the hospital cannot treat patients due to heavy shelling in the past week. Fuel shortages and a lack of electricity mean they were unable to run incubators for the babies. ICU patients and several neonatal babies in Al-Shifa have died in recent days.

Israel claims Hamas is using the hospital complex for military purposes and has built a command center under the facility — allegations repeatedly rejected by both Hamas and hospital officials. CNN has not verified the claims of either Israel or Hamas.

Israel says a cargo ship carrying 25 crew members was hijacked in the Red Sea on Sunday.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed Yemen’s Houthi rebels captured the ship. The ship is owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese firm, according to the Israeli prime minister's office, which did not provide details of the companies.

“The hijacking of a cargo ship by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very grave incident of global consequence. The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis. It is not an Israeli ship,” the IDF said in a statement.

CNN has reached out to a Houthi spokesperson for comment regarding Israeli claim, but is yet to hear back.

The Houthis are a Shia political and military organization in Yemen that have been fighting a civil war in the country against a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia. They have voiced support for the Palestinians and organized protests in Yemen, against Israel’s assault on Gaza.

CNN's Jessie Yeung, Hamdi Alkhshali and Kyle Blaine contributed reporting.

Negotiations to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas are close, and disagreements among parties have been narrowed amid intensive talks, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Finer declined to dive into the details of the talks, but said officials are working around the clock and that it remains a priority for US President Joe Biden.

Asked about how many hostages the US believes are still alive, Finer responded that they do not have exact numbers.

“One of the challenges associated with this is, we're not on the ground in Gaza, the United States. We are not in direct contact with Hamas. We do that only through intermediaries. And so, we don't have perfect fidelity about exact numbers of hostages, including numbers who are still alive,” Finer said.

Some background: Finer's comments came soon after Qatar's prime minister — whose country is involved in the talks — also touted progress.

“The sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical, logistical, not really something that represents the core of the deal,” Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said.

Hamas abducted about 240 people during the October 7 attacks, according to Israeli officials, though official accounts have varied as intelligence about the situation in Gaza develops.

Qatar's prime minister said "good progress" has been made during discussions for the release of hostages taken by Hamas, following the militant group's deadly incursion into southern Israel last month.

“The sticking points honestly at this stage are more practical, logistical, not really something that represents the core of the deal,” according to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who has been mediating negotiations between Hamas and Israel.

“It is a long way. When you come closer to the goal, you feel your confidence levels are increasing, and we hope that we are reaching to that point,” the prime minister told reporters in a joint press conference with the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, in Doha.

“We’ve been focused in the past four to five weeks now in these negotiations, we’ve tried every way — all possible ways — in order to ensure that civilians are released, and we think all human beings are the same,” the Qatari leader said. 

Some context: Pressure is growing on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal for the safe return of about 240 people abducted by Hamas on October 7, when at least 1,200 people were killed.

On Saturday, the Israeli leader denied reports that Israel was considering a proposal for the release of at least 50 abductees, saying that when the government had something to say, they would report it. 

CNN’s Michael Rios contributed reporting.

The Israeli military announced a brief suspension on Sunday of “military activities” in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, for "humanitarian purposes." 

The pause took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time (3 a.m. to 7 a.m. ET) Sunday, according to an IDF spokesperson. 

At the southern part of Rafah city is the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt– the only crossing in and out of Gaza that is not controlled by Israel, making it the sole option for foreigners trying to leave the besieged enclave.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army says it carried out military operations at two neighborhoods in Gaza City’s to “identify and destroy Hamas infrastructure and assets.”

“During the operations, the soldiers located approximately 35 tunnel shafts as well as a large number of weapons and eliminated terrorists,” the IDF said in a statement Sunday. 

The military also said that it carried out a raid on the homes of senior Hamas officials in al-Rimal, the city’s once vibrant business district and social epicenter.

“Embedded in the Rimal area are the residences of senior Hamas officials, who took control of the buildings in the area to conduct and direct terrorist activities,” the IDF said.