December 7, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Investigations by two news organizations and two human rights groups made public on Thursday say that Israeli tank shells killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists in southern Lebanon in October.

The reports by Reuters, AFP, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch drew on forensic analysis, witness testimony and interviews with government officials, lawyers and medical professionals.

The findings are in line with a CNN analysis of the events conducted at the time. A CNN team that was nearby in southern Lebanon reported at the time that the projectile that hit the journalists on October 13 came from Israel. 

CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the allegations.

Eylon Levy, a spokesperson for the Israeli government, said Thursday that he was “not familiar” with the new reports.

IDF spokesperson Richard Hecht on October 14 called Abdallah’s death “a tragic thing” without naming him directly or acknowledging Israel’s involvement. The same day, the IDF said, "A report was received that during the incident, journalists were injured in the area. The incident is under review.”

AFP and HRW claim in their reports that the strike was a "deliberate," targeted attack by Israel on the journalists. In a statement to Reuters, Hecht said, "We don't target journalists." He did not provide further comment, the news agency reported.

Abdallah, 37, was killed and six other reporters were wounded while filming the Israeli border from southern Lebanon. AFP photographer Christina Assi had her leg amputated and remains in the hospital, according to AFP.

After analysis of weapon fragments found at the scene, the reports say the journalists were killed and wounded by a 120mm tank round of Israeli origin "that is not used by any other groups in the region."

According to official statements and CNN’s video analysis and geolocation of the incident, at least six other journalists from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera all wearing body armor clearly labeled as “press” were injured in the blast.

Amnesty International’s investigation did not find "any indication that there were any fighters or military objectives at the site of the strikes.”

What the United States is saying: The Pentagon continues to urge Israel to protect innocent civilians, including members of the press, but it has not conducted its own assessment of the death of the Reuters journalist.

Singh said the protection of civilians and the need to uphold the laws of armed conflict have repeatedly come up in both public and private conversations with Israeli officials.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the incident should be investigated. The top US diplomat said it was his understanding that Israel has begun such an investigation, and stressed the importance of seeing it through.

CNN's Oren Liebermann and Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting to this post.

This post has been updated with the latest comments from the Pentagon and Antony Blinken.

The US has now resumed drone flights over Gaza in support of Israel’s hostage recovery efforts, a Pentagon spokesperson said, after pausing them last month as part of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas.

Israel and the US had been flying surveillance drones over Gaza for weeks before the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The British government announced on Saturday that it will also begin conducting surveillance flights over the eastern Mediterranean and Gaza to help locate the hostages, which include British nationals. 

“Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages,” the UK statement said, adding that “only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the relevant authorities responsible for hostage rescue.”

Israel Defense Forces said Friday that there are 136 hostages still being held in Gaza, including 17 women and children.

Two senior Hamas members were killed “a few days ago” in an Israeli attack in Gaza, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed in a statement Thursday.  

Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who IDF says is a senior operative from Hamas’ military intelligence unit, along with another senior member Ahmed Aiush were killed in an attack at Hamas’ central intelligence command center, the military said.  

CNN is reaching out to Hamas about the Israeli military claim.

The IDF didn’t specify the location in Gaza where the two Hamas members were killed.  

Israel believes it is having some success removing senior Hamas military operatives, which a senior IDF official discussed with journalists about two weeks ago. 

The official said that Israel assessed Hamas’s military wing was made up of 24 battalions — 10 of which had been “hurt significantly” by Israeli strikes since October 7.  

Some battalions in the north of the Gaza Strip had lost more than four of their commanders, the official said, representing a loss to those battalions of more than half their senior command.  

Among other things, this made it harder for Hamas’ military leadership to issue orders for counterattacks, the official said, because there was increasingly no one available to direct operations. 

Replacing commanders in the middle of a war was not possible, the official added.

CNN's Andrew Carey contributed reporting to this post.

The Lebanon National News Agency (NNA) alleged Thursday that Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of the town of Rmeish, in southern Lebanon, with "phosphorus."

The town is in the far south, close to the Israeli border.

Video obtained by CNN shows columns of white smoke above the outskirts of the hilltop town. CNN is unable to confirm the use of phosphorous munitions. 

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

What is white phosphorus? It's an incendiary weapon used to set fire to military targets. Its use is restricted under international humanitarian law; it can't be fired at or near civilian areas or civilian infrastructure. 

Some context: Last month, the IDF responded to accusations about the use of white phosphorus in Lebanon, dismissing reports that the substance had been used for setting fires but acknowledging that it does use it in some circumstances.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Thursday morning with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, commending the Israeli security cabinet for agreeing to allow more fuel into Gaza but saying that more needs to be done to get humanitarian assistance into the war-torn strip, according to a senior State Department official. 

Blinken also told Dermer that the Israeli government must do more to protect civilians, the official said.

Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday approved a "minimal" increase in the amount of fuel entering Gaza.

In an interview on CNN's "King Charles" on Wednesday, Blinken said that Israeli is taking some “important steps” to better protect civilians, but more action is required.

Gal Meir Eisenkot, son of Israeli government minister Gadi Eisenkot, has been killed in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday. 

“Master sergeant (Res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25 from Herlizya, combat soldier in the 699th Battalion of the 551st reserve commando Brigade, died in battle in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement.

His father was chief of the General Staff of the IDF from February 2015 to January 2019 and served in the military for four decades.

In the wake of the October 7 attacks, he joined the wartime cabinet as a minister without portfolio. He is a member of Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party, and was elected to Knesset in 2022.

A total of 88 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza since October 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“The government of Israel and the citizens of Israel mourn together with you. Our heroes did not fall in vain. We will continue to fight until victory,” Netanyahu said. 

Israel war cabinet member and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz also paid his tribute, saying in a statement: “May the memory of Gal and the memory of all those who fell in the battle for the home of all of us be blessed. Also in his name, also in their name, we continue the mission."

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect Gal Meir Eisenkot’s rank is master sergeant, not first sergeant. It also was updated to reflect that his father served as chief of the General Staff of the IDF until January 2019.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Israel on Thursday, where he gave a blunt warning to Hezbollah. 

His warning comes after an Israeli man was killed by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon on Thursday, according to Israeli first responders MDA. The Israeli military said an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanese territory toward the area of Mattat in northern Israel. 

Israel and Hezbollah — an Iran-backed armed group that dominates southern Lebanon — have been engaged in daily cross-border exchanges of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border after the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on October 7, raising fears that the fighting could escalate into a regional war.  

Israel has received 200 cargo planes of military equipment from several countries, according to Israeli Ministry of Defense.

This comes as use of US weapons come under scrutiny.

The planes carried military equipment, including ammunition, armored vehicles and weapons, according to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, as the use of US weapons in the ongoing war in Gaza comes under increased scrutiny.

The US State Department and the Defense Department both said they are reviewing Amnesty International’s report.

The Israeli ministry said more than 10,000 tons of military equipment have been delivered since the start of the war on October 7. Pictures released by the Israeli Ministry of Defense show two different types of armored vehicles, as well as pallets of supplies. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said the aid had come from several countries, but declined to say what other countries had sent aid or how much of it had come from the United States. The shipments of US military aid began soon after the war began.

On Wednesday, December 6, for the first time, the number of corpses arriving at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza surpassed the number of injured, Doctors Without Borders reported.

The Al-Aqsa hospital is supported by Doctors Without Borders, according to the organization, which is also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

MSF reported 115 people killed in 24 hours.

“The hospital is full, the morgue is full,” it said on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.