October 14, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi condemned Israel's actions in Gaza on Saturday, accusing Israel of breaching international law. 

Labeling Israel's choice to "displace Palestinians" as "unacceptable" and tantamount to a "war crime," Safadi said during a press conference that the international community must respond consistently to breaches of international statutes.

Safadi emphasized that the foremost priority should be ensuring that the humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.

Earlier Saturday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said medical supplies intended for Gazans had landed in Egypt close to the Rafah crossing but had yet to be deployed as the organization waited for access through the crossing.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Friday that “Palestine is now in a critical situation,” and the ongoing conflict “has caused heavy civilian casualties.”

In a joint press conference with the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday, China’s top diplomat reiterated that Beijing is on the side of “fairness and justice” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Warning that the humanitarian situation for Palestinians “is rapidly deteriorating,” Wang said that China “condemns all acts that harm civilians and opposes any violation of international law.”

He also listed four priorities that China deems “pressing given the severity of the current situation.”

First, as per Wang, is the need to “stop the fighting as soon as possible” to avoid further deterioration of the situation. 

Second is to adhere to international humanitarian law and prevent a severe disaster by opening “a humanitarian rescue and assistance passage as quickly as possible,” Wang said.

The third priority, according to the diplomat, is for the “relevant countries” to “exercise restraint, take an objective and just position, work for de-escalation of the conflict.”

The fourth priority listed by Wang suggested “the UN should play its due role” and build international consensus and “take real measures” to achieve the first three goals.

Wang said that “China is communicating with the relevant parties” and added that Beijing “will provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Gaza Strip and the Palestinian National Authority through the UN.”

He also said that “the injustice to Palestine has dragged on for over half a century,” and called to end it with “the two-state solution and an independent State of Palestine,” saying “This is how Palestine and Israel could coexist in peace.”

What is the two-state solution? The two-state solution – an Israeli state next to a Palestinian state, existing side by side in peace – has been the goal of the international community for decades, dating back to the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and many nations say that it is the only way out of the conflict.

It would recognize a 1967 demarcation line known as the Green Line to partition Palestinian and Israeli land, subject to land swaps based on negotiations, and it would divide Jerusalem between the two states.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has never been a full-throated supporter of a two-state solution, weaving in and out of different definitions of what that would mean. But in recent years he’s settled on the idea that he’d be open to a Palestinian state - as long as it has no military or security power, an arrangement that would have no parallel among modern sovereign states.

A hospital in Gaza has been using ice cream trucks from local factories as makeshift morgues to supplement the overflowing hospital mortuaries. 

Yasser Khatab, a forensic pathologist in al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, said in a video message sent to CNN on Saturday that the Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah is unable to accommodate the increasing number of deceased.

Khatab added that some bodies remain stored for days before being collected. 

Echoing a plea for assistance, the forensic pathologist stressed that Gaza was in crisis.

"Gaza needs relief aids," Khatab said, specifying the need for mortuary refrigerators and medical equipment as well as "coffins and equipment to deal with dead bodies." 

Violence has risen in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel declared its war on Hamas and continued to strike Gaza over the past week.

The death toll climbed to 53, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in an update on Saturday morning, while more than 1,100 people have been injured.

Settlers, according to international law, are Israeli civilians living in illegal settlements in the West Bank and have been accused of carrying out acts of violence – physical assault, property damage, and harassment – against Palestinians.

In a separate statement, the Palestinian health ministry said that a 27-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank. He arrived at Jericho Government hospital with a bullet wound to the head, according to the health ministry.

What’s behind violence there? Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli military forces erupted in several areas in the occupied West Bank amid a closure that was imposed by the military following Hamas' attack Saturday.

The closure includes checkpoints and roadblocks set up by the Israeli military at various entry and exit points – and limits the movement of Palestinians within the West Bank and between the West Bank and Israel, according to several Palestinian residents who spoke to CNN on Wednesday. 

Palestinians living in the West Bank told CNN the closure has significantly affected their daily lives, restricting their ability to travel for work, school, medical treatment, and other essential activities.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said earlier this week that the military was on high alert in the West Bank, adding it was preparing to thwart any potential attacks.

Hamas' media office told CNN that Israeli military airstrikes killed 70 and injured 200 evacuees in Gaza after issuing a warning to 1.1 million people to move south on Friday.

Hamas added the airstrikes hit evacuees at three locations: Salah Al-Din street, Sheikh Ahmed Yaseen street, and near Wadi Gaza.

Earlier, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that “large numbers” of dead and injured people, including women and children, arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital — located in Al-Rimal neighborhood — after they were shelled on their way from northern Gaza to the south.

World Health Organization medical supplies to support Gaza have landed in Egypt close to the Rafah crossing, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

However, the supplies have yet to be deployed as the organization waits on humanitarian access through the crossing. 

The WHO head ended the post reiterating "our plea to Israel to reconsider the decision to evacuate 1.1 million people. It will be a human tragedy."

The last remaining exit for Gazans: In the wake of the Hamas attacks, Israel closed its two border crossings with Gaza and imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, blocking supplies of fuel, electricity and water.

That has left the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt as the only viable outlet to get people out of the enclave and supplies into it. But it’s unclear if even that crossing is operational.

The Egyptian side of the crossing is open, but the Palestinian side is “non-functional” following multiple Israeli airstrikes earlier this week, a senior Jordanian official told CNN Thursday, adding that “the Jordanians and Egyptians are waiting for security clearance from the Israelis to allow (aid) trucks to cross without threat of another airstrike.”

Egypt’s foreign ministry on Thursday denied reports of the crossing being closed, saying it has sustained damage due to repeated Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian side. CNN could not independently verify whether the crossing is open.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the Biden administration is in talks with Israel and Egypt about creating a humanitarian corridor through which civilians can cross.

Learn more on why Egypt is uneasy about the prospect of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees crossing into its territory:

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The last remaining exit for Gazans is through Egypt. Here's why Cairo is reluctant to open it | CNN

The city of Sderot in southern Israel was placed under red alert on Saturday morning after Hamas fired rockets on the city.

In a post on Telegram Saturday, Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades said it had fired “rockets at the occupied city of Sderot.”

A CNN team in Sderot heard Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system working to intercept the rockets. One team member heard the siren indicating that the city had been placed under alert.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released an advisory on Saturday, urging residents to relocate from Gaza City to the southern regions of the Gaza Valley to “ensure their safety.”

The IDF's Arabic spokesperson Avishay Adraee posted the advisory on X, formerly known as Twitter. It is unclear how widely the messaging has been received on the ground given the current electricity and internet blackout. 

In an interview with CNN, IDF Spokesperson, Maj. (Res.) Doron Spielman was asked how this safe passage has been communicated on the ground, saying that “everybody in Gaza City now knows exactly what’s happening."

Spielman continued: "They’ve been notified in Arabic, in multiple languages on every available platform, both electronic and non-electronic platforms. Everyone in Gaza City knows that they need to go past Wadi Gaza.”

When asked again by CNN whether the IDF is dropping leaflets about the new safe passages announced on Saturday, given most people in Gaza City don’t have internet access now, Spielman responded “yes.”

However, CNN has talked to a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school official, a paramedic and a journalist on the ground who were all unaware of this latest advisory.

What does latest advisory say? According to Adraee, the IDF will allow safe movement on specified streets between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time (3 - 9 a.m. ET). Residents were advised to use this window to move southward from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis. 

The statement further emphasizes the importance of residents “heeding these instructions for their own safety and that of their loved ones.” Adraee also noted that Hamas leaders have already taken measures to protect themselves from strikes in the area. 

Additionally, residents of the Al-Shate, Al-Rimal and West Al-Zaytoun areas are “permitted to move” along Daldul and Al-Sana streets towards Salah Al-Din and Al-Bahr streets, Adraee said. 

Global concern for Gaza's civilians: The IDF’s order has raised international alarm and sharp criticism from some rights groups, especially as critical supplies run out and deaths rise in the isolated enclave, from which residents say they have no escape.

“The order to evacuate 1.1 million people from northern Gaza defies the rules of war and basic humanity,” wrote OCHA head Martin Griffiths in a statement late Friday.

“Roads and homes (in Gaza) have been reduced to rubble. There is nowhere safe to go.”

“Forcing scared and traumatized civilians, including women and children, to move from one densely populated area to another, without even a pause in the fighting and without humanitarian support, is dangerous and outrageous,” he added, warning it would bring “catastrophic humanitarian consequences.”

Read more:

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Tens of thousands flee south in bombarded Gaza as Israeli troops gather near border | CNN

Homemade rockets. Modified AK-47s. Decades-old Soviet machine guns. Cheap, second-hand, and purloined weapons comprised Hamas’ deadly makeshift arsenal that fueled a devastating, multi-pronged attack on Israel over the weekend.

CNN analyzed dozens of photos and videos of Hamas militants during the surprise assault to identify the weapons used to kill at least 1,200 people in Israel. Many of the weapons appeared to be altered Russian or Chinese firearms, presumedly left behind on the battlefield in decades past that eventually made their way into the hands of Hamas terrorists, experts say.

One expert described how the intricately planned assault, in which Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air, reflects a change in Hamas’ overall military strategy. Others believe certain firearms were likely supplied from Iran, which the US State Department has said bolsters the terrorist group with money, military equipment and training.

The group operates out of Gaza, a strip of Mediterranean coastal land bordered by Israel and Egypt, which has been cut off from the rest of the world since 2007 when Hamas seized control of the territory, prompting Israel and Egypt to impose a blockade on it.

It’s fertile ground for a condemned terror group to scavenge and transform weapons for guerrilla warfare.

Read CNN's full investigation here.