November 1, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

Our live coverage of the conflict in Israel and Gaza has moved here.

Pope Francis spoke about the conflict between Israel and Hamas and reiterated his support for a two-state solution, while confirming he would attend a key UN climate summit this year.

Speaking on Italy’s state-run TV channel RAI, the pope also addressed the issue of antisemitism, saying it “remains hidden” and “unfortunately, it hasn’t passed.”

“Two peoples who must live together. With that a wise solution exists: two peoples, two states, follow the Oslo Agreement: two very limited states and Jerusalem with a special status,” Pope Francis said. 

Some context: The two-state solution 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.

The main generator for the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza went out of service Wednesday night, Dr. Atef Al Kahlout, the head of the hospital, told CNN Thursday.

Al Kahlout said a secondary generator was running in some sections of the hospital. However, the electromechanical systems throughout the entire hospital had stopped working, he said, including the ventilation systems in the operating rooms, the hospital’s only oxygen station, and the hospital morgue refrigerators.

Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital is considered a backbone in providing health services in the northern part of the coastal enclave as the nearest medical facility receiving scores of people injured from two days of Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalya refugee camp.

The Israeli military conducted airstrikes on the densely populated refugee camp on Tuesday and again on Wednesday.

Medics said there were “hundreds” of dead and wounded. Videos seen by CNN on Tuesday showed long lines of bodies outside the hospital.

A barrage of new explosions was seen over Gaza City in the early hours of Thursday, a live camera feed from AFP showed. 

The explosions were seen at around 3:08am Israel time (9:08pET), with sustained booms and bright flames captured on the footage. However, it was too dark to determine whether there were any projectiles.

The Israel Defense Forces have not yet commented on the blast. 

An American pediatrician, who became stranded in Gaza at the beginning of the war while on a relief mission to treat children, was finally able to leave the territory Wednesday, her husband told CNN.

Dr. Barbara Zind passed through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, Paul Preston said.

“She was there for four or five hours in passport control, and that’s when I was starting to get discouraged,” Preston told CNN’s Erin Burnett from his home in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Zind had attempted to cross the border once before but had to give up after fighting among people desperate to leave made it impossible for her to pass through. 

Preston said he believes Zind is okay, but communication difficulties have made it impossible for him to speak to his wife directly as of Wednesday evening.

“I’ve just been hearing secondhand about her,” he said.

After leaving Gaza City and moving south, Preston said his wife had to live in an outdoor camp for several days and had only recently been able to sleep indoors again with access to hot food.

“It was so bad, she kind of got used to it,” Preston said. “It was bad, like, all the time.”

Ramona Okumura, a stranded American volunteer in Gaza who crossed into Egypt Wednesday, is now resting at a hotel, her niece Leah Okumura told CNN.  

Ramona Okumura is “completely exhausted” after the experience and told her family several hours ago in a group chat that she was going to sleep, Leah told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.  

“I hope she is enjoying a very restful sleep in a comfortable bed after a delicious meal and a hot shower, which she absolutely deserves,” she said.   

The elder Okumura is an expert in pediatric prosthetics who has been working with the Palestine Children’ Relief Fund since she retired from her job at the University of Washington, Leah said, adding the trip was one of several routine visits.

UW Medicine confirmed Okumura was a former employee, and said in a statement to CNN, “we are so glad to hear she is safe.”

“She is able to build and fit prosthetics from the very limited material people in Gaza are able to get in through the blockade,” Leah said, as well as teaching medical providers how to do it.  

“We are just so proud of her and what she’s able to do, and not just her skills and dedication to it, but her bravery really, and how passionate she is about this cause,” she added.  

Argentina’s foreign ministry condemned Israel’s airstrike on Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, saying it is “essential to immediately stop attacks targeting civilian infrastructure.” 

“Especially those aimed at ensuring the provision of essential services in the Gaza Strip, including hospitals, water desalination plants, and centers that shelter refugees,” the foreign ministry said in a statement published Wednesday. 

The statement says Argentina has condemned in “unequivocal terms the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 and recognizes Israel’s right to self-defense,” but “nothing justifies the violation of international humanitarian law, and the obligation to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts, without making any distinction.” 

Israeli struck the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, killing many civilians including scores of children. The Israel Defense Force defended the strikes, saying it killed a Hamas commander and hit a command complex of the militant group.

Hamas denied the presence of one of its leaders in the camp.

Diplomatic response: Argentina’s statement comes after other Latin American countries took diplomatic measures against Israel. 

On Tuesday, Bolivia announced it is cutting diplomatic relations with Israel, citing “crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people” in the wake of Israel’s war with Hamas. Also, Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors to Israel for consultation due to the strikes on Gaza. 

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog urged Israelis to remain united as Hamas intends to “incite hatred.”

“The enemy seeks to incite hatred within us – between Jewish citizens and Arab citizens. Such attempts must be fought uncompromisingly and unequivocally. We must eradicate any incarnation of enmity, racism and violence towards different groups within us,” Herzog said during an address Wednesday night. 

Herzog underscored the important role played by Arab citizens in Israel.

“Remember that there are dozens of Arab citizens here who paid with their lives in the terrible massacre, and as part of the security forces and the IDF. Remember the mutual responsibility as displayed by the overwhelming majority of the Arab society in Israel,” Herzog said.

Herzog also cautioned against what he called a “psychological campaign” being conducting against Israel.

“They want to scare us with videos, rumors, and lies. They try to undermine us psychologically, to hurt our personal and national spirit. We will not let them succeed,” Herzog said.

The president added that the return of the hostages remains “an integral part of the success of this campaign – of course – alongside victory in this decisive war against the enemy and restoring security to all Israeli citizens.”

The Israeli airstrike that rocked the Gaza refugee camp of Jabalya on Wednesday killed at least 80 people, according to a local hospital official.

Dr. Atef Al Kahlout, the director of Gaza’s Indonesian hospital, told CNN Wednesday that at least 80 bodies have arrived at the hospital following the strike and that more were being dug out of the rubble.

He said the majority of the casualties were women and children and that hundreds more people were injured.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed earlier Wednesday that the blast in the Falluja neighborhood of the Jabalya refugee camp was due to an airstrike. It said “Hamas terrorists were eliminated in the strike”

Video from the blast site showed catastrophic damage surrounding a deep crater in the neighborhood. People are seen digging through the rubble searching for bodies. 

The Israeli military also conducted airstrikes in Jabalya on Tuesday in an area near Falluja. Medics said there were hundreds of casualties.

Spokesperson Lior Haiat of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country “regrets the Jordanian government’s decision to recall its ambassador for consultations.”

“The State of Israel is focused on the war imposed on it by the murderous terrorist attack by Hamas, a terrorist organization that massacred 1400 Israelis and kidnapped 240 women, children, babies and the elderly,” Haiat said in a statement shared on X. “Israel is targetting (sic) the terrorists of Hamas and the terrorist infrastructure of this organization, which uses the civilians of the Gaza Strip as human shields.”

Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced earlier Wednesday that it was recalling its ambassador to Israel and that the move was happening immediately “as an expression of Jordan’s position rejecting and condemning the Israeli war raging in Gaza.”

More ambassador recalls: Colombia and Chile also recalled their ambassadors to Israel for consultation on Tuesday due to Israel’s strikes on Gaza.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said the move is due to Israel’s “violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Gaza Strip.” And Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that “if Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, we cannot be there.”

Also, Bolivia announced Tuesday that it is cutting diplomatic relations with Israel, citing “crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people” in the wake of Israel’s war with Hamas, according to the Bolivian Agency of Information (ABI).

Akemi Hiatt, the niece of Ramona Okumura, said her family was on “pins and needles all night,” awaiting word on if the 71-year-old pediatric prosthetics expert, from Seattle, had cleared the Rafah crossing out of Gaza.

She was in Gaza making prosthetics in on October 7 and was evacuated south, CNN previously reported. Okumura has been working with child amputees in Gaza and “feels very strongly about the humanitarian need there,” Hiatt said. 

“We are so incredibly relieved that she will be safe,” Hiatt said on Wednesday.

Her family heard from the US State Department around 6:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time on Tuesday about Okumura’s potential crossing.

Okumura ultimately crossed at 5:00 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time, Hiatt said. “The entire night was a rotating cast of family members keeping in touch,” she said. 

Okumura texted family members that she was making her way to the gate and followed up about ten hours later that she was making her way to a hotel in Cairo, she said. 

The family of an 81-year-old Palestinian-American woman fears she may not survive if she isn’t evacuated from Gaza soon.

“She is alive, but has visibly lost weight,” said Dina Bseiso, a relative speaking on behalf of the Bay Area family. “It seems they still have their spirits, probably because they are surrounded by family, and that is a blessing, but the environment around them is rubble.”

Bseiso said the elderly woman, whom she is not identifying for security reasons, hadn’t ventured far from her California home in 30 years. In August, she traveled with her son, who lives in Gaza, to visit her childhood home.

She is currently in Khan Younis, about 8 miles from the Rafah crossing. Bseiso said the woman has tried to cross the border into Egypt several times since October 8, and her family is disappointed that the United States government hasn’t launched a more coordinated effort to get Palestinian Americans out of Gaza.

“She has medication that has run out and needs to be refilled, let alone finding something comparable for her needs,” she said. “[Not having] clean water has also affected her.”

The woman is “moving between houses and structures to be safe,” said Ghassan Shamieh, an immigration attorney representing the family. He said he has filed a lawsuit against the US State Department on behalf of the woman’s family to compel the US government to act.

“I cannot convey just how dehumanized and unequal we feel when we are supposedly deserved of full rights in this country,” Bseiso said. “When our lives have been devoted to the betterment of this country, and our lives don’t seem to matter.”

Bseiso says the family is hopeful they will hear from US officials telling them to proceed to the crossing, but “they’ve been told this before and that did not work,” she said.

The scale of tragedy in Gaza “is unprecedented,” according to Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA,) who just returned from a visit to the area.

Lazzarini said in a statement that the trip marked the first time he was allowed in the Gaza Strip since the war began nearly four weeks ago. He called it “one of the saddest days in my humanitarian work.”

“I met with displaced Palestinians sheltered in one of the UNRWA schools in Rafah,” he said of his visit. “They showed me where it was damaged during bombardments. One person was killed and more than 80 were injured. The place was overcrowded. The levels of distress and the unsanitary living conditions were beyond comprehension.”

“Everyone was just asking for water and food,” he recalled. “Instead of being at school, learning, children were asking for a sip of water and a piece of bread. It was heart wrenching. Above all, people were asking for a ceasefire. They want this tragedy to end.”

Lazzarini went on to say that the UNRWA “has become the last remaining lifeline for survival,” noting that basic necessities “are running out fast.” He stressed the agency “will continue to stand with Palestine Refugees and the rest of the Palestinian communities,” and also renewed calls for a humanitarian ceasefire.

US President Joe Biden hailed the opening of the Rafah gate to wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals on Wednesday. He said the US will continue pressing Israel to adhere to international laws protecting civilians in conflict. 

Speaking inside a barn on a hog and corn farm in rural Minnesota, Biden said it was impossible not to be moved by images of suffering Palestinians.  

“Israel has the right to respond and a responsibility to defend its citizens from terror. And it needs to do so in a manner that is consistent with international humanitarian law, that prioritizes protection of civilians,” Biden said. “We’ve all seen the devastating images from Gaza, Palestinian children crying out for lost parents.”
“The loss of innocent life is a tragedy. We grieve for those deaths and continue to grieve for the Israeli children and mothers who brutally slaughtered by Hamas terrorists,” he went on. 

Biden said the Rafah crossing’s opening came after “intense and urgent American diplomacy with our partners in the region,” and said as many as 1,000 more foreign nationals could depart soon. 

He said the US would continue pushing to increase aid to Gaza, saying the number of trucks crossing into the enclave continues to “increase significantly, but we still have a long way to go.”

“The United States is going to continue to drive humanitarian support for innocent people in Gaza who need help and they do need help,” he said. 

And on the hostages being held in Gaza, Biden said his administration “continues to work around the clock to reunite those families.”

“We are not going to give up, period,” he said. “And I am optimistic. But I am an optimist, folks.”

The United Nations’ Human Rights Office expressed concern that Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza “could amount to war crimes.”

“Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Jabalya refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes,” the office said in a social media post Wednesday.

The UN’s statement comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that a blast in the Falluja neighborhood of the Jabalya refugee camp Wednesday was due to an airstrike, following an initial airstrike on Tuesday. Both airstrikes targeted Hamas, according to the IDF.

The IDF said in a statement Wednesday that its jets “struck a Hamas command and control complex in Jabalya,” adding that “Hamas terrorists were eliminated in the strike.”

All 22 staff members of Doctors Without Borders International, who were unable to leave Gaza since October 7, have successfully entered Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, the organization said Wednesday. 

“A new team of international staff, including a specialised medical team, has already been identified and is ready to enter Gaza as soon as the situation allows, to support the humanitarian and medical response,” the charity organization said. 

The charity added that many of their Palestinian colleagues “continue to work and provide lifesaving care in hospitals and across the Gaza Strip, while the most basic protections for hospitals and medical personnel are not guaranteed.”

“Those who wish to leave Gaza must be allowed to do so without further delay. They must also be allowed the right to return,” it said 

The charity also reiterated their calls for an immediate ceasefire. “Critically needed humanitarian supplies and staff must be allowed into Gaza where hospitals are overwhelmed and the healthcare system is facing total collapse,” it said. 

The Israeli military claims it breached Hamas’ defensive frontline in Northern Gaza and is expanding its fighting into the strip, according to Israel Defense Force spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

Hagari said Wednesday the progress was made by coordinated strikes from the ground, sea and air. He called the killing of Hamas’ anti-tank force chief significant, saying it would impact the group’s combat ability going forward.

Foreign nationals are making their way out of Gaza and into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing Wednesday.

Among those in the first groups to leave were five French citizens and 31 Austrian citizens, the country’s respective foreign ministries reported. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also said “the first British nationals have left Gaza,” without specifying a number

The French citizens were not accompanied by any non-French relatives or Palestinian workers from the French cultural center, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

They were received by a team from the French embassy in Egypt, according to the statement. 

The group of Austrians includes “mainly dual nationals who have their center of life in Gaza or were visiting family, including ten minors, the youngest being a six-year-old girl,” the Austrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that “all the evacuees are doing well under the circumstances.”

It said it was “one of the first countries whose citizens have been evacuated.”

The group will be taken to a shelter organized by the embassy, where they can receive medical care, if necessary, the ministry said. 

Cleverly called the evacuation of British citizens “a hugely important first step,” according to a post on social media. 

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) also posted a message on social media, saying that British nationals crossed the Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt, without specifying the number. 

“UK teams are on the ground providing assistance,” the Foreign Office said.

The Hamas-controlled border authority is overseeing civilian departures through the Rafah gate on the Gaza side, as they did prior to the attack on October 7, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed Wednesday.

US officials had repeatedly blamed Hamas for holding up the departure of civilians. Sources told CNN that there had been security concerns from Egypt and Israel about processing civilians to leave, and there was some thought that a third-party could administer the consular exits.

Egypt was particularly concerned about not taking in a flood of refugees. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s government is particularly sensitive to any potential attempts to resettle Palestinians in the Sinai.

“We have worked with the Government of Egypt and the Government of Israel to attempt to ensure an orderly flow through the Rafah crossing. I will let Egypt speak to ultimately their concerns were assuaged,” Miller said. “But obviously, they have agreed to this transit of people throughout.”
“In fact, they agreed to transit people through Rafah some number of weeks ago, and it’s taken this long to actually make it a reality,” he added.

Sixteen out of 35 hospitals in Gaza are out of service due to bombardment and a fuel shortage, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. 

The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which is the leading cancer hospital in Gaza, is among hospitals that have stopped operating, the health ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila, based in Ramallah, said on Wednesday that the lives of 70 cancer patients at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital are seriously threatened, adding that the lives of about 2,000 other cancer patients are also under serious threat amid “catastrophic health conditions” due to the conflict.  

Hospital director Sobhi Skaik told CNN on Monday that the center was damaged in an Israeli attack, with its third floor suffering a direct hit causing damage to oxygen and water supplies, though no one was injured. The Israeli military told CNN in a statement Tuesday: “The IDF did not strike Gaza’s Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital.” It did not offer any further information.

The Palestinian health ministry further warned that Gaza’s largest hospital could be out of service very soon.

“Al Shifa Medical Complex will stop working in less than 24 hours due to running out of fuel,” the ministry said, adding that the hospital’s vicinity has been repeatedly hit by Israeli airstrikes.

The ministry called for Israeli attacks to stop, which it said would allow medical supplies and volunteer teams to enter, as well as wounded people to leave the strip for treatment.

Meanwhile, Israel has claimed that there is fuel in Gaza, but that it is under Hamas control.  

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN last week that there is “between 800,000 and perhaps more than one million liters of fuel of different types stored inside Gaza” under Hamas control, according to Israeli military intelligence estimates. He said some of that fuel was stockpiled and accused the United Nations and Hamas of stealing some of it as well.

CNN cannot independently verify the amount of fuel in Gaza. 

A State Department spokesperson said the agency is not beginning its official process to assess whether Israel has committed war crimes during the conflict with Hamas at the moment.

“We will continue to discuss with them [Israel] directly, as we will say publicly, that it is our expectation that in all of their activities, all their military campaigns that they comply with the laws of war,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller at a press briefing.

Asked about the civilians Israel has killed in its strikes on the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, Miller said the department is “deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life,” but would not condemn the strikes.

Two aid workers — Ramona Okumura and Dr. Barbara Zind — are among the Americans who have crossed the border from Gaza into Egypt.

According to Okumura’s nephew, Nicholas Pang, the family received a text saying she had crossed the border from Gaza early Wednesday morning. Okumura, a 71-year-old Seattle resident, was making prosthetics for Gazan children and had been staying in a United Nations compound when the war broke out following the attacks by Hamas on October 7.

Okumura’s brother said she texted him at 4 a.m. local time, writing, “ACROSS PALESTINE BORDER ON SHUTTLE TO EGYPTIAN BORDER.”  

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund told CNN that Dr. Barbara Zind, a pediatrician from Grand Junction, Colorado, is also now in Egypt. Okumura and Zind are headed to Cairo, the group said.

Some context: US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said earlier Wednesday that an initial group of foreign nationals, including US citizens, had departed Gaza and were in Egypt. Miller declined to give details on the number of US citizens who had left Gaza, citing “operational security” concerns. 

Americans are expected to leave Gaza today and others are being told to be “ready to go and to await further instruction,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Okumura’s role.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams at the Rafah crossing have received 55 trucks of humanitarian aid from the Egyptian Red Crescent on Wednesday, noting those trucks contained food, water, medicine and medical supplies.

That brings the total number of trucks received since aid was first allowed to enter Gaza to 272, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Earlier Wednesday, a spokesperson for the US State Department said over 200 aid trucks had entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing since October 21, when the first vehicles carrying aid were able to cross into the enclave.

“We expect today’s number to surpass yesterday’s, just as yesterday’s number surpass(ed) the day before’s, as we continue to ramp up deliveries to Gaza,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday. 

Some context: The most recent shipments included “only water, food, and medical equipment,” according to a spokesperson for Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. Israel has refused to allow vital fuel supplies into Gaza, citing the risk of it being stolen by Hamas.

Though the number of trucks going into the enclave has increased in recent days, it’s still less than a normal day’s worth of aid before the conflict started. Prior to October 7, there were 450 trucks going into Gaza daily, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Lynn Hastings said in a press briefing last week. 

The White House continued Wednesday to avoid direct criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, including its massive airstrike on a refugee camp, saying it wouldn’t respond to each development on the battlefield.

Speaking aboard Air Force One, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said instead the US was in constant conversation with the Israelis about the importance of protecting civilian lives. 

“We’re going to be cautious about reacting to each and every event on the ground,” Kirby told CNN, adding the US was still gathering details on the strike.

He could not provide American estimates of causalities.

Kirby declined to elaborate on US President Joe Biden’s personal reaction to the airstrike, which occurred Tuesday.

He said the US has long been concerned about the imperative to protect civilians.

“There’s not a conversation we’re having with our Israeli counterparts that doesn’t reflect our continued concern over civilian casualties and urging them to be as careful and deliberate as possible to avoid that risk,” he said.

“You’ll continue to hear from the president about our significant concern over civilian harm,” Kirby added later.

A small number of Palestinians and foreign nationals have finally been able to leave Gaza on Wednesday, after weeks of intense negotiations resulted in the partial opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

On Wednesday, some exited Gaza through Rafah following a deal brokered by Qatar between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the United States.

It comes soon after aid trucks were able to start entering the enclave in greater numbers in the opposite direction — a development that also required lengthy talks.

Located in Egypt’s North Sinai, the Rafah crossing is the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. It falls along an 8-mile (12.8-kilometer) fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai desert.

Rafah is the only Gazan border crossing that isn’t controlled by Israel, which shut its crossings with the territory following Hamas’ October 7 attack. It has emerged as a crucial location as the humanitarian situation in the territory worsens.

Before the war with Hamas that started in early October, Israel had two crossings with Gaza: Erez, which is for the movement of people, and Kerem Shalom, for goods. Both were heavily restricted and have been shut since the war began.

According to United Nations figures, an average of 27,000 people crossed the border each month as of July this year. The border was open for 138 days and closed for 74 this year until that month.

Closures often depend on the security and political situation on the ground. While Israel has no direct control over the crossing, Egypt’s closures often coincide with Israel’s own tightening of restrictions on Gaza.

Read more about the critical role of the Rafah crossing.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that a blast in the Falluja neighborhood of the Jabalya refugee camps was due to an airstrike Wednesday.

The IDF said in a statement its jets “struck a Hamas command and control complex in Jabaliya,” adding that “Hamas terrorists were eliminated in the strike.”

“Hamas deliberately builds its terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians,” the IDF said.

The statement said the IDF has been urging people in the neighborhood to leave. It also reiterated its call for civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate to the southern part of the enclave.

The airstrike rocked the refugee camp for the second day in a row. Video from the site showed catastrophic damage and people digging through the rubble searching for bodies. 

The first Israeli strike on the Jabalya refugee camp on Tuesday killed a large number of people, according to eyewitnesses and medics there. Israel says its strike targeted and killed a top Hamas commander, while Hamas strongly denied the presence of one of its leaders in the camp.

This post has been updated with additional information about the airstrike.

An initial group of foreign nationals, including US citizens, have departed Gaza and are in Egypt, US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Wednesday.

He declined to give details on the number of US citizens who have departed, citing “operational security” concerns. 

Americans are expected to leave Gaza today and others are being told to be “ready to go,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One.

“A handful of Americans are expected to depart today, and we expect to get more to come in future days. The State Department has communicated directly with American citizens and Gaza over the past 24 hours to tell them to be ready to go and to await further instruction,” Kirby said.

Kirby also pushed back on the suggestion that the United States would support a permanent settlement outside of Gaza for Palestinians.

Some context: The departures of injured Palestinians and some foreign nationals followed a deal brokered by Qatar between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the US, according to sources familiar with the talks.

The deal to release foreigners from Gaza into Egypt is not part of any potential deal to secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas, multiple sources emphasize to CNN. Those talks are still ongoing and one US official said they would caution against drawing any comparisons between the two parallel missions.

At least 361 foreign nationals have entered Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, an Egyptian government official tells CNN.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said 76 are now on their way to Cairo, where some will catch flights back to their home countries, while the rest are still at the crossing completing the necessary paperwork.

According to the official, 491 foreign nationals were registered to arrive in Egypt today, but the remaining 130 either didn’t make it to the border crossing or refused to cross without their families, whose names were not registered on the list.  

As of Wednesday evening, the Rafah crossing remains open, and the rest of the foreign nationals registered to cross today will continue crossing through. 

The breakdown for the nationalities of the 76 individuals en route to Cairo is the following:  

More context: The release of the foreign nationals is the result of a deal brokered by Qatar between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the US, that would allow for the release of those individuals, alongside critically injured civilians from Gaza, according to sources familiar with the talks. The agreement is separate from any hostage negotiations, the source added.

Sources close to the matter had also told CNN that up to 500 foreigners were expected to cross out of Gaza at Rafah.

Jack Lew is set to begin his new role as the United States ambassador to Israel by the end of the week after he was officially appointed to the post by President Joe Biden on Tuesday night.

“The president officially appointed Jack Lew last night. And tomorrow there will be a small, informal swearing-in ceremony in DC so that he can immediately get to work,” White House deputy press secretary Emilie Simons told reporters aboard Air Force One. 

She said Lew will “immediately advance our efforts to support the defense of Israel” once he is sworn in, including continuing to negotiate the release of hostages being held in Gaza and evacuating Americans from the enclave.

The ambassador will also focus on “increasing the flow of aid to civilians, leading diplomatic efforts to support our Israeli partners while stressing the need to uphold international humanitarian law, and supporting US efforts to create the conditions for a humanitarian pause to address the worsening humanitarian conditions facing Palestinian civilians,” Simons said.

She thanked the Senate for their work to confirm Lew, who was first nominated in September.

There has been a “significant increase” in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab Americans in recent weeks, the United States attorney general said, reiterating the Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting perpetrators.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday at a hate crimes forum that in his daily briefings, he has noticed an increase in the “volume and frequency” of threats against these groups. 

The attorney general cited the arrest of Cornell University Student Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old junior, for threats he allegedly posted in an online discussion forum this weekend against the university’s Jewish students.  

Garland said Dai was arrested and charged with threatening to kill or injure Jewish people at Cornell University.

“As this arrest shows, we are focusing our efforts on confronting and disrupting illegal threats wherever they arise. The Justice Department has no tolerance for violence, or unlawful threats of violence fueled by antisemitism or Islamophobia,” Garland said.

Dai is scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

“I recognize the fear, frustration and isolation that many of you have felt over the past few weeks, and that you continue to feel as we join us here today. I want to reiterate a core principle of this Justice Department: No person and no community in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence,” Garland said.

Connectivity is being restored in the Gaza Strip, the internet monitoring site Netblocks said Wednesday, after two Palestinian internet providers earlier announced a “complete interruption” of communications and internet services in the enclave.

“We can confirm connectivity is being restored. Duration of the incident is just over 8 hours,” said Isik Mater, Netblocks Director of Research in an email to CNN on Wednesday.

Asked by CNN to respond to the communications outage, the Israeli military said, “There is no comment on this.”

Internet and communication services have been repeatedly impacted in Gaza, with independent internet monitoring groups telling CNN that blackouts have worsened since the Hamas attack on October 7. 

US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that some American citizens will be departing Gaza as soon as today and hailed US leadership in efforts to help some Gazans and foreign nationals leave amid an escalating ground offensive.

“Today, thanks to American leadership, we secured safe passage for wounded Palestinians and for foreign nationals to exit Gaza. We expect American citizens to exit today, and we expect to see more depart over the coming days,” Biden said on X. 
“We won’t let up working to get Americans out of Gaza,” he said.

CNN previously reported that, while Americans were not initially expected to be among the first batch exiting, given the fluid nature of the situation, some Americans may leave Wednesday, according to one US official.

 Approximately 400 American citizens plus their family members—about 1,000 people total—are stuck in Gaza and are seeking to leave, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday. There are about 5,000 other third-country nationals in Gaza who also want to get out, he said.

The deal to release foreigners from Gaza into Egypt is not part of any potential deal to secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas, multiple sources told CNN. Those talks are still ongoing and one US official said they would caution against drawing any comparisons between the two parallel missions. 

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post.

The commissioner general of the United Nations agency coordinating humanitarian aid operations in Gaza reported “terrible conditions” in the enclave.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), managed to enter Gaza after “weeks of pleading with different parties.”

Once inside, he visited one of UNRWA’s shelters that house thousands of people, the agency’s director of communications Juliette Touma said.

“This is a UN shelter that was indirectly hit during the war. The sanitary conditions are appalling, according to him. People live on the very basic, just little bread and whatever is left of some water. Our staff are dedicated, they keep going, but they’re also finding it extremely challenging to operate given the little humanitarian supplies that have been coming into Gaza,” she said.

UNRWA has had to ration its fuel in Gaza because they are running out of the “very little reserves” they have, Touma said. She added that at least 670,000 people are taking refuge in UNRWA shelters, schools, medical facilities and even warehouses across the Gaza Strip.

The UNRWA communications director also told CNN she was not able to determine how many people were killed in Israel’s airstrike on the Jabalya refugee camp Tuesday because of a communications blackout.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Wednesday that 70 of their staff members have been killed in Gaza since October 7.

 “70 @UNRWA colleagues have been killed in Gaza since 7 Oct,” the UNRWA posted on social media platform X.

The agency also reaffirmed its commitment to staying in Gaza.

“My firm message to all our staff and to the people in Gaza: @UNRWA is staying,” the agency posted with photos on X showing UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini Lazzarini visiting staff members in Gaza. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Juliette Touma, the communications director for the UNRWA told CNN that “there is no place that is safe across the Gaza strip. No Place. Not the north, not the south, and not the middle areas. No place is safe.”

Touma also said, “Some of her colleagues were killed in the line of duty and some were killed at home.” 

Touma mentioned one of the recent UN colleagues who was killed at home “with his wife and eight children when his UN car, clearly marked as UN was parked outside of his house.”

Some foreign nationals have started crossing the border from Gaza into Egypt, officials and Egyptian media said, in the first sanctioned exodus from the besieged enclave in weeks.

Here’s where they’re from:

Italy: Four Italian nationals have safely left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, according to Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. 

“I just spoke to the first four Italians to leave the Gaza Strip. They are tired but in good condition, assisted by the Italian consul in Cairo. We continue to work to get all the others out,” Tajani said in a post on social media. 

The four Italians include volunteers from international NGOs. One of them is married to a Palestinian woman, according to Tajani. 

A spokesperson for the ministry said 10 more Italian citizens remain inside the Gaza Strip, including two pregnant women who the ministry hopes will be released by the end of the week. 

Three Italian-Israeli citizens were killed in the October 7 terrorist attacks, according to the ministry. 

France: Five French citizens left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday, the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

The group was not accompanied by any non-French relatives or Palestinian workers from the French cultural center, the ministry said. 

The citizens were received by a team from the French embassy in Egypt, according to the statement. 

France has been working to evacuate some 170 people from Gaza, including citizens, their relatives and Palestinian workers, French officials have previously said.

The small Persian Gulf state of Qatar is once again front and center in global diplomacy, this time for its efforts to mediate deals to free hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 attacks in Israel, as well as evacuate foreign nationals from Gaza.

On Wednesday, Qatar brokered a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the United States, to release foreign nationals and critically injured Palestinian civilians from Gaza to Egypt, according to sources familiar with the talks. The agreement was separate from any hostage negotiations, the source added.

At least 110 foreign passport holders left Gaza, according to officials on the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing. Al-Arish Hospital in Egypt also began receiving injured Palestinians who crossed from Gaza, according to Al-Qahera news.

Qatar finds itself in a delicate diplomatic position, one that experts say has so far acted in its benefit, making it an indispensable ally to Washington.

The gas-rich monarchy has maintained a relationship with Hamas while being one of the US’ closest allies in the region. Meanwhile, it has also kept back-channel contacts with Israel.

The nature of Qatar’s relationship with Hamas: In the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, Qatar fell out with some of its Arab neighbors after it supported the protesters who sought to overthrow the regimes in several Arab nations.

Ties further deteriorated when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in mid-2017, accusing the country of supporting terrorism, which Qatar repeatedly denied. It took years for the countries to patch up relations.

In 2012, it allowed Iran-backed Hamas to establish a political office in Doha, which remains operative. Qatar also pays public sector salaries in Gaza, part of a $30 million per month stipend for families and fuel for electricity, according to Reuters.

It has also maintained close relations with Western nations, becoming an increasingly important energy supplier as one of the world’s biggest gas producers and is a major arms buyer from the US.

But some have said that Qatar’s relationship with Hamas may become a liability. Doha has come under criticism from Israel and Western politicians for its ties with Hamas.

Despite its mediation efforts, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen last week accused Qatar of financing Hamas and harboring its leaders.

In response, Qatar said it was “surprised and dismayed” by the Israeli minister’s comments, especially “at a time when Qatar is seeking to ensure the release of captives and de-escalation.”

Forty-five injured Palestinians, who entered Egypt through the Rafah border crossing Wednesday morning, are currently getting treatment in hospitals across Egypt, an Egyptian government official told CNN.

The majority of patients are spread out across three hospitals: a field hospital in Sheikh Zuweid City, El-Arish General Hospital and Bir al-Abd Central Hospital, the official said. 

One patient has sustained severe burns and is getting treatment in the Ismailia General Hospital, the official said. 

The Rafah crossing opened earlier Wednesday to allow a limited number of injured Palestinians to exit Gaza into Egypt – the first to be allowed out of the besieged enclave since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7.

“They are arriving one by one,” a spokesperson for Egypt’s health ministry told CNN. 

US officials expect that more than 5,000 foreign nationals could ultimately be allowed to cross from Gaza into Egypt as part of the deal announced today, with one senior US official saying the total could be around 7,000 people. 

But the official stressed that that number is far from exact, and officials have been emphasizing how fluid the situation on the ground is. 

As CNN previously reported, the current expectation is that around 500 people were waiting to be processed Wednesday and that could ramp up to perhaps 1,000 people a day, according to a senior US official.

Approximately 400 American citizens plus their family members – about 1,000 people total – are stuck in Gaza and are seeking to leave, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday. There are about 5,000 other third-country nationals in Gaza who also want to get out, he said.

Some Palestinian-Americans stuck in Gaza have received notification from the US Department of State that departures from the enclave “may begin this week.”

At least three Palestinian-Americans have confirmed to CNN that they received a notification from the US State Department to monitor their email for specific instructions before proceeding to the Rafah Crossing, where injured Palestinians and some foreign nationals have begun to cross into Egypt.

The email from the State Department notes “U.S. citizens and family members will be assigned specific departure dates to ensure an orderly crossing. Please continue to monitor your email regularly over the next 24 to 72 hours for specific instructions for you and your family.”

Abood Okal, a Massachusetts resident who is currently in Gaza, told CNN:

“We were contacted by State Department and informed to keep an eye for further instructions on the day/timing for our departure from Gaza. At least we know it’s not today. No Americans have been able to cross today, so we didn’t go to the border crossing.”

Some context: The departures of injured Palestinians and some foreign nationals followed a deal brokered by Qatar between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the US, according to sources familiar with the talks.

Approximately 400 American citizens plus their family members — about 1,000 people total — are stuck in Gaza and are trying to leave, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday. There are about 5,000 other third-country nationals in Gaza who also want to get out, he said.

The deal to release foreigners from Gaza into Egypt is not part of any potential deal to secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas, multiple sources emphasize to CNN. Those talks are still ongoing and one US official said they would caution against drawing any comparisons between the two parallel missions.

CNN’s Hope Howard and Yahya Abou-Ghazala contributed reporting to this post.

Jordan has recalled its ambassador to Israel, according to a statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry.

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the move was happening immediately, “as an expression of Jordan’s position rejecting and condemning the Israeli war raging in Gaza.”

The statement also said that Israel’s ambassador — who is not currently in Jordan, according to the statement — was not welcome back.

The ambassador’s return would be dependent “upon Israel ceasing its war in Gaza, halting the resulting humanitarian disaster, and refraining from actions that deny Palestinians their basic rights, including access to food, water, and medicine, as well as a secure and stable life on their national soil.”

The Jordanian ministry earlier on Wednesday announced the start of the evacuation process of its citizens from the Gaza Strip.

A massive blast has rocked the Gaza refugee camp of Jabalya, destroying several buildings, for a second day in a row. 

Video from the blast site on Wednesday showed catastrophic damage surrounding a deep crater in the Jabalya neighborhood of Falluja. People are seen digging through the rubble searching for bodies. 

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. 

The Civil Defense in Hamas-run Gaza said many people died in the attack and “large numbers” remained under the rubble in what it described as a “second massacre” at the refugee camp.

The Israeli military conducted airstrikes in Jabalya on Tuesday in an area near Falluja. Medics said there were hundreds of casualties – dead and wounded. Videos seen by CNN on Tuesday showed long lines of bodies outside the Indonesian hospital, the nearest medical facility to Jabalya camp. 

The IDF said Tuesday’s strikes targeted and killed Ibrahim Biari, whom it described as one of the Hamas commanders responsible for the October 7 attack on Israel, which left more than 1,400 people dead and hundreds taken hostage.  

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it fired on targets in southern Lebanon Wednesday in response to fire from that territory.

“A short while ago, a terrorist cell attempted to launch anti-tank missiles from Lebanon toward Israeli territory in the Zar’it area. An IDF tank struck the cell,” the IDF said in a statement.

“Additionally, terrorists opened fire a short while ago from Lebanon toward Israeli territory in the Yiftah area. No injuries were reported. The IDF is responding with fire toward the origins of the shooting.”

The Israeli military has sporadically but regularly exchanged fire with militants in southern Lebanon over the past weeks.

Some context: This fighting is centered on northern Israel and southern Lebanon — separate from Israel’s fighting with Hamas further south, which is centered around Gaza. However, an uptick in clashes with Hezbollah has raised fears that the powerful Lebanese paramilitary group could actively participate in the conflict.

Hezbollah – an Iran-backed armed group that is also a regional force in its own right – dominates south Lebanon. It also operates alongside Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, where the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights separates Israel from Tehran-aligned fighters.

CNN’s Tamara Qiblawi contributed reporting to this post.

One hundred and ten foreign passport holders departed Gaza on Wednesday, according to officials on the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing.

It is not yet clear if all those foreign passport holders have crossed into Egypt.

Seventeen ambulances also left the Gaza side of the border on Wednesday, according to Rafah Crossing Media, the official communications wing of the border crossing — though it is unclear how many patients the ambulances were carrying.

Additionally, 20 trucks carrying aid arrived in Gaza, it said, but did not specify what type of aid was in the trucks.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Wednesday that he was “appalled by the high number of casualties” from the Israeli strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, urging both parties to balance their right to self-defense with the “obligation to spare civilians to the greatest extent possible.”

“Building on EU Council’s clear stance that Israel has the right to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law and ensuring the protection of all civilians, I am appalled by the high number of casualties following the bombing by Israel of the Jabalia refugee camp,” Borrell said in a statement on social media.

“Laws of war and humanity must always apply, including when it comes to humanitarian assistance. With the unfolding tragedy in Gaza, the European Union has been calling since last week for humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs,” he added.

“The right to self-defence should always be balanced by the obligation to spare civilians to the greatest extent possible,” Borrell said. 

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) defended its strike a day earlier on Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp, saying that the Hamas commander it was targeting made the strike a “clear military necessity” and a “legitimate target.”

A spokesperson for Hamas has denied that the commander was there and called the Israeli strike a “heinous crime against safe civilians, children, and women.”

Dr. Atef Al Kahlout, director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, told CNN Tuesday the strike had caused hundreds of casualties – dead and wounded. “Many are still under the rubble,” he added.

CNN’s Mick Krever in London contributed reporting to this post.

Egyptian state-affiliated Al-Qahera news reported on Wednesday that the first group of dual nationals has arrived in Egypt from Gaza after going through the Rafah border crossing.

Additionally, Al-Arish Hospital in Egypt has begun receiving injured Palestinians coming from the Gaza Strip, according to Al-Qahera news. 

Some context: Earlier on Wednesday, the spokesperson for Egypt’s Ministry of Health told CNN that injured Palestinians from Gaza had begun arriving in Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, “one by one.”

Their exits followed a deal brokered by Qatar between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the US, allowing for the release of foreign nationals and critically injured civilians from Gaza, according to sources familiar with the talks.

Sources close to the matter have told CNN that up to 500 foreigners are expected to cross out of Gaza at Rafah.

Hundreds of foreign and dual nationals are among the more than two million people stranded inside the enclave.

The deal to release foreigners from Gaza into Egypt is not part of any potential deal to secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas, multiple sources emphasize to CNN. 

Those talks are still ongoing and one US official said they would caution against drawing any comparisons between the two parallel missions. 

But the reality is that the players involved in both negotiations are the same: Israel, Egypt, Qatar, Hamas and the US. But as this US official stressed, the agreement announced today does not include any component that would prompt the release of hostages at a later time, for example. 

The Rafah crossing has opened to allow a limited number of injured Palestinians to exit Gaza into Egypt – the first to be allowed out of the besieged enclave since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7. “They are arriving one by one,” a spokesperson for Egypt’s health ministry told CNN.

For more than three weeks, the Rafah crossing had remained almost entirely closed, with some aid supplies trickling in but no civilians allowed to travel out. Two Israeli hostages were allowed last week to exit into Egypt, but more than 2 million Palestinians remained stuck inside the strip amid an escalating humanitarian crisis.

As well as injured Palestinians, CNN has also reported that foreign nationals may also soon be able to cross through Rafah into Egypt under a Qatar-mediated deal.

Here are the latest developments:

The deeply complex, multiparty negotiations to secure the release of foreigners from Gaza included Hamas demanding that some of its own fighters be let out as part of the list of injured people – a request that was rejected, according to a senior US official.

The logistics surrounding the release of foreigners that is in motion now is incredibly complicated, in no small part because Egyptian authorities are insisting that every person be thoroughly checked before they are allowed to cross into their country.

The current expectation is that around 500 people may be processed today – and that could ramp up to perhaps 1,000 people a day starting tomorrow, the official said.

A Western official has said Americans are not expected to be among the first batch exiting the enclave on Wednesday. US citizens are expected to begin departing Gaza as soon as Thursday, according to internal US government correspondence obtained by CNN, though the US official said some Americans may leave Wednesday.

The Jordanian foreign ministry on Wednesday announced the start of the evacuation process of its citizens from the Gaza Strip.

The ministry said the process is being carried out in collaboration with Egyptian authorities via the Rafah border crossing, “so that (Jordanian citizens) are transferred to the Kingdom as soon as possible.”

Ministry spokesperson Sufyan al-Qudah said the evacuation process was expected to take several days.

A dedicated team from the Jordanian Embassy in Cairo based at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing would facilitate the secure transportation of Jordanian citizens out of Gaza by bus, the spokesperson added.

Biden administration officials are tracking an agreement that has been reached that will allow foreign nationals to leave Gaza through the Rafah Crossing, according to a US official.

A Western official previously confirmed Americans are not expected to be among the first batch exiting the enclave on Wednesday. US citizens are expected to begin departing Gaza as soon as Thursday, according to internal US government correspondence obtained by CNN, though the US official said some Americans may leave Wednesday.

Approximately 400 American citizens plus their family members — about 1,000 people total— are stuck in Gaza and trying to leave, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday. There are about 5,000 other third-country nationals in Gaza who also want to get out, he said.

Blinken spoke earlier this week with his Qatari counterpart “to talk to him about impressing upon Hamas the need” to allow foreign nationals to depart via Rafah, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Tuesday.

Qatar brokered a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the US to release all foreign nationals and critically injured civilians from Gaza, according to sources familiar with the talks Wednesday.

Miller said Tuesday that once an agreement was reached, “it’s not a process that would occur instantly,” adding, “People would move out over several days.”

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday defended its strike a day earlier on Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp, saying that the Hamas commander it was targeting made the strike a “clear military necessity” and a “legitimate target.”

“We know he’s an arch terrorist,” IDF Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN’s Phil Mattingly, referring to Ibrahim Biari, who the IDF has said was killed in the strike and described as one of the Hamas commanders responsible for the October 7 attack on Israel. “And of course given the chance, he would do it again and again and again.”
“There’s a clear military necessity. When you have a terrorist, an arch terrorist, surrounded by dozens of his henchmen, that are planning to conduct more attacks, then they are a legitimate target.”

A spokesperson for Hamas has denied that Biari was there and called the Israeli strike a “heinous crime against safe civilians, children, and women.”

Dr. Atef Al Kahlout, director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, told CNN Tuesday the strike had caused hundreds of casualties – dead and wounded. “Many are still under the rubble,” he added.

Another IDF spokesperson on Wednesday said that collapsed tunnels were partially responsible for the scale of destruction from the Tuesday strike.

Mattingly asked Lerner whether the IDF was aware of that tunnel system, asking, “Was that the target? Did you want to try to collapse the tunnel system in that area?”

“We wanted to take out the enemy,” Lerner said. “A brutal enemy that has no regard for human life. That intentionally places its infrastructure in the civilian arena.”

When pressed on whether Israel would provide any evidence for Biari’s death, Lerner declined to answer directly, saying that Israeli intelligence had confirmed his death.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to say on Wednesday whether the IDF had committed to not striking Rafah as part of an agreement to allow foreign nationals to leave Gaza into Egypt.

Asked by CNN’s Phil Mattingly whether an agreement to allow foreign passport holders to leave Gaza included “the Israeli military saying they would not strike around Rafah during this time period,” IDF Lt. Col. Peter Lerner responded:

“The IDF is operating against Hamas terrorists wherever they are operating. Of course, it is a very precarious time. I can’t confirm that that is the situation that you’re asking.”

Injured Palestinians from Gaza have begun arriving in Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, the spokesperson for Egypt’s Ministry of Health told CNN.

CNN has previously reported that 81 severely injured Palestinians were expected to arrive in Egypt Wednesday morning.

The spokesperson told CNN that “they are arriving one by one.”

Ten Egyptian ambulances are waiting inside Gaza to collect injured Palestinian patients, an Egyptian border official at the Rafah crossing told CNN.

The official earlier said a total of 80 ambulances had arrived at the Egyptian side of the crossing Wednesday morning.

Half the 80 ambulances had made it into Gaza, the official said, but 30 had returned to Egypt empty, for reasons the official did not disclose.

Crowds gathered at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday morning, amid reports that it was set to open for some foreign nationals and wounded Palestinians, allowing them to leave the besieged enclave for the first time since the war began more than three weeks ago.

Up to 500 foreigners could cross from Gaza into Egypt under a Qatar-mediated deal, multiple sources told CNN.

A fleet of ambulances also arrived at the Egyptian side of the crossing, waiting to receive some 81 injured Palestinians in need of treatment, an Egyptian border official told CNN.

Israel ordered the “complete siege” of Gaza in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 terror attack, cutting off supplies of food, water, medicine and electricity to the enclave.

The Rafah crossing has partly opened to allow some aid supplies to enter Gaza, but international leaders have warned that the current levels of aid are incapable of meeting the needs of more than 2 million Palestinians living in the territory.

But while some aid has been able to trickle in, civilians have not been able to leave.

Americans are not believed to be among the first batch of foreign nationals in Gaza who may be able to exit the besieged enclave through the Rafah crossing, a Western official told CNN.

US citizens are expected to begin departing Gaza as soon as Thursday, according to internal government correspondence obtained by CNN.

Crowds began to gather at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt Wednesday, amid reports that a Qatar-mediated deal to release foreign nationals had been agreed upon, multiple sources told CNN.

Approximately 400 American citizens and their family members — a total of about 1,000 people — have been stuck in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday.

The top US diplomat said he and the State Department are “focused on this intensely.”

There are about 5,000 other third-country nationals in Gaza who also want to get out, Blinken added.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post.

Collapsed tunnels were partly responsible for the scale of destruction caused by Tuesday’s strike on Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said Wednesday.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari, who was targeted in the strike, was in “an underground area located inside buildings inside a civilian refugee camp.”

Hamas has claimed to have built hundreds of kilometers of tunnels underneath Gaza, which it has used to smuggle goods from Egypt and launch attacks into Israel.

Survivors and eyewitness spoke of apocalyptic scenes in the aftermath of the strike, which tore a massive crater through the middle of the crowded camp.

The IDF said it had killed Biari in the strike. Hagari described Biari as being “responsible for a significant area from which terrorists set out to massacre on October 7.”

A spokesperson for Hamas has denied that Biari was there and called the Israeli strike a “heinous crime against safe civilians, children, and women in Jabalya camp.”

Dr. Atef Al Kahlout, director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, told CNN on Tuesday the strike had caused hundreds of casualties, both dead and wounded. “Many are still under the rubble,” he added.

Second strike: Hagari also gave more details about a second overnight Israeli strike on the Jabalya camp.

“Terrorists shot at our forces in the field,” he said. “Hamas terrorists are using this building, like many other places, as a shelter. This case concerns a variety of civilian residential buildings near a school, a medical centre and government offices. Our fighters directed an aircraft from the air that attacked the threat and destroyed the terrorists.”

Hagari’s comments echoed those of Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, another IDF spokesperson, who accused Hamas Tuesday of “hiding, as they do, behind civilians.”

A large barrage of rockets was fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on Wednesday morning.

A CNN team on the ground in Ashkelon, southern Israel, counted at least 10 large bangs, most likely indicating the rockets being intercepted and destroyed by Iron Dome, the Israeli air defense system. It is unclear whether all of the rockets were intercepted.

A number of locations north of the enclave were placed under air raid warnings, prompting people to seek shelter.

Ashkelon’s proximity to the Gaza border means that its residents have only a few moments to find a safe place. When the sirens began, people were seen running towards shelters located around the city, including in parks, bus stations and other public spaces.

Hamas has continued to fire rockets from Gaza, despite the enclave having been under intense bombardment for more than three weeks and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launching a ground operation in the strip on Friday.

The IDF has said that destroying Hamas’ rocket infrastructure is one of its main goals of the war.

Up to 500 foreign nationals could be released from Gaza, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

CNN has spoken to three different sources close to the matter who say that around 500 foreigners are expected to leave Gaza at the Rafah crossing with Egypt. 

A Palestinian border official, Hisham Adwan, told CNN that 500 people were waiting to cross, revising this figure up from an initial 450.

One source close to the negotiations also said 500 foreign nationals could leave Gaza, and another source, at the border, said they were aware of 478 people who would be permitted to cross. 

No timeline has been set on when they will begin moving.

Sources told CNN that Qatar had brokered a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the United States to release foreign nationals and critically injured civilians in Gaza.

This agreement is separate from any hostage negotiations, the source added.

CNN previously reported that 81 injured Palestinians will also arrive at the Rafah crossing Wednesday morning, as well as the hundreds of foreign nationals.

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is “likely to open today for a first group of foreign nationals,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Wednesday in a social media post.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said approximately 400 Americans and their family members — about 1,000 people total — are stuck in Gaza and seeking to leave amid diplomatic efforts to help them.

Blinken spoke with his Qatari counterpart Monday about pressing Hamas to allow Americans and other foreign nationals to leave, according to a State Department spokesperson.

Border traffic: UK foreign minister Cleverley’s remarks Wednesday came as a fleet of ambulances arrived at the Rafah crossing with Gaza to bring about 80 injured Palestinians to Egypt. The patients would be the first known Palestinians allowed out of the enclave since the war with Israel began more than three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, as aid trickles into the coastal strip, Cleverly said, “It’s vital that lifesaving humanitarian aid can enter Gaza as quickly as possible.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said it has “struck over 11,000 targets belonging to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip” since the war began on October 7.

That’s an average of more than 440 strikes per day for the first 25 days of the war.

The IDF has repeatedly said it is not targeting civilians in its unrelenting bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people.

An Israeli strike targeting a Hamas commander in the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza Tuesday killed a large number of people and left catastrophic damage, according to eyewitnesses and medics in the enclave.

In its statement Wednesday, the IDF said combined troops “struck several terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” overnight on Tuesday, including operational command centers and Hamas cells.

Israeli troops directed airstrikes on “several Hamas terrorists” who had barricaded themselves in a multi-story building located near a school, medical center, and government offices in the Jabalya area, the IDF statement said. 

According to an earlier IDF statement, the airstrike Tuesday targeted and killed Ibrahim Biari, whom it described as one of the Hamas commanders responsible for the October 7 attack.

The IDF also said “numerous other Hamas terrorists” were hit in the strike, and claimed the Central Jabalya Battalion had taken control of civilian buildings.

Hamas however has strongly denied the presence of one of its leaders in the refugee camp. Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the militant group, accused Israel of attempting to justify what he described as a “heinous crime against safe civilians, children, and women in Jabalya camp.”

More than 8,400 people have died in Gaza during the ongoing war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which draws on information from the Hamas-controlled enclave.

Battle footage: In its Wednesday statement, the IDF said soldiers also directed aircraft to strike a vehicle “carrying anti-tank missiles driving toward the forces operating in the Gaza Strip.”

Video shared by the IDF showed strikes on multiple locations, and soldiers on the ground in Gaza moving through rubble. The IDF also shared video showing a targeted vehicle turning onto a road before being hit by an explosive, setting it ablaze.

Some 80 ambulances from Egypt arrived at the Rafah border with Gaza on Wednesday morning to receive injured Palestinian patients, an Egyptian border official told CNN at the crossing.

The patients will be the first known Palestinians allowed out of Gaza since the war began more than three weeks ago, if they cross into Egypt.

Earlier, an Egyptian border official told CNN the crossing was set to open to allow 81 wounded Palestinians from Gaza to receive treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital director Dr. Mohammed Abu Silmiyeh told CNN most of the patients require surgical intervention in operating rooms, a procedure not currently available in the enclave.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday named nine more Israeli soldiers killed during its ongoing ground operation in northern Gaza.

Seven of the troops were members of the Givati brigade, which is focused on fighting terrorism, and the other two were part of the armored corps, the IDF said. It did not say how they were killed.

The IDF identified those killed as Ariel Reich, Asif Luger, Adi Danan, Halel Solomon, Erez Mishlovsky, Adi Leon, Ido Ovadia, Lior Siminovich, and Roei Dawi.

It comes after the IDF on Tuesday confirmed the first two deaths of Israeli soldiers in Gaza since its ground incursion ramped up on Friday.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned Israeli forces’ “inhumane targeting” of the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, saying it “totally rejects the repeated targeting by the Israeli occupation forces of densely populated civilian areas.”

The Israeli strike targeting a Hamas commander in the densely populated camp Tuesday killed a large number of people and left catastrophic damage, according to eyewitnesses and medics in the enclave.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest terms possible the inhumane targeting by the Israeli occupation forces of the Jabalia refugee camp in the besieged Gaza Strip, which caused the death and injury of a large number of innocent civilians,” Saudi’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
“The Kingdom condemns and totally rejects the repeated targeting by the Israeli occupation forces of densely populated civilian areas, and its continuing violation of international law and international humanitarian law.”

The “dire humanitarian situation stemming from the ongoing escalation cannot be justified,” the statement added, noting that “halting the bloodshed, protecting civilians and the cessation of military operations are urgent priorities.”

“The failure to promptly adhere to these principles will inevitably lead to a humanitarian disaster for which the Israeli occupation and the international community bear responsibility,” it said.

Some context: Saudi Arabia had been in talks to normalize relations with Israel in recent months, something Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in September described as a pact that would be “the biggest historical deal since the Cold War.”

But Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack on Israel and the Israeli military’s siege of Gaza in response has thrust the Palestinian issue back into the international spotlight. It may also have thrown a wrench in Israel’s efforts to expand what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the “circle of peace,” referring to Arab nations that have sidestepped the Palestinian issue to establish ties with Israel.

Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, which was hit on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a Hamas leader, was always known to journalists covering Gaza for the sheer number of children there.

Over several visits there over the years I found them to be curious and excited when strangers showed up. Crowding around our CNN teams, asking questions, trying their English and jumping in front of the camera. Often my TV producer, driver and fixer would have to keep the children busy and distracted as we attempted to report or record a shot on camera.

Like Gaza’s other refugee camps, these crowded built-up areas have houses, shops, and apartment buildings jammed up against one another, the roads between them in many areas barely wide enough for a car to pass. The open-air markets were always busy.

Even in the best of times though, life was tough in Jabalya. Schools were so crowded classes were held in two shifts a day. The tap water wasn’t fit for human consumption. Unemployment was high and most families were dependent on food aid provided by the United Nations. Yet one rarely got the feeling that people had given up hope.

Once when I was in Jabalya, after another round of fighting between Hamas and Israel in the spring of 2021, we stopped at a shawarma shop the day after the fighting ended. The shop had just opened and was doing a bustling business. Its owner, Amjad, greeted us heartily.

Two years later, in 2023, I was back after another reporting trip, and the shop had expanded. Amjad greeted us like long lost friends and snapped orders to the waiters to get our food.

Above our table was a television running on a loop an advertisement for a local school promising a top-quality education to ensure a shining future for the children of Gaza.

Yes, Jabalya was crowded and noisy and dusty — one of the poorer areas in Gaza — but it was a place where, despite the problems of Gaza, you always came away feeling that someday, somehow, the people there would be able to live a better life.

I can’t go back right now with Israel and Egypt blocking entry into Gaza, but I fear that optimism against all odds may now have been shattered.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it had thwarted an aerial attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, as fears rise across the region that the Israel-Hamas war could widen.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a spokesperson for the Houthi forces, told Houthi-owned Al-Masirah TV that ballistic missiles and drones had been launched against targets in Israel in what he said was the third operation in support of the Palestinian people.

He added that there were plans for more strikes until the “Israeli aggression” ceased.

“Our armed forces launched a large batch of ballistic and winged missiles and a large number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy,” he said, referring to all of Israel as “occupied territories.”

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 offensive in Gaza.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it had used its Arrow aerial defense system for the first time to successfully intercept a surface-to-surface missile that was fired from the area of the Red Sea.

The use of the Arrow defense system, which is designed to intercept high altitude missiles, indicates the Houthis used a more advanced, long-range missile in the attempted attack.

Israeli jets also intercepted what the IDF described as “aerial threats” in the area. The IDF said all threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory.

The attempted strikes on Israel mark an escalation by the Iran-backed Houthis, with regional rivalries heating up despite the United States scrambling to contain a potential Middle Eastern war.

Read more about the risk of a wider regional conflict.

Internet service and communications went down again in Gaza on Wednesday, according to two telecoms companies, as Israel maintains its bombardment and expanded ground operation in the coastal enclave.

Communications have been repeatedly impacted in Gaza, with independent internet monitoring groups telling CNN that recent blackouts have been the worst since the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7.

In a statement Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, Palestine Telecommunications (Paltel) said there was “a complete interruption of all communications and Internet services with the Gaza Strip, due to international routes that were previously reconnected being cut off again.”

The Jawwal Telecommunication Company also said its cellphone service was down, according to a statement on Facebook.

Calls and messages from CNN staff in Jerusalem to contacts with Gaza numbers on Wednesday did not connect.

An Israeli strike in the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed a large number of people and has left catastrophic damage, according to eyewitnesses and medics in the enclave.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed the strike killed Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari — who was one of the leaders of the October 7 terror attack in Israel, according to spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht.

Hamas however strongly denied the presence of one of its leaders in the enclave’s largest refugee camp, spokesperson Hazem Qassem said. He accused Israel of attempting to justify what he described as a “heinous crime against safe civilians, children, and women in Jabalya camp.”

Ambassador Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, said the strike was a crime and urged the International Criminal Court to take action.

Here’s the latest:

Dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Tuesday evening it received 59 trucks. By late Tuesday evening, 70 trucks had entered the strip, the spokesperson for Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a statement.

The shipments include “only water, food, and medical equipment,” according to the COGAT spokesperson.

The decision was made “at the request of the US Administration, and in accordance with instructions from the political echelon” the statement said.

“The transfer, the source, and the destination of the aid are monitored by Israel,” the COGAT statement read. “Any other attempt to provide supplies, not coordinated with and approved by Israel, will be blocked.”

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it has received a total of 217 trucks so far, but fuel has not been allowed to enter Gaza yet.

The Israeli army began its full ground operation in Gaza on Friday, moving tanks, bulldozers, infantrymen and combat engineer units into the strip.

But rather than make any quick advance on Gaza City, Israeli forces so far appear to have moved only slowly toward the enclave’s largest population center.

Drawing on videos and photos from open and official sources, and reporting from CNN teams on the ground, it appears Israeli forces crossed the border in three main locations.

Read more about Israel’s ground operation in Gaza.

Hamas will free some foreign nationals they are holding hostage in the coming days, according to a spokesperson for the group’s military wing. 

“Some countries have intervened through mediators to free some foreign nationals’ detainees in Gaza,” Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, said in a video clip on Tuesday.
“We received the requests of these countries,” he said, without naming the nations. “Therefore, we informed the mediators that we will release a number of foreigners in the coming days.”

Obeida did not give further details on the nationalities and numbers of hostages Hamas claimed it will free. 

Addressing the Israel Defense Forces’ announcement that it rescued an Israeli solider from Hamas captivity on Monday, Obeida said none of the hostages Hamas is holding have been rescued and suggested the solider may have been held by another group.

A United Nations human rights official is leaving his job over what he calls a “genocide” in Gaza that the UN has failed to stop.

Craig Mokhiber, director of the UN’s New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a letter that Gaza is a textbook case of genocide. 

Mokhiber, who said he lived in Gaza working on human rights for the UN in the 1990s, accused the United States, the United Kingdom and European countries of giving political and diplomatic cover for Israel’s alleged atrocities. 

In the letter, which began with a statement acknowledging it would be his last official communication in his position, Mokhiber wrote that after witnessing what happened in Rwanda, Bosnia, and to Rohingya civilians in Myanmar, the UN has repeatedly failed to stop genocide.

The UN Secretary-General press secretary said Mokhiber is retiring as of Tuesday. 

CNN has reached out to Mokhiber for comment

CNN’s Tara John contributed reporting to this post.

An eyewitness to the Israel Defense Forces strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza told CNN he saw an F-16 aircraft fire several missiles at the camp.

“I was waiting in line to buy bread when suddenly and without any prior warning, seven to eight missiles fell from an F-16 on al-Yafawiya neighbourhood in the refugee camp,” Mohammad Ibrahim told CNN.

Photos from the site of the strike showed multiple deep craters, surrounded by destroyed or damaged buildings. Video also showed people searching through the rubble for survivors. 

Dr. Atef al-Kalhout, the head of the nearby Indonesian hospital, where large numbers of the dead and wounded have flooded in, estimated that scores had been killed in the strike. The hospital is the nearest major medical facility to Jabalya and is one of the most damaged in Gaza due to multiple strikes in the vicinity.

Videos from the hospital showed a long line of bodies lying on the floor as well as large numbers of wounded people, including children, as doctors rushed to treat their injuries. Many of the injured are seen treated on the floor because of the hospital’s overcrowded conditions.